History of major world religions

How many deities are worshipped in a monotheistic religion?

1

The Epic of Gilgamesh was written around:

2750 BCE

The earliest known example of a Mother Goddess sculpture dates back to _____.

40,000 years ago

Who were the Etruscans?

A civilization that predated the Romans and influenced many of their traditions

In the most basic terms, a society that practices theism has some belief in:

A divine or sacred figure

In art, what animal is often present with the goddess Cybele?

A lion

What is the ellen trechend?

A mythological three headed monster

Which of the following best defines a layman?

A non-ordained member of a faith.

What did Zeus declare sacred in honor of Attis?

A pine tree

What is a deity?

A supernatural being

Who was Janus?

A two-faced god who helped the Romans in battle

What is a banshee?

A woman who foretells death by wailing and weeping.

How does animism relate to nature?

According to animism, everything is indwelled with an unseen spiritual force.

Why is it so hard to make generalizations about Greek religion?

All answers are correct.

What grew from the male organ of Cybele after she was castrated?

An almond tree

According to Norse mythology, what kind of tree is Yggdrasil?

Ash

Sumer encompassed much of Mesopotamia, in an area which is known today as _____.

Iran and Iraq

How was the Sumerian afterlife similar to Sumerian life?

It also focused on serving the gods.

What does Yggdrasil tell us about the Norse conception of time?

It is cyclical

What is an example of a religion that is BOTH monotheistic AND polytheistic by literal definition?

It is not possible, in theory to be both monotheistic and polytheistic.

Linked to the males of the household, which god was the defender of the threshold and the god of beginnings?

Janus

Shinto is an indigenous religion to which nation?

Japan

What is another name for the Mayan goddess Ix Chel?

Lady Rainbow

What is the meaning of the name of the Mayan god, Itzamna?

Lizard or large fish

Who believed that religion developed as a way for man to deal with the struggle of social class?

Marx

Where were ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures located?

Mexico and Central America

Which philosopher held to the theory of nature-worship?

Muller

Shinto is essentially focused on the worship of what?

Nature and ancestor spirits

What is the relationship between Nidhogg and Yggdrasil?

Nidhogg is the dragon that eats the roots of Yggdrasil

Which Norse deity is most associated with Yggdrasil?

Odin

In The Odyssey, why is Poseidon furious with Odysseus?

Odysseus blinded the cyclops Polyphemus

Known as the Inner Ones, which spirits protected the storerooms?

Penates

The ancient Greek religion recognized many deities in its pantheon. The chief of the gods who ruled over all of them and was most powerful was Zeus. This religion was _____.

Polytheistic

Which of these deities is NOT an obvious descendant of the Mother Goddess?

Poseidon

The practice of Mother Goddess worship remains a mystery to modern historians. Why do we know so little about these ancient religions?

Prehistoric people were illiterate and left no written accounts of their religion.

What god purportedly crested humanity?

Quetzalcoatl

She was Cybele to the Romans, but what was she called by the Greeks?

Rhea

What form does the Mayan god Kukulcan have on Chichen Itza on the spring and autumn equinoxes?

Serpent

In The Odyssey, why doesn't Penelope send her suitors away?

She fears angering such important men without a husband to protect her

What is the relationship between Shinto and Buddhism and Confucianism?

Shinto embraces tenets of both Buddhism and Confucianism

Consider the roles of the Mother Goddess and snakes in ancient Minoan culture. What do the Mother Goddess and snakes have in common?

Snakes live in the earth while the Mother Goddess is a representation of Earth.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, why does Gilgamesh refuse the goddess Ishtar as a lover?

Terrible things tend to happen to those who have sex with Ishtar.

Who was the Aztec god of night?

Tezcatlipoca

How does Agamemnon's behavior in the The Iliad and The Odyssey reflect the Greeks' view of authority?

The Greeks thought centralized authority put lesser men in charge of their betters.

Why were Mayan children sometimes named after the day on which they were born?

The Mayan calendar determined each stage of a Mayan's life and generally had great importance in the culture.

Why did many of the Mayan and Aztec rites of passage seem to overlap?

The Mayans predated the Aztecs and existed in close proximity.

Which Irish folk creature is said to have partially inspired the character of Dracula ?

The abhartach

Which of these was most significant in the Aztec religion?

The cyclical concept of time.

What was Magna Graecia?

