N: definitions and context
Nabi (also Navi)
A Hebrew and Arabic term commonly translated as prophet. Its precise use and theological meaning vary between Jewish and Muslim contexts.
Name-it-and-claim-it
A popular label for strands of the Word of Faith movement, also associated with positive confession and prosperity teaching. The label is often used critically, so it is best to identify the specific ministry or teaching being discussed.
Naturalism
The view that events and phenomena are explained through the natural world and its processes, without relying on supernatural causes. Philosophical naturalism and methodological naturalism are related but not identical uses of the term.
Natural marriage
A contested phrase used by some religious and social movements for a marriage model centered on a man and a woman. Because the phrase presents one model as natural, it is important to describe its speaker, context and implications rather than treat it as a neutral definition.
Naturalistic evolution
The scientific account of biological change through natural processes, including heredity, variation and selection, without proposing divine intervention as part of the explanatory mechanism. See origins and evolution.
Near-death experience
An unusual and sometimes deeply meaningful experience reported by some people during a medical crisis or close brush with death. Reports may include light, movement, vivid memories or a sense of peace; interpretations differ between neurological, psychological and spiritual frameworks.
Necromancy
Practices intended to communicate with or obtain knowledge from the dead. Several religious traditions have treated such practices as prohibited or spiritually dangerous.
Beit Hillel
Hebrew for “House of Hillel,” referring to the school associated with Hillel the Elder, a major Jewish teacher of the first century BCE. It is often contrasted with the school of Shammai in discussions of Jewish interpretation.
Nenju
A Japanese Buddhist term for prayer or meditation beads, also called juzu in some contexts.
Neo-orthodoxy
A twentieth-century movement in Christian theology associated especially with Karl Barth. It reacted against some forms of theological liberalism and emphasized revelation, divine transcendence and the limits of human religious language.
Neotheism
Also called open theism or the open view of God. It proposes that the future includes genuine possibilities and that God’s knowledge of future free choices is understood differently from classical accounts of exhaustive foreknowledge.
Neshama
A Hebrew word commonly translated as “soul” or “breath,” with meanings that depend on the biblical, liturgical or philosophical context.
New Age
A decentralized modern spiritual movement drawing on varied practices and ideas, including meditation, esoteric healing, astrology and reincarnation. It has no single authority or universally shared creed.
Nikah
An Arabic term for an Islamic marriage contract or marriage ceremony. Customs and legal details differ among Muslim communities and legal traditions.
Nihilism
A family of philosophical positions associated with the rejection, questioning or absence of inherent meaning, value or knowledge. The term is used in several distinct ways and should not be treated as a single doctrine.
Nirvana
In Buddhism, liberation from suffering and the conditions that sustain the cycle of rebirth. Different Buddhist traditions explain nirvana through distinct philosophical and devotional vocabularies.
Nissuin
A Jewish wedding rite or stage of marriage, traditionally associated with the formal bringing of a couple together after betrothal.
Noachide covenant
A term used in Jewish thought for the covenant associated with Noah and the universal ethical responsibilities traditionally understood to apply to humanity.
Non-denominational
Usually describing a Christian congregation that is not formally affiliated with a denomination. Congregations using this label can differ considerably in theology, worship, governance and social teaching.
Nones
A common demographic term for people who report no religious affiliation. It includes atheists, agnostics, humanists and people who are uncertain, privately spiritual or simply unaffiliated; it is not synonymous with atheism.
Normative ethics
The branch of ethics that asks what people ought to do, which values should guide conduct and what makes a life or action morally commendable.
Normative principle
A rule for deciding what practices are permitted or required. In Christian discussions, the term may refer to different approaches to biblical authority, so the tradition and definition should be specified.
NOTA
An acronym sometimes proposed for “not affiliated” or “none of the above.” In current public writing, religiously unaffiliated and nones are more widely understood terms.
Numerology
The interpretation of numbers as carrying hidden, symbolic or predictive meaning. It appears in diverse religious and esoteric traditions and is distinct from the mathematical study of numbers.
Using this glossary
Terms can carry different meanings across communities and historical periods. Read each definition alongside its tradition, source and purpose; for broader comparisons, visit the main glossary or compare beliefs.