Deck 1: The Beginning of Understanding

Question 1

What does the following Key Term mean:
-agnosticism

Answer 1

The position of neither believing nor disbelieving in God. The word also pertains to the view that it is not possible to know whether God exists.

Question 2

What does the following Key Term mean:
-atheism

Answer 2

Denial of the existence of any kind of divinity, or the view that the divine is not a person but a mysterious force or energy.

Question 3

What does the following Key Term mean:
-monotheism

Answer 3

Belief in one God (as in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).

Question 4

What does the following Key Term mean:
-polytheism

Question 5

What does the following Key Term mean:
-profane

Question 6

What does the following Key Term mean:
-socialism

Question 7

What does the following Key Term mean:
-theism

Question 8

What is the term designated in the textbook for a philosophy of life, a set of beliefs and principles that helps us make sense of our lives, the cosmos, and our place in it?

A) the dimensions of the sacred
B) a worldview
C) the ritual dimension
D) a set of opinions

Question 9

Who postulated "Religion began as early humans responded to the forces of nature (the sun, moon, tides, winds, etc.) by personifying them and attaching myths and rituals to them"?

A) Max Muller
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Ninian Smart
D) Peter Berger

Question 10

The belief that everything (both living and inanimate) is animated by spirits is called

A) Holy Ghost
B) Wicca
C) animism
D) nature religion

Question 11

The academic study of religion, called religious studies,

A) remains neutral regarding the truth or justification of religious claims
B) makes claims about the veracity of each religion's ritual practices
C) is the same thing as theology
D) advocates for a secular society

Question 12

The seven dimensions of religion were developed by

A) Merlin Stone
B) William James
C) Ninian Smart
D) Max Muller

Question 13

Which of these is not one of the seven dimensions of religion?

A) The practical dimension
B) The emotional dimension
C) The divine dimension
D) The mythic dimension

Question 14

Stories that are recognized by the relevant body of the faithful are considered

A) myths
B) folklore
C) beliefs
D) canonical

Question 15

The material dimension includes which one of these?

A) natural features of the world
B) the doctrines of believers
C) the act of meditation
D) myths of creation

Question 16

Comparison of religions

A) is one way to prove the truth of a particular religion
B) provides a method used to place religions in hierarchical order
C) explores meaningful and similarities and differences between religions
D) is a method of evaluation

Question 17

The best method used by scholars to compare religions is to find

A) similar symbols in each tradition that connote different meanings
B) the most similarities between two traditions and ignore the differences
C) common creation stories
D) dynamic equivalents between traditions

Question 18

Mircea Eliade argued that academics should study archetypal notions such as the _______ and ________ to understand religion.

A) male, female
B) culture, society
C) ethics, laws
D) sacred, profane

Question 19

William James studied which aspect of religion?

A) religious experience
B) religious symbolism
C) religious myths
D) religious rituals

Question 20

Which of these is not one of the mystical states named by William James?

A) ineffability
B) noetic quality
C) permanence
D) passivity

Question 21

Which of these best describes the noetic quality?

A) love
B) time
C) knowledge
D) emotion

Question 22

Which of these scholars proclaimed religion is "the opium of the people"?

A) Sigmund Freud
B) Emile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Merlin Stone

Question 23

William James argued that mystical states challenge which of these?

A) rationality
B) subjectivity
C) truth
D) belief

Question 24

Who argued that religion is the mind's way of dealing with the feelings of fear and helplessness thairst arise in childhood and continue throughout adult life?

A) William James
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Karl Marx
D) Mircea Eliade

Question 25

Merlin Stone studies ancient religion and argued that societies were originally

A) patriarchal
B) socialisms
C) matriarchal
D) ritualized

Question 26

Stone did not base her claims about ancient religion on which of these?

A) archeological evidence
B) gods and goddesses of the oldest living religious tradition, Hinduism, in India
C) ancient Sumerian text
D) Wiccan traditions

Question 27

______ denotes something that is deemed nonreligious or secular.

A) Material
B) Profane
C) Inane
D) Nonmaterial

Question 28

The political and economic doctrine that the means of production (property, factories, and businesses) should be owned or controlled by the people, either communally or through the state, is called what?

A) capitalism
B) monism
C) socialism
D) ideology

Question 29

Which of these is not one of the definitions for religion listed in the textbook?

A) "the belief in Spiritual Beings"
B) "what the individual does with his own solitariness"
C) "that which is of ultimate concern"
D) "belief in God"

Question 30

Who theorized religion in this way: "People have imagined religion by projecting human desires, needs, or attributes onto imaginary deities"?

A) Karl Marx
B) Paul Tillich
C) Ludwig Feuerbach
D) Karl Barthes

Question 31

Who argued, "Religion arose from the early human's attempts to control nature through magic"?

A) Karl Marx
B) James Frazer
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Max Muller

Question 32

Which of these academics did not define religion as a "utility"-a phenomenon that offers an "importanunction or satisfies particular needs"?

A) Emile Durkheim
B) John Bawker
C) Paul Tillich
D) Max Muller

Question 33

Which of these religious traditions teaches the supreme importance of harmony in the family, community, and state?

A) Confucianism
B) Judaism
C) Hinduism
D) Christianity

Question 34

Which of these is a way to study and write about religion that is considered a religious endeavor?

