Why Religion Matters Exam 1

Is belief or character(ethics) more important to the Axial Sages?

Character (Ethics)

What king ended the Babylonaian exile in 539 BCE?

Cyrus the Great

Purusha

-cosmic man sacrificed and split into 4 to create caste system -meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic man or Self, Consciousness, and Universal principle.

Prophets that helped Judaism focus on a God that could be worshiped without geological constraints

-elijah -amos -hosea -isaih -jeremiah -ezeikel

The teacher of Sikhism was a sacred text, what is it called

Adi Granth (Sahib)

Indian Axial religious concept of "do no harm" is called:

Ahimsa

Krishna was significant in what sacred text?

Baghadvagita

Vishnu and Shiva

Two important gods inHinduism Vishnu was the preserver and Shiva, the destroyer.

Prajapati

Hindu deity over creatures, life. Prajapati is the supreme creator in the Vedic period of Hinduism, who was responsible for the creation and preservation of life.

Axial Religions

Hinduism, Judaism, Greek rationalism, Taoism, and Buddhism

Name the epic poet of Greece captures "Ancient Oral Traditions" that shape memories & rituals

Homer

Which Greek poem describes kenosis

Homer's illiad

Jasper's 4 Axial Regions:

India, China, Greece, Mesopotamia

Brahman-Atman

Indicate the essential identity of individual consciousness with the eternal Brahman, the universal World Soul.

Weltanschauungen

Meaning worldview, it is subjective and reflective. Seeks to provide analysis about how the world as seen came to be that way. An understanding of the world and how it operates. Each worldview is open to critical review, challenge, and affirmation.

What two words did Gabriel say to Muhammad? And what do they mean

Qur'an (recite) Islam (submit)

Foundational/ interrelated concepts of Hinduism:

Samsara, Karma

modern

dominance of science and reason. This worldview embraces deductive and inductive knowledge

What was the animal that described being sacrificed mentally

horse

What animal is Lao Tzu (Laotose)

water buffalo

right (eightfold path)

right view, right intention, right action, right speech, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation

What does Risi/rishi mean

sage/seer

Trimurti

"Three forms" of the divine. the three gods Brahma(breath breathed and unbreathed), Vishnu(creative force of brahma's breath), and Shiva(destructive force). Not a Hindu version of the christian holy trinity.

What does Japji mean

"repeat soul"

Karma

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the character you carry over to the next life. the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

Buddha

-"enlightened/awakened one" -born into brahmin family, was protected bc his fam wanted him to experience the privelages of life. then underwent the great renunciation--> became awake to -1st jewel of buddhism -teaches life of detachment -4 sightings --> awakening

caste system (india)

-"social position" -is officially sanctioned by the Rigveda. - purusha hymn - people are divided into 4 classes: Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.

Judaism

-A religion with a belief in one god (monotheistic). It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. -covenant

myth

-A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society. - Truth wrapped in a narrative - Not false, creative ways to express an ineffable truth - ex: world pictures, the American dream, sagas of the deities

Ever Chinese wears a...

-Buddhist robe -Confucian hat -Doaist sandals

Guru Nanak Sahib

-Founder of Sikhism -1469-1539 CE -Collision of religions that did not include the eradications of one or the other -Peaceful religion so they could coexist -One of the problems was that people were not thinking before acting

Christ

-The Greek term for "Messiah." It means "the anointed one." -

Eightfold path

-The eight parts of the path to liberation are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice—moral conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. The buddha taught the eightfold path in all his discourses. -The eightfold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.-These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline: ethical conduct, mental discipline, & wisdom

Nirvana

-The state of enlightenment for Buddhists. -It's a transformed state of personality characterized by peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion, and a refined and subtle awareness. - means the end of suffering and rebirth

Soma (Hinduism)

-an unidentified plant the juice of which was a fundamental offering of the Vedic sacrifices -highly intoxicating

Gabriel (Islam)

-archangel who was the messenger of God. -revealed verses of Qur'an to prophet Mohammad in the cave of Hira

comparative religion

-branch of the study of religions concerned with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world's religion -discipline that attempts to understand and compare religious patterns found around the world

3 Rafts of Buddhism

1. Theravada- priest 2. Mahayana- hands of everyday people 3. Vajrayana- wisdom

4 noble truths

1. suffering is real 2. the cause of suffering can be identified 3. once the cause of suffering is known, suffering may cease 4. the path of the middle way- eight fold path

How many Vedas are there?

4

Kenosis (Karen Armstrong)

A feature of Axial Religions is awareness of _______. It is the emptying of the divine into the human.

