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branch |
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a large and fundamental division within a religion |
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denomination |
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a division of a branch that unites number of local congregations into a single legal and administrative body |
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sect |
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a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination |
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animism |
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belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life |
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missionaries |
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individuals who help to transmit a universalizing religion through relocation diffusion |
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ghetto |
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a city neighborhood set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews |
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pilgrimage |
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a journey for religious purposes to a place considered sacred |
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cosmogony |
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a set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe |
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solstice |
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time when the sun is farthest from from the equator |
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hierarchical religion |
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a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control |
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diocese |
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the basic unit of geographic organization in the Roman Catholic Church |
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autonomous religion |
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a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally |
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fundamentalism |
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literal interpretation and strict and intense adherence to basic principles of a religion |
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caste |
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teh class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu was assigned according to religious law |
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interfaith boundaries |
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the boundaries between the world's major religions |
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intrafaith boundaries |
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the boundaries between deifferent branches within a major religion |
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shamanism |
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a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering because of a special relationship with, or control over, spirits |
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syncretism |
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the combination of different forms of belief or practice |
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traditional religion |
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religion that is considered original to a people or culture |
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tribal religion |
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ethnic religion which is practiced by a tribe or small group of tribes |
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zionism |
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the movement of return of the Jewish to the Holy Land in modern-day Israel, where they should have sovereignty |
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