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 | Shalom: A Hebrew word for peace; often used as a greeting and farewell. | ||||||
| Shamanism: This is a "system of religious and medical beliefs and practices that centers on the shaman, a specific type of magico-religious practitioner...who specializes in contacting and controlling the supernatural." 1 Usually male, his main task is healing. Shamanism was originally centered in central Asia and Siberia. | ||||||
| Shari'ah: Four codes of Islamic law. In some cases, Shari'ah provides for very severe punishment -- even amputation or execution. Some transgressions are viewed as serious crimes, although they are seen as minor and/or victimless crimes in the West. | ||||||
| Shakti: (a. k.a. Chiti, Chit Shakti, Kundalini) The Creative Principle in Hinduism. She is viewed as a female Goddess because she gives birth to all things. Sometimes viewed as Devi in her benevolent aspect. | ||||||
| Shaytan: The Muslim name of the evil entity called Satan -- the Devil -- in Christianity. | ||||||
| Shechitah: A Hebrew term for the ritual sacrifice of animals. | ||||||
| Sheep stealing: The practice of some Christian faith groups who attempt to convert other Christians to membership in their denomination. | ||||||
| Shema: A Jewish prayer, customarily repeated morning, evening and just before going to sleep. It begins: "Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." See Deuteronomy 6:4-9 | ||||||
| Shepherding: An relationship in which an experienced Christian, a shepherd, is selected to supervise a new convert. In some denominations, the senior person closely controls almost every aspect of the convert's life. This has major potential to generate spiritual abuse. | ||||||
| Shi'a (a.k.a. Shi'ite): The second largest tradition within Islam. | ||||||
| Shinto: This is the indigenous religion of Japan. Starting about 500 BCE (or earlier) it was originally "an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism." 2 It later became the state religion of the country. Church and state were separated just after World War II. | ||||||
| Sheol: A Jewish underworld. A place of the dead in which good and the evil persons alike share an energyless existence separated from God. Mistranslated as "Hell" in the King James Version of the Bible. | ||||||
| Shiva: An mourning interval of seven days following the burial of a family member. | ||||||
| Shoa: (a.k.a. Shoa and Sho'ah) the killing of five to seven million of European Jews by the Nazi government during World War II. Sometimes referred to as the Holocaust, although the latter term is sometimes used to refer to all of the ten to fourteen groups of victims, which included Jews, Roma (a.k.a. Gypsies), Russians, Poles, other Slavs, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, political prisoners, etc. | ||||||
| Shofar: A ram's horn used in some Jewish services. | ||||||
| Shul: A Yiddish word meaning synagogue. | ||||||
| Shunning: (a.k.a. Disfellowshipping): This is a method of disciplining or punishing a member who strays from the group's expected behavior or belief. Other members --often including friends and family -- are expected to have no contact with the shunned individual. In a high intensity faith group where a believer's entire support network is composed of fellow members, this can have disastrous consequences; some have been moved to commit suicide. Various forms of shunning are practiced by Amish and Jehovah's Witnesses | ||||||
| Sikhism: Although religious scholars generally view Sikhism as a blend of Hinduism and Islam, most Sikhs believe that their religion is unique without precursors, originating from a series of ten gurus, starting with Guru Nanak. Sikhs believe in a single deity, and reject class differences. There are about 18 million Sikhs in the world; most are concentrated in the Punjab region in northwest India. | ||||||
| Sin: In the Bible, the Hebrew and Greek words which are translated as sin mean failing to hit the target or missing the mark. Most conservative Christians believe that, since God is pure and just, that a person who sins just once cannot come into God's presence unless they first attain salvation. | ||||||
| Sins, The Seven Deadly: The seven deadly sins are: sloth, covetousness, anger, lust, gluttony, envy, and pride. | ||||||
| Six directions: A Buddhist collection of paths: north, south, east, west, up and down. Wiccan, other Neopagan traditions, Native American spirituality and other Aboriginal religions recognize variations of this -- sometimes including center, and the four points on the compass that lie between the cardinal directions. | ||||||
| Skandas: In Buddhism, the five principal components of the personality: form, sensation, perception, impulse, and consciousness. | ||||||
| Slain in the spirit: (a.k.a. "falling under the Spirit's power," "falling before the Lord," resting in the spirit." A religious phenomenon, generally in Pentecostal or Charismatic meetings in which a person loses motor control over their body, and falls to the floor. It has variously been attributed to religious hysteria by mental health professionals and to a personal encounter with God by fellow believers. Its origins can be traced back to Methodist churches in the late 18th century. | ||||||
