Test Bank Ch1 Understanding World Religions in Global

Test Bank

to accompany

World Religions Today, Seventh Edition

Esposito • Fasching • Lewis • Feldmeier

Chapter 1

Introduction: Understanding World Religions in Global Perspective

NOTE: Questions marked with “(w)” also appear in the student review quizzes on Oxford Learning Link.

Multiple Choice

1. Belief in the nation as a sacred entity is called

a. Animism.

b. Nationalism.

c. Jihad.

d. Sympathetic citizenship.

2. In terms of religion, Postmodernists reject the dominance of

a. Science and modernism.

b. Myth.

c. Time and history.

d. Fundamentalism.

3. (w) The authors characterize “postmodern” as the time

a. Immediately after premodern time.

b. When all areas of life became secularized.

c. When separation of church and state first developed.

d. When all religious and scientific knowledge is viewed as relative.

4. (w) This term refers to those who reject aspects of modernity and wish to return to the “purer” sociopolitical order

a. Symbolist.

b. Fundamentalist.

c. Modernist.

d. Via negativa.

5. (w) In ancient Greek, the word heretic means

a. Unbound.

b. One who lies.

c. Renegade.

d. One who chooses.

6. The earliest religious stories are myths of

a. Modernity.

b. Transcendence.

c. Nature.

d. Liberation.

7. A reliable exact count of the number of adherents to world religions is unavailable due to

a. Lack of consistent survey criteria.

b. A problematic assumption that a person can be listed under only one variable.

c. Disagreements about what constitutes a branch of a world religion versus a “new religion.”

d. All of the above.

8. This term signifies a way of explaining spiritual reality by using analogies from particular finite qualities and characteristics

a. metanarrative.

b. sympathetic imagination.

c. Via analogia.

d. globalization.

9. A form of religious language is

a. Via negativa.

b. Via analogia.

c. Metaphor.

d. All of the above.

10. (w) In the myths of history, the problem of life is

a. Labor.

b. Sin.

c. Suffering.

d. Globalization.

11. The study of religion is primarily defined by

a. The god or gods.

b. Demographics.

c. Geography.

d. None of the above.

12. In the modern era, religion was primarily viewed as

a. Shared public knowledge.

b. A matter of private personal faith or opinion.

c. The root of all evil.

d. A sign of progress.

13. (w) Orthopraxy could include

a. Morality.

b. Ritual.

c. Both a and b.

d. None of the above.

14. What the authors define as ultimate reality could include

a. Personal god(s) or impersonal world spirits.

b. Sympathetic imagination.

c. Myth.

d. Ritual.

15. A modernist seeks accommodation of religious tradition to the insights of science and

a. Religious tradition.

b. History.

c. Philosophy.

d. Social and political realities.

16. (w) The postmodern era is characterized by the collapse of

a. Class.

b. Subjectivity.

c. Metanarratives.

d. Society.

17. (w) Which is an explanation used to make sense of injustice?

a. Socialism.

b. Theodicy.

c. Amulet.

d. Veneration.

18. (w) Western religion is typically monotheistic, meaning

a. Belief in one god above many.

b. Belief in many gods.

c. Belief in one god only.

d. Both a and c.

19. (w) Religious experience must have a _______ frame of reference.

a. Theistic.

b. Spiritual.

c. Contemporary.

d. None of the above.

20. (w) A civilization in which there is no separation between a dominant religion and society is called

a. Premodern.

b. Postmodern.

c. Civic.

d. Neomodern.

21. (w) This trend makes the study of world religions especially pertinent in a postmodern society.

a. Symbolism.

b. Scarcity of resources.

c. Modernity.

d. Globalization.

22. (w) According to the authors, the great world religions emerged in which of the following centers of civilization in the ancient world?

a. India.

b. The Middle East.

c. China.

d. All of the above.

23. (w) A myth is defined as

a. A false story.

b. A symbolic story about the origins and destiny of humans and their world.

c. A native story that is not true.

d. A children’s story that has a moral lesson.

24. (w) Religion is most closely characterized by

a. Whatever a community believes in.

b. A way for people to understand history.

c. A certain denomination.

d. The sense of being tied or bound by sacred obligations to powers believed to govern our destiny.

25. Which of the following is not necessarily a component of religion?

a. Ritual.

b. A god.

c. Storying.

d. Ethics.

26. (w) These actions are thought to ‘tie and bind’ an individual to the sacred and to the community

a. Myth.

b. Orthodoxy.

c. Morality.

d. Ritual.

27. Which of the following is NOT necessarily a key element of religion?

a. Community.

b. Leaders.

c. Denominations.

d. Ritual.

28. (w) The authors define ‘sacred’ as

a. Of God.

b. Ethical behavior.

c. That which is universal.

d. What matters most to a given community.

29. In response to globalization, emerging departments of religious studies offered courses which were unique because they

a. Were offered form a monotheistic viewpoint.

b. Sought to understand diverse religious traditions with no preconceived bias.

c. Privileged Judaism and Christianity.

d. Recognized the role of agricultural advances in urbanization and globalization.

