World Religions Final Exam

Jainism, as taught by Mahavira, emerged in India about the time of what other great teacher?

Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

Which religions accept the eating of animals?

Sikhism and Islam

The god Rama is frequently paired with

Sita

Which country had a large Muslim population for almost 800 years?

Spain

The name given to Islamic mysticism is

Sufism

The day of Rejoicing in the Torah comes at the end of what festival?

Sukkot

One of the greatest examples of Islamic architecture is located in India and is called the

Taj Mahal.

The biblical book that describes the origins of the human race is

Genesis

The Jewish view of God is best expressed as

God makes moral demands

On what feast are Jewish children given presents for eight days?

Hanukkah

A major city of the pre-Vedic culture of the Indus River Valley was

Harappa

A hierarchical, hereditary form of religious Taoism is called

Heavenly Master Daoism

Which of these books is found in the New Testament?

Hebrews

The founder of the Church of England was

Henry VIII

The term maya may be translated as

Illusion

Buddhism began in

India

Confucius hoped to

restore the social harmony of the past

The religion of Sikhism first developed in

the Punjab region of India and Pakistan.

"Orthodoxy" literally means

"right belief"

Literally, "synoptic" means

"together see"

China has had how many female rulers (emperors)?

1

How many Sikh gurus were there before the human line of gurus ended?

10

The Qing (Ching) Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty, collapsed in China in

1911

The Buddha left home to begin his life of wandering at what age?

29

Jain monasticism has split into how many branches?

4

The Tao Te Ching is written in approximately how many Chinese characters?

5000

The Shinto shrine that is dedicated to Amaterasu and is the shrine of the imperial family is located at

Ise

In religious studies, the word myth means

A story that is psychologically meaningful and may be either historically true or not

Contemporary Judaism has split into four parts. The most liberal is called

Reconstructionist Judaism.

Judaism traces itself back to what legendary patriarch who is written about in the book of Genesis?

Abraham

Muslims trace themselves back ultimately to what great patriarch?

Abraham

The Vedic god of fire was

Agni

The Buddha of the Western Paradise is

Amitabha

The center of the Sikh religion is at

Amritsar

The primary language that Jesus spoke was

Aramaic

The prince who is counseled by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is

Arjuna

The Indian ruler who spread Buddhist teaching widely was

Ashoka

The Southern Kingdom was destroyed in 586 B.C.E. by

Babylonia

When the Jewish boy turns thirteen, he is considered an adult in the religious community. This ceremony takes its name from his new status.

Bar Mitzvah

The dramatic style of church architecture that Catholics frequently used in order to oppose the Protestant Reformation is called

Baroque

The person whose Rule for Monks helped organize and spread Western monasticism was

Benedict

The absolute or divine reality is known as

Brahman

The oldest and most important of the Vedas is

Rig Vedas

Besides Tibetan Buddhism, another form of Vajrayana Buddhism is

Shingon Buddhism

The disciple of Freud who ultimately rebelled against him was

Carl Jung

What psychologist saw religion as a way for people to find their fulfillment as unique individuals, a process he called "individuation"?

Carl Jung

The basis for the Japanese writing system came from

China

Mencius (Mengzi, Meng Tzu) was a

Confucian with a positive view of human nature.

The bishop who is the most important bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church is the patriarch of

Constantinople

Important times in the development of the individual are often marked in oral religions by ceremonies. These are commonly called

Rites of Passage

Jainism was a strong influence on

Gandhi

The religious order that has especially focused on teaching and scholarship is

Dominicans

Omoto, in order to encourage international understanding, gives a special place to the study and use of

Esperanto

The anthropologist who lived in the Sudan among the Nuer and Azande peoples was

Evans Pritchard

Confucius's ideal society would live according to the ideals of the

Five Relationships

Krishna is often portrayed holding a

Flute

The primeval female kami who was burned by the fire god is

Izanami.

The Scottish anthropologist who was the author of the multivolume study of mythology called The Golden Bough was

James Frazer

The early anthropologist who saw religion as rooted in a belief in spirits and worship of them was

James Frazer

The early Christian group that was primarily Jewish in background had its headquarters in

Jerusalem

Confucianism was criticized by Chinese who had studied in the West and was influenced by the teachings of

John Dewey and Bertrand Russell.