| Social Darwinism: An attempt to adapt Charles Darwin natural selection principles to human society, thus producing a culture that embraces the "survival of the fittest." This is based on a misunderstanding of Darwin's theories. Natural selection, when applied to a society, also includes such factors as organizational ability, talent to inspire others, creativity, perseverance, mental flexibility, etc., in addition to physical fitness. | ||||||
| Sodomite:
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| Sola Scriptura: (Latin for "by scripture alone"). This was a
slogan of the Protestant Reformation that is still active among Protestant
faith groups. It is the belief that the Holy Bible is:
| ||||||
| Solstice: The date and time when the sun reaches its northernmost or southernmost extreme. On the summer solstice, the interval of daylight is at its maximum and the nighttime interval is at its minimum for the year. The reverse occurs at the winter solstice. The solstices happen about June 21 and December 21. Many religious holy days are synchronized to the equinoxes. Wiccans, other Neopagans, Native Americans and followers of many aboriginal religions worldwide celebrate the solstices. | ||||||
| Sorcery: There are two quite different meanings to this term:
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| Soteriology: From the Greek words "soteria" -- salvation, and "logos" -- word or reason . The theological study of salvation. | ||||||
| Soul: Equivalent to the Greek word "psuche" -- breath and the Hebrew word "nephesh" . This word has a variety of meanings, including: the seat of personality, the individual or person themselves, the immaterial component of a human, etc. Among Christians, dichotomists believe that a person is composed of a body and soul; trichotomists believe that a person consists of a body, soul, and spirit. Both argue their cases from biblical passages. | ||||||
| Soul Freedom: Freedom of conscience (a.k.a. freedom of thought) as applied to Bible interpretation. This is the concept that an individual has the right and privilege to interpret Scripture for themselves in the context of their religious community, using the best available scholarship. Robert Bellah wrote, in 1997: "What was so important about the Baptists, and other sectarians such as the Quakers, was the absolute centrality of religious freedom, of the sacredness of individual conscience in matters of religious belief." 8 | ||||||
| Soul sleep: The belief that, after death, one's soul sleeps until the day of resurrection. | ||||||
| Spell: a prayer, or verbal direction of magickal energies toward the accomplishment of some goal. 7 Wiccans and other Pagans often use spells, but are not permitted to use them to dominate, manipulate, control or harm another person. For example, a Wiccan is not permitted to cast a love spell to motivate another person to feel attraction towards them. |
| Spiritism: See necromancy. | ||||
| Spiritualism: See necromancy. | ||||
| Spirituality: This term is defined quite differently by monotheists, polytheists, humanists, followers of new age, Native Americans, etc. A common meaning is "devotion to metaphysical matters, as opposed to worldly things." Another is "Activities which renew, lift up, comfort, heal and inspire both ourselves and those with whom we interact." | ||||
| Srivatsa (a.k.a. Swastika in German and English): A cross symbol with equal arms bent at a right angle: 
This is an ancient positive symbol used by many religions around the world
-- e.g. Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism,
Christianity, Judaism, and by the ancient
Greeks, Germanic tribes, and Native Americans.
4. It was distorted and adopted by the Nazi regime in
Germany; since the 1930s it has been considered a profoundly evil symbol
throughout the west. | ||||
| Star of David: A Jewish symbol consisting of a six-pointed star. | ||||
| Stewardship: In general usage, stewardship is the wise management and use of resources, whether by an individual, corporation, government, etc. Among many religious conservatives it is the concept that God owns everything and has entrusted certain resources to individual believers who will eventually be held accountable for what they accomplished with those resources. | ||||
| Stereotype: A process of generalization by which an entire group is found to be at fault because of the actions of a few of their members. One example is to blame all homosexuals for child molestation because of the actions of NAMBLA, a homosexual pedophile group which is composed of a handful of members. The term is sometimes used to refer to the condemnation of an entire group because of events that never happened. One example was the German Nazi government who blamed the loss of World War I on the German Jews -- a very small minority at the time, numbering less than 1% of its citizens. | ||||
| Stigmata: the presence of wounds on a person's body (usually a woman) in the places where Jesus is believed to have been injured at his crucifixion. Wound's usually appear on the palms of the person even though during his crucifixion, Jesus was either pierced through his wrists or his arms were tied to the crossbar. | ||||
| Stupa: A Buddhist term that refers to a burial monument that stands for the Buddha and his attainment of enlightenment. | ||||
| Subliminal Messages: Visual or audible messages shown in a way that prevents the conscious mind from recognizing them. Visual messages may be flashed on a screen too fast for the person to sense; audible messages may be played at too low a volume to be detected. Controlled tests have shown that they are completely ineffective. Some people still believe that such messages can enter the individual's subconscious mind and motivate them to take certain actions. See also backmasking. | ||||
