Comparative Religion Final

Know a couple of bullets on the New Atheists Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens (d. 2011);

-Atheism -Harris: theology is ignorance with wings -Dawkins: faith is one of the worlds greatest evils -Hitchens: organized religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism/tribalism/bigotry

"A revolt of the land against the city" (279);

-Daoism see this world as the most important- we are home on earth/in our bodies -their scriptures portray wandering as freedom

Daoism as "an endlessly elusive grab bag..." (284-5);

-Daoists are forever absorbing rather than repelling new influences -tradition of sacred mountains and pilgrimages and festivals and wine and incense and hymn and sexual practices and alternative medicine and martial arts....

Prothero's definition (286-8);

-Daoists disagree about everything -problem: let life slip away- either by not living it fully or by not living it for long -daoist solution: live life to the fullest- enjoy good health in a vital body for a long life -for some daoist the goal of human flourishing extends to a loftier goal: physical immortality -they are actively trying to cultivate ren(human heartedness) and li(ritual/etiquette/propriety)

Torah versus Tanakh and Talmud;

-God delivers the Torah through Moses and by this new covenant offers a new way out of exile -Torah refers to the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy/ also means the entire Hebrew Bible which Jews refer to not as the Old Testament but as the Tanakh -Tanakh- acronym for its three parts: Torah(in the narrow sense of the 5 books of Moses), Neviim(prophets such as Isaiah and Amos), Ketuvim(writings including Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs) -torah refers more broadly to the oral law, the interpretive tradition said to have been revealed alongside the written law to Moses on Mount Sinai and now written down in the core texts of the rabbinic tradition: the Mishnah, the Jerusalem talmud, the Babylonian talmud -Tanakh: diverse genres/voices/sources, begins with not one but two different stories of creation- encounter proverbs/prophecies/love poems/hymns/theological history/wisdom literature/law/apocalyptic visions -Talmud: second major text, vast untangle of various lines of argumentation

the 4 historical layers of Hinduism (just bare outline for each, including the current ideology of Hindutva)

-Indus Valley civilization: most ancient layer, provides the barest glimpses of Hinduism as it is practiced today -vedic religion: second layer, a karma yoga path that takes its name from ancient ritual manuals called vedas -philosophical hinduism: third layer, jnana yoga path of wandering renouncers and their scriptures, the Upanishads -devotional hinduism: fourth layer, the Bhakti yoga of the Hindu epics, a story driven path tailor made not for priests or holy men but for ordinary men and women for whom Hinduism is about inviting the grace and favor of the gods into everyday life -modern hinduism: final layer, intellectuals from the 19th century Hindu Renaissance and beyond struggle to bring Hinduism into conversation with Islam, Christianity, and the modern world -Hindutva: view India as a hindu nation rather than a secular state, their theory says that Aryan culture was indigenous to the Indian subcontinent- there is an unbroken line of development from Indus Valley civilization to Aryan civilization to Vedic religion to Hinduism

"The Quran glories . . . not in this world but in the next"

-Islam emphasizes life after death -hell and heaven are described in great detail- horrors of hell and splendors of paradise -hell--> place of fire, thirst, roasting skin, cactus thorns -paradise--> garden of cool shade, comfortable couches, full breasted virgins, abundant fruits, rivers of milk/wine/honey

"A Religion and a People"

-Judaism- started as a monotheistic revolution that remade the Western world- gave us a prophetic voice which demands for justice for the poor and oppressed/ gave us stories to continue to animate political and literary conversations -in the US- Jews are influential in politics--> they have made many impressions on American popular culture -judaism gave birth to christianity and islam -stand apart for being a religion and a people--> Jewish people bind themselves to one another and to God through stories/law/other modes of recollection -Jews come from all sorts of different ethnic groups--> bound together by a shared sense of community

the Mahabharata and the Ramayana (just the basic distinction)