The word Hindu best describes:

A geographical region

According to Karen Armstrong a major failing of the Axial Religions is:

A indifference to women

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India. Characterized by canons, the Rig Veda, and foundational concepts: all life is cyclical, all life matters, all life has the opportunity to cultivate the character of living.

"Deeper spiritual crisis" What are some of the critical points:

Atomic Bombs (Hiroshima & Nagasaki) Pending Environmental Catastrophe World Trade Center Bombing

Hindu Trimurti

Brahma/Atman (creator), Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer)

Vedic Religion also known as:

Brahmanism

Name the three Abrahamic religions

Christianity, Judaism, Islam

Axial Age

Coined by Karl Jaspers. Known as a pivotal period in history when 4 regions: China, India, Israel, and Greece shifted their intellectual, spiritual, and philosophical views. The transformation from external to internal knowledge of self; self-betterment with focus on struggles with suffering, ignorance, sin.

The 3 central issues that drove the Axial Age:

Discovery of Self, Meaning of Life, and Meaning of Death

What is the name of God in the E tradition?

El

Who was the courageous minority prophet who challenged the joint worship of Baal & Yahweh:

Elijah

What does Buddha mean?

Enlighten one/ the one awake

premodern/traditional

From the beginning of recorded history until the rise of science in the 16th century and the Enlightenment (18th century). There was a demand to make sense of all the wonder.

Karl Jaspers

German existentialist- coined the term axial age

Vak (Hinduism)

Goddess of speech, sacred and ordinary- harnesses the power of creation.

Who is the founding teacher of Sikhism

Guru Nahak Sahib

Yin and Yang

In Daoist belief, complementary factors that help to maintain the equilibrium of the world. One is associated with masculine, light, and active qualities while the other with feminine, dark, and passive qualities.

atman

In Hindu belief, a person's essential self. refers to the real self beyond ego or false self.considered as eternal, imperishable, not the same as body or mind or consciousness. One of the most basic concepts of Hinduism.

competitive religion

Is the idea that your religion is correct/ must win. Downfall people become blind to change or mistakes because only their approach is correct, inherently destructive.

Sikhism, the 15th century religion comes from which two religions

Islam and Hinduism

Allah

Islamic God

History of Religion

It looks at religious concepts, catalysts, people, events during the major periods of history. Studies religious behavior of groups/individuals through any sequence of events. Studies the series of transformations that characterize the evolution of religions into what they are now. Unravels the process of religious development.

Hinduism identifies 4 yogas which are paths to achieve moksha what are they?

Jnana(knowledge) Karma(action) Bhakti(devotion) Raja(royal)

Two types of Jains

Sky-Clad (naked) and Robe Clad Jain

The Baghadvagita is immensely important to Hinduism. A 700 line poem that is part of the Mahabharata, what does Baghadvagita mean?

Song of the Lord

Which Greek poli is militerized as a way of making knowledge avalible to all residents?

Sparta

Christian Epiphany

The arrival of the Magi (Wise men) at Bethlehem.

Samsara (Hinduism)

The cycle of rebirth- the universe has no beginning or end. goes along with ideal of reincarnation.

New Testament

The second part of the Christian Bible, containing descriptions of the life and teachings of Jesus and of his early followers

In China, rituals helped them to:

Transcend themselves

Weltbild

World picture- objective, seeks to describe the way the world looks. An individual's picture of the world. Convictions about the world and what it demands from the individual. This leaves people unaware of the change and unable to adjust, which can include the cosmic egg concept.

Jainism

a religion founded in India in the sixth century BC, whose members believe that everything in the universe has a soul and therefore shouldn't be harmed. Mahavira founded this religion.

Jain icon/image

an open, extended palm; it is a symbol of eternal acknowledgement of the universal soul

Indian Jain followers are closely identified with...

animal shelters

How did Kenosis in India appear ?

as renunciation

"The Word"

is made flesh

"the Christ"

it means "the anointed one" and is associated with the kings of Davidic ancestry

What was associated with the earliest form of Judaism?

life lived in the memory covenant

ahism (Hinduism and Buddhism)

means "do no harm" or "nonviolence"

Postmodern

subsequent to or coming later than that which is modern. It is also called the late-modern worldview. We are in the midst of a change of perspective that, like the Renaissance, questions accepted authorities of philosophy, science, religion, governments, and more

Dukka means:

suffering

What does torah mean

teaching

Sutta/Sutra

text containing the Buddha's discourses.

Henotheism

the belief that acknowledges a plurality of gods but elevates one of them to special status

Quran

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina,