Abraham / 1st Jew, Founder of Judaism, physical & spiritual ancestor of Jewish people
Bar & Bat Mitzvah / Coming of age ceremony for Jewish boys (bar) and girls (bat). Boys celebrate this @ 13 and girls @ 12
Hanukkah / Jewish festival that lasts 8 days in December- commemorates how long the oil lasted in the lamp
Holocaust / Persecution of Jews by Nazis from 1933- 1945, +6 million dead
Israel / Ancient kingdom of the Hebrew Tribes (Jerusalem is largest city)
Jerusalem / Capital and largest city in Israel
Jew / A person who believes in the principles of Judaism
Kosher/ Kashrut / Kosher- foods acceptable to eat according to Kashrut (Jewish dietary law)- excludes pork, shellfish, mixtures of meat and milk, bird must be prepared a certain way
Messiah / Jesus Christ (promised savior)
Moses / Greatest of all prophets- Great Flood
Orthodox / Those who follow Jewish law as written. Believe that law is from Yahweh and cannot be changed
Rabbi / Religious teacher/ leader
Rosh Hashanah / Beginning of Jewish New Year (this year, from sunset on September 9th to sunset on September 11th)
Synagogue / Jewish place of worship
Talmud / Collection of the Jewish oral tradition of interpreting the Torah
Ten Commandments / The 1st ten of 613 commandments that govern Jewish life. Establish good ethics and moral conduct that all Jews should abide by.
Torah / 1st three divisions of Hebrew scriptures = the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible
Yahweh / Hebrew word for God
Yom Kippur / Day of atonement- day for fasting & repenting from sin
Christianity
Abraham / God promised him the land of Canaan- continually tested by God
Baptism / Being “born again”- symbolic representation of accepting God as savior
Bible / Christian Holy book- contains the Old and New Testament
Catholic / Largest Christian denomination in the world, Pope is leader of the Roman Catholic Church
Christian / A person who believes in the teachings of Christianity
Christmas / Celebration of Jesus’ birth- commemorated on December 25th
Church / Christian place of worship
Communion / Lord’s supper- emphasizes fellowship with Jesus and other Christians. Special ceremony to be completed with bread and wine. Celebrated by all denominations
Constantinople / Center of Eastern Roman Empire, will eventually become the Byzantine Empire
Easter / Celebration of the resurrection of Jesus 3 days after his crucifixion
God/Jesus/Holy Spirit= Trinity / The Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In Christianity, these three are one in the same. Jesus is the son of God and the Holy Spirit is what Christians must accept into themselves in order to become Christian
Mass / Catholic worship service
Moses / Led God’s people (the Jews) out of Egypt (they were slaves) and to the Promised Land. Parted the Red Sea. God delivered the 10 commandments to him on Mount Sinai
Old & New Testament / Components of the Bible- Old Testament has 39 books (tells the history of the Hebrews and the stories of the prophets) and the New Testament has 27 books (stories of Jesus’ life and miracles, and what is to come).
Pope / Leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope is known as the “Bishop of Rome”. Peter (Apostle) was the first Pope.
Prayer / Christians way of talking to God
Priest / Christian spiritual leader
Protestant / Denomination of Christianity that is not Catholic. A Christian who follows the principles of the Reformation
Rome / Center of the Western Roman Empire, center of the Catholic world- encircles Vatican City, the home of the Pope and St. Peter’s Basilica
Sacrament / Catholic Rituals that show Christ as an outward sign of inward grace (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick)
Schism / Separation of the two halves of the Roman Empire. Western Roman Empire was centered in Rome (leader- Pope), Eastern Roman Empire was centered in Constantinople (leader- Emperor). After years of fighting over communion, marital status of priests, and declaring each was superior to the other, the two leaders excommunicated each other and the two halves permanently separated.
Ten Commandments / God’s law- given to Moses and inscribed on two stone tablets. Establish good ethics and moral conduct that all Christians should abide by.
Vatican City / Holy place of Catholicism. Ruled/Governed by the Pope. Located entirely inside Rome (110 acres-walled in)
Islam
5 Pillars / Mandatory acts required by followers of Islam- Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able), Salat (ritual prayer 5x/day towards Mecca), Sawm (mandatory fasting from sun-up to sun-down during Ramadan), Shahadah (public profession of faith mandatory to become a Muslim), Zekat (giving for ~2.5% of income to charity/ alms). These rules establish good ethics and moral conduct that all Muslims should abide by.
Abbasid / Overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and became rulers of Islam
Abraham / Prophet of Allah- fulfilled every commandment and survived every trial Allah put him through. Allah promised to make him leader of all nations.
Abu Bakr / Muhammad’s first (immediate) successor. Father of one of Muhammad’s wives
Ali / Son in law of Muhammad who Shia Muslims believe all rulers & leaders of Islam should descend from
Allah / Arabic word for “God”
Caliph / Title of the successor of Muhammad
Hadith / Recorded teachings, sayings, and actions of Muhammad, also an interpretation of the Qu’ran
Imam / Muslim prayer leader
Jihad / Obligation of Muslims to “exert or struggle” in the way of God, aka hardship
Ka’ba / Large black cube/shrine in Mecca, what Muslims pray towards daily
Hijab / Covering the head & body in accordance with Allah’s laws
Mecca / Holiest city of Islamic Empire- Muhammad’s birthplace
Medina / 2nd holiest city in Islam- where Muhammad lived after fleeing Mecca
Moses / Prophet, messenger, lawgiver, leader
Mosque / Muslim place of worship
Muhammad / Founder of Islam, ultimate and final prophet, Allah’s messenger- Allah appeared to him in a dream (revelation) and delivered his message to Muhammad (what would become the foundation of Islam)
Muslim / Person who believes in the teachings of Islam
Qu’ran / Holy book of Islam, Arabic word for “recital”
Ramadan / 9th month of Islamic calendar, marked by fasting
Shia / Sect of Islam that only accepts the descendants of Ali as true rulers of Islam. Make up ~ 16% of the Muslim world
Sunni / 84% of Muslims are Sunni, Believe the first 3 caliphs were legitimate and supported the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, believe all Islamic leaders should be descended from Muhammad himself.
Uma / Worldwide community of Muslim believers
Contextualization
The Great Schism was caused by disagreements over communion, marital status of priests, and excommunication.
Judaism, Islam, and Christianity share a belief in monotheism and ethical conduct.
The 5 Pillars of Islam are faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage.
One similarity between the Five Pillars of Islam and the Ten Commandments is that both provide a guide to proper ethical and moral behavior.
Ibn Sina (Muslim scholar) made great contributions to the field of medicine.
Ibn Battuta (Muslim historian and traveler) connected the Muslim world through his writings of areas from Africa to the far reaches of Asia.
Shia Muslims believe that Ali was the only rational choice for Muhammad’s successor and all later leaders should be his descendants.
Sunni Muslims believe that all Muslim rulers should be descended from Muhammad.
Islam spread by conquest and tradethroughout Africa.
Muslims would protect people in conquered territories as long as they paid a tax.