Intro To Religion Study Guide Table of Contents Week 1 2 Oxtoby 2 Modern Scholarly Approaches 2 McCutcheon 2 Week 2 3 Kessler 3 Week 3 Judaism 3 Week 4 Judaism 4 Week 5 Christianity 5 Week 6 Christianity 6 Week 8 Islam 7 Study Questions That I know the answer to 7 Week 1 Oxtoby 1 Monotheism Worship of one God 2 Polytheism Worship of multiple Gods 3 Dualism The division of 2 principles against each other Usually personifies as good God and Evil Devil 4 Missionary Religions definition and 3 main types Religions that draw clear boundaries between themselves and others and then encourages others to join their beliefs 3 Types Christians Muslims and Jews 5 Zoroastrianism Monotheistic religion with dualistic overtones originated from Persia Belief is that Ahura Mazda created twin spirits one chose to be good the other bad 6 Ahura Mazda Supreme creator of the Zoroastrians 7 Eschatology Part of theology concerned with death judgment and final destiny Modern Scholarly Approaches 1 Philosophy of Religion Analysis of religious language name of religion and general framework and the philosophical justification or rejection of various religious positions 2 Sociology of Religion Sociological method is applied to crucial issues such as how religion contributes to social integration and its social function 3 Psychology of Religion Involves the collection and classification of psychological data investigation of religious responses examinations of religious symbols and practices that help people 4 Phenomenology of Religion This approach is to identify a general pattern and define its essential elements Also compares religions 5 History of Religion Where historians study religious behavior through a sequence of events or series of transformations that characterize the evolution of various religious traditions into their current forms McCutcheon 1 Anthropological Approach to Study of Religion Distinguished from a confessional religious or theological approach which is generally concerned with determining the nature will or wishes of the god gods 2 Historical Accuracy Did certain events really happen Example Did Abraham actually exist where when 3 Descriptive Accuracy Example What do Muslims say they mean when they say that Muhammad was the seal of the prophets 4 Normative Judgments Saying things like how someone should live their life opinion 5 Religious Instruction Religious education cant be forced in schools Week 2 Kessler 1 Moral Evil Suffering and pain inflicted on others by human beings 9 11 2 Natural Evil Natural disasters Hurricanes 3 Nomos An orderly world operating according to understandable laws Basically people want explanations 4 Theodicy Divine Justice 5 Scientific Why Actual scientific reason for something happening building falls because of termites 6 Existential Why Reason for something in a supernatural view Why would the building fall and kill innocent people its immoral 7 Theodicy of Participation Deals with evils suffering and misfortunes by relativizing such events It reassures us that in the grand scheme of things our little sufferings are of little significance 8 Dualistic Theodicy Explain evil head on by claiming that some sort of superhuman force is responsible for evil Week 3 Judaism 1 Mount Sinai Where Moses received the 10 commandments 2 Sabbath Saturday for Jews day of rest for prayer and public assembly in synagogue time 3 Synagogue House of worship and community meeting in the Jewish faith 4 Pentateuch 5 books of Moses also the first 5 books of the Hebrew bible 5 Torah Scripture from which the bat or bar mitzvah reads in public for the first 6 1280 BCE Moses leads the Exodus from Egypt 7 922 BCE Northern kingdom separates following King Solomon s death 8 586 BCE Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and exile its leaders to Babylon 9 1948 Establishment of the state of Israel 10 Yochanan ben Zakkai Most important jewish figure of all time 11 YHWH Yahweh to Jews used verbally instead of the lords name 12 Adonai Title similar to Lord used by Jews 13 Ha Shem Hebrew expression for The Name substituted for Adonai or YHWH 14 Exile Marks the transition of the Hebrew tradition from the natural cult of an ancient kingdom to the religious heritage of widely dispersed people 15 Jews Judeans term used after Jewish Exile 16 Septuagint Translation of the Bible used by Jews that allowed Greeks to understand it Greek translation of Hebrew scripture 17 Maccabean Revolt Seleucids came in to Jerusalem and made their temple a cult place disregarding the Jewish religion A group of fighters fought the Seleucids and recaptured Jerusalem and expanded its boundaries 18 Sadducees Upper class of Greek culture Made up of priests and custodians of the temple Interpreted their scripture very literally 19 Pharisees Middle Class of Greek culture Consisted of landowners skilled workers Interpreted their scripture more broadly than Sadducees 20 Essenes Authors of Dead Sea Scrolls which is a collection of manuscripts from the Maccabean period They were rigorously observant priests under the man Teacher of Righteousness Eventually moved to the desert to gain purity for the coming apocalypse 21 Zealots Rejected Roman authority under any circumstances Wanted to liberate Judea from Roman control They upset the balance between Sadducees and Pharisees 22 Messiah Anointed One Refers to current king or future king who would bring God s justice to the world Week 4 Judaism 1 70 CE Marks classical Judaism Fall of Jerusalem to Romans Marked the turning point comparable to the exile Temple was destroyed but not rebuilt 2 Yeshiva Jewish school provided for men to study scripture and Jewish law 3 Fun Fact The Judaism that we know today is founded on the Judaism of the Rabbis in late antiquity 4 Where was the locus of public worship during rabbinic times The Synagogue 5 Mizrah Means East On a plaque in Jews homes on the east wall so they know what direction to face while praying 6 Menorah 7 branched candlestick Dates back to the days of the Temple Symbol of Jewish culture and sovereignty and state of Israel 7 TaNaKh Acronym for the bible which is broken into 3 sections Teaching Propets and writing interpretations 8 Midrash The rabbi s commentary and interpretation of the Bible Line by line 9 Mishnah Hebrew summary of oral law Oldest dateable rabbinic document 10 Gemarrah Bodies of commentary that go with the Mishnah There are 2 of them both written in aramic 11 Halakhah Legal material in the Talmud 12 Aggadah Anecdotal or
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