-Mahabharata: hindu story, take place in mythic time and have been handed down orally through parents or gurus --remarkable for its longevity, duty is its central preoccupation but drama is its draw- tells the story of a family feud: winning, losing, dividing the kingdom -ramayana: themes are more personal, not war/heroism/fidelity --tells the story of a demon, a kidnapping, and the trials/tribulations of a virtuous prince named Rama and his faithful wife Sita

2 or 3 bullets on the different branches: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Humanist

-Orthodox: focused on law, define themselves as defenders of the Torah, accept only male rabbis -Conservative: focused on tradition, open to modern thought, women and homosexuals can be ordained -Reform: focused on ethics, impulse is toward integration/assimilation, wanted to be more modern Germans or modern Americans without ceasing to be Jews -Reconstructionist: rejected the notion of Jews as chosen people and spoke of God only as an expression of the highest ethical ideals of human beings- Judaism was not a supernatural religion but an evolving civilization, today Jews are eager adapters of Jewish civilization modern life -Humanistic: celebrate Jewish culture/power of the individual without invoking God/praying to God/reading from the revelation of God, Judaism is first and last about ethics

general difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

-Roman Catholics tend to define the church as the bishops, and Protestants speak of the priesthood of all believers. -For authority, Roman Catholics believe in theinfallibility of the pope, and Protestants do not. Many conservative Protestants believe in the infallibility of the Bible, a sort of paper pope

synchretism

-These acts brought about the syncretism (union or fusion of two religion into one) of the Catholic religion and the African religion. The African slaves identified each saint from the Catholic religion with the Orisha gods according to their similarities

The basics (204-6)

-Yoruba religion

"browning of Xty"

-a homecoming -spread to Asia, Africa, Latin America ?/

Islamism,

-a radical form of politicized Islam that took the martyr tradition of Jews in a new deadly direction -its an ideology--> an anti-Western and anti-American ideology applied to political ends by groups such as Taliban, al-Qaeda -goal of Islamists is to purify Islam from pollutions of modernity -want to create Islamic states following their idiosyncratic version of Islamic law- use violence to achieve this -political project, revolutionary in aim, utopian in spirit, radical in all senses of the term -it is a modern invention--> influenced by the Western ideologies it seeks to oppose

the seal of the prophets--> revelation of 610

-angel Gabriel came to Muhammad and told him to recite -he recited from 610 until these revelations came to an end shortly after his death in 632

ashe;

-ashe: power, akin to the life force that the Chinese call qi --the power to make things happen and stop --this sacred power can be found in Orishas, priests, diviners, chiefs, family heads, ordinary human beings --directs itself towards change, about having real effects in the real world --its transformative power can be used toward both good ends and bad, it connects and disconnects, ashe gives and takes away life

"From Asia to America";

-buddhism went West in the 19th century via books, artifacts, and people- through translations of Buddhist scriptures into European languages through art collected by Buddhist sympathizers and deposited in places ???

the 5 pillars

-central pillar: Shahadah- belief in only Allah, this is repeated in the 5 daily prayers -testify this creed in front of a witness to become a muslim -four pillars supporting the building: salat(prayer), zakat(charity), sawn(fasting), hajj(pilgrimage)

puja as a food offering,

-central ritual practice -involves food offering- mediated by the priest, given by ordinary people at a home shrine ---offering elevated to an art form in Bali- offerings start with a four sided palm leaf basket which is then adorned with flowers, rice, and a slice of banana or sugar cane- placed to align with five sacred directions

"2.2 Billion Saved";

-christianity split into two branches: Roman Catholics and orthodoxy in the middle ages -catholic position(church authority should be centralized), orthodox position(church authority should be decentralized) -orthodoxy is led by patriarchs whose authority is confined to their own nations, emphasize religions ritual dimension, celebrating holy communion, they rely on engaging with the mysteries of the divine through icons of the saints, they allow priests to marry but not bishops

"Chinese are Confucians at work, Daoists at leisure, Buddhists at death"(103)

