Test your basic knowledge |

DSST Introduction To World Religions

Subjects : dsst, culture

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. The Mishnah
All Protestant denominations accept all three of the creeds
Meng-zi reinforced Confucius's teaching that people were innately good - whereas Xun-zi taught that people were innately evil.
Thomas Aquinas
The first collection of Jewish laws

2. A rite of passage in Judaism is...
Set out a number of principles that are central to Hinduism; The Upanishads are a collection of advice from Hindu sages. Among the topics covered are reincarnation - creation - and the relationship between individual souls and Ultimate Reality.
Circumcision; The ceremony of circumcision - known as brit - marks the entrance of a male child into Judaism.
The desire to convert nonbelievers and spread the religion
Celebrates Muhammad's birthday

3. The dogma of papal infallibility refers to...

4. According to the doctrine of transubstantiation in the Roman Catholic Church...
Moses
Muhammad forbade idol worship; the lack of mosques' ornamentation was a result of Muhammad's ban on idols out of fear that his followers could fall back into polytheism.
Jesus is actually present in the bread and wine in communion
Movement of Jews to areas outside Palestine beginning in the eighth century B.C.E.

5. The natural world is an integrated whole.
An accurate explanation of Taoist teachings
Jewish mysticism
Luther denied the infallibility of the pope.
Destruction of the second Temple and the end of Palestine in 70 C.E.

6. Jerusalem is a holy city to...
A vision quest
Loyalty
Christians; Jews; Muslims
Householder

7. In what deities do both good and evil co-exist?
Ahura Mazda
Orthodox
A conservative movement within Islam
Neolithic Revolution; The Neolithic Revolution marks the change from hunting and gathering to settled farming as a way of life. Groups developed religions to appeal to the deities in nature for help.

8. African religions are unlike Hinduism in which ways?
Roman Catholicism
Venerate and fear ancestors - Have healers; Are localized; Hinduism does not share any of these characteristics. The only trait that African religions have in common with Hinduism is that Hinduism and African religions are polytheistic.
The most sacred to Muslims
Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations; Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations

9. The Christian Science movement believes that...

10. What was a central element of Confucianism as Confucius taught it?
Used in Zen Buddhism to help a believer reach sudden insight.
Angels - heaven - and hell
The father of the gods in the Greek pantheon.
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.

11. Charitable giving is important to Muslims because...
Is as much a cultural designation as a religious one
Vedanta; The Vedanta system holds that all the world - including humans - is an illusion
It acknowledges that everything belongs to Allah ultimately.
Meditation - Nonviolence - Self-Denial

12. What statement accurately describes the Hasidic movement?
Protestant doctorine but Catholic ritual
Celebrates Muhammad's birthday
Icons
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism

13. What statements are true about Pentecostal churches?

14. Predicting the future through divination is an element of...
Pork
Officials were worried that Buddhism's popularity would affect people's loyalty to the government
Confucianism
Buddha's compassion for living things

15. Gain salvation.
The ultimate goal of Christians
Profess one's Islamic faith
It removes the stain of original sin
While delaying their own entrance into nirvana

16. Zeus
The father of the gods in the Greek pantheon.
The representation of an eternal Buddha; one of many Buddhas
The Islamic concept of the community of Muslim believers
Confucianism

17. Muslims believe that almsgiving is...
Returning to Allah what is his
Episcopalians believe in scripture as interpreted by tradition - whereas Lutherans believe that scripture alone is the sole authority on which their faith is based.
Fasting during the day for one month each year
Ritual; A code of moral conduct; An afterlife

18. The ten lost tribes of Israel...
Jewish dietary laws
Disappeared after the Assyrians captured Israel
Immersing adults in water
Moses

19. According to Confucianism - what is the most important virtue a ruler can possess?
Eased kosher restrictions;
The caste system is both religious and social in nature.
Benevolence
Salvation is achieved through faith and good works

20. Mawlid al-Nabi

21. Mosques do not have representations of Allah or any living things because...

22. An aspect of Buddhism that is less popular in the Western world is...
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.
Monasticism
Emphasized obedience to God's law
Covenant; The Covenant between Yahweh and Abraham is the foundation on which Judaism is based.

