Deck 8: The Geography of Religion

Question 1

The Norse people's belief in many Gods like Odin, Thor, and Freyr is a good example of

A)an animistic religion.
B)a polytheistic religion.
C)a monotheistic religion.
D)a religion that is difficult to classify.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The definition of a religion is

A)following your heart in finding one true love.
B)a series of theories about sociological behavior.
C)a cultural system of beliefs, traditions, and practices often centered around the worship of a deity or deities.
D)any activity that is done religiously or with great fervor.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which is the best example of a universalizing religion?

A)Judaism whose adherents often go door to door
B)Taoism whose beliefs encourage looking inward with meditation
C)The Heaven's Gate cult who killed themselves to 'board the mother ship'
D)Jehovah's Witnesses who actively proselyte for converts

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Untouchables in the caste system in Hinduism

A)cannot be reincarnated.
B)perform jobs considered spiritually and physically unclean.
C)are not allowed to enter Roman Catholic cathedrals.
D)because of persecution, have mostly migrated to Europe.

Question 5

The Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism that spread northward

A)ended up being popular in Sri Lanka and modern-day Indonesia.
B)contains esoteric 'magic' formulas and spoken chants called mantras.
C)is called the 'little raft' and was diffused along the coasts of southeast Asia.
D)is more widespread today in Pakistan and Afghanistan than other places.

Question 6

Which is the best example of an ethnic religion?

A)Mormonism (Latter-Day Saints) which actively plan missionary work
B)Most Protestant religions which advertise better lives through service
C)Islam which accepts converts who accept Allah and his prophet Mohammed
D)Judaism which often has been a culture persecuted and dispersed

Question 7

For Buddhists, Nirvana means

A)the ending of greed and suffering.
B)the beginning of eternal life with God.
C)leaving behind faith and embarking on perfect knowledge.
D)arriving at a certainty regarding authoritarian leadership.

Question 8

On the world map of religions a main difference between North and South America is

A)that you find pockets of Hinduism in South America.
B)that there is more Protestantism in South America.
C)that Islam is more prevalent in South America.
D)that Roman Catholicism no longer appears on either continent.

Question 9

The enlightenment of Siddhartha in northern India was the origin of

A)Hinduism.
B)Buddhism.
C)Judaism.
D)Sikhism.

Question 10

On the world religions map by examining the patterns one can see that the regions of Southern Africa, Australia, and significant parts of South Korea are similar to North America in that

A)Protestantism is dominant in all these areas.
B)Roman Catholicism is more present than Protestantism.
C)Judaism is a main religion in all these areas.
D)Eastern religions are mainly present.

Question 11

The word Hindu derives from

A)a proto-Indo-European word meaning 'deity'.
B)a Persian word for 'Indus' as in the Indus River.
C)a Thai word for 'water' as in an ancient web laid out on the land.
D)a Dravidian word for 'hill' or 'hillock', seen in animistic views as holy.

Question 12

The four noble truths of Buddhism can be summarized as teaching that

A)troubles and pain can be conquered through reincarnation improvement.
B)our status in the next life depends on our actions in this life.
C)suffering can be overcome and desire can be diminished.
D)there is no afterlife so current actions do not matter.

Question 13

Hindu temples often contain

A)crosses.
B)stars of David in the typical Jewish tradition.
C)images of a deity or deities.
D)the many armed Buddha.

Question 14

An animistic religion might

A)have a belief in spirits inhabiting the land.
B)focus on ancestors continuing to live in trees and hills.
C)hold to spirits dwelling in inanimate objects.
D)all of the above. Scrambling: Locked

Question 15

The Theravada tradition of Buddhism

A)spread eastward and southward from its core in the Ganges basin in India.
B)spread westward toward the original Hindu core in Anatolia (Turkey).
C)spread northward into China and Mongolia.
D)spread southwestward through islands and to Madagascar.

Question 16

From the map of world religions we see that Islam is mainly found

A)in the Americas and eastern Asia.
B)in eastern Asia and southern Asia.
C)in South America and southern Africa.
D)in North Africa and into southwestern Asia.

Question 17

To say there is a geography of religion implies

A)that religion has been important historically.
B)that religion has important beliefs explaining existence.
C)that religion has spatial elements which require explaining.
D)that religion is no longer important in everyday life.

Question 18

On the map of world religions small black dots indicating Judaism show that

A)Jews are spread widely over space in North America.
B)Jews are present more in southern cities in the United States.
C)Jews are located in more restricted locations geographically and not spread widely in the United States.
D)more Jews are found in the Western U.S.than in the east.

Question 19

Most religions follow some kind of sacred writing-or scripture.The Hindu sacred stories are called

A)the Old Testament.
B)the Book of Mormon.
C)the Torah.
D)the Vedas.

Question 20

The Hindu cycle for rebirth and redeath is called

A)resurrection.
B)the eucharist.
C)reincarnation.
D)decorporation.

