Exploring World Religions -3

Part. III Exploring World Religions

Existentialism: Movement in 20^th century philosophy, theology and literature, based on the view that the people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes anguish or dread. One of the most influential existentialist philosophers was the French thinker and writer Jean Paul Sartre, who summed up his views in the maxim, “Existence precedes essence”- that is, humans spring up in the world undefined and without a fixed nature or ‘essence’. There is no divine plan, nor any fixed values, by which they can guide themselves; they are ‘condemned to be free’.

Exorcism: The casting out of demons or evil spirits believed to have ‘possessed’ a person or place. Among the ancient Israelites, mental conditions such as schizophrenia and epilepsy were often considered to be a sign of demonic possession and were treated by ritual exorcism. Jesus Christ performed many exorcisms, and in the early Church there was a standard office of Exorcist. Exorcisms are still occasionally performed by Roman Catholic and some Protestant Churches

Iconoclasm: Rejection or destruction of religious images, often on the grounds that they are forbidden by the second commandment. In the 8^th and 9^th centuries many images and icons were destroyed with the blessing of the pope. During the Reformation, however, the Roman Catholic Church itself became a victim of iconoclasm, and lost many religious images. The world ‘iconoclasm’ comes from Greek words for ‘image breaking’.

Paganism: Term first used by early Christians to describe the beliefs of all non Christians. The world comes from the Latin for ‘country –dweller’. These days it is usually applied to beliefs that are not part of a world religion such as Christianity Judaism, Buddhism or Islam.