23. Which practice of Roman Catholicism was rejected by Protestants during the Reformation?
Torah; The Torah scroll is kept in the ark and read from during services
Use of Latin for the Bible and for church services; One of the changes of the Reformation was the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages and their use in church services. The Roman Catholic Church continued to use Latin for church service
The Trinity
Roman Catholicism

24. Which system of Hindu philosophy believes that only Brahman is real?
Things like ambition - wealth - and power keep people from their real purpose in life
Vedanta; The Vedanta system holds that all the world - including humans - is an illusion
Sudden illumination; The Renzai - or Intuitive - school of Zen Buddhism believes that rational thought will not bring illumination. One must think anti-rationally and go behind reason before enlightenment will come - and then it will come suddenly in
Hindu

25. A central belief of the Roman Catholic Church NOT shared by Protestant denominations.
The caste system.
Transubstantiation
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism
In a final Judgment Day; Both Muslims and Christians believe that there will be a Judgment Day when the dead will be raised up.

26. During their centuries of conquest - Muslim rulers...
Had been denied an annulment of his marriage
Allowed subject peoples to practice their own religions
Nichiren
That Jesus was both human and divine; Arius taught that Jesus was not equal with God the Father and eternal. The Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicea to deal with the issue - which was dividing the early Church.

27. Mariology refers to devotion to the Virgin Mary in...
A supreme being
Roman Catholicism; Roman Catholics have a special devotion to the Virgin Mary that is a major difference with other Christian denominations.
Shinto; Shinto was - and remains - a specifically Japanese religion.
Orthodox

28. Religion that does not include fasting.
Xun-zi
Zoroastrianism
Baghdad; Baghdad was an important center of Islamic power during the caliphates.
Jesus

29. Ka'bah
Description of certain ideas in terms of their opposites - such as good and evil and yin and yang
Jewish mysticism
Meng-zi reinforced Confucius's teaching that people were innately good - whereas Xun-zi taught that people were innately evil.
Icons

30. Women cannot become cantors and rabbis in which branch of Judaism?
There is a connection between all things that exist
Myths explain the natural world and the reasons for the religious beliefs and customs of a group
Orthodox
Ramadan

31. Is Monasticism found in Islam?
A central principle of Hinduism is reincarnation
Judaism; Judaism is a religion and Zionism is a political movement begun in 1896 to establish a Jewish state in what the Jews consider the 'promised land.'
Hindus; part of the epic 'Mahabharata'
No

32. What changes in Arab society resulted from Muhammad's teachings?
Recognize when a boy and a girl are considered adults in Judaism.
Dowries were given to brides - not their fathers; Women gained property and inheritance rights; Mistreatment of wives in marriage was forbidden
It is the revealed word of God; Muslims believe that God revealed his message to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Reliance on magic

33. What was not a teaching of Muhammad?
Does not include worship of spirits or divine beings
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism
Guides to the spirit world. Shamans functioned - and still function - in religions based on nature and spirit worship.
Forced conversion of non-Muslims; Muhammad preached tolerance for other religions - but did impose a tax on nonbelievers.

34. Instead of statues - Eastern Orthodox rites use what as ornamentation in their churches?
Icons
Islam and Hinduism; Nanak - who founded Sikhism in northern India in the late 15th and early 16th centuries - was born a Hindu and studied Islam - but could not find spiritual peace in either.
The Islamic concept of the community of Muslim believers
All Protestant denominations accept all three of the creeds

35. Some authorities do not consider Confucianism a religion primarily because it does not include...
Any gods
All people are created equal; The Baha'i movement preaches equality of the sexes - the importance of education - an end to prejudice - and the value of leading a good life.
No schools that teach religion to their followers
Law of Manu (describes the caste system and the duties of each caste).