-confucianism gave us Chinese mores and Chinese mind-powerful role in shaping Chinese thought, politics, economy, society ---confucianisms five classics were the core texts in Chinese schools -confucian values such as reverence for antiquity, respect for education, deference to elders, filial piety continue to influence how ordinary people act politically, in business, socially, and seek after harmony with Heaven

New Confucianism

-confucianisms third wave -insist that confucius transformed the traditions he inherited, they have the right and responsibility to transform confucianism itself -attempt to be faithful to the core teachings of confucianism but to state them in modern, universal terms, and in dialogue with world cultures -seek to bring ancient wisdom of their tradition to bear on such current challenges as science, liberalism, democracy, and human rights, and to purge that tradition of sexism and patriarchy -try in institute Confucian feminism

Sufism and the Prophet's Night Journey

-distinguishing mark of Islam: unequivocal rejection of the Christian traditions of celibacy, asceticism, monasticism -sufi: someone who has opted for a simple life of contemplation and pious poverty along the lines of Christian monastics and their scratchy wool garments -sufism: mystical tradition, stress experiential dimension of religion, seek to keep God forever in their hearts, emphasize God's immanence and nearness / way human beings resemble God -do not need to go to Mecca- every place is equally sacred ??

Doctrine of the Mean and the Five Constant Relationships

-doctrine of the mean-?? -five constant relationships: ruler/subject, parent/child, husband/wife, elder brother/younger brother, friend/friend ----these relationships characterized by two way mutuality and reciprocity rather than one way obedience--> parents and rulers care for children and subjects while children and subjects owe loyalty and respect to parents and rulers

Evangelicals and Pentecostal

-evangelicals: 19th century, Biblicism(an emphasis on the Bible as the inspired Word of God), crucicentrism(an emphasis on Jesus' redemptive death on the cross), conversianism(an emphasis on the experience of the "new birth"), activism(an emphasis on preaching/performing the Gospel) --changed the quantity and quality of Christians--> experience and emotions trumped doctrine and the intellect, became less interested in what God had to say, speak of the Bibles inspiration rather than infallibility, more friendly toward modernity -pentecostal: 20th century, a spirit filled faith that has steered the Christian ship away from the Greco-Roman West and in a southerly and easterly direction ---relocating the divine from "out there" to "in here" and the Holy Spirit is finally getting its due, takes its name from Pentecost(Holy Spirit comes down on the apostles), distinctive feature- baptism in Spirit- an additional experience of grace after conversion(speaking in tongues), accents experience, attend to the problem of human flourishing by promising health and wealth here and now, accept female clergy

Prothero's argument about Confucianism more religion than philosophy

-has no formal religious hierarchy, no official priesthood, no congregational life -lack of interest in the divine -do not worry about death or after life -locate the transcendent in the world rather than above or beyond it -transcendence is found here and now in human history and in human bodies -see Heaven in humanity

Muhammeds life

-he did the work of Jesus and Paul combined -he was charismatic, a bureaucratic leader -he founded islam -he was the prophet through whom the revelation came through- Quran -he is a model for Muslims lives today -Hadith--> scriptural collection of his saying and actions- second to the Quran -he was a great political and military leader- legislator, diplomat, general -he had 9 wives while doing all of this -only person to achieve combination of spiritual and secular success -led armies, ruled over an empire -muslims say Muhammed is only a human- not Allah -he was born in Mecca, 40 years old- married to Khadijah when God came to him in a cave on Mount Hira -after Muhammads death the tradition split into two branches, Sunni and Shia over the matter of Muhammads successor

status of women and the issue of force

-hostile to women -see gender as an essential rather than an accidental characteristic of human beings -some mosques forbid women -when they are allowed in mosques- men and women are separated -sons receive inheritances twice as large as daughters -islam refers to God as "he" -muslim feminists argue that the Quran and the Hadith represented a time in the quantum leap for women in terms of property rights, inheritance, divorce, education

the 2 main rituals (Ifa divination and spirit/body possession)

