Christianity and World Religions Final Exam Study Guide
The four levels of consciousness:
1. Experience of deep sleep - deep unity and peace, reminiscent of highest goal. 2. Experience of dream sleep - recognize plurality, interact with other beings through fears or desires. 3. Waking state - actions are governed by desire and/or fear. 4. Enlightenment/highest awareness - you are no longer governed by fear or desire, but you're resting in joyous/serene/complete nature. You are not acting based on ego. This is the highest freedom, where you again experience deep unity as in the lowest level of consciousness.
The four castes:
1. Priests and teachers who pass on the teachings and wisdom of Hinduism (Brahmins). 2. Rulers and warriors of society. 3. Merchants and farmers, essentially the businesspeople. 4. Laborers/servants who do the impure work of society like clean gutters/toilets. (5)It is hard to distinguish the laborers/servants from the untouchables/dalits, who are so impure and degrading that they are completely outside the caste system all together.
List and describe the 5 Pillars
1. Profession of faith (shahada) There is no God but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God. Recite this with faith before two Muslim (and also you need to get circumcised if you are a man) and then you have become a Muslim. 2. Ritual prayer (salat, namaz, du'a [spontaneous prayer]) The most important prayer is what you say 5 times a day with other members in the community. To do this, you go through a cycle (ra'ka cycle), touch your forehead to the floor, sit back on your heels....Hold up one finger to signify your witness to one God even when your eyes or closed. The prayer is always in the direction of Mecca, so you always need to know where Mecca is! If you are a woman and you are menstruating, you are too impure to take part in formal prayer. You can pray these five prayers alone but it is better to to pray with others. You don't have to go to the mosque to pray, except on Friday. In india, only men are allow to the mosque, and women are also not allowed into the cemetery. 3. Legal almsgiving (zakat) form of almsgiving treated as a religious tax and/or religious obligation in Islam not a charitable contribution, considered to be a tax Zakat is based on income and the value of all of one's possessions 4. One month fast (Ramadan, ramzan) Set aside time for fasting, no food no drink from sun up to sun-down. No sexual relations from morning till night as well. There is a celebration every single day at the end of fasting. People cook all day Will emulate things that the prophet Muhammad liked. Women are not allowed to fast if they are menstruating or just had a child. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) required to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca once in your life time, following these conditions: a) cannot leave debt behind when you go b) women must go with a male, if you are divorced then you must ask your son if you may go c) verification that you are Muslim d) .... When you go, you cannot tell who is poor and who is wealthy. Everyone is equal before God. The whole pilgrimage is about strengthening your faith in front of other people with the same faith. The feast of sacrifice: animals are slaughtered e) walk seven times around Kaba f) 6 mile walk to Mt. Arafat g) stone pillars which represent Iblis, pick up 49 pebbles and throw it at pillars and the curse the devil
The four ideal stages of life:
1. Spending 12 years learning traditional wisdom and knowledge at the home of a teacher 2. Married state as a householder with children 3. Withdrawal with your spouse from society to learn at the feet of a teacher of wisdom, live in a forest. 4. Separate from your spouse so each of you can find God in your own particular way, go wherever the spirit leads you, wandering. Become a beggar, mendicancy. **It is possible to skip stages 2 and 3**
The five "requirements" for being a Hindu:
1. Understand that vedas (ancient scriptures written in Sanskrit) are the highest source for knowledge about God. 2. Believe in reincarnation (in Hinduism this means a changeless soul goes from earthly body to earthly body as dictated by God until you learn some lesson) and karma. 3. Plurality of spiritual paths (actions/serves, meditation, knowledge in the way of love) see the 3 margas 4. Adhere to the caste system. 5. Possess an emotional and spiritual attachment to mother India.
Name the three "baskets" of Buddhist scripture and briefly describe their content.
1. Vinaya literature - rules and regulations for living as a monk/nun, more focused on practice. About practicing Buddhism 2. sutra - basic teachings of Buddha and early Buddhism, more focused on doctrine (8-fold path, 4 noble truths, etc) 3. Abidharma - reflects even more about doctrine, discusses what is wrong with non-Buddhists. Commentaries about the teachings.
What are the Four Passing Sights? Buddhism
1. disease 2. old age 3. death he begins to lose hope, then he sees... 4. renunciation - he sees a monk who has renounced the world, this is the only positive passing sight!
