Karen Armstrong - A History of God--The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

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Talmud (Hebrew) Literally, 'study' or 'learning'. The classical rabbinic discussions of the ancient code of Jewish Law. See
also Mishnah.
Tannaim (Hebrew) The first generations of rabbinic scholars and legists who collated and edited the ancient code of oral
Jewish Law, known as the Mishnah (q.v.).
Taqwa (Arabic) God-consciousness.
Tariqa (Arabic) An order of Sufi mystics (q.v.).
Tawhid (Arabic) Unity. This refers to the divine unity of God and also to the integration required of each Muslim, who
strives to surrender wholly to God.
Tawil The symbolic, mystical interpretation of the Koran advocated by such esoteric sects as the Ismailis.
Tfillin (Hebrew) The black boxes known as phylacteries, containing the text of the Shema, which Jewish men and boys who
have attained majority wear fastened to their foreheads and left arms near the heart during the morning service, as
commanded by Deuteronomy 6:4-7.
Theophany A manifestation of God to men and women.
Theoria (Greek) Contemplation.
Throne Mysticism An early form of Jewish mysticism, which focused upon the description of the heavenly chariot
(Merkavah) seen by the Prophet Ezekiel and which took the form of an imaginary ascent through the halls (hekhaloth) of
God's palace to his heavenly throne.
Tikkun (Hebrew) Restoration. The process of redemption described in the Kabbalism of Isaac Luria, whereby the divine
sparks scattered during the Breaking of the Vessels (q.v.) are reintegrated with God.
Torah (Hebrew) The Law of Moses as outlined in the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
and Deuteronomy, which are also collectively known as the Torah.
Traditionists The ahl al-hadith: the people of the hadith. Those Muslims who interpreted the Koran and the hadith (q.v.)
literally in order to oppose the rationalistic tendencies of the Mutazilah (q.v.).
Tsimtsum (Hebrew) Shrinking, withdrawal. In the mysticism of Isaac Luria, God is imagined contracting into himself in order
to make a space for creation. It is, therefore, an act of kenosis (q.v.) and self-limitation.
Ulema See alem.
Ummah (Arabic) The Muslim community.
Upanishads Hindu scriptures composed during the Axial Age (q.v.) from the eighth to the second centuries BCE.
Veda (plural, Vedas) See Rig-Veda.
Wisdom In Hebrew Hokhmah and in Greek Sophia. The personification of God's divine plan in the scriptures. A method of
describing his activity in the world, which comes to stand for the human perception of God as opposed to the inaccessible
reality itself.
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Yahweh The name of God in Israel. Yahweh may originally have been the god of another people, adopted by Moses for