RELIGIOUS BELIEF

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does religious belief mean? 

• RELIGIOUS BELIEF (noun)
  The noun RELIGIOUS BELIEF has 1 sense:

1. a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

  Familiarity information: RELIGIOUS BELIEF used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RELIGIOUS BELIEF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

faith; religion; religious belief

Context example:

he lost his faith but not his morality

Hypernyms ("religious belief" is a kind of...):

belief (any cognitive content held as true)

supernatural virtue; theological virtue (according to Christian ethics: one of the three virtues (faith, hope, and charity) created by God to round out the natural virtues)

Domain member category:

Protestant (of or relating to Protestants or Protestantism)

catechismal (of or relating to a catechism summarizing the principles of Christianity)

reincarnate; transmigrate (be born anew in another body after death)

free-thinking; latitudinarian; undogmatic; undogmatical (unwilling to accept authority or dogma (especially in religion))

clean (ritually clean or pure)

impure; unclean (having a physical or moral blemish so as to make impure according to dietary or ceremonial laws)

conforming; conformist (adhering to established customs or doctrines (especially in religion))

discalceate; discalced; unshod ((used of certain religious orders) barefoot or wearing only sandals)

formalised; formalistic; formalized (concerned with or characterized by rigorous adherence to recognized forms (especially in religion or art))

Christian (relating to or characteristic of Christianity)

Calvinist; Calvinistic; Calvinistical (of or relating to or characteristic of Calvinism or its adherents)

worship (show devotion to (a deity))

Jewish-Orthodox; Orthodox (of or pertaining to or characteristic of Judaism)

Eastern Orthodox; Greek Orthodox; Orthodox; Russian Orthodox (of or relating to or characteristic of the Eastern Orthodox Church)

Anglican (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the Anglican church)

Congregational; Congregationalist (of or pertaining to or characteristic of a Congregational church)

Episcopal; Episcopalian (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the Episcopal church)

revivalistic (of or relating to or characterizing revivalism)

Lutheran (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the branch of the Protestant Church adhering to the views of Luther)

Methodist; Wesleyan (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the branch of Protestantism adhering to the views of Wesley)

Mormon (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the Mormon Church)

Unitarian (of or relating to or characterizing Unitarianism)

persecution (the act of persecuting (especially on the basis of race or religion))

meditation ((religion) contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects))

vigil; watch (the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes (especially on the eve of a religious festival))

consecration ((religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God)

celibacy; chastity; sexual abstention (abstaining from sexual relations (as because of religious vows))

toleration (official recognition of the right of individuals to hold dissenting opinions (especially in religion))

traditionalism (adherence to tradition (especially in cultural or religious matters))

censer; thurible (a container for burning incense (especially one that is swung on a chain in a religious ritual))

cloister (a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions))

habit (a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order)

orthodoxy (the quality of being orthodox (especially in religion))

Hades; Hell; infernal region; netherworld; Scheol; underworld ((religion) the world of the dead)

misbelieve (hold a false or unorthodox belief)

affirmation ((religion) a solemn declaration that serves the same purpose as an oath (if an oath is objectionable to the person on religious or ethical grounds))

demythologisation; demythologization (the restatement of a message (as a religious one) in rational terms)

Beelzebub; Devil; Lucifer; Old Nick; Prince of Darkness; Satan; the Tempter ((Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell)

brother (a male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or religion or other group))

conformist (someone who conforms to established standards of conduct (especially in religious matters))

latitudinarian (a person who is broad-minded and tolerant (especially in standards of religious belief and conduct))

numen (a spirit believed to inhabit an object or preside over a place (especially in ancient Roman religion))

noviciate; novitiate (the period during which you are a novice (especially in a religious order))

die (suffer spiritual death; be damned (in the religious sense))

believe (follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "religious belief"):

Hindooism; Hinduism (a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils)

Wicca (the polytheistic nature religion of modern witchcraft whose central deity is a mother goddess; claims origins in pre-Christian pagan religions of western Europe)

shamanism (any animistic religion similar to Asian shamanism (especially as practiced by certain Native American tribes))

Asian shamanism; shamanism (an animistic religion of northern Asia having the belief that the mediation between the visible and the spirit worlds is effected by shamans)

Bahaism (a religion founded in Iran in 1863; emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind; incorporates Christian and Islamic tenets; many adherents live in the United States)

Mazdaism; Zoroastrianism (system of religion founded in Persia in the 6th century BC by Zoroaster; set forth in the Zend-Avesta; based on concept of struggle between light (good) and dark (evil))

Mithraicism; Mithraism (ancient Persian religion; popular among Romans during first three centuries a.d.)

Manichaeanism; Manichaeism (a religion founded by Manes in the third century; a synthesis of Zoroastrian dualism between light and dark and Babylonian folklore and Buddhist ethics and superficial elements of Christianity; spread widely in the Roman Empire but had largely died out by 1000)

Shinto; Shintoism (the ancient indigenous religion of Japan lacking formal dogma; characterized by a veneration of nature spirits and of ancestors)

Hsuan Chiao; Taoism (popular Chinese philosophical system based in teachings of Lao-tzu but characterized by a pantheism of many gods and the practices of alchemy and divination and magic)

Buddhism (the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth)

Sikhism (the doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam)

Jainism (religion founded in the 6th century BC as a revolt against Hinduism; emphasizes asceticism and immortality and transmigration of the soul; denies existence of a perfect or supreme being)

Brahmanism; Brahminism (the religious beliefs of ancient India as prescribed in the sacred Vedas and Brahmanas and Upanishads)

apophatism (the religious belief that God cannot be known but is completely 'other' and must be described in negative terms (in terms of what God is not))

Unitarianism (a non-doctrinal religion that stresses individual freedom of belief and rejects the Trinity)

Christian religion; Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)

heathenism; pagan religion; paganism (any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism)

theism (the doctrine or belief in the existence of a God or gods)

revealed religion (a religion founded primarily on the revelations of God to humankind)

nature worship (a system of religion that deifies and worships natural forces and phenomena)

mysticism; religious mysticism (a religion based on mystical communion with an ultimate reality)

ecclesiasticism (religion appropriate to a church and to ecclesiastical principles and practices)

cult (a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false)

cult; cultus; religious cult (a system of religious beliefs and rituals)

analogy; doctrine of analogy (the religious belief that between creature and creator no similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is always greater; any analogy between God and humans will always be inadequate)

cataphatism (the religious belief that God has given enough clues to be known to humans positively and affirmatively (e.g., God created Adam 'in his own image'))