23. Differences between Theravada /Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism
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What are 3 Christian interpretations of Muhammad?
All negative discussion about Muhammed: 1. He is prone to violence - when he has power, he doesn't even debate, he just has them beheaded. (not very spiritual behavior) 2. He is addicted to sex and women - impure 3. He preaches false doctrine - in Christian opinion - and says Jesus is not God. ONE POSITIVE THING is that he resembles prophets in the Old Testament, preaches monotheism, is humble when he is called upon, and relays justice/mercy in his message. Even if a prophet is flawed, his message can be correct...
Compare and contrast the Council of Trent and Vatican 2 on non-Christian religions
Both doctrines are examples of inclusivism and say that people of other religions have the possibility of receiving salvation from God. Council at Trent states that salvation is attained due to observance of a person's conscience and says that the religion you belong to is of no help. Each person's conscience is the command of God, and following one's conscience is to be moving in the direction of God. The council of trent was in response to the emergence of Protestantism as well as the discovery of the new world. You can make it into heaven in spite of your religion not because of it. Other religions do NOT have significant knowledge of God. Vatican 2 states that your conscience and religion help you reach salvation - God has given all people a moral compass, so even if they don't know God, being a good, spiritual person is good enough (other religions just have an incomplete understanding of the divine mystery because we know about incarnation). Nostra Aetate affirms that Hindu, Buddhism, and Islam all possess a limited or partial understanding of the truth about God. Chrisitianity has the deepest understanding of God through Christ, the point of centrality.
What does "dependent co-origination" attempt to explain? How does this teaching differ from the Hindu view of karma?
Dependent Co-origination is the Buddhist view of reincarnation/karma and explains how a certain kind of wrong interaction with the world leads a person to keep coming back in a different life. It is the hardest (WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY THIS?) doctrine in Buddhism. The teaching differs from Hindu karma in that it is missing the concept of a God who is the cause of these systems - there is no soul or self in Buddhism at all officially. All dharmas ("things") arise in dependence upon other dharmas
What are the Four Noble Truths? How does the root cause of suffering here compare with the root cause taught by Hinduism?
Four Noble Truths: KNOW THESE EXACTLY 1. All life is FULL of suffering 2. the cause of suffering is craving or self-interested desire 3. suffering can be eliminated by eliminating craving 4. the way to overcome craving is by following the Noble Eightfold Path Root cause of suffering in Hinduism is caused by ignorance, which leads to craving/fear/desire, which leads to reincarnation until we awaken to what we are. The root cause of suffering in Buddhism is OFFICIALLY craving, but ignorance is actually a huge cause (there is a deep agreement that ultimate cause of suffering is ignorance), but ignorance is difficult to fully understand so craving is the officially taught cause of suffering.
Historical Revelation
God is personal, and since persons are revealed through their activities, this revelation is based on how the events of history reveal who God is to us. We know more about the divine through this (we learn He is loving and personal), and we learn that human beings and their bodily nature has value, which is a question that arises in cosmic revelation. The importance of social justice is important here and the greater hope and promise that the human person is completed in the divine.
How did the Indus Valley culture and Aryan culture contribute to what later became known as Hinduism?
Indus Valley contribution: 1. practice of yoga begins 2. earliest worship of Shiva (proto-Shiva), Shiva is depicted as an object of worship 3. multitude of goddesses (mostly fertility goddesses) Aryan contribution: 1. language of Sanskrit 2. phenomenon of sacrifice - offering object to God to receive earthly benefits in return. Puja=offering of animals to God to get communion with God. 3. caste system - this started with just 3 castes 4. great number of Gods (officially 330 million gods!)
To which Christian doctrines does Islam most vehemently object? Why?
Islam rejects both the divinity of Jesus and the Trinity because the idolatry problem - when Christians praise Jesus we call a creature "God" and introduce a plurality to God - it seems like we praise 3 gods.
Explain the centrality of the Qu'ran for Islamic faith and its role in dialogue with other religions.
It is entirely central for Islamic fath - Muslims don't think anything else about God, because if there was anything else to know, God would have written it in the book! It is the beginning of all teaching and practice. Since they say God wrote the book himself, it is difficult to get them to think outside the book or consider other similar religions. They always say "but it's not in the book that God wrote himself, so it can't be true". Because of the Qu'ran's centrality, they do not engage in dialogue with other religions effectively.
