Religion

Basic information:

There are hundreds of millions of Christians in the world, most of them in 'Europe and North and South America. Catholicism and Protestantism have won many adherents in the Third World, where large numbers of heathens, i.e. those who do not believe in one of the chief religions like Judaism, Hinduism, Islam or Christianity, have been converted to Christia­nity by missionaries. Today, however, the number of people actually practicing their Christian faith is on the decline, so that the mainline churches are losing more and more members of their congregations.

In Britain and the US, where nobody may be discriminated against on religious grounds, complete freedom of religious persuasion and expression is regarded as a basic human right to be enjoyed by every citizen. Similarly, as there is no obligation to believe in God, unbelievers such as atheists and agnostics are in no way excluded from full participation in national life. Religious tolerance in Britain is also extended to the mil­lions of coloured immigrants, including Muslims/Moslems from Pakis­tan, Hindus from India and Rastafarians from Jamaica etc.

Anglicanism is the established religion in England, so that the Church of England, the Anglican Church, is the established Church. It separated from the Roman (Catholic) Church in the 16th century, when King Henry VIII rejected the supremacy of the Pope and dissolved the monasteries. Although the monarch is the head of the Anglican Church and although monarchs are traditionally crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Westminster Abbey, Anglicanism does not play a role comparable to that of Islam in the Arab countries; it is not an official state religion.

While the main denomination in Scotland and Northern Ireland is Presbyterianism, many citizens of the UK, e.g. Methodists and Baptists, are members of other Protestant Nonconformist denominations. The only real exception to peaceful religious co-existence is the sectarian strife between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Elsewhere in the UK the positive effects of the ecumenical movement are plainly visible.

In the US, where religion has a greater influence on social life, there is even more religious pluralism than in Britain. While Roman Catholics constitute the largest single denomination in the US, there is also a wide variety of free and independent Protestant Churches: Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Quakers, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Mormons, Adventists etc. Groups like the Evangelicals place particular emphasis on Scripture (especially the Gospel) and faith in Christ rather than on ritual and ceremony. Revival meetings organized by evangelists in search of converts and often broadcast on TV are also a common feature of religious life in the US.

Freedom of religion has attracted innumerable immigrants to North America since the 17th century, many of them victims of religious persecution in their native countries in Europe. Thus, for example, the mil­lions of Jews living in the US have found a haven in which they can practise their Jewish faith in temples and synagogues under the spiritual guidance of their rabbis without having to fear the excesses of radical anti-Semitism.

Religious life in a Christian family

Shortly after birth a child is christened or baptized in the presence of its godfather or godmother and is thus received into the Christian Church. Religious upbringing and religious instruction or education (R.E. as a subject at school) are the responsibility of the Church, the parents and, in some countries, the schools. A baptized child should be taught how to lead a good Christian life, become acquainted with the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and learn the Lord's Prayer and the Creed. At about the age of 13, a Protestant child can be confirmed, thereby becom­ing a full member of the Church and thus entitled to receive Holy Communion. Catholic children receive their First Communion at the age of nine.

Pious churchgoers attend church services on Sundays to worship God. They listen to the sermon given by the clergyman preaching from the pulpit, pray to the Maker/Creator, sing hymns and donate money to the charity organizations run by the Church. Devout Catholics also go to confession regularly to tell the priest their sins in the confessional. A Christian's spiritual leader may be a Catholic priest, an Anglican vicar or rector, or, in the case of Presbyterian and some other Nonconformist Churches, a minister or pastor.

Contemporary trends in Christian Churches

1. A general decline in church attendance and membership has become evident.

2. There is now a widening gap between extremely liberal tendencies among clerics and church members at one end of the scale and very conservative tendencies at the other end.

3. There has been a spread of fundamentalism in the US and a growth in the popularity of the US televangelists. These preachers manipulate television in order to express their puritanical views and to attack vari­ous aspects of the permissive society such as greater sexual freedom, women's liberation etc. Their fundamentalist belief in the literal truth of the Bible has even led them to oppose the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution.

4. The fear of failing to attract the young is one of the main concerns of Churches today.

5. More and more people have come to regard religion as a private and personal matter concerning only the individual and God, which explains the growing reluctance to worship in churches.

The danger of sects

Fundamentalist sects are by no means a new phenomenon, but in the last few decades some radical sects - often characterized by occult and sinister practices and rituals - have emerged, especially in the US. Dis­satisfied with the mainstream religions, which frequently seem unable to provide answers to their moral and ethical questions, many young people are attracted to such radical sects. With the help of mind-control techniques similar to brainwashing, the leaders of the sects have little difficulty in exploiting the feelings and emotional needs of young people, in destroying their self-respect and individuality and in making them mentally and emotionally dependent.

Christian [´krɪstʃǝn] християнин

Catholicism [kǝ´θɒlɪsɪz(ǝ)ɪm] католицтво

Protestantism   [´prɒtɪstǝntɪz(ǝ)m] протестантство

adherent [ǝd´hɪ(ǝ)rǝnt] прихильник;

