Deck 1: Understanding Religion

Question 1

Literally, the word religion means

A) meditate on.
B) worship.
C) connect again.
D) rise above.

Answer 1

connect again.

Question 2

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

A) making material donations to places of worship.
B) performing seated meditation.
C) engaging in sacramental rituals and ceremonies.
D) proper beliefs and adherence to moral rules.

Answer 2

proper beliefs and adherence to moral rules.

Question 3

Which of the following anthropologists suggested that religion was rooted in spirit worship?

A) E. B. Tylor
B) James Frazer
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Carl Jung

Answer 3

E. B. Tylor

Question 4

Sigmund Freud, when analyzing the origin of religion, emphasized

A) the human need for psychological security.
B) the certainty of an afterlife.
C) his belief that religions were essential to psychological health.
D) the valuable role that religions play in helping people find meaning in their lives.

Question 5

The disciple of Freud, who ultimately broke away from him over fundamental differences of interpretation, is

A) Carl Jung.
B) Wilhelm Schmidt.
C) Rudolf Otto.
D) Clifford Geertz.

Question 6

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

A) in a single High God.
B) in twin gods who represented dark and light.
C) that multiple gods existed in the form of natural phenomena.
D) that they were spiritually connected to nature.

Question 7

The mystical orientation in religion emphasizes

A) strengthening the sense of one's individuality.
B) seeking union with a reality greater than oneself.
C) the use of rituals and ceremonies.
D) the use of logical and rational thinking to find answers.

Question 8

The sacramental orientation in religion is characterized by

A) daily prayer.
B) the use of silent meditation.
C) the extensive use of bells and powders.
D) a belief that certain rituals and ceremonies help one achieve salvation.

Question 9

Anthropology has typically been interested in

A) how religions influence society and practices in different cultures.
B) how religions influence one another.
C) the study of topics relating to monotheistic religious traditions.
D) the study of linguistic patterns in human societies to determine how religion is experienced.

Question 10

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

A) mandala.
B) mudra.
C) mantra.
D) megalith.

Question 11

Prophetic orientation is a prominent aspect of

A) Protestant Christianity.
B) Zen Buddhism.
C) Vedic Hinduism.
D) Taoism.

Question 12

Pantheism is the belief

A) that all reality is divine.
B) that the Greek god Pan is the source of cosmic order.
C) in endless reincarnation.
D) in a timeless realm of happiness at the top of the universe.

Question 13

One name of an early female deity is

A) Wotan.
B) Mercury.
C) Astarte.
D) Izanagi.

Question 14

In religious studies, the word myth means

A) a story that is historically true.
B) a story that is historically untrue.
C) a story that is psychologically meaningful and may be either historically true or not.
D) a story that is found in similar form in many religions.

Question 15

In Greek, philosophy literally means

A) great system.
B) world study.
C) careful analysis.
D) love of wisdom.

Question 16

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

A) Pierre Bonnard
B) Vincent van Gogh
C) Pablo Picasso
D) Claude Monet

Question 17

According to Carl Jung, religion is a way for humans to

A) understand the depth and complexity of reality.
B) avoid the dangerous influence of the spirit world.
C) exert influence on nature.
D) bridge the gap between life and art.

Question 18

The Scottish anthropologist who wrote the multivolume study of mythology called The Golden Bough is

A) James Frazer.
B) C. G. Jung.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) E. B. Tylor.

Question 19

The German theologian who held that religions emerge as human responses to the mysterious side of reality is

A) Rudolf Otto.
B) Carl Jung.
C) Karl Rahner.
D) Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Question 20

The social scientist who argued that religion brings "a new zest" to living is

A) James Frazer.
B) William James.
C) E. B. Tylor.
D) Carl Jung.

Question 21

Which psychologist described religion as something that grew out of a person's need to arrive at personal fulfillment?

A) Rudolf Otto
B) E. B. Tylor
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Carl Jung

Question 22

Examples of symbolic forms of the female divine in religions are

A) swords and crosses.
B) spirals and eggs.
C) mandalas and lightning bolts.
D) hills and mountains.

Question 23

The approach that makes use of rational and systematic reasoning to answer the great questions of life and existence is

A) theology.
B) paleontology.
C) philosophy.
D) mythology.

Question 24

Religions that emphasize a creation tend to see time as

A) cyclical.
B) linear.
C) repetitive.
D) quantic.

Question 25

That area of investigation that explores sites of ancient civilizations, often uncovering remains of religious significance, is known as

A) paleontology.
B) semiology.
C) sociology.
D) archeology.

Question 26

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

A) Émile Durkheim.
B) Clifford Geertz.
C) E. E. Evans-Pritchard.
D) Jacques Derrida.

Question 27

The anthropologist who lived in the Sudan among the Nuer and Azande people is

A) Jacques Derrida.
B) Clifford Geertz.
C) E. E. Evans-Pritchard.
D) Émile Durkheim.

Question 28

The French thinker who recognized extraordinary structural similarities in the stories told by the tribal peoples of the Americas is

A) Michel Foucault.
B) Jean-Paul Sartre.
C) Jacques Derrida.
D) Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Question 29

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

A) Michel Foucault.
B) Jacques Derrida.
C) Claude Lévi-Strauss.
D) Émile Durkheim.

Question 30

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

A) Émile Durkheim.
B) Jacques Derrida.
C) Michel Foucault.
D) Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Question 31

The analytical approach that emphasizes the individuality of each experience in human societies and rejects the notion of underlying grand structures is

A) structuralism.
B) functionalism.
C) post-structuralism.
D) interactionism.

Question 32

The analytical approach that searches for universal similarities in the languages, religions, and mythologies of various peoples is

A) structuralism.
B) interactionism.
C) post-structuralism.
D) functionalism.

Question 33

The analytical approach that studies the written texts of religion and even nonwritten material as reflections of the cultural values and assumptions that produced them is

A) structuralism.
B) literary theory.
C) linguistics.
D) post-structuralism.

Question 34

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).

Question 35

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?

Question 36

Could we use the term religion for a belief system of only one person? Explain your answer.

Question 37

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.

Question 38

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

Question 39

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

Question 40

Describe the range of attitudes among religions toward words and special texts.

Question 41

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

Question 42

How do we typically distinguish between religion and philosophy?

Question 43

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

Question 44

Describe at least three contemporary examples of religious devotion to female deities or the religious use of female imagery.

Question 45

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

Question 46

The term religion seems literally to mean "to join again." What elements do you see being connected by a religion?