Faith and Reason


Religious Identity Vocabulary

Non-religious: Agnostic, Atheist, Skeptic, Spiritual, Cultural Christian, Deist, Free-thinker, Not religious, Post-Christian, recovering Christian, Questioning, Secular

Degrees of commitment: Apathetic, Moderate, Devout, Extremist, Lax

Progressive/conservative: Conservative/liberal, Orthodox (besides eastern)

Categories other than specific denominations: Born-again, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant


Global Christianity

Absolutism – certain truths are absolute, non-negotiable

Relativism – truth is relative, what may be right to one person or culture may not be right for another

Inculturation – absolute truth can look different when translated into different cultures

Pluralism – coexistence of systems making mutually exclusive claims

Principled dialogue – respectful dialogue with others without downplaying differences