RLGN 1285 Lecture Notes - Qibla, Kafir, Shahada
26 Jan 2013
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CHRISTIANITY
Apostle’s Creed
A prayer or a brief statement of Christian doctrinal belief dating from about the third century.
Ascribed to the apostles or first generation followers of Jesus. It is now often recited in unison by
congregation in services of worship.
Atonement
Christ’s restoration of humanity to a right relationship with God, variously interpreted as divine
victory over demonic power, satisfaction of divine justice, or demonstration of a moral example.
According to Christians, the forgiving and pardoning of sin through the death of Jesus by his
crucifixion and his resurrection.
Passion
The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. His crucifixion occurs on Good Friday, the
Friday of Holy week, the last week of lent. The remembering of the passion takes place from
noon until three in the afternoon on Good Friday, which is the same time of the crucifixion
according to the gospels (other than Mark). It symbolizes and honours Jesus’ sacrifice for
humanity and therefore represents the doctrine of Atonement; Jesus’ reconciliation of humanity’s
relationship with God through his death and humanity’s salvation from their sins.
Sacrament
Ritual actions performed by Christians as an oath of alliance to their religion. In the thirteenth
century a list of seven sacraments emerged that has remained standard for the Catholic tradition:
baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing the seriously sick, ordination, and
marriage. According to Christians, it is an “outward and visible sign of an inward spiritual
grace.”
Trinity
The idea of God having three forms, as father, son and the Holy Spirit. The father being God in
the heaven, the son being Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit being a form of God that descended
upon Earth symbolized by a dove. The Holy Spirit is said to be what informed/impregnated
virgin Mary with the child.
JUDAISM
Exile
In 586 BCE, the Babylonians invaded the Kingdom of Judah (the “southern kingdom”) centered
on Jerusalem and exiled its inhabitants. This was a traumatic event in Jewish history, as they
destroyed the political independence of the kingdom, along with its monarchy and the First
Temple of Jerusalem. The Babylonian exile lasted for about 50 years (586 – 539 BCE). They
were hoping that God would send down a Messiah to help them. Cyrus the Great conquered the
Babylonian kingdom and allowed all the Jews to come back and another temple was built. King
Cyrus was considered as the Messiah by many. The emerging of Synagogues can be traced back
to the exile because after the temple was rebuilt, congregational life gained in emphasis over
temple worship, therefore the synagogue was born.
Kosher
Purity rituals that the Jews follow. This includes not eating pigs, birds and blood, as well as
mammals that break these rules themselves. The slaughter of all kosher animals be done in a
humane way (ritually acceptable). Furthermore, there are special rules that pertain to the
Passover holiday, such as not eating any bread with leavening in it at that time.
Pentateuch
Also known as the five books of Moses. These five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy. According to tradition Moses authored all five books. These books
form the rules though which Jews are supposed to live by.
Tanakh: It is the Jewish Bible that consists of three sections. 1. The Law (Torah). 2. The
Prophets 3. The Writings. Known as the sacred book of Judaism. The Torah consists of all the
religious books and the Bible commentaries. The Prophets include the history of Israel and
warnings made by prophets. The Writings consist mostly of historical and poetical books. The
Hebrew acronym (T N K)