-ifa divination: begins in the hand with a babalawo holding 16 palm nuts or a divining chain vibrating with the power of ashe--> holds the palm nuts up to the original of the client and shakes the nuts randomly until 1 or 2 is remaining in the left- does this 16 times--> does it again 16 times and he arrives at one odu(signature)--> he tells four stories- client decides which one fits his situation best--> consultation ends with a recommendation of sacrifice -spirit/body possession: spirit and matter dance cheek to cheek/wisdom is embodied, Orishas enter into human life by possessing human bodies--> Orishas are associated with particular parts of the body- Orishas possess both the body and the spirit of the devotee

what interfaith dialogue is about and why the greatest virtue is humility

-interfaith dialogue: used to be only for those whom the doctrines and narratives of their traditions ran far behind the ethical imperative get along with neighbors -today: young people are forging a new path- open to traditional believers/nonbelievers-it recognizes that genuine dialogue across the religious boundaries must recognize the existence of these boundaries and the fundamental difference between the lands they bisect

the emigration (Hijra) of 622

-islam dates its origins to the formation of the Muslim community in 622 -Muhammad and his followers fled from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina)--> established Muslim community -this event is known as Hijra- marks beginning of Islamic calendar

Prothero's discussion on whether atheism is a religion

-it is a religion -they have the four C's: creed, cultus, code, community

life cycle rituals;

-jews observe rites of passage-birth, adulthood, marriage, death -jewish mourning practices include a 7 day period of sitting shiva in the home following a burial, Kaddish prayers for the dead, a death anniversary remembrance called the yahrzeit

"Jihad" and "Allah"

-jihad: struggle- spiritual struggle against pride and self sufficiency, physical struggle against the enemies of Islam --has to do with personal struggle -Allah: Arabic word for God --this God is singular- hard monotheistic--> reject Christian and Hindu notion that God can incarnate into human being, reject visual images of God(cannot capture real divinity of God) --absolutely and totally transcendent --he is beyond gender

shunyata or "emptiness"

-mahayanists argues that everything was equally empty -since everything comes and goes in a great chain of cause and effect nothing is independent- nothing exists on its own -nothing is permanent and everything is constantly changing

compare and contrast Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

-mahayanists: renunciation was optional, they have the bodhisattva--> key virtue was compassion, he assist others in reaching nirvana, saw the Buddha as eternal/omniscient- a supernatural being who could answer prayers and reward devotion- speak of many buddhas, think we awaken in relationship with others -theravadins: only way to achieve nirvana was to withdraw from the worlds of family/work/sex/money into the celibate life of a monk or nun, all about individual enlightenment- their exemplar was the arhat--> distinguished himself from the rest of humanity by wisdom alone, saw the Buddha as a pathfinder and human being, think we awaken on our own

the orishas (Oludumare, Eshu, Orunmila and Oshun)

-oludumare: supreme being for orisha devotees, rules the cosmos, remote/distant/difficult to approach, he did not create the world, do not worship him directly- has no temples/liturgy/priests ---respected more than he is revered -eshu: one of the most important, messenger delivers sacrifices from below to Orishas and other spiritual beings- without eshu interactions between heaven and earth would cease and human existence would spin into chaos, no priesthood devoted to him, associated with crossroads-holder of the ashe he has the power to take almost any situation in whatever direction he pleases ---crossroads--> meeting place of the natural and supernatural, visible and the invisible, known and unknown -oshun: Orisha of rivers and sweet water, only female present at creation and the first to perform ifa divination, in West Africa- Orishas of fertility/childbearing, in New World- goddess of love -orunmila: the cornerstone of Yoruba religion, metaphysics, spirituality, owner of the IFA corpus- the great storehouse of wisdom of Yoruba mythology/philosophy/ethics/theology ---present at creation, he knows the destinies of humans and Orishas alike

"miracle" of the Qur'an

-perfect, unaltered, untranslatable word of God -it was written by Allah who gave its words to an angel who gave them to Muhammad who recited them to his companions -contains almost no storytelling- doctrinal and legal ??

