DSST Introduction To World Religions

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. In Taoism - yin is...
Meng-zi reinforced Confucius's teaching that people were innately good - whereas Xun-zi taught that people were innately evil.
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism
Female - nurturing - and passive
'Chuang Tzu'


2. Hadith
Collections of sayings and actions of Muhammad
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism
Roman Catholics
The caste system is both religious and social in nature.


3. Marriage is an example of which basic characteristic of religion?
The ultimate goal of Christians
Rite of passage
Roman Catholicism
Provides many people a counterweight to changing social mores


4. Conflict over Muhammad's successor led to...

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


5. Mawlid al-Nabi

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


6. The primary factor that has motivated the growth of Islamic fundamentalism is the...
Episcopal
Filial piety
Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations; Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations
Salvation is achieved through faith and good works


7. African religions are unlike Hinduism in which ways?
Tantras of Tibetan Buddhism
Empty their minds of all thoughts and desires
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.
Female - nurturing - and passive


8. Instead of statues - Eastern Orthodox rites use what as ornamentation in their churches?
Circumcision; The ceremony of circumcision - known as brit - marks the entrance of a male child into Judaism.
Salvation is achieved through faith and good works
Icons
Sign of Yahweh's presence among the Jews


9. What was a central element of Confucianism as Confucius taught it?
The first week of mourning after a death
Female - nurturing - and passive
Benevolence
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.


10. According to Confucianism - what is the most important virtue a ruler can possess?
Mayan religion
Benevolence
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.
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.


11. The original teachings of Confucius do not include references to...
Its meaning differs among the various Christian religions; various religions have different interpretations of how original sin affects human nature.
A supreme being
The desire to convert nonbelievers and spread the religion
Fasting during the day for one month each year


12. Seeking converts is NOT an important element of...
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.
Its members pray together without priests and with little ritual
Judaism
Episcopalians believe in scripture as interpreted by tradition - whereas Lutherans believe that scripture alone is the sole authority on which their faith is based.


13. Confucius believed that inferiors owed what to their superiors?
It acknowledges that everything belongs to Allah ultimately.
Loyalty
Episcopalians believe in scripture as interpreted by tradition - whereas Lutherans believe that scripture alone is the sole authority on which their faith is based.
Jewish mysticism


14. Which Christian denomination believes in purgatory?
Zoroastrianism
Roman Catholicism
Movement of Jews to areas outside Palestine beginning in the eighth century B.C.E.
Salvation came as a gift from God


15. What is an accurate description of Taoism's view of government?

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


16. One reason that early Christians began to separate from Judaism was...
The Christian belief that Jesus was the messiah
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.
To redeem humankind from sin
The Exodus


17. The Messiah according to Judaism will NOT...

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


18. Buddhism's 'middle path' is best explained as a way of life that...
Celebrates Muhammad's birthday
A path to release the mind from distractions
Is neither a life of pleasure nor one of self-denial
Native American religions.


19. Religion that does not include fasting.
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.
Experiencing a feeling of oneness with Allah; Sufism is a mystical movement within Islam that is characterized by asceticism.
Zoroastrianism
Xun-zi


20. Agnostic
A person who is not sure whether there is a supreme being or not
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
That the government should support religion; They believe in separation of Church and State


21. The best explanation of why Muslims pray prostrate on the ground is...
To show their humility before Allah
Modern Iraq; A theocracy is a government in which the power and authority comes either because the ruler is considered a god (Egypt under the pharaohs) or a representative of God on earth (John Calvin's Geneva and Massachusetts Bay).
The urge for spontaneity should be controlled; Taoism taught that spontaneous action that arose from being free of worldly concerns and open to the Tao - or workings of the universe - was good.
A Taoist endeavors to live a simple life. Taoism teaches inaction as the highest principle of being.


22. Which religion is the largest in the world?
Returning to Allah what is his
Only those times when he invokes the authority of 'ex cathedra'; 'Ex cathedra' is the authority of the pope based on his position as teacher and pastor of Christians. When the pope speaks 'ex cathedra' on a doctrine of faith and morals - he is kept f
Christianity
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.


23. A 'koan' (a riddle that appears to be meaningless - but is intended to prod a student of Zen into thinking) is...
Used in Zen Buddhism to help a believer reach sudden insight.
Protestant doctorine but Catholic ritual
Ecumenism.
The recognition of Jesus as the messiah of Israel and the savior of all peoples


24. What is a true statement about Sikhism?
Tantras of Tibetan Buddhism
That the government should support religion; They believe in separation of Church and State
Its members pray together without priests and with little ritual
Jesus is the son of God


25. 'Lotus Sutra'
Magic
The holy scripture of Nichiren Buddhism
Hindus; part of the epic 'Mahabharata'
There is a connection between all things that exist


26. Islam - Judaism - and Christianity all share what?
A path to release the mind from distractions
Movement of Jews to areas outside Palestine beginning in the eighth century B.C.E.
Hindu
Belief that God will save the world from its sins by sending a messiah


27. The supremacy of the pope as the head of the Roman Catholic Church...

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


28. The most accurate explanation of why the Roman Catholic Church practices infant baptism is because...
Used in Zen Buddhism to help a believer reach sudden insight.
The first week of mourning after a death
It removes the stain of original sin
Description of certain ideas in terms of their opposites - such as good and evil and yin and yang


29. Shari'a deals with...
Religious conduct; commercial transactions; political actions; private life
Celebrates the birth of Krishna - the incarnation of the god Vishnu - the protector and preserver.
Judaism; Christianity; Islam
Immersing adults in water