The Scottish church leader who studied with John Calvin in Geneva was

John Knox

The Hebrew ancestor who, according to the Bible, first settled in Egypt was

Joseph

Christianity grew out of

Judaism

This god is associated with destruction and rebirth.

Kali

The Turkish leader who ended the caliphate was

Kemal Ataturk

The Japanese monk who studied in China and established Shingon Buddhism in Japan was

Kukai (Kobo Daishi).

The language of Sephardic Jews has been

Ladino

Which book is part of the Torah or Pentateuch?

Leviticus

The book of Acts is really the second part of this gospel:

Luke

What is the oldest branch of the Protestant Reformation?

Lutheranism

The Bhagavad Gita is part of a long Indian epic poem called

Mahabharata

The German theologian who held that religions originate in human response to the mysterious side of reality was

Rudolf Otto

The Protestant Reformation was started by

Martin Luther

The gospel that is oriented toward a Jewish audience and that portrays Jesus as the "new Moses" is

Matthew

A major Shinto shrine in Tokyo is named after what emperor?

Meiji

The statue of the Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica is by

Michelangelo

The chanter who calls people to prayer is called

Muezzin

The founder of Tenrikyo was

Nakayama Miki.

Tenrikyo, which grew out of Shinto, has its headquarters near

Nara

Hinduism is the majority religion of

Nepal

Maori religion is part of the cultural rebirth in

New Zealand

Which division of modern Judaism stresses strict beliefs and careful keeping of dietary laws?

Orthodox

African tribal masks influenced the art of

Pablo Picasso

When the early Christian belief spread outside Israel, it was spread particularly by what missionary?

Paul

Gothic architecture, although it arose in France, may be traced back to

Persia

The "Sutras on the Perfection of Wisdom" have this Sanskrit name:

Prajnaparamita

The prophetic orientation in religion is particularly strong in

Protestant Christianity

The sacred book of Islam, which gives the sermons of Muhammad, is called

Qur'an (Koran).

Buddhism developed into several branches. The branch that spread into Sri Lanka and southeast Asia is

Theravada

The three categories of the Hebrew Bible are

Torah, Prophets, and Writings

The essential collection of sacred books of Buddhism is called

Tripitaka (Tipitaka).

Nanak's name for God was

True Name

Elements of Buddhism, as interpreted in Japanese woodblock prints, influenced this artist:

Vincent Van Gogh

The goddess Pele is associated with

Volcanoes and fire

The Sunni reform movement that began in Saudi Arabia is

Wahhabi

The American thinker who argued that religion brought a new vitality to people's lives was

William James

The emperor renounced his title to divinity when

World World II ended

The Jewish Day of Atonement, the most sacred day of the Jewish year, is

Yom Kippur

One religion that particularly values and makes use of silence is

Zen Buddhism

Which great scholar developed a complete philosophy of reality, now called Neo-Confucianism?

Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi)

The man who dreamed he was a butterfly was

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu).

Oral religions today are especially threatened by

destruction of habitat

The Nihongi is

a collection of stories of the gods and early history.

State Shinto refers to

a former system of national shrines.

Sacred space is often constituted by

a great mountain or tree

Izanami and Izanagi created Japan when they stirred the ocean with

a jeweled spear

The Talmud is

a long work of commentary based on biblical principles.

Biophilia refers to

a love of all forms of life

In Jesus' day, a Samaritan was

a member of a despised outside group

Lent is

a period of preparation for Easter.

The Khalsa was created to be

a protective social organization

A sangat is

a religious group.

Vimalakirti was

a rich but compassionate and wise layman

A mantra is a

a sacred word or phrase repeated in prayers or chants

The term Poro refers to

a secret initiation society for males

The minaret is

a tower used to call Muslims to prayer

The religious practice of ordinary Hindus is primarily

devotion to deities

Bhakti means

devotion to god

The virtue of filial piety means

devotion to one's family

Jains believe that perfected souls

disappear from the world and live at the top of the universe

Sacred time tends to focus on the

distant past

The Upanishads are

about 100 written works that discuss the nature of spiritual reality

The ideal of causing no harm to anything that can suffer is

ahisma

Observant Muslims do not allow

alcohol

The Sadducees were

an aristocratic, priestly party centered in Jerusalem.