distinguish popular, philosophical and religious Daoism

-popular: ethic of social withdrawal, involves an array of religious practices -philosophical: about accepting death, for elites-mystics/recluses withdrawn from the exigencies of everyday life -religious: about overcoming death via immortality, borrow heavily from Confucianism and Buddhism, for ordinary people

Samsara and moksha

-problem in Hinduism: samsara- means wandering on or flowing by but in this context refers to the vicious cycle of life, death, rebirth -goal: moksha- release and in this case refers to spiritual liberation- freeing the soul from bondage to samsara ---samsara needs escaping and moksha is that escape

"Exile and Return";

-problem in Judaism centers on the community rather than the individual--> exile- distance from God and from where we ought to be -solution is return- to go back to God and to our true home -Jewish God is a "God of movement" and the jewish people are forever on the move -paradigmatic story for this pattern of exile and return centers on the destruction of the first Jerusalem Temple--> after the death of Moses who never made it to the Promised Land- Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan- King Solomon built the temple--> Babylonians sacked Jerusalem/temple--> while in exile these refugees were separated from their promised homeland/monarchy/sacrificial rites/God- this exile led to the development of the synagogue as a place of prayer/study to the widespread adoption of portable practices such as circumcision that the Israelites could take with them as they moved-->after Babylonians were defeated- the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple

a ritual in the home and in temples;

-puja food offering

what is nirvana

-rebirth is undesirable--> life is marked by suffering -goal: nirvana- extinguishing suffering, no rebirth

Swami Vinekenanda's influence in the USA

-religion became visible through charismatic gurus, today it is in yoga studios throughout the West

ren, li and junzi;

-ren: exemplifies the exemplary person, it combines the image of the "human being" with the image of the "two"(refers to right relations among people, all humans could cultivate this virtue- great hope for social harmony and political order -li: refers to ritual and etiquette- doing the proper thing in the proper way under any given circumstance, avoiding extremes in both thought and behavior, make space for reverence in all things -together they produce harmony in the individual/society/cosmos--> li is how red is expressed in the world -junzi: means "gentleman" or "superior person", as it appears in Chinese literary works and Chinese daily expressions, Sage is the ideal personality(very hard to get)--> Confucius created the junzi, gentleman, which can be achieved by an individual

Salafism and Wahhabism

-salafism--> ultraconservative intellectual movement --seek to redirect their religious tradition back to pure, primitive Islam of the earliest Muslims who are known as Salafis(pious predecessors) -wahhabism--> a form of Salafis, Saudi Arabias official theology --based on strict teachings of Muhammad Ibn And al-Wahhab(18th century thinker who opposed innovation but was obsessed with the problem of shirk --referred to as puritanical--> strict legal code, its desire to purify its religious tradition from various pollutants, and its goal of returning to the purity of the earliest form of the faith

the Hindu "Trinity" (not the one with Brahma)

-shiva, vishnu, mahadevi -the three main branches of Bhakti style Hinduism are Vaishnavism, shaivism, shaktism -vishnu: ten incarnations, hero of Mahabharata, Krishna is the best known and loved incarnation- mischievous/tricky -shiva: friendly god, associated with divinity wilder side- destroyer of the Trimurti and the inheritor of the awesome powers of the Vedic god Rudra, wrathful/loving, male/female -mahadevi- or Shakti, feminine energy, goddess appears in many forms

"Soft monotheism and the Trinity";

-soft monotheism: tradition is filled with Jesus sculptures/ Jesus paintings whereas Jews/Muslims refuse to imagine or have a picture of God in human form -Christians see God as three persons in one godhead

"Popular Daoism and Superhero Immortals"

-spurred by Buddhists arrival in China- organized themselves around monasteries/temples- took institutional shape, wrote thousands of scriptures, turned heroes into gods, developed festivals/rituals/self cultivation practices -sought to become immortal

