Free VCE Religion and Society Flashcard Review

Beliefs; ethics; rituals; sacred stories; social structures; spaces, places, times and artefacts; spiritual experiences; symbols; texts.

A community organised around beliefs related to ultimate reality and the consequent beliefs, practices, principles and codes for behaviour.

Ideas that answer the big questions of life according to a religious worldview, e.g. beliefs about ultimate reality, human purpose, suffering and death.

Principles and codes for right conduct that flow from beliefs, guiding how adherents should live towards others, themselves and the world.

Prescribed, repeated, symbolic actions performed at set times or occasions that enact beliefs, e.g. prayer, initiation, festival rites.

Narratives that carry the meaning of beliefs, showing ultimate reality acting and humans responding; often found in texts and retold or re-enacted in ritual.

The organisation of the religious community: leaders, roles, membership, authority and relationships, e.g. clergy, Sangha, congregations.

Sacred buildings and sites, pilgrimage places, holy days and festivals, and objects used in practice that connect adherents to beliefs and ultimate reality.

Experiences of awareness of, connection with or encounter with ultimate reality or the transcendent, in prayer, meditation, worship, nature or crisis.

Anything (object, gesture, image, sound, colour) that points beyond itself to a meaning, condensing beliefs into a recognisable form.

Written or orally transmitted authoritative words valued as sources of teaching, law and inspiration, e.g. scriptures and commentaries.

A text is the authoritative document or collection; a sacred story is a narrative it contains (or that is passed on orally). The Exodus is a story; the Torah is a text.

An artefact is a made object used in practice; it is also a symbol when it points to a meaning beyond itself (e.g. the kirpan as a symbol of justice).

Aspects work together: rituals re-enact sacred stories, use symbols and artefacts, take place at sacred times and spaces, are led within social structures and express beliefs.

A festival meal can combine a sacred story (retold), a ritual (the meal), symbols (food items), a sacred time (the festival) and a social structure (the family or congregation).

Where did we come from? Is there an ultimate reality? What is the purpose of existence? How should we live? Is there anything beyond death?

A truth narrative: beliefs and other aspects that establish meaning for human existence and all that exists, and explain key relationships.

Between humans individually and collectively; between humans and ultimate reality; between humans and the rest of the natural world.

Religion is one of several worldviews (spiritual, religious, philosophical, scientific, ideological) that respond to the search for meaning.

A coherent account of reality and meaning offered by a worldview; for religion, its beliefs and other aspects that answer the big questions.