Question 21

According to the text and map caption the largest number of Jews on the planet is in

A)the urban area of Jerusalem.
B)the urban regions of Israel.
C)the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
D)the urban area of New York City.

Question 22

The most geographic of the '5 pillars' of Islam is

A)almsgiving to the poor on certain days of the week.
B)confession of faith, the 'shahadah'.
C)facing Mecca during prayer, 5 times a day.
D)fasting during Ramadan.

Question 23

Judaism is the originator of Christianity and Islam

A)is one of the world's largest religions in total number of believers.
B)is as large as either Christianity or Islam or Hinduism in adherents.
C)is relatively small in total believers with only about 15 million.
D)is about the same size as Buddhism (though unrelated to that faith).

Question 24

A brief glance at the Protestant church buildings in the pictures shows that

A)they are probably more complex and ornate than other Christian churches.
B)they are probably larger in size than other Christian churches.
C)they are perhaps more simple and less ornate than other Christian churches.
D)they are very colorful compared to other church structures.

Question 25

In total numbers the largest group of Christians in the world today are

A)Presbyterians.
B)Eastern Orthodox.
C)Roman Catholics.
D)Jehovah's Witnesses.

Question 26

According to the map of the world's religions, Hinduism is

A)widespread throughout Asia.
B)relegated today to the countries of Indonesia and Malaysia.
C)the most widespread in China.
D)found mainly in India.

Question 27

Buddhists today in the world number about 300 million and thus

A)it is the widest spread (diffused) of all the world's religions.
B)it is not so large compared to Christianity or Islam.
C)it is about the same size in adherents as Judaism or Sikhism.
D)are about the same in size as Hindu believers.

Question 28

For Shiite Muslims, the city of Karbala in Iraq is sacred

A)because it is the birthplace of the Buddha.
B)because it is the site where Jesus was married.
C)because Ali, Mohammed's grandson died there.
D)because it was the place where John the Baptist was baptized by Jesus.

Question 29

Sikhism theologically and geographically is basically a result of the mixing between which two religions?

A)Judaism and Christianity
B)Christianity and Islam
C)Islam and Hinduism
D)Hinduism and Judaism

Question 30

The Great Schism of 1054

A)divided Christianity east and west.
B)split off Christians in northern Europe into protesting divisions.
C)brought new believers to the Americas in new forms of the religion.
D)gave new foodways traditions to believers throughout Europe.

Question 31

Which of the following is geographic about Jewish worship in synagogues?

A)Jews usually walk in circumambulation paths around the sacred torah.
B)The arc symbolic of the commandments given to the people lies on the wall facing Jerusalem.
C)The four noble truths are spoken weekly at the Sabbath (Saturday) meetings.
D)Statues of men represent bodies resurrected to live with God (Yahweh) again.

Question 32

The origins of Islam were

A)rather early compared to Hinduism and Buddhism.
B)rather later compared to Christianity or Judaism.
C)about the same time as the Protestant Reformation.
D)correlated with the origins of Marianism in Roman Catholicism.

Question 33

In worship services throughout Christianity

A)one finds mainly highly structured and ritualized meetings.
B)one finds very simple, basic, and quiet worship.
C)one normally finds loud and raucous worship.
D)one finds a great variety from very simple to highly ritualized.

Question 34

Shintoism is the animistic religion that is found mainly in

A)Northern China.
B)Japan.
C)North Korea.
D)Taiwan (the Republic of China).

Question 35

The Western (or Wailing) Wall is sacred because

A)Jews worship near their ancient temple.
B)Christian Scientists can worship at their megachurch in Boston.
C)Muslims are upset that their mosque was destroyed in Ayodhya.
D)Aztecs found their temple now surrounded by a huge modern city.

Question 36

One group of Christians found in Africa's Nile region, where you would perhaps least expect Christians are

A)the Shiites.
B)the Shintos.
C)the Coptics.
D)the Shakers.

Question 37

The map of the diffusion and geography of Islam shows

A)not a very wide dissemination of the religion.
B)a very clustered geography without much diffusion.
C)a mainly linear pattern along a main highway.
D)two main religious 'sects' or 'regions'.

Question 38

The map of the diffusion of Judaism shows expulsions from 1000 to 1500 A.D.

A)mainly taking place as Jews moved westward from Israel to western Europe.
B)mainly from western Europe across the Atlantic to North America.
C)mainly occurring with a main wave of eastward across the Mediterranean back to Israel.
D)limited to local migrations generally from Italy northward through Germany.

Question 39

Christianity was started in Israel by Jesus, who was

A)Jewish.
B)Muslim.
C)Seventh Day Adventist.
D)the Buddha.

Question 40

Up to A.D.600 the diffusion of Christianity could be said to be

A)mainly near Israel.
B)mainly near the Mediterranean Sea and Mediterranean Europe.
C)mainly in the Baltic region and in Scandinavia.
D)mainly in the eastern Russian realm and then North America.