30. Which era of history began with colonialism and the rise of modern science, then declined after World War II?

a. The modern era.

b. The postmodern era.

c. The Byzantine era.

d. The greatest era.

31. Comparative religion pioneer Rudolf Otto argued that the simultaneous presence of these two emotions is a sure sign that one is in the presence of the sacred

a. Excitement and passion.

b. Awe and wonder.

c. Fascination and dread.

d. None of the above.

32. This form of religious language is typical of religious traditions in which human beings seek a direct embodied experience of the ultimate reality.

a. Metaphor.

b. Negation.

c. Fundamentals.

d. Orthopraxy.

33. The authors use the term ultimate reality to designate

a. God or gods of highest value and meaning for humanity.

b. World spirits.

c. Transpersonal and impersonal powers.

d. All of the above.

34. (w) In postmodernity, recognition of the _______ of worldviews tends to “relativize” and “privatize” all stories.

a. Doubt.

b. Reality.

c. Innocence.

d. Plurality.

35. Symbolic language in religious story can take one of two forms, analogy or

a. Metaphor.

b. Negation.

c. Fundamentalist.

d. Orthopraxy.

36. (w) This transition period, marked by trends of urbanization, encompassed the emergence of world religions and their development to Classical Expressions.

a. Postmodernity.

b. Premodern to Modern.

c. Modernity.

d. Modern to Postmodern.

37. (w) The authors characterize “postmodern” as the time

a. Immediately after premodern time.

b. When all areas of life became secularized.

c. When separation of church and state first developed.

d. When all religious and scientific knowledge is viewed as relative.

38. (w) This form of religious language is typical of religious traditions in which human beings seek a direct embodied experience of the ultimate reality.

a. Metaphor.

b. Negation.

c. Fundamentals.

d. Orthodoxy.

39. (w) Marxism was a movement in opposition to

a. Secularism.

b. Progress.

c. Capitalism.

d. Science.

40. Marx believed that a large class of urban workers would organize and eventually create a revolution, resulting in a new _______ society.

a. Classical.

b. Progressive.

c. Patriarchal.

d. Classless.

Fill in the Blank

1. One of the newest disciplines in the modern university is the academic study of _______.

2. _______ of 1965 drastically increased diversity of immigrant populations and trend of globalization in the United States.

3. (w) Rather than believe God was the directing force of history, Karl Marx believed history to be directed by _______.

4. Max Müller argued that “the person who knows only one religion understands _______.”

5. (w) During the modern period, the social authority of religion was undermined by _______.

6. (w) Departments of religious studies began to appear in secular American universities in the 1960s in response to the increasing _______ spurred by globalization.

7. In regard to religion, a Postmodernist might seek to affirm the role of religion in a manner which embraces _______.

8. (w) A _______ is a story accepted by the majority of a society as expressing its beliefs about its origins, destiny, and sacred identity.

9. (w) _______ is the belief in the nation as a sacred (most valued) entity.

10. (w) In the myths of _______, the goal of religion is thought to be to free humans suffering in a wheel of death and rebirth.

11. The myths of history characterize the goal of life as peace and justice through _______ with the will of God.

12. (w) Many scholars of the Modern era believed that an increasing reliance on science would cause civilization to become increasingly _______.

13. Religion is about what people hold _______, what matters more than anything else to them.

14. (w) The political, social, cultural, and economic domination of one society by another is called _______.

15. (w) Postmodernists may argue that not only religion but also _______ is an imaginative interpretation of the world rather than final truth about reality.

16. (w) A _______, medium, or oracle uses trance to communicate with sacred ancestors and the supernatural.

17. (w) The highest goal of the myths of _______ is to overcome the bondage of suffering in life.

18. (w) The two different religions that emerged in China to restore balance in society and the universe were _______ and Confucianism.

19. (w) A _______ is a symbolic story about the origins of the world and what determines the destiny of human beings.

20. Myths of blissful liberation primarily originate in _______.

21. _______ reactions have divided each religious tradition into groups of fundamentalists, modernists, and postmodernists.

22. Fundamentalists reject ideas derived from the sciences that would call the foundations of their religious _______ into question.

23. For many people during the 18th century, a _______ worldview came to replace religion as the most certain form of knowledge.

24. (w) _______ interpretations of symbolic religious stories can lead to great confusion and/or misunderstanding.

25. (w) _______ is a term for the belief of the central doctrines set forth in texts and formulated by scholars.

26. _______ are people not simply born into a given religion or identity but choose among alternatives, including whether to stay with what religion one inherited at birth.

27. When _______ became the first religion to span the globe, every religion was made to reckon with its beliefs, its practices, and its critiques of other religions in a new diversity of worldviews.

28. (w) In most religious traditions, _______ and morality are closely intertwined.

29. (w) _______, the domination of one society by another, is part of the story of virtually all religions and civilizations.

30. (w) The idea that any human understanding of religious truth and practice can be subject to historical change and development is a view distinctly held by _______.

