
Glossary of religious and spiritual termsStarting with the letter "W"
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Wajib: A Muslim term referring to an obligatory act. It
is sometimes considered a synonym of "Fard" and
sometimes considered less obligatory than "Fard."
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Walpurgasnacht: A synonym for Beltane, a Celtic holy day
celebrated on APR-30.
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Waldenses: An early schismatic group that broke away from the Roman
Catholic church. Their history is in doubt; they may have existed as early
as the eight century CE. They were viciously
persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church from 1209 until 1690. They held
many of the beliefs later promoted by Martin Luther and other Protestant
reformers.
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Warlock: An old-English term for oath breaker. Conservative
Christians and the media often refer to male Witches/Wiccans as Warlocks.
The term is not used by Witches, Wiccans or other Neopagans.
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Watchblogger: An derogatory term for an individual who
establishes a blog for the purpose of attacking, smearing, and/or
discrediting a specific faith group or belief system. They frequently use
quotes selected out of context, misquotes, guilt-by-association,
genetic fallacies ,
ad-hominem attacks, and other tricks to maximize their impact.
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Watchtower Bible and Tract Society:
The organization founded by Charles Taze Russell which publishes the
Watchtower and Awake! magazines, and whose followers are called Jehovah's
Witnesses -- a high-demand Protestant Christian denomination.
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Westminster Standards: The Westminster Confession of Faith,
the Larger Catechism, and the Shorter Catechisms were
written by the Westminster Assembly of Divines from 1643 to 1648. They
form the theological basis for the Presbyterian and, with some changes,
the Congregational denominations. The Baptist Confession of 1689
was largely based on the Westminster standards.
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Wicca: a Neo-pagan polytheistic religion with roots in
pre-Christian, pre-Celtic Europe. Wiccans follow the Wiccan Rede: "do whatever you
wish, as long as you harm nobody, including yourself". Power, manipulation and
control of others strictly prohibited. Their drug usage usually confined to wine. Rare ritual
sexual activity is practiced, but only in private between a committed adult couple.
Wiccans do not
proselytize. Most Wiccans are solitary practitioners; some form democratically organized
covens, typically of 5 or more people. The minimum age for training or initiation is usually 18. Conservative
usage: evil occultic practice based on a lust for power,
manipulation and control. Rigid ritual practice; heavy illegal drug usage and sexual
activity; organize into covens of 13 members each; practice shape shifting (human to
animal). Active recruiters, particularly of young people.
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Wiccan: a follower of Wicca
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Widdershins: The counter-clockwise direction. The term is often used in
describing Neopagan rituals.
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Will: One of the basic functions of the human soul; the other
is understanding.
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 | Witch: a follower of Witchcraft. It has so many
conflicting meanings that it should be used with great care
(or perhaps never at all) in public, in order to avoid confusion. 19 common meanings
are:
- A Gothic Satanist; a worshiper of Satan who, during the late
Middle Ages and Renaissance, was believed to use black magic to harm others,
by involving the aid of Satan and his demons. They didn't exist
then and don't exist now, .
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A Wiccan; a follower of Wicca, a recently
created, benign, Neopagan religion which is largely based on the some of
the symbols, deities, seasonal days of celebration of an ancient European Celtic religion. Wiccans are
prohibited from using magic to harm or manipulate others; they do not believe in the
existence of Satan or demons.
- A woman of such incredible beauty that she bewitches others.
- A woman of incredible ugliness; a hag.
- A person who practices benign Magick to influence the world through
rituals.
- A magician with unusual knowledge who can apparently
perform miracles during ceremonial magic rituals.
- In ancient Native American usage, the Hebrew Scriptures (Old
Testament), and some areas of India and Africa: an evil person who
secretly uses evil sorcery (black magic) to intentionally harm others.
- In the Christian Scriptures (New Testament): a criminal who murders people through the use of poisons.
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A follower of modern-day Religious Satanism.
They
recognizing Satan as a virile pre-Christian, pagan principle, but do not
believe in his existence as a living entity.
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A member of an underground, evil religious group who worship Satan
who engage in ritual abuse, murder and sometimes
cannibalism -- largely involving children. During the 1980s and
early 1990s, many North Americans believed that this group exists; some
still do, although hard evidence for their existence is non-existent.
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A wizard who inhabits an alternative world of fantasy and magic,
filled with good and evil people with magical powers, flying
broomsticks, invisibility cloaks, dragons, talking animals, magical quills, etc. e.g. Harry Potter™ books.
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A person, usually a woman, who was born with supernatural abilities
and is capable of performing miracles by waving a wand, wiggling their nose,
etc. This is often seen in TV programs, like Bewitched or Charmed.
They don't exist either.
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Followers of a group of Caribbean religions which combine elements of tribal African religions with
Christianity; e.g. Santeria and Vodun (a.k.a. Voodoo).
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In some African Aboriginal religions, a person who unknowingly
has supernatural powers capable of hurting others. Witch doctors
attempt to counteract these evil energies.
