Exam 1: Understanding Religion

A religious symbol that blends a circle and a square is called a

Examples of symbolic forms of the female divine in religions are

Explain the distinctions between the sacramental, prophetic, and mystical orientations of religions.

Explain the difference between the transcendent and immanent notions of sacredness. What characteristics might we expect in a religion that acknowledges a transcendent God or gods? What characteristics might we expect in a religion that emphasizes sacredness that is immanent?

Wilhelm Schmidt, an Austrian philologist, argued that all humankind once believed

Anthropology has typically been interested in

Prophetic orientation is a prominent aspect of

In Greek, philosophy literally means

One of the first sociologists to emphasize that religions emerge from whole tribes of people and reinforce their values is

Explain how a continuum with exclusiveness at one end and inclusiveness at the other can be used to describe religious views.

Which of the following artists hoped to become a Dutch Reformed Church clergyman but took to painting after a disagreement with Church authorities?

Why do religions exist? Give at least three possible reasons and defend them with good arguments (and, when appropriate, references to others who offer similar reasons).

In religious studies, the word myth means

List four symbols typically thought of as religious, and explain what each of them represent.

Describe three different discipline-based approaches to the study of religions, and explain the specific emphasis that each makes.

The prophetic orientation in religion emphasizes that contact with the sacred is ensured by

Offer, with evidence, an explanation for why males and male imagery came to dominate many of the religions of the past few thousand years.

The French post-structuralist who focused on those oppressed and marginalized by society, such as prisoners and the mentally ill, is

Religions often speak of the sacred or treat people or places as sacred. Is there anything objectively "sacred," or is this just an imaginative human projection? Defend your answer.

The French thinker who sought to go behind and beyond ordinary interpretations and to, in essence, deconstruct texts and other phenomena in search of fresh ways of seeing is