31. A _______ in Hindu and Buddhism is a means for achieving liberation or enlightenment.

32. (w) The authors call a particular moment in which pre-modern religious traditions clashed with modern worldview an Encounter with _______.

33. The modernist movement of _______ was sustained by a vision of scientific progress yet rallied against extreme individualism and modern capitalism.

34. Whereas modern cultural metanarratives emphasize a story of history as progress, ancient cultural metanarratives were based on _______ myths.

35. (w) In the postmodern world, every religious person is a _______, because we all “choose” our religious identity.

36. _______ imagination is necessary to understand metaphor and messages of different times and places.

37. In the Myths of History, the ideal goal of life is for humans to be in harmony with the will of God, whereupon peace and justice will reign, and death will be _______ (overcome).

38. _______ has disrupted notions of singular identities, including religious identity.

39. Most modernists and postmodernists argue that religious tradition must _______.

40. From a postmodern perspective, all knowledge is _______.

41. That which is held _______ is, by definition, what matters most to a given community.

True/False

1. (w) “Religiously unaffiliated” is a term for people who do not adhere to any religious beliefs.

2. (w) It is possible for a person to practice more than one religion.

3. The comparative study of religions originated in secular universities.

4. (w) The primary aim of the academic study of religion is to determine which religious traditions are correct.

5. (w) Tribal identity was collective in part because everyone shared the same hunting–gathering activities.

6. Unquestioned belief in science is characteristic of the modern world.

7. A global religious resurgence occurred during the end of the twentieth century.

8. According to the authors, religion has always been about power and meaning in relation to human destiny.

9. (w) Orthodoxy is a part of only Western religions.

10. The development of urban life and the first great cities that started around 3000 BCE led directly to the specialization of labor.

11. (w) Socialism was not a movement until the postmodern period.

12. Both fundamentalism and postmodern pluralism reject the modern strategy of privatizing religion.

13. (w) Throughout history, much of religion has centered on power and meaning in relation to human destiny.

14. The study of each religion is best defined by the god or Gods worshipped.

15. Every religious tradition uses myth to convey the deepest and most profound truths about life.

16. (w) In premodern culture religion played the decisive role in explaining and ordering life.

17. Few people in first-century Rome were deeply religious.

18. (w) Religious experiences are defined as those focused on a belief in God or gods.

19. In the postmodern world, science can be seen as an imaginative interpretation of the world based on faith.

20. Urbanization impacted many aspects of an increasingly global society, including contributing to the gradual decline of religion around the globe.

21. Orthopraxy includes both morality and ritual.

22. (w) In the earliest religious stories, time was viewed as linear.

23. In the myths of liberation, the problem of life is nature.

24. The two world wars gave people around the world hope that scientific progress would eliminate the problems of society.

25. (w) A postmodern edict would argue that only religious knowledge—and not scientific knowledge—is relative.

26. Premodern society saw the universe through explicitly religious eyes and pronounced its vision of life sacred.

27. (w) Colonialism decimated many premodern religions and cultures.

28. (w) The scientific worldview, which was part of modern culture, was highly respectful of premodern beliefs.

29. In the myths of nature, time is viewed as linear.

30. (w) In the myths of history, time is the enemy.

31. Morality never appears to be nonreligious.

32. (w) In the myths of nature, time brings sickness, decline, and death.

33. Religion is about purely spiritual things.

34. Atheists and agnostics do not have morals.

35. The secular state was the expression of “modern” reality. .

36. (w) Sympathetic imagination means that we feel sorry for people who are different from us.

37. (w) Anticolonial reactions to the oppressions of colonialism often included a resurgence of religion influence.

38. (w) In modern culture religion played the decisive role in explaining and ordering life.

39. (w) Postmodern trends incited a collapse of all metanarratives, causing religion to drastically curtail in the public realm.

40. (w) The final decades of the twentieth century brought a global religious resurgence.

Discussion Questions

1. (w) Detail the problematic nature of attempts to report numbers of adherents to world religions. Consult Figure 1.1. Explain why the estimated percentages assigned to each religious tradition exceed 100%.

2. (w) Summarize the four types of religious story, including the problems and ideals of each.

3. How did urbanization pave the way for the emergence of the world religions?

4. (w) How might someone justify the statement that both postmodernist and fundamentalist religious movements are examples of Peter Berger’s “heretical imperative”?

5. Compare religious practice in premodern times with that influenced by globalization. Explain how changes influenced personal identity and how this may have impacted collective practice.

6. (w) The authors refer to a collapse of metanarratives in Postmodernity. Provide examples of metanarratives and explain the factors which may have contributed to such a collapse.

7. Explain how the effects of globalization makes the study of religions imperative.

8. (w) Discuss the ways in which politics is connected to religious traditions. Use examples from the chapter.

9. Analyze how the World Wars might have influenced modern beliefs and faith in the inevitable progress of science. In what ways did this contribute to Postmodern trends?

10. (w) What conditions and essential questions about life led to the emergence of the great world religions?

11. Describe ways in which postmodernity differs from modernity, according to the text.