Background information
A. Religions
Laity: those members (Laymen) of a religious group who are without the special training of priests or other religious officeholders
Clergy: the people (Clergyman) who are members of esp. the Christian priesthood and who are allowed to perform religious services
God: the Deity, the Divinity, Holy One, Jehovah, the Lord, Providence, the Almighty, and the Creator.
There is only one God in heaven or maybe in the world. But the belief in God has developed three religious sections, namely, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Christianity is divided into several sections, the Roman Catholic, the Protestant and the Orthodox Eastern Church. They believe in trinity, that is, God is the Holy Father, the holy son and the holy spirit/ghost, with Jesus Christ as its incarnation.
The Roman Catholic Church has a very strict organization, with Pope as its supreme leader, and cardinal, archbishop, bishop and priest (catholic father) under him successively. These clergies are not allowed to get married all their lives. People who belong to Roman Catholic Church have a tradition of going to church services every week.
For Protestants, things are not so rigorous. They can worship God at home. Pastors, ministers and clergymen can get married. They don't have a supreme governing body as the Roman Catholics do. For Roman Catholics, you can only talk to God by way of a church, confessing your sins in the confessional to a priest who grants you absolution in the name of God, but the Protestant believe they can talk directly to God. Denominations of Protestants are Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.
Orthodox Eastern Church has another divine creature to worship, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern members draw cross on their chests, while Protestants do not.
There are other people who claim themselves followers of God, too. Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism (Latter Day Saints) etc.
Abraham: the first great Patriarch of Israel. Wife Sarah. At 75, Sarah presented Abraham (then 85) her Egyptian maidservant, Hegar. Hagar bore a son named Ishmael. God sent an angel to Hagar and promised her that Ishmael would have uncounted descendants. Ishmael was the father of a namadic nation which lived in northern Arabia. Modern-day Arabs claim descent from Ishmael. At the age of 90, Sarah gave birth to Isaac (Abraham was now 100 years old). Sarah died at 127. God promised to make Abraham’s descendants a great nation that would become God’s chosen People. Isaac, who was circumcised on the 8th day after his birth, was Abraham’s rightful heir.
Judaism doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. They believe in Moses who led them away from persecutions of the Egyptians, and they suppose that God will come to the world one day in the future. Their prophets include King David and his son Solomon who was famous for his wealth and wisdom. They think that God had granted them a place of inhabitancy, the Promised Land which is the nowadays Israel. Jewish people have suffered religious discrimination by Christians over the long run of history. The Jewish people were not allowed to own land or serve at any government offices.
While sharing the same God with the Christians and Jews, the Islamic believe in Muhammad, who is the last of the prophets (Adam, Noah (Adam’s 9th generation grandson), Abraham, Moses and Jesus being the others), and that there will be a final judgment at the end of the world. Heaven awaits the faithful and hell the infidels. They call God Allah, and their bible is Koran. Their sacred symbol is not the cross but a crescent. A Moslem/Moslem/Muslim must make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca, birthplace of Muhammad, their holy city in Saudi Arabia. The Islamic are divided into two groups, Shiite who believe Muhammad's successor was his cousin and son-in-law Ali, and Sunnis who believe Ali was only one and the last of Muhammad's four successors. Most Iranians are Shiite while 85% of all Moslems are Sunnis.
B. American governing system
In the US, the power is divided between three agencies, with law-making power given to legislature (parliament: Congress and Senate), executive (the president and his administration) and judicial (the Federal Supreme Court which is composed of 9 members, the chief justice and eight associate justices, named by the president, subject to Senate confirmation).
Civil Law: part of a country's set of laws which is concerned with the private affairs of citizens or legal/juridical persons, for example marriage, business contracts, property ownership, etc rather than with crime.
Criminal Law: body of law that defines offences against the state and regulates their prosecution and punishment. Criminal offences range from traffic tickets to major crimes like hijacking and murder.
State courts:
a. local trial courts (magistrates courts for minor cases)
b. general trial courts
c. state supreme court
Federal courts:
a. limited states district court: the jurisdiction of the federal courts is basically limited by the US constitution to cases based on federal law and to controversies between citizens of different states. The whole nation is divided geographically into more than 90 areas, in each of which is a "limited states district Court".
b. limited states courts of appeal: Above the "limited States District Courts" are 11 "limited States Courts of Appeal".
c. the Federal Supreme Court, which consists of 9 justices (not judges).
Jury: A group of laymen, called jurors, summoned to study the evidence and determine the facts in a dispute tried in a court of law. The formally produced evidence is considered the basis for decision by an objective jury. The use of the jury system is an important protection against judicial and administrative tyranny and is provided in most criminal and civil cases. A grand jury of 12 to 23 members usually considers the evidence and determines whether a trial is justified. A petty jury, usually of 12 members, sits at the trial proper and, after hearing the evidence, reaches a verdict. Traditionally, the verdict was required to be unanimous, but today some states allow majority verdicts.
lawyer: general term designating a person authorized to practice law in the courts or to serve clients as legal agent or adviser.
COUNSELOR/COUNSELLOR: a lawyer in the US who has acquired the right to plead causes in open court or whose specialty is conducting and arguing court cases. The corresponding British term is BARRISTER. COUNSEL may be used as the equivalent of COUNSELOR, but it is also a collective noun.
ATTORNEY is often used in the US as equivalent to lawyer, but the term may be used more precisely to denote a legal agent who acts for a client as in settling wills, or defending or prosecuting a case in court. In England the term is SOLICITOR who can only serve in a magistrate.
Prosecutor: the person (often a lawyer) who brings a criminal charge against sb. in a court of law, or who represents in court the person who is bringing a criminal; charge against sb.
Plaintiff: a person who brings a charge against sb. (defendant) in court (of civil law)
Defendant: a person in a law trial against whom a charge is brought
the Accused: a person who is charged with doing wrong, a crime, etc.
C. Bible
Name of the Christian Scriptures, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The traditional view is that the Bible was written under the guidance of God and is , therefore, entirely true. Interpretation of the Bible is a main point of difference between Protestantism, which holds that individual have the right to interpret the Bible for themselves, and Roman Catholicism, which teaches that individuals may read the Bible only as interpreted by the church.
Testament: a covenant/formal solemn agreement between God and man
Old Testament: Christian name for the Hebrew Bible, the first portion of the Christian Bible.
Genesis, first book of the Old Testament. It tells the origin of the world and of man, including the stories of man's disobedience and fall, Cain and Abel, and Noah; the career of God's special servant Abraham, including the sacrifice of Isaac, and Abraham's journey to Canaan and God's promises to him. etc. Sources of Genesis include Babylonian and Egyptian folklore. Controversy over its interpretation and literary history has been extensive.
New Testament: the distinctively Christian portion of the Bible, consisting of 27 books including four biographies of Jesus, namely the Gospels, Matthew, Mark,. Luke, and John; a history of missionary activities, the Acts of the Apostles; and 21 letters written by or to apostles.
Gospel: Greek word for good news. the first four books of the New Testament. Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were entitled Evangelist, meaning the one who preaches the gospel. The title is now applied to Protestant preachers who preach personal conversion.
fundamentalism: conservative religious movement that arose among members of various Protestant denominations early in the 20th cent. its aim is to maintain traditional interpretations of the Bible and what believed to be the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. Nowadays this word can apply to other religions.