The massive Greek colonial presence in southern Italy and Sicily.

Which of the following is NOT true about Greek heroes?

The most famous one was Hermes.

What is the relationship between Yggdrasil and the rest of the cosmos?

The nine worlds are contained in its branches and roots

According to Noss, if someone believes in a supernatural being, then why are rituals helpful in dealing with anxiety?

The rituals serve as a sort of contact with the supernatural being.

Shinto does not recognize a single supreme deity, but arguably the most important kami represents what?

The sun

What did the Descent of the Gods ceremony celebrate?

The transition of both boys and girls from childhood to adulthood at the time of puberty.

Who are the sidhe?

They are the fairy race in Irish mythology

Why did the Mayans study the behavior of celestial objects?

They believed that the sun, moon, and stars were alive and could intervene in human affairs.

How did Mayan rulers justify their right to wage wars and claim territory?

They were believed to be the embodiment of a divine spirit.

Why were heroes so important for the Greeks?

They were regarded as models of virtue.

_____ was the wife of Apsu and was eventually defeated by Marduk in battle.

Tiamat

Who defined faith as the ultimate concern?

Tillich

Why did the Aztecs make human sacrifices?

To appease their gods.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, why does Gilgamesh seek out the wild man Enkidu?

To befriend him

According to Aztec mythology, who was the fifth (and current) sun God?

Tonatiuh

How does Odysseus defeat the cyclops Polyphemus?

Tricking him

Where do the sidhe live?

Underneath the ground, they live invisibly among the human race.

Meal time in early Roman times would include _____.

a food offering to Vesta by the woman in the home

What type of things could be offered up as a sacrifice to Aztec gods?

all of these are correct

The belief that nature is made up of unseen spirits is known as _____.

animism

A young Aztec warrior gained exalted status by _____.

capturing the most enemies

The aboriginal belief that time is actually timeless is best seen in their concept of _____.

dreaming

According to Kant, religion developed as man tried to _____.

explain what reason could not explain

In animism, the unseen spiritual force that exists in all of nature is known as _____.

mana

The Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments are an example of a _____.

moral code

Early Romans believed the world was full of free-flowing forces known as _____.

numina

In Meso-America, a dowry was made up of _____.

objects of wealth given to the bride's family by the groom

Early Romans could MOST likely be said to have an _____ view on religion?

open-minded

The rulers of Sumer, who were both sacred and secular, were known as _____.

priest-kings

In primal religions, a shaman _____.

provides a link between the seen and unseen world

Lares were believed to be _____.

spirits of ancestors

Objects, places, people, or things forbidden by a faith are known as _____.

taboos

Upon learning that a god had taken a personal interest in him, an ancient Greek would most likely be _____.

terrified.

The belief that every human has a special bond to a specific animal, or element of nature, is known as _____.

totemism

Sumerians worshiped their gods in temples known as _____.

ziggurats

In The Odyssey, Odysseus' journey to the underworld was probably inspired by _____.

Enkidu's dream in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Which of the following was the most important god of the Sumerian pantheon?

Enlil

The Babylonian creation myth is compiled in the writings of the _____.

Enuma Elish

How did Freud's theory on religion differ from Kant's?

Freud based his theory on a human need a protective father figure, while Kant's was based on a need for explanations.

What is the name for priests in the goddess Cybele's cult?

Galli

The Babylonian creation myth is believed to have been written during the time of _____.

Hammurabi

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, why does Enkidu die?

He helped Gilgamesh slay the Bull of Heaven.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, how does Gilgamesh overcome his fear of mortality?

He recognizes that his legacy will live on in the city of Uruk.

Why did Apsu decide to kill his offspring?

He was angered by the noise the children made.

Which of these is NOT one of the monotheistic, Abrahamic religions?

Hinduism

What is the nature of humans according to the Babylonian belief system?

Humans were created to serve the gods.

Where does Mayan legend say the god Chac lives?

Bottom of cenotes

How did the Romans create their pantheon?

By borrowing most of their gods from Greek mythology.

Who was the Aztec god of corn?

Centeotl

How was Christianity influenced by Greek religion?

Christians adopted holy days, saints and rituals from Greek religion.

Which of these is NOT one of the tenets of the daily practice of Shinto?

Conversion

Which region's people are famous for their unique portrayal of the Mother Goddess figure?

Cyclades islands