| Subordinationism: An early Christian heresy that Jesus is eternally subordinated to God the Father. This contrasts with the traditional Christian view that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-eternal, interdependent and one in substance -- without any form of heirarchy, order or ranking. The heresy has been adopted by many Evangelical Christians in recent decades. | ||||
| Subordination of the Son, Eternal: See Eternal Subordination of the Son | ||||
| Substance dualism: The concept that the brain and mind are separate entities: the brain is a physical entity controlled by chemical and electrical processes; the mind is not physical. | ||||
| Succubus: A female demon who would visit men at night and engage in sexual activity. This belief was commonly held during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. There were also male demons, called incubi who were believed to visit women. | ||||
| Suffragan bishop: an assistant bishop in a diocese. | ||||
| Sufiism: "Sufism or tasawwuf, as it is called in Arabic, is generally understood by scholars and Sufis to be the inner, mystical, or psycho-spiritual dimension of Islam." Some Muslims reject the concept that Sufism is part of Islam. 3 | ||||
| Sunni: the largest tradition within Islam. | ||||
| Sunyata: A Sanskrit term for "emptiness." It is a Buddhist term that asserts that "... everything one encounters in life is empty of absolute identity, permanence, or 'self'. This is because everything is inter-related and mutually dependent - never wholly self-sufficient or independent. 6 | ||||
| Supercessionism: (a.k.a. Replacement Theology). This is the theological concept that, because the vast majority of Jews in the first century CE did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, God unilaterally terminated his covenants with the Jewish people and transferred them to the followers of Christianity. It relegates Judaism to an inferior position and recognizes Christianity as the 'true' or 'spiritual' Israel. This concept was first developed by Justin Martyr (circa 100 to 165 CE) and Irenaeus of Lyon (circa 130 to 200 CE). It was largely accepted within the church by the 4th century. It has led to a great deal of persecution of Jews by Christians. Many conservative Protestants still believe in this principle. In opposition to supercessionism is the dual covenant theory. | ||||
| Surah: Any passage from the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book. | ||||
| Sutra: A Buddhist scripture that includes a teaching by Buddha. | ||||
| Swastika: See srivatsa. | ||||
| Sweat lodge: A Native American ritual for purification involving moist hot air in an enclosed space. | ||||
| Synagogue: From the Greek word for "gathering." A Jewish house of worship. | ||||
| Syncretistic Religion: A faith that is created from the merger of concepts from two or more religions. Santeria and Vodun are two examples. | ||||
| Synergism: Two or more items interacting in such as way that the end result is greater than each item could have achieved separately. For example, a client who believes in Satan as an evil, quasi-deity who undergoes recovered memory therapy (RMT) is very likely to recover false memory of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Just believing in Satan or just undergoing RMT is much less likely to generate false memories of SRA. | ||||
| Synoptic: From the Greek syn (together) and opsis (appearance). A term used to refer to the gospels Mark, Matthew and Luke. They are in general agreement with each other; each conflicts with the Gospel of John in theme, content, time duration, order of events, and style. "Only ca. 8% of ... [John] is parallel to these other gospels, and even then, no such word-for-word parallelism occurs as we find among the synoptic gospels." 5 | ||||
| Synod:
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| Systematic theology: The study of God and his relationship with
humanity.
Words beginning Sa... to Se... are described elsewhere
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References:
- David Levinson, "Religion: A cross-cultural dictionary," Oxford University Press, (1998). Read reviews or order this book
- "The Fountainhead of Miracles, Shinreikyo," has a home page at: http://www.shinreikyo.or.jp
- Dr. Alan Godlas, "Sufism -- Sufis -- Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many
Paths," at:
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/Sufism.html - "Historical note on the Swastika," Falun Dafa, at: http://www.falundafa.org.il/
- F.V. Filson, "The Literary Relations among the Gospels," essay in C.M. Laymon: "The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible," Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, (1991)
- "Shunyata" Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
-
"Sola Scriptura," Wikipedia, 2007-JUL-19, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
- Robert N. Bellah, "Is There a Common American Culture?," The Journal for the American Academy of Religion, Volume 66, Number 3, (1998-Fall), Pages 613-625. Online at: http://www.robertbellah.com/
Copyright © 1996 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally published on: 1996-MAR-11
Last update: 2008-FEB-18
Author: B.A. Robinson
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