A) theology
B) moral philosophy
C) religious studies
D) biblical criticism

Question 35

The visions of the Prophet Muhammad, the conversion of Paul, and the enlightenment of the Buddha are all examples of which dimension of religion?

A) the mythic/narrative dimension
B) the practical/ritual dimension
C) the experiential/emotional dimension
D) the doctrinal/philosophical dimension

Question 36

Parables and edifying tales fall under which dimension of religion?

A) the mythic/narrative dimension
B) the practical/ritual dimension
C) the experiential/emotional dimension
D) the doctrinal/philosophic dimension

Question 37

In Christianity, attempts to provide an analysis of the nature of the Divine Being that would preserve both the idea of the Incarnation and the humanness of Jesus resulted in the notion of the Trinity. Which of these dimensions of religion is this described as an example of?

A) the mythic/narrative dimension
B) the practical/ritual dimension
C) the experiential/emotional dimension
D) the doctrinal/philosophic dimension

Question 38

Which of these scholars advocated that religion should be examined by how it handles certain archetypal notions such as the profane and sacred?

A) Ninian Smart
B) Mircea Eliade
C) Emile Durkheim
D) Paul Tillich

Question 39

__________ is a manifestation of the sacred in a limited object or time.

A) Ontology
B) Hierophany
C) The holy
D) Ontophany

Question 40

According to the Gallup poll "Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nation," the importance of religion in ________ is the lowest at 16 percent.

A) Sri Lanka
B) the United Kingdom
C) Estonia
D) Sweden

Question 41

Which of these academics argued that subjective feelings are the "deeper source of religion"?

A) William James
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Mircea Eliade
D) Max Muller

Question 42

What country has one of the highest degrees of religiosity according to the Gallup poll "Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nation," at 99 percent?

A) Belarus
B) United States
C) Bangladesh
D) Australia

Question 43

According to Sigmund Freud, ________ is an illusion.

A) happiness
B) the ego
C) reality
D) religion

Question 44

_______ is denial of the existence of any kind of divinity.

A) Anti-theism
B) Agnosticism
C) Atheism
D) Theism

Question 45

The Hindu Trinity does not include which of these gods?

A) Brahma
B) Vishnu
C) Shiva
D) Ganesh

Question 46

Defining religion is a straightforward task.

Question 47

All religions emphasize relationships with deities, ethical systems, institutional structures, and the interior life of individuals, scriptures, faith, or beliefs.

Question 48

James George Frazer postulated that religion arose from the early humans' attempts to control nature through magic.

Question 49

Agnostics deny of the existence of any kind of divinity.

Question 50

Academic study of religion seeks the truth of each religion's doctrinal dimension.

Question 51

The ritual dimension of a religious tradition includes patterns of behavior that may not strictly counts as rituals.

Question 52

The seminal stories of religion are always factual.

Question 53

Sooner or later a religion has to change and adapt to the social reality around it.

Question 54

Mounuji in Japan can be considered an example of the material dimension of the Shinto tradition.

Question 55

When comparing religious traditions it is important to look at even superficial similarities.

Question 56

The Christian Trinity should be compared to the Hindu concept of Trimurti, the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Question 57

Since all religions change over time, every religion has a history.

Question 58

Mircea Eliade argued that religion is an independent variable in the minds of religious people; religion must be explained "on its own terms."

Question 59

William James argued that subjectivity had no bearing on religious experience.

Question 60

William James believed that religion was a human construction.

Question 61

Karl Marx argued that religion lulls people into a slave mentality.

Question 62

Sigmund Freud advanced the theory that belief in the divine allays our fear of the dangers of life.

Question 63

Merlin Stone argued that at the beginning of religion, God was a woman.

Question 64

According to Stone, ancient religious traditions centered on male deities.

Question 65

Some strains of religion are fervently intolerant, fanatical, or violent, just as some secular worldviews are.

Question 66

All religions emphasize relationships with deities, ethical systems, institutional structures, and the interior life of individuals, scriptures, faith, or beliefs.

Question 67

Many religions express values in moral codes that prescribe proper behavior and proscribe violations of the code.

Question 68

Academic study of religions is evaluative as well as descriptive.

Question 69

The academic discipline of religious studies looks at a religion from an outsider's perspective.

Question 70

To understand a religious tradition we need to see how it works among people.

Question 71

The ethical dimension of religion is concerned with how every religious movement is embodied in a group of people, and this is very often rather formally organized.

Question 72

Unlike evaluation of religions, comparison of religion is undertaken for the purpose of learning more about religion and religions.

Question 73

In Taoism and Zen Buddhism water is a symbol of the grealood.

Question 74

Since the Bible is an ancient document, the oldest aspects of which are now several millennia old, using it to define the religion of the modern church requires a process of interpretation.

Question 75

According to Mircea Eliade, "The gods did more; they manifested the different modalities of the sacred in the very structure of the world and of cosmic phenomena."

Question 76

Why is it important to study world religions?

Question 77

How is academic study of religion differenrom theological studies or the "philosophy of religion"?

Question 78

Discuss the preferred method of comparing religions. Be sure to use specific examples in your discussion.

Question 79

Explain the significance of William James's four mystical states.

Question 80

What are the dimensions of religion discussed by Ninian Smart? Using these dimensions as a guide, would you conclude that a political party or interest group is a religion? Why or why not?