Guru Granth is

an honorary title for the sacred book of Sikhism

The belief that all elements of the world are inhabited by spirits or spirit is called

animism

The view that the end of the world is near is called

apocalypticism

That area of investigation that looks for and interprets religious evidence in ancient sites, buildings, and objects is

archeology

The ideal of the Theravada branch is the

arhat (arahat).

Omoto is a new religion that emphasizes the value of

art

The Jewish New Year occurs at what time of year?

autumn

The Jain worldview holds that a Creator

does not exist

The goal of ultimate liberation from egotism and from rebirth is called

moksha

A story in the Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) makes fun of the silliness of human beings. It compares them to

monkeys

Perhaps the most important ritual of Christianity is a sign of entry into the church, or

baptism

The prophetic orientation in religion emphasizes

beliefs and moral codes

Confucianism has been especially concerned about relationship

between human beings

Literally, Mahayana means

big vehicle

Nirvana seems to come from a word that means

blow out

A person of great compassion, willing to be reborn constantly to help others, is called

bodhisattva.

The general Jewish attitude toward physical matter and bodily pleasure has generally been that

both matter and the body are innately good

Jainism seems to be most strongly concerned about

breaking the power of bondage to the physical world.

The successor to Muhammad, for centuries a political as well as a religious figure, was called

caliph

The most significant Confucian art form has been

calligraphy

Shinto puts great emphasis on

careful ritual

Literally, the word religion means

connect again

What animal is treated with special devotion and care by Hindus?

cow

In Hinduism, the dead body is disposed of by

cremation

Tirthankara is the Jain name that is translated

crossing maker

Anthropology typically studies religions as

cultural creations with multiple aspects

An image use by the Tao Te Ching to express the difficulty of seeing in the Taoistic way is

darkness

Among many reasons, religions exist to help people

deal with the certainty of death

Taoists aim at enjoying a long life but also accept death because

death is a part of the natural order of things

According to the Book of Exodus, what disaster was the last to strike the Egyptians?

death of the firstborn male children

The Tao Te Ching is known for its

deliberate obscurity

What is most important in Zen is

enlightened awareness

Circumcision is a rite often associated with

entry into adulthood

The year 1 of the Muslim calendar dates from what event in the life of Muhammad?

escape from Mecca to Medina

One of the essential Buddhist teachings is

everything is changing

A common element often found in religions is

feelings of wonder

The Buddha lived about this time.

fifth century b.c.e.

The authoritative pre-Confucian books are the

five classics

A characteristic symbolic object associated with Krishna, indicative of the attractive power of the divine, is a

flute

Jains allow and even recommend

gentle suicide after a long life of virtue

A Sikh temple is called a

gurdwara

A memory of what Muhammad said or did is called

hadith

An important element of ritual at a Shinto shrine is

hand clapping

Shinto

has helped the Japanese maintain a sense of their unique identity.

The name Mahavira literally means

hero or great man

Sallekhana means

holy death

The Sioux term wakan means

holy or mysterious

Belief in one God is called

monotheism

Tradition holds that which relative of the Buddha died soon after the birth of the Buddha?

mother

Compared with oral religions, today's dominant religions are

much younger

Jain monks differ from Buddhist monks in allowing

nakedness

Ramadan is the

name of the month in which Muhammad received revelation.

Regarding traditional Jewish practices, Jesus seems to have thought that

human happiness was an important goal.

Dancers often wear masks

in order to become the spirit represented by the mask

The sacrifice of an animal may occur

in order to placate a spirit after a taboo has been broken

Buddhism came to Tibet from

india

The Chan/Zen virtues are especially

intuition and naturalness

The Yi Jing (I Ching)

is a book, valued by Confucius, that is used for divination.

The vision quest in Native American religions

is frequently undergone during adolescence

The law of moral cause-and-effect is called the law of

karma

In Hinduism, dharma refers to

law, duty, and obligation

At the end of his life, Laozi (Lao Tzu) is said to have

left China riding an ox

To lessen suffering, the Buddha recommended

lessening desire

The name "Eve" means

life

Jainism sees reality as made up of

life (jiva) and nonlife (ajiva)

The conception of time that is found in religions that emphasize a creation and a cosmic purpose is usually

linear

Raja yoga is the yoga of

meditation

The unconditioned state of reality that is the highest goal of Buddhism is called

nirvana

The month-long fast that observant Muslims keep involves

no eating or drinking of anything during the daylight hours.