36. Jihad refers to...
Communion
Judaism
The concepts of purity and pollution remain the basis for the caste system.
The struggle within a Muslim to live a good life

37. In founding the Nation of Islam - Wallace Fard focused on...
Economics and social concerns of African Americans within an Islamic framework
Desire is the cause of all suffering; The Eightfold Path; All life is suffering; The only way to end suffering is to end desire
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism
After the Assyrians destroyed Israel; The Jewish Diaspora began after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in the 8th century B.C.E.

38. 'Lotus Sutra'
The holy scripture of Nichiren Buddhism
Circumcision; The ceremony of circumcision - known as brit - marks the entrance of a male child into Judaism.
The growing materialism of Islam around the 800s
The Islamic concept of the community of Muslim believers

39. The Prophetic Movement in Judaism...

40. In Hinduism - ahimsa is the principle of...
The teachings of Buddha - or religious truth.
Confer special grace on the gravely ill person
Any gods
Nonviolence

41. 'Shivah' - in Judaism
Yahweh's covenant with Abraham. In the covenant - Yahweh declared that the descendants of Abraham would have a special relationship with him.
The first week of mourning after a death
The Islamic concept of the community of Muslim believers
Christianity

42. Hadith
Use of Latin for the Bible and for church services; One of the changes of the Reformation was the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages and their use in church services. The Roman Catholic Church continued to use Latin for church service
Collections of sayings and actions of Muhammad
Roman Catholicism
Loyalty

43. What are aspects of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths?
Reliance on magic
Desire is the cause of all suffering; The Eightfold Path; All life is suffering; The only way to end suffering is to end desire
Hasidic Jews
Submission

44. The branch of Judaism that relies most heavily on Jewish law - ritual - and tradition in daily life is the...
Judaism; Islam; Traditional African religions
Orthodox branch; Orthodox Jews conform most closely to the tenets of Judaism as revealed by God. They are not concerned with adapting Judaism to the world outside of the Jewish community.
Primacy of the pope in determining matters of Christian doctrine. The Eastern Church believed that authority in matters of faith rested more with the Bible and church councils than with the pope.
Asoka; Asoka - a ruler of the Maurya dynasty in India in the third century B.C.E. - converted to Buddhism and sent missionaries to convert the people of his huge empire. As a result - Buddhism is the predominant religion of Asia.

45. Who attempted to reconcile Aristotelian logic with the existence of God?
Belief that God will save the world from its sins by sending a messiah
Judaism; Islam; Traditional African religions
Thomas Aquinas
That the government should support religion; They believe in separation of Church and State

46. The beginning of the caste system in Indian society can be found in the...
To redeem humankind from sin
Law of Manu (describes the caste system and the duties of each caste).
The caste system is both religious and social in nature.
The holy scripture of Nichiren Buddhism

47. While Westerners may think of yoga as exercise - Hindus consider Yoga primarily as a way to...
Confer special grace on the gravely ill person
Connect with Brahman
Invasion of the Holy Land by the Crusaders
All Protestant denominations accept all three of the creeds

48. The position of caliph evolved so that caliphs...
Provides many people a counterweight to changing social mores
Were political rulers; The caliphs were considered successors to Muhammad - but after the first four - caliphs were political - rather than both political and religious - leaders
Orthodox
It has aspects of African religions as well as Islam; Voodoo has elements of Roman Catholicism - not Islam - mixed with traditional African religions.

49. What is not elements of indigenous religious practices...
Venerate and fear ancestors - Have healers; Are localized; Hinduism does not share any of these characteristics. The only trait that African religions have in common with Hinduism is that Hinduism and African religions are polytheistic.
Written religious teachings; Indigenous religious practices are preliterate - so there were no written religious teachings - although modern anthropologists and similar researchers have written them down for various cultures.
Thomas Aquinas
Augustine; Among Augustine's contributions to Christian thought are the doctrine of original sin and the description of 'caritas -' or Christian love - the love of God and the love of one another.

50. What is taboo for Jews?
The teachings of Buddha - or religious truth.
Religious conduct; commercial transactions; political actions; private life
Pork
Eating pork