30. According to the doctrine of transubstantiation in the Roman Catholic Church...
The concept that Judaism was based on laws that could be read and known
Jesus is actually present in the bread and wine in communion
Jewish mysticism
A path to release the mind from distractions


31. In Taoism - the source of all things is...
Only those times when he invokes the authority of 'ex cathedra'; 'Ex cathedra' is the authority of the pope based on his position as teacher and pastor of Christians. When the pope speaks 'ex cathedra' on a doctrine of faith and morals - he is kept f
An imperceptible presence in the universe
To show their humility before Allah
Thomas Aquinas


32. Torah
Both the Pentateuch and all oral and written teachings of Judaism
Had been denied an annulment of his marriage
Xun-zi
Immersing adults in water


33. The Wahhabi movement took control of the area that became which of the following nations?
Improve the lives of the poor through political activism
Has no set list of beliefs that followers must accept
Hindus; part of the epic 'Mahabharata'
Saudi Arabia; The Wahhabi movement is a conservative movement within Islam and controls Saudi Arabia through its connection to the ruling family.


34. The Mahdi is the Islamic equivalent of...
It has aspects of African religions as well as Islam; Voodoo has elements of Roman Catholicism - not Islam - mixed with traditional African religions.
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.
A messiah
Five Pillars


35. An important force for Christian unity in the twentieth century was...
Description of certain ideas in terms of their opposites - such as good and evil and yin and yang
Relied on by the faithful of the Pure Land sect to Buddhism to enter the Land of Bliss
Ecumenism.
Immersing adults in water


36. Twelvers believe...
Is of little importance in achieving nirvana; Ritual sacrifice plays a minor role in Theravada Buddhism.
That the last imam will return and with him - Judgment Day
Guides to the spirit world. Shamans functioned - and still function - in religions based on nature and spirit worship.
Religion includes a belief in the supernatural or divine - a set of practices - and a code of ethics.


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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


38. For Catholics - the central act of worship is...
The mass
Both branches of Buddhism believe that Gautama Buddha is one of many Buddhas; Theravada Buddhists see Gautama as a saint and great teacher and Mahayana Buddhists see him as a savior who helps others to enlightenment.
That the last imam will return and with him - Judgment Day
An afterlife; Jews believe that there is an afterlife - but it does not have the physical description that Christian and Islamic heaven and hell have. Jews focus on living a good life according to God's laws rather than on punishment and reward after


39. What is found in an ark in a synagogue?
Episcopalians believe in scripture as interpreted by tradition - whereas Lutherans believe that scripture alone is the sole authority on which their faith is based.
A group's identification with an animal - which is a totem
Torah; The Torah scroll is kept in the ark and read from during services
Fourth Commandment; The Fourth Commandment - Honor thy Father and thy Mother - applies not only to relationships within the family unit - but to the relationship between civil authority and members of the civil society.


40. Mennonites do NOT believe...
While delaying their own entrance into nirvana
That the government should support religion; They believe in separation of Church and State
Transubstantiation
Ahura Mazda


41. Is Monasticism found in Islam?
Moksha
No
The representation of an eternal Buddha; one of many Buddhas
Shinto; The Japanese government set up national shrines - mandated the teaching of Shinto in schools - and used State Shinto to further its military aims. It was banned after World War II.


42. Most Protestant denominations build their services around...
Communion
A better birth in the next cycle of rebirth - life - and death
Ignorance and desire for things of this world are the cause of suffering
In a final Judgment Day; Both Muslims and Christians believe that there will be a Judgment Day when the dead will be raised up.


43. Religions typically do not include...
Monasticism
Tantras of Tibetan Buddhism
The ultimate goal of Christians
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.


44. What statement most accurately describes the doctrine of original sin?
There is a connection between all things that exist
Its meaning differs among the various Christian religions; various religions have different interpretations of how original sin affects human nature.
Rite of passage
Because he did not write down his teachings


45. The position of caliph evolved so that caliphs...
The father of the gods in the Greek pantheon.
Founder
Preserving Greek and Roman civilization and learning in general; Monks in monasteries and nuns in convents kept learning alive through their copying of Greek and Roman writings and by teaching.
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


46. Mariology refers to devotion to the Virgin Mary in...
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.
The urge for spontaneity should be controlled; Taoism taught that spontaneous action that arose from being free of worldly concerns and open to the Tao - or workings of the universe - was good.
Ecumenism.
Roman Catholicism; Roman Catholics have a special devotion to the Virgin Mary that is a major difference with other Christian denominations.


47. What was the main reason for the centuries-long mutual hatred between Christians and Muslims?
Orthodox
Shinto; Shinto was - and remains - a specifically Japanese religion.
Communion
Invasion of the Holy Land by the Crusaders


48. The goal of the Four Noble Truths.
An imperceptible presence in the universe
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.
The teachings of Buddha - or religious truth.
Enter the state of nirvana - or enlightenment


49. What is the most accurate explanation of myths as an important aspect of religion?
Lack of hierarchical structure; Unlike the Roman Catholic Church that has the pope at its head - Eastern Orthodox churches are ruled by a network of patriarchs.
French Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin
Myths explain the natural world and the reasons for the religious beliefs and customs of a group
Who would appoint bishops


50. King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church because he...
A messiah
Things like ambition - wealth - and power keep people from their real purpose in life
Quality of human-heartedness. 'Jen' may also be translated as social virtue or goodness.
Had been denied an annulment of his marriage