Sufism and Rumi

-sufism: a mystical tradition --they stress the experiential dimension of religion --they don't want to wait to die to experience the divine --seek to keep God forever on their hearts by chanting --imagine their spiritual quest as culminating in an annihilation of the self that is also a mystical union with God --emphasize Gods immanence and nearness, emphasize how human beings resemble God(God is everywhere) --divided into two groups: sober sufis: aware of God's power and wrath, an awareness that keeps them closer to the straight/narrow, and drunk Sufis: emphasize the mercy and beauty of God, approaching him in love and ecstasy more than awe/fear -Rumi: "drunk" Persian poet, bookworm and a scholar when he was visited by a wandering Sufi named Shams(he turned Rumi's life upside down/were inseparable) --Shams was killed and Rumi became the worlds most prolific and beloved poets --knowing Allah is what matters

problem of sin

-the Christian problem -God creates Adam and Eve and sets them up in the Garden of Eden- they disobey God and eat the fruit from the forbidden tree--> sin, death, suffering enter the human story

solution of salvation

-the Christian solution to sin -Jesus is sent to us to pay for the sins of the world, allowing those who follow him to enjoy eternal life with God

the 3 issues that created their movement (p. 320)

-the U.S Religious Right began in the late 1970s to put God to partisan political purposes, prompting atheists with different political views to go public with their criticisms of Godthink -Muslims began to pour into Europe- 10% of population in France -Quran quoting terrorists hijacked four jets and steered themselves to their deaths in 9/11

the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path;

-the first Noble truth- observes that human existence is characterized by suffering, happiness is fleeting- nothing is permanent -the second Noble truth- more hopeful, suffering has an origin- everything in this world is interdependent, linked in a great chain of cause and effect, so suffering must come from somewhere -the third noble truth: observes that since suffering has a cause it can be eliminated, nirvana is not some static place you go after you die- it can achieved in this lifetime -the fourth noble truth: observes that there is a path to the goal of nirvana ---Eightfold path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration--> divided into ethical conduct(right speech/action/livelihood), mental discipline(right effort/mindfulness/concentration), wisdom(right understanding/thought)

"Shariah";

-the right path -muslims use for law -extends to all aspects of life- family, society, economics, politics -covers rituals, ethics, criminal law, taxation, public policy, and afterlife

Meaning of Islam

-the way of submission -some claim Islam is a religion of peace and others claim it is a religion of war -"people of the book"- believe in one God and speak to his people through prophets

Passover and major holidays

-three pilgrim festivals commemorate key moments in the Jewish story: Passover for the exodus from Egypt, pentecost for the giving of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, Tabernacles for the flight from Egypt into the wilderness -two other major holidays: High Holy Days of the New Year(Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement(Yom Kippur)

2 or 3 bullets for the 2 classic texts, Daodejing and the Zhuangzi

-two main texts in Daoism -Daodejing: contains no dates/mentions no proper names, core concept- the Dao floats above and beyond the vicissitudes of historical time, written about Laozi ---led back to the source, to the subtle force that creates all things/sustains all things/pervades all things -Zhuangzi: takes its name from Zhuangzi- follower of Laos and the contemporary thinker Mencius --biographical account from 1 or 2 century portrays him as a writer of anti-Confucian allegories --mischievous text, a work of literature and comedy, glories in simplicity/spontaneity/flexibility/freedom --problem: lifelessness, solution: well lived life

the "3 stories"

1) the story of Jesus Himself, the God who is born in a manger in Bethlehem, wanders around Galilee, and dies on a cross in Jerusalem -narrower stories are told as great reversals, dramatic tales of wretched sinners saved by grace of a merciful God -the broader story of Jesus runs from creation to apocalypse- from the creation of the world in the beginning told in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, to the coming conflagration told in the last biblical book, Revelation

Connection between China's economic rise and Confucianism

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numbers of Jews today

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religion is "making a human fully alive"

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the "self" as a figment of imagination (related to anatta)

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the 2 Judaisms (historically)

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why difference matters nonetheless and "Godthink" is counterproductive

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