The notion of wu wei is

no unnecessary action

Vedic worship was primarily

offerings to nature gods and fire altars

Taboos

often exist regarding sex, marriage, and birth

The torii is

often used as a gateway to a sacred location.

The Bible says that God spoke to Moses

on Mount Sinai

Wilhelm Schmidt, an Austrian philologist, argued that human beings originally believed in

one god

Islam particularly stresses

oneness of God

The name Adi Granth means

original collection

The approach that especially makes use of reason to find answers to religious questions is

philosophy

The calumet is a

pipe

Belief in many gods is called

polytheism

Jewish dietary laws forbid eating

pork

A libation involves

pouring a liquid as an offering to a god

The Mencius

presents the teachings of a Confucian thinker.

A brahmin is a

priest

Until recently, oral religions were looked at as

primitive and undeveloped

The turning point in Nanak's life was a

prophetic call near a river

The word masjid (mosque) literally means a place of

prostration

The biblical book of song lyrics sung in worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem is

psalms

Most Jains practice the devotional activity called

puja

Among Shinto values and practices, which task is quite important?

purification

Shinto often makes use of

purification rituals

Divination is employed to

read the past or look into the future

Nanak, like the Hindus, believed in

reincarnation and karma

In regard to Confucianism, the Communists after the Communist Revolution

rejected it as not being egalitarian.

The transmission of oral religions is made more difficult by the fact that teachings are often conveyed in ways that are

relatively impermanent

A guru is a

religious teacher

After his wife died, Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)

sang

The name for the Buddhist community of monks and nuns is

sangha

The emperor of Japan came to be considered a father figure for the whole country. This

seems to show the influence of Confucianism.

Hylozoism, the background philosophy of Jainism,

sees life in everything, even what is inanimate.

Tibetan Buddhism includes elements of

shamanism

The name of the Digambara branch literally means

sky-clothed

The major problem with a reliance on hadiths is that

some hadiths do not agree with each other.

The Passover occurs at what time of year?

spring

Literally, psychology means

study of the soul

Islam literally means

submission

Literally, the word "Muslim" means a person who

submits

The Buddha was particularly troubled by the problem of

suffering and death

Kamikaze is a term used for referring to

suicide pilots

The general name for that category of books that is said to give the words of the Buddha is

sutra

"Divination" refers to

telling the future

The Jains consider Mahavira to be

the 24th "crossing maker"

The Gospel of John shows many similarities with

the Dead Sea Scrolls

The central sacrament (ritual act) of the Roman Catholic Church is called

the Mass

Christianity first spread in

the Mediterranean region

Christianity added its books to those of the Hebrew Bible; the distinctively Christian books are called

the New Testament

The Torah is

the first 5 books of the Bible (pentateuch)

Sigmund Freud, when analyzing the origin of religion, emphasized

the human need for psychological security

Which of the following has been of special value in the new appreciation for and understanding of oral religions?

the ready availability of cameras and recorders

Tao is the origin of

the rhythms of nature

The Analects are

the sayings of Confucious

The term Shinto comes from two Chinese words that mean

the way of the gods

In the story of their lives, Mahavira and the Buddha show similarities, such as

their both practicing extreme asceticism.

In regard to the common belief in a permanent soul, the Buddha seems to have taught that

there is none

To "atone" means

to do something that shows regret for wrongdoing

It is possible that the creation myth that tells of numerous kami

unites the beliefs of several clans or tribes

Traditionalists sometimes interpret the command not to work on the Sabbath as including no

use of the telephone

In a holistic culture,

virtually every object and act may have religious meaning

The word Vedas is related to the English word

vision

In Hawai`i, during the celebration of Makahiki

war and heavy work were forbidden

Muhammad and his followers escaped from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina). This event

was the turning point, after which Muhammad gained success.

The most important image to be found in the Tao Te Ching, the image that best expresses its ideals, is

water

Literally, Tao Te Ching means

way-power-classic

From a Taoist perspective, the proper job a person should have would be determined by

what the individual is most capable of doing

One of the major areas of debate among early Christians was about

whether or not they had to keep Jewish laws.

The color most often associated with Shinto is

white

The aspect of reality that expresses itself in silence, receptivity, and darkness is called

yin