Deck 1: Religious Responses

Question 1

The word religion probably means to __________.

Answer 1

tie back or to tie again

Question 2

The word spirituality refers to __________.

Answer 2

the inner dimensions of religion - such as experiences, beliefs, and values

Question 3

The discipline that attempts to understand and compare religious patterns found around the world is known as __________.

Answer 3

comparative religion

Question 4

Those who claim they worship the only true deity are known as __________.

Question 5

The belief that there is no deity is called __________.

Question 6

Symbolic stories that communities use to explain the universe and their place within it are called __________.

Question 7

The __________ theory holds that scientific discoveries of the complexities and perfections of life can be said to prove the existence of a creator.

Question 8

The rare quality of personal magnetism often ascribed to founders of religion is called __________.

Question 9

Describe the point of view of scientific materialism.

Question 10

Describe a functional perspective on religion.

Question 11

Demonstrate how dogma helps people find security in their religions.

Question 12

Illustrate how encounters with Unseen Reality might occur within spiritual traditions.

Question 13

Compare the terms sacred and profane.

Question 14

Compare the terms immanent and transcendent.

Question 15

Distinguish between monotheistic and polytheistic religions.

Question 16

Compare the perspectives of agnosticism and secularism.

Question 17

Explain how globalization is pressuring traditional religious understandings.

Question 18

Explain historical-critical studies as an approach to studying scriptures.

Question 19

Describe the effects of patriarchal institutionalized religions on women.

Question 20

Explain the term hermeneutics.

Question 21

Attempts to define religion are difficult because __________.

A) religions did not exist until the nineteenth century
B) it is too difficult to study spiritual experience
C) religion is a complex and elusive topic that involves institutional, cultural, and spiritual dimensions
D) no one can prove whether God exists

Question 22

Scientific materialism asserts that __________.

A) religion and science are compatible
B) the supernatural is real
C) only the material world exists
D) mysticism is a means of gaining knowledge of the material world

Question 23

An allegory is an effective kind of religious narrative because it __________.

A) gives a scientific description of a spiritual phenomenon
B) uses symbolic language to convey an abstract idea
C) distinguishes between the sacred and the profane
D) provides easy stories to remember

Question 24

The psychologist Carl Jung proposed that the reason there are similarities among symbols in different cultures is __________.

A) symbols involve logical associations with the natural world
B) cultures have borrowed symbols from one another
C) there are a limited number of symbols available
D) humanity has a collective unconscious, a global psychic inheritance of archetypal symbols

Question 25

Redaction refers to the __________ of scripture.

A) editing
B) rejection
C) interpretation
D) sacredness

Question 26

Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species propounded the theory of __________.

A) fundamentalism
B) scientific materialism
C) dualism
D) evolution by natural selection

Question 27

Metaphysics is important to religion because it __________.

A) studies the natural world
B) proves creationism as an explanation for the natural world
C) proves the scientific materialism approach to the natural world
D) theorizes about the subtle realities that transcend the natural world

Question 28

In patriarchal institutionalized religions, women have been __________.

A) most often at the center of religious rituals
B) totally absent from the religion itself
C) relegated to the fringes of religious organizations
D) equal participants with men in the religion

Question 29

Phenomenology is the __________.

A) study of religious practices to comprehend their meaning for practitioners
B) belief that there are many deities
C) doctrines proclaimed as absolutely true
D) wisdom that is thought to come from direct experience of Ultimate Reality

Question 30

Listening to people of all faiths tell their stories is important to the study of religion because __________.

A) personal stories are more interesting than scholarly articles
B) organized religion may exaggerate the problem of guilt
C) intersubjective dialogue provides a means for the extension of one's own possibilities for growth and understanding
D) religion is too political

Question 31

By definition, all religions have creedal statements of belief.

Question 32

Numinous is a nonrational, nonsensory experience of that which is totally outside the self and cannot be described.

Question 33

Nontheistic refers to a lack of religious belief.

Question 34

Only priests perform the predictable and repeated actions known as rituals.

Question 35

Researchers have identified many similarities in the use of symbols across different cultures.

Question 36

Extended metaphors that use concrete symbols to convey abstract ideas are known as mystics.

Question 37

Myths are symbolic stories that communities use to explain the universe and their place within it.

Question 38

Orthodox followers of a religion believe that practices must change with the times.

Question 39

Those who are called religious liberals take a more flexible approach to religious tradition.

Question 40

Exegesis is the critical explanation or interpretation of rituals.

Question 41

Some people claim that it is impossible to actually study religion. Why? Please give specific examples.

Question 42

Please describe the roles of ritual, symbol, and myth in religion. Give specific examples of how these aspects of a religion express faith in Ultimate Reality.

Question 43

Please analyze potentially negative aspects of organized religion. Give specific contemporary examples of religion effecting people negatively.