Study Guide for Test 1 Intro to World Religions Introductory Lecture on the Study of Religion 1 Since the conversion of Emperor Constantine religion in the West has been primarily caught up with Christianity What were some of the turning points that began to shatter the domination of Christianity within the study of religion The proliferation of trade travel and conquest of the Europeans ex Christopher Columbus The Renaissance the Enlightenment and the birth of science all weaken Christianity for it doesn t accord with reason 19th century historical biblical criticism The Protestant Reformation The projection theory Economic expansion 2 What is the most significant feature of Ludwig Feuerbach s thought for the study of religion 3 What is the most significant feature of Karl Marx s thought for the study of religion 4 What is the most significant feature of William Robertson Smith s thought for the study of religion Ritual before myth because of community bonding 5 What is the most significant feature of mile Durkheim s thought for the study of religion Divine comes from community feeling 6 What is the most significant feature of Max Weber s thought for the study of religion Counterweight to Karl Marx Religious ideas gave way to capitalism 7 What is the most significant feature of Rudolf Otto s thought for the study of religion Religion cannot be reduced and is not rational 8 What is the most significant feature of Sigmund Freud s thought for the study of religion Psychology Relies on religion because of a need for a father suffers from guilt from society 9 What is the most significant feature of Max M ller s thought for the study of religion Religion originated with nature worship 10 What is the most significant feature of James Frazer s thought for the study of religion Religion derives from nature worship evolutionary path magic religion science 11 What is the most significant feature of Richard Dawkins s and Daniel Dennett s thought for the study of religion Intentional Hinduism 1 Who were the Dravidians Be able to say a little about them and their civilization Original inhabitants of the Indus Valley region Their encounter with the Aryans led to the beginning of Hinduism Fertility rituals temple rites maybe animal sacrifice and ritual bathing 2 Who were the Aryans Approximately when did they enter the Indus valley of present day India Be able to say a little about them and their civilization Indus valley is present day Iran They entered about 1500 1000 BCE Nomadic people Worship nature gods and sacrifice to them 3 What two factors make the study of the early roots of Hinduism more difficult 19th century indologists who studied sanksrit and Hinduism like Max Muller mashed up religions to make Hinduism and colonial enterprise were more concerned with exploiting and making money than the religion and people 4 What are the two main types of Hindu sacred literature What is the difference between them Be able to give examples of each type of Hindu sacred literature and give a brief description of each example Shruti revealed no human authorship o Vedas songs about worship and spells charms o Bramahas how to sacrifice o Aranyakas taught to religious elite in woods o Upanishads nature of reality and self passed down from guru to disciple Smriti remembered human authorship o Puranas myths about gods goddesses o Sutras witty sayings sown together o Epics most important in Hinduism 5 What is the oldest piece of Hindu sacred literature and approximately when was it written Rig Veda 1200 BCE 6 What are the main differences between the Vedas and the Upanishads Hint I am looking for the differences in the topics each contains different subject matter Vedas origins of universe and gods goddesses Caste system Upanishads nature of reality and self Karma samsara moksha brahman atman 7 What are the primary concepts found in the Upanishads Karma samsara moksha brahman atman 8 What is karma What goes around comes around 9 What is samsara Cycle of deaths and rebirths 10 What is moksha Liberation of the cycle of deaths and rebirths 11 What is Brahman What is the difference between nirguna Brahman and saguna Brahman Ultimate reality Nirguna Brahman voluntary can t feel think anything Brahman without qualities No time sense Saguna brahman involuntary can feel think instinctively Brahman with qualities Absolute time sense Time is eternal 12 What is Atman Brahman is within you True self 13 What are the four primary castes in Hinduism What is the significance of being one of the twice born castes Be able to describe a story from sacred literature that supposedly is the basis for the caste system Brahmin religious elite Kshatriya nobility warriors Vaishya merchants business men Shudra commoners Brahmin Kshatriya and Vaishya are all twice born and can learn vedic knowledge Cosmic man who was twice born 25 of his self stayed on earth and the other 75 went to heaven 14 What are the four stages of life ashrama for the twice born castes Student ages 8 12 Householder married at 25 Forest Dweller when grandchildren are born Renouncer seeking Samadhi highest form will find moksha 15 What are the four acceptable goals worth pursuing in Hinduism Kama materialistic things sex clothes food Artha economical and political pursuit of power Dharma law duty Moksha liberation 16 What are the four paths to liberation salvation moksha within Hinduism You will need to be able to give a brief description of each Jnana Yoga path of knowledge Bhakti Yoga path of love devotion Karma Yoga doing one s duty for duty s sake Raja Yoga physical discipline practiced by americans at local gyms 17 What is the significance of the scorpion story when thinking about Karma Yoga A guru s duty is to help suffering beings so even though the guru knew he would get stung and he did get stung multiple times he still helped the scorpion out of the water because that is his duty 18 What are the six Orthodox Hindu schools of philosophy You will need to be able to give a brief description of each 19 What is the Trimurti 3 Gods independent existence 20 What is the Tridevi 3 Goddesses no independent existence subservant to men 21 You will need to able to give a brief description of the following Hindu gods and goddesses Brahma Vishnu Shiva Saraswati Lakshmi Parvati and Ganesha Brahma creator god Vishnu preserver god Shiva destroyer god Saraswati goddess of knowledge accompanies Brahma Lakshmi goddess of prosperity accompanies Vishnu Parvati goddess of
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