Compare Jesus in the Qu'ran with Jesus in the New Testament
Jesus in the NT adds to information about Isa in the Qu'ran. Qu'ran: Jesus is not the word of God incarnate, the Qu'ran rejects Jesus' resurrection - they say it'll happen just not yet, no parables exist, the sermon on the mount is made up the Qu'ran says, Jesus didn't peach about new kingdom - he just preaches the same as the other prophets, only what he SAYS is important, he didn't forgive sins, doesn't mention unconditional love in his teachings NT: Jesus is word of God incarnate, resurrection confirms Jesus is right, parables express his radical understanding of God, sermon on the mount is the guidance to live a life of selfless love, Jesus preaches things that reveal who God is (this is incomplete in Qu'ran), he DOES important things, he forgives sins, speaks about the unconditional love every person is born with.
List 3 ways in which Muhammad's revelation advances the culture and ethic of his people.
Monotheism Social Justice and Mercy Improve the situation of females
What ought our approach to Islam be? What is characteristic of Thomas Merton's approach to Muslims?
Our approach to Islam: do not speak badly of Muhammed, start with low Christology to relate to Muslims (low is where you start with discussion of the way Jesus lived and then gradually approach the divinity of Jesus), recognize you share common humanity with Muslims (we are all God's creation), recognize the value of Muslim theological arguments (they enrich our own faith). Thomas Merton's approach - focused more on the idea that the differences in our doctrines doesn't matter! They are similar enough, our religion experience is the same with the overlapping experience of God. We both experience His mercy. Guidelines for Xtians in conversation with Muslims: o Do not speak badly of the Prophet Muhamad- speak of his accomplishments. Everything we find scandalous they justify by saying it helped God in some way o Start with low Christology rather than high Christology when speaking about Jesus. Low: looks at the fact that Jesus is the incarnation of God so we see him as both divine and human. Start the way his own followers did and they gradually recognize his humanity and the church slowly recognizes his divinity. High: presumes Jesus is divine and it is then proven throughout his like (John's gospel). High Christology is the death of dialogue. Start with comparing our views of Jesus as a man. Problem: speaking about Jesus in quoran v NT is that the Muslims don't believe in the NT because it's not to be trusted. o Pursue the dialogue of life- when you come to know muslims you don't have to treat them as an object of your missionary endeavor. Treat them as a human and focus on what we share in life with them. Recognize common humanity o Recognize the validity of their arguments against Christianity and use them to strengthen your own faith. Allow them to challenge you o Accept the possibility of the Muslim experience. Pope: "we worship the same God", but understood differently. o Focus on the experience and the value of love "Is love important to you? What do you think about it?
What are the two major differences between Soto and Rinzai zen?
Soto Zen - just zazen alone, simple sitting, enlightenment occurs gradually Rinzai Zen - starts with zazen but goes on to solving koans, enlightenment occurs in sudden bursts upon solving individual koans
What is the significance of the Bhagavad-Gita in the history of Hindu spirituality?
The Bhagavad-Gita comes immediately after the Upanishads. This tells us that God loves us, that there is more than one way to God that helps us to transcend the ego, that God comes sometimes in preacherly form to make messages more concrete or to tackle a problem that is transcending the human race. God can appear in creaturely form
What is the meaning of the "Middle Way"?
The Middle Way is another word for Buddhism - Buddhist paths want to navigate us from the extreme ways of viewing our relationship with our body. We should avoid sensual indulgence but also avoid extreme mortification (disciplining/punishing) of the body.
List and explain the basic doctrines or articles of faith in Islam.
