Key terms

• philosophy

  ‘love of wisdom‘, a subject addressing human questions using reason
• theology

  the study of god, seeking to explain religious ideas using scripture
• atheism

  belief there is no god
• agnosticism

  belief that we cannot be certain whether there is a god or not
• theism


  belief in a supreme creator god who is involved in the world
• diesm


  belief in a supreme deity who is not intentionally involved with the world
• deity


  a god
• transcendent 


  outside the world and separate from it, beyond space and time
• immanent

  inside the world
• mysticism

  to become one with god or experienced in reality in an extraordinary way
• conversion

  changing from religion to another
• experiences 


  gifts of the spirit
• absolute morality 


  belief that there are sure and constant standards of right and wrong
• creatio ex nihilo 


  ‘creation out of nothing’ as in genesis
• righteousness 


  quality of being morally good
• inconsistent triad 


  evil is incompatible with a loving and powerful god
• theodicies

  explanations for evil existing in a world made by god
• scripture

  sacred writings which came from god
• incarnation 


  to become flesh, God entering earth as jesus