послідовник

heathen   [´hi:∂(ǝ)n] язичник, язичниця

Christianity   [ˏkrɪstɪ´ænɪtɪ] християнство

to convert   [´kɒnvɜ:t] звернений в іншу віру

missionary [´mɪʃǝn(ǝ)rɪ] місіонер, проповідник

faith [feɪθ] віра

congregation   [ˏkɒŋɡrɪ´ɡeɪʃ(ǝ)n] паства, релігійне

братство

to discriminate against [dɪs´krɪmɪneɪt] ущемляти інтереси

persuasion   [pǝ´sweɪʒ(ǝ)n] переконання

unbeliever   [ˏʌnbɪ´li:vǝ] невіруючий

atheist [´eɪθɪɪ:st] атеїст, боговідступник

agnostic   [æɡ´nɒstɪk] агностик

Anglican Church [´æŋɡlɪkǝn tʃɜ:tʃ] англіканська церква 

established Church [ɪ´stæblɪʃt ´tʃɜ:tʃ] державна церква (in G B)

to separate [´sep(ǝ)rɪt] відділяти, роз’єднувати

Roman (Catholic) Church  [ˏrǝυmǝn´kæθǝ

lɪk´tʃɜ:tʃ] католицька церква 

supremacy [sǝ´premǝsɪ] перевага

the Pope [pǝυp] папа римський

to dissolve [dɪ´zɒlv] розформовувати

monastery [´mɒnǝstrɪ] монастир (чол.)

monarch [´mɒnǝk] монарх

archbishop   [ˏɑ:tʃ´bɪʃǝp] архієпископ, владика

Canterbury  [´kæntǝb(ǝ)rɪ] м. Кентербері

comparable  [´kʌmp(ǝ)rǝb(ǝ)l] достойний порівняння

denomination  [dɪˏnɒmɪ´neɪʃ(ǝ)n] гідність, вартість

Presbyterianism [ˏprezbɪ´tɪ(ǝ)rɪǝnɪz(ǝ)m] пресвітеріанство

Methodist  [´meθǝdɪst] член методистської

церкви

Baptist [´bæptɪst] баптист

Nonconformist [ˏnɒnkǝn´fͻ:mɪst] нонконформіст

sectarian [sek´te(ǝ)rɪǝn] сектант

strife [straɪf] боротьба, разбрат

ecumenical  [ˏi:kjυ´menɪk(ǝ)l] вселенський 

pluralism [´plυ(ǝ)rǝlɪz(ǝ)m] плюралізм

Evangelical  [ˏi:væn´dʒelɪk(ǝ)l] протестант, евангеліст

Scripture [´skrɪptʃǝ] Біблія

Gospel [´ɡɒsp(ǝ)l] Новий заповіт

Ritual [´rɪtʃυǝl] ритуал; церемонія

revival meeting  [rɪ´vaɪv(ǝ)l] [´mi:tɪŋ] релігійне обєднання

членів секти

відродженців

evangelist  [ɪ´vændʒɪlɪst] евангеліст

convert  [´kɒnvɜ:t] звернений в іншу віру

persecution [ˏpɜ:sɪ´kju:ʃ(ǝ)n] переслідування

Jew  [dʒu:] еврей; іудей 

haven [´heɪv(ǝ)n] притулок

rabbi  [´ræbaɪ] рабі; раві; равин

to christen  [´krɪs(ǝ)n] хрещений 

to baptize [bæp´taɪz] наректи, охрестити

godfather/godmother  [´ɡɒdˏfɑ:∂ǝ] /

[´ɡɒdˏmʌ∂ǝ] хрещена мати/батько

the Lord's Prayer [preǝ] "Отче наш" (Pater Noster)

the Creed [kri:d] кредо, віросповідання

to confirm [kǝn´fɜ:m] підтверджувати,

стверджувати

Holy Communion [´hǝυlɪ] [kǝ´mju:nɪǝn] піднесення Святих

Дарів

pious [´paɪǝs] набожний,

благочестивий

to attend [ǝ´tend] відвідувати

service [´sɜ:vɪs] служба (церковна)

to worship [´wɜ:ʃɪp] відправлення реліг.

обряду

sermon [´sɜ:mǝn] проповідь, повчання

clergyman [´klɜ:dʒɪmǝn] священник, пастор

to preach [pri:tʃ] проповідувати

pulpit [´pυlpɪt] кафедра (проповідника)

to pray [preɪ] молитися

the Maker/Creator [´meɪkǝ] творець

hymn [hɪmn] церковний гімн;

псалом

to donate [dǝ(υ)´neɪt] пожертвувати

charity [´tʃærɪtɪ] благодійність

devout [dɪ´vaυt] відданий

to go to confession [kǝn´feʃ(ǝ)n] іти на сповідь

priest [pri:st] священник

sin [sɪn] гріх

confessional [kǝn´feʃ(ǝ)nǝl] конфесійний,

віросповідний

vicar/rector   [´vɪkǝ] [´rektǝ] вікарій, намісник

minister/pastor [´mɪnɪstǝ] [´pɑ:stǝ] служитель, місіонер

attendance [ǝ´tendǝns] присутність,

відвідуваність

gap [ɡæp] різке розходження (в

погляд.)

cleric [´klerɪk] духовна особа

fundamentalism [ˏfʌndǝ´ment(ǝ)

lɪz(ǝ)m] фундаменталізм

preacher [´pri:tʃǝ] проповідник

to manipulate [mǝ´nɪpjυleɪt] маніпулювати

puritanical [ˏpjυ(ǝ)rɪ´tænɪk(ǝ)l] пуританський

permissive [pǝ´mɪsɪv] такий, що дозволяє

literal [´lɪt(ǝ)rǝl] літеральна константа

concern [kǝn´sɜ:n] домовленість, згода

sect [sekt] секта

phenomenon [fɪ´nɒmɪnǝn] явище

occult [´ɒkʌlt] окультизм

sinister  [´sɪnɪstǝ] поганий

to emerge  [ɪ´mɜ:dʒ] з’являтися

mainstream [´meɪnstri:m] основний напрямок 

mind control [maɪnd] [kɒn´trǝυl] контроль свідомості

technique [tek´ni:k] техніка (методика)

brainwashing [´breɪnˏwɒʃɪŋ] ідеологічна обробка

to exploit  [´eksplͻɪt] маніпулювати

self-respect [selfrɪ´spekt] почуття власної

гідності