The focus of Islam is always on oneness of God - God is creator, judge, all powerful-all knowing, merciful, harsh on the wicked (constant threat of punishment, so they are always afraid to convert to another religion). If you are too focused on wealth or prestige, this can become another god, too, and this is an unforgiveable sin called shirk. Shirk is association - if you associate something with God and give it divine status, you are committing idolatry! Belief of angels - we can encounter them all the time...each person has two angels (one to keep track of what we do and the other to keep track of what we say), the angel also spreads word of Quran to the rest of the world, and we greet the angels after prayer. Belief of jinn (genie) - the genie has a lower status than angels, limited lifespans, can be converted to Islam, are mostly disruptive Prophets/Scriptures - Jesus is 1 of 4 major prophets and that's all...he is not divine! Prophets recite the words of their angel, Jesus/Isa is important because he recites the word of God faithfully. Prophets in the Qu'ran do not suffer - they are always faithful in the Word. "Last Things" (resurrection, judgement, heaven, hell) Everything is decided on the basis of your good works Day of doom: something to be feared, sense of impending threat Hell-lake of fire Goal: heaven, paradise, an oasis in the desert Martyrs go directly to heaven Tendency toward predestination Free will + God's involvement-> best case it is always God's will
The three ways (margas) of Hindu spirituality:
The three ways lead to liberation, and one thing they have in common is your ego must die/lower self must be left behind in order to achieve the ultimate reality. 1. Jnana-marga: way of knowledge/meditation, highest mystical knowledge, knowledge of the self. 2. Bhakti-marga: most common way, devotion to a God of mercy and love, the idea is that you are so focused on God that you don't care about self discovery. 3. Karma-marga: the path of selfless service to one's neighbor in need (this is especially embodied in the person of Ghandi).
Brahman, Atman, Purusha in the Upanishads?
These are 3 terms for the ultimate mystery. Brahman - designates the ultimate reality as the goal of all things, source of all. Supreme awareness and joy, power of the universe, dwells within people Atman - states that the ultimate reality is the most interior Self, and that there is a presence of God within, there is Brahman within you. The highest self. Purusha - "supreme person" perceives ultimate reality as personal, it is active to some degree because it is also the one who connects the dots in the laws of karma and reincarnation, and as much as you purify your mind/heart you cannot grab enlightenment through your own effort, you must be able to receive what God is offering you.
Distinguish the five differences between the Hindu notion of avatar and the Christian concept of incarnation:
They are both examples of divine embodiment. Five differences: 1. in Hinduism there are many avatars, in Christianity there is just 1 incarnation 2. Avatars are humans or animals in Hinduism, in Christianity it is a human (Jesus) 3. In Hinduism avatars do not suffer because this would be pointless, in Christianity Jesus suffers and dies to benefit the human race in his incarnation. 4. With some avatars, there is a certain moral/immoral ambiguity such as playing with women, but in Christianity Christ is supposed to be purely and unquestionably moral 5. Hindu: very little if any historical basis for avatars (mythological), but this does not affect the avatar's significance vs Christianity: Jesus is a historical person and his significance is dependent on the historicity of his figure.
What do Muslims and Christians share by way of doctrine and spirituality? What might each religion learn from the other?
They both believe in one God, the centrality of a surrendering faith - trusting God and surrendering to Him, prayer, humility and gratefulness to God, eschatology - death judgement, heaven, hell, purgatory, although Islam emphasizes justice while Christianity says the scales are tipped in your favor by a God of love. Christianity can learn: - idea that there is regular prayer many times a day rather than how not all Christians set aside this time in their daily lives- MAKE GOD FIRST Islam can learn: - to call their religion into question, not believing blindly in the Qu'ran, openness to other religions, role of women is better in Christianity, emphasis on LOVE of God.
Compare and contrast the spirituality of the Upanishads with Christian spirituality. How does the story of the story of Svetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad illustrate Upanishadic spirituality?
Upanishads: about awakening to the presence of God within - having a teacher, path of meditation, whatever leads to enlightenment, focused on the individual. Christian: more than individual enlightenment, there is also an experience of God's love in what we do, we try to grow in our love of God and neighbor, practice mercy and justice in society, path of prayer, focused on community. Svetaketu: http://www.spiritualeducation.org/library/story/svetaketu Svetaketu knows who God is, but doesn't have the mystical awareness. He is an example of the unfinished person and their spiritual impediments. He knows a lot of things, but he doesn't know "the important things". Doesn't realize that the traditional knowledge only takes us so far, he needs the experience of God. Father says he is full of pride... pride and the ego is an obstacle to experiences the true reality basically, this proves that Upanishadic spirituality needs to go beyond simply knowledge of self.
What is the Noble Eightfold Path?
WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW ALL 8 POINTS, JUST GENERALLY KNOW: The Noble Eightfold Path is a self-help discipline that helps to purify our mind. It is given to us by the Buddha. The idea is that if you follow these things, it becomes habitual and you will have the awareness to avoid the ego...you will have compassion. Results in inner growth and inner freedom which leads to enlightenment. RIGHTNESS
Similarities and differences between Buddhist "nirvana" and the Christian understanding of "heaven"/"eternal life"/"Kingdom of God"?
What does the final goal for these two religions look like? The final goal for Buddhism is an interior transformation to perfect joy, peace, wisdom, and the overcoming of ignorance/desire/craving as well as the awakening to who you really are. It brings deep freedom and happens HERE AND NOW in the physical human body. In Nirvana: -two wholesome desires: liberation and desire for the welfare of all living beings -life of illusions, passions, cravings, and hatreds goes extinct In Christianity, the final goal is everything that nirvana is about and more! It is also about the rescuing of the human person by God, the transformation of the human person and the person's integration into God's life, and full participation in the freedom of God's life. Relations with other people somehow continue on, we are one with the God of love, and this comes as a pure gift of God. The final goal in Christianity is an affirmation of the infinite value of the human person in God's eyes.
Describe the Muslim view of Christ, Christianity, and the New Testament
While Islam recognizes that he is a prophet and a miracle worker, the miracles do not mean he is divine - just that God is working through him. Muslims say he is a good model of spiritual rite. Muslims say Christianity is a practice of idolatry due to Holy Trinity, because it is not monotheistic beyond all doubt. They see the New Testament as not able to be trusted through either error or malicious intent. Muslims say that Christians should just throw the NT out Sermon on the mount and the Batvaha Guhita: The one sermon Muslims LOVE from Xtianity. About selfless love Jesus=Isa. Eschatological prophet. Jesus preached what all the other prophets of old did in Islam: Monotheist, justice and mercy, and being warned of the impending judgment. Nothing new that he is preaching and wasn't radical enough for Muslims to take notice of him more than any other prophet Christianity: a lost misguided religion, betrays the teaching of Jesus , betrays the teaching of Jesus Betrayed the simple message of Jesus-> he was simply a prophet, but they made him divine through the incarantion Similarities in view of Jesus for Xtianity and Islam: Prophet Miracle worker (To say that Jesus performs miracles is not to say that he is divine so it's okay bc to M it's just God working through him.) Raises the dead Helps the poor Kind and merciful Man of prayer Will return His words are revelatory Differences in view of Jesus for Xtianity and Islam: Jesus is not diving in the Quran: no Word Incarnate No death and resurrection No parables No Sermon on the Mount No preaching of in breaking Kingdom of God. no forgiveness of sins No unconditional divine love His life as a whole is not revelatory Jesus is a miracle worker, Muhammad is not. (Muhammad brings the Quran though which is a miracle to Muslims) Quran: Jesus speaking from the crib and announcing who he is. Like 2:32 says Jesus grows into wisdom Xtianity looks at everything Jesus says AND DOES, Islam only focuses on what Jesus says. What He preaches in the Quran is not radical enough and we don't pay attention to them really
Similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity regarding (a) the process of revelation and (b) the formulation of sacred scripture. What physical form does the Word of God take on earth for each religion? (#27)
a) Similarities: Worship of one God,social; justice, judgement day, Differences: C: dignity and autonomy of human person-friend and friend / I: master and slave-surrender: law based b) -Physical: C:christ (bible inspired revelation)/ I: The Quran The process of Revelation Islam Verbal Dictation: When angels visit the prophet Muhhamad at random times and they speak to him dictating verses. Muhamad understands what he is saying but he is a purely passive instrument in this recitation (not a direct encounter with God. God à Angel à Muhammad. Results in a text directly from God)* Christianity Personal encounter with God. Experience of the person/people, not just a message from heaven. Reaches apex through the incarnation Formulation of Sacred Scripture: Islam No creative human involvement Christianity Human knowledge, talent, and creativity come into play under the inspiration of God Author's talents and gifts are involved
What is the meaning of the term "Buddha"?
awakened, "he who knows", "he who is awake"
Cosmic Revelation
the natural presence of God is revealed within ALL things (Hinduism and Upanishads and Buddhism/nirvana are examples of this belief). A serene and joyous mystery.