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An expert, as in: "She is a witch of a writer."
- A person who uses a forked stick or other instrument to locate sources
of underground material -- typically water.
- A woman who is not submissive to her husband.
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A general "snarl" word for a nasty, vicious person,
typically female.
- A follower of any religion other than Christianity (e.g. of Buddhism,
Islam, Hinduism, Native American Spirituality, etc.).
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Note: The first and second definitions are mutually exclusive; the third and fourth
definitions are also mutually exclusive.
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Witchcraft: a
religion or practice followed by a Witch. It has so many meanings that it should be used with great care
(or perhaps never at all) in order to avoid confusion.
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Womanism, Womanist: "Womanist and womanism are populist and
poetic synonyms for black feminist and black feminism." 4,5 Theologian Jacquelyn Grant defined womanism in 1995 as:
"... a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith for determining the character of the Christian religion in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impeding black women’s struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste.
The term "Sexual preference" is rarely used today and has been replaced by "sexual orientation."6
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Womym: A synonym, often used by feminists, for the word "woman," . "Woman" comes from the Old English term "wif-man." Womym was
coined recently.
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 | Word: In common usage, a unit of language that can be combined with other words to create phrases and sentences. In Christianity, the Bible is frequently referred to as "God's word." Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), the second person of the Trinity, is often referred to as the Word, as in John 1:1.
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Word of Faith movement: (a.k.a. Health & Wealth Gospel, Positive
Confession, Name it and Claim it, and Faith-formula). A group of conservative
Protestant para-church ministries that focus on "anointed" ministers and the
health, wealth, and success of their viewers and donors. MinistryWatch estimates
that their total income is in excess of a half billion dollars annually. 3
|  | Word of God (a.k.a. God's word, The Word):
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Jesus is often referred to as the Word of God, incarnated in human form.
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An expression used
primarily by conservative Protestants to refer to the the Holy
Bible. It assumes that God inspired the authors of the Bible to write either inerrant text (free of errors) and/or infallible text (fully trustworthy. i.e.
it does not deceive the reader into falsehood.) Note that this refers only to the original, autograph copy of each book as written by the author(s). Most Christians accept that subsequent copying errors occurred, which were either accidental or intentional.
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An expression that refers to God's message of salvation proclaimed to
humanity.
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Word of Knowledge: A belief or instruction that a Christian
believes comes directly from the Holy Spirit. This is found almost
exclusively among Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians.
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Word of Wisdom: A code of health that Mormons believe was given
by God to their founder, Joseph Smith on 1833-FEB-27.
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World Council of Churches: An umbrella group formed in 1948.
They promote
inter-faith dialog and ecumenical cooperation among mainline and liberal
Christian denominations.
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World view(also spelled worldview): "...a set of presuppositions
(assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we
hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about
the basic make-up of our world." 1 See also biblical worldview
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Worship: In a religious sense, the act of expressing reverence
to a deity or supernatural entity.
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Wrath, God's: God's judgment on sinners, fueled by his anger,
hatred, revulsion and indignation of sin. In the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) there are many descriptions of mass murders and genocides either created or ordered by God. Author Martyn Lloyd-Jones found that the
Hebrew Scriptures contains 20 words which describe God's wrath, and that
they are used 580 times. In the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) the
topic is discussed in detail in Romans 1:18 and in the Book of Revelation.
Author Cairns comments:
"...the full power of the wrath of God has
never yet been manifested on earth - not in the deluge [of Noah], or in the
destruction of Sodom, or in any other judgment. The full fury of God's
anger will be seen when 'the great day of his wrath is come' and the
ungodly feel the indescribable torment of 'the wrath of the Lamb'
Revelation 6:16-17." 2
Martin Luther
felt that the wrath of God, as described in Revelation, was incompatible with the loving God that
Jesus referred to as "Abba" during his prayers. When Luther
translated the Bible into German, he downgraded Revelation, by placing it
in an appendix. However. the book has been restored to its original position in modern translations.
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References used:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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James Sire, "The Universe Next Door: A basic worldview catalog" Intervarsity Press, (3rd edition, 1997)
He discusses, from a conservative Christian viewpoint, such worldviews as theism, deism, naturalism,
nihilism, Marxism, postmodernism and the New Age.
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Alan Cairns, "Dictionary of Theological Terms," Ambassador-Emerald
Int., (1998), Page 446 & 447.
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"A critical look at the 'Word of Faith' ministries," Ministry Watch
Reflections, 2003-OCT, at:
http://www.ministrywatch.com/ This is a PDF file. You may require software to read it. Software can be obtained free from:
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From Alice Walker, "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose,"
(1983).
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Amy Richards, "What is Feminism," at:
http://www.ou.edu/
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"Womanist theology," Wikipedia, as on 2014-DEC-02, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Copyright © 1996 to 2016 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally published on: 1996-MAR-11
Last update: 2016-JAN-09
Author: B.A. Robins n 
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