survery of western religons test 1

What does “religion” come from?

The Latin word religio, from religare, meaning “to tie to” or “to bind back.”

What are the 3 ways the term “religion” relates to human experience?

• How humans cope with/restrain awesome and unknown forces.

• How humans create a framework to connect different parts of their experience.

• How humans recognize their limitations and dependence on something greater than themselves.

Is religion a prehistoric and global phenomenon?

Yes. Religion has existed since prehistoric times and is found throughout the world.

What does globalization mean in relation to religion?

The world's religions have followers in almost every country on the planet.

Who was Mircea Eliade?

An anthropologist who argued that humans could more appropriately be called Homo religiosus because religion is central to human nature.

What does Homo sapiens mean?

Wise human

What does Homo religiosus mean?

Religous Human

What evidence suggests prehistoric humans had religious consciousness?

Their treatment of the dead and specialized use of stone artifacts.

What is a shaman?

An intermediary who communicates with the natural and/or supernatural realm on behalf of a group.

What happened when hunter-gatherers began cultivating land?

They settled in permanent locations, built permanent homes, and developed stable societies with fixed social structures.

What was the four-level class system among Indo-European peoples?

Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra.

Who were the Brahmin?

Priests

Who were the Kshatriya?

Warriors

Who were the Vaishya?

Farmers and merchants.

Who were the Shudra?

Servants

What is the Functionalist approach to religion?

It reduces religion to a sub-category of another “more fundamental” science, such as evolutionary biology, anthropology, or sociology.

Who is associated with critical Theory

Karl Marx

According to Karl Marx, why did religion develop?

As a system of oppression that helped an exploitative upper class maintain economic power.

What is Critical Theory mainly concerned with?

Eonomic Power and Oppression

Who is associated with Psychoanalytic Theory?

Sigmund Freud

According to Freud, why did religion develop?

As a coping mechanism for managing psychological states, especially fear of death.

What was religion mainly created to help humans cope with according to Freud?

Fear of death

What is the main assumption of this course about religion?

Religion deserves to be studied academically in its own right while also using insights from other disciplines.

Is the comparative study of religions a Western academic discipline?

yes. It is largely a Western phenomenon that has often been influenced by colonialism.

what is colonialism?

The political, social, cultural, and economic domination of one society by another.

What religion was favored by European colonialists?

Christianity.

How did European colonialists often compare other religions?

They compared religions they encountered to Christianity, which was the religion they already knew.

Why is recognizing your own historical and cultural conditioning important?

It helps create more meaningful cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.

What is Religious Studies/Study of Religion?

An academic, rather than faith-based or doctrinal, approach to studying religion and its personal, social, political, and cultural roles.

What is a Faith-Based approach?

Studying religion from the perspective of a particular faith.

What is an Interfaith approach?

People from different faiths share their experiences and worldviews to find common understanding.

What is an Experiential approach?

Understanding a religion through experiencing its devotional services, worship, prayer, or meditation.

Which approach is used in this course?

Religious Studies/Study of Religion.

What is the difference between Religious Studies and Faith-Based study?

Religious Studies is academic and non-confessional, while Faith-Based study looks at religion from within a particular faith perspective.

What happened 3–2 million years BCE?

Beginning of Homo sapiens; nomadic hominids developed tool use, food-sharing, and gender specialization.

What happened before 100,000 BCE?

The Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age, including ritual burials and religious practices.

What happened around 40,000 BCE?

Humans left Africa/Southern Europe and spread throughout Eurasia.

What happened around 25,000–15,000 BCE?

Homo sapiens crossed the Pacific/Siberia and populated North and South America.

What happened around 10,000 BCE?

Beginning of the Neolithic (New Stone) Age and the development of megalithic structures.

What happened around 7,000 BCE?

First settled agricultural communities appeared.

What happened around 3,300 BCE?

Beginning of the Bronze Age and the first written records of city-states.

What is Göbekli Tepe?

A site in modern-day Turkey containing large stone structures dating to about 9500–8000 BCE.

Why is Göbekli Tepe important?

It suggests that early settled communities may have formed around common worship practices rather than agriculture.

What are megalithic structures?

Structures made from very large stones.

When did humans shift from hunting/gathering to agriculture?

around 7,000 BCE

What does the Greek word muthos mean?

Narrative or story

What is a myth?

A traditional story or narrative used to explain the world, origins, gods, humans, or important events.

How were origin stories originally passed down?

Orally from generation to generation.

What were some of the earliest forms of writing?

Pictograms, which later developed into phoneticized words.

What is anthropomorphizing?

Attributing human characteristics, forms, or behaviors to non-human things.

What kinds of things were anthropomorphized by ancient peoples?

Animals, plants, natural elements, geographic features, celestial phenomena, and weather

Why did ancient peoples worship gods and goddesses?

They offered sacrifices in exchange for divine favor.

What does Mesopotamia mean?

Between rivers

Which two rivers were central to Mesopotamia?

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Where was Mesopotamia located?

In the Fertile Crescent.

Name four important Mesopotamian city-states.

Ur, Uruk, Assur, and Babylon.

Did every Mesopotamian city-state have exactly the same gods?

No. Cities had their own names and versions of gods and goddesses, although cultures borrowed from one another.

Who was Inanna?

A sumerian fertility goddess

What was Inanna later called by the Assyrians and Babylonians?

Ishtar

Who was Enlil?

A sky god

Who was Enki?

A water deity

Who was Marduk?

A storm god and the patron god of Babylon.

What type of writing was used in Mesopotamia?

Cuneiform

What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?

A Sumerian legend about the life of an ancient king that includes a flood story.

Why is the Epic of Gilgamesh important to the study of religion?

Its flood story may have influenced or been recycled into the Biblical story of Noah in Genesis.

What is the Enuma Elish?

Marduk defeats the forces of chaos and creates/orders the universe.

Where did Egyptian civilization develop?

Along the Nile River and its delta

What is a pharaoh?

The ruler of ancient Egypt; the word means “great house.”

How was the pharaoh viewed?

As a quasi-divine figure whose well-being was connected to the well-being of the Egyptian people.

When did the Old Kingdom begin?

Around 2700 BCE

When was the first pyramidal structure for a pharaoh built?

Around 2600 BCE

Who was Atum?

The primeval god of origination.

What is Ankh associated with?

Life

What is Ma’at associated with?

Order

What is ka?

A life force believed to be shared by organic matter.

What happened around 1350 BCE in Egypt?

The sun god Amun-Ra was given prominence, possibly representing an early experiment in monotheism.

What type of writing did ancient Egyptians use?

Hieroglyphics.

What does “hieroglyphic” mean?

Holy marks

What is the Instruction of Amenope?

An Egyptian text that may have been used as a source for the Biblical Book of Proverbs.

What is the Story of the Eloquent Peasant?

An Egyptian text that may have been used as a source for the Biblical Book of Job.