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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 Hasidic movement arose from the teachings of...
Baal Shem Tov
Reverence toward family and tradition
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.
To redeem humankind from sin

2. Muslims and Christians both believe...
In a final Judgment Day; Both Muslims and Christians believe that there will be a Judgment Day when the dead will be raised up.
Hindus believe that each deity is a representation of some aspect of Brahman
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism
Ordinary people could easily understand and practice Islam; The practices of Islam are easy to understand and to practice even by the poorest and uneducated.

3. Unlike most Protestant denominations - Roman Catholics...
Icons
Nichiren
Dowries were given to brides - not their fathers; Women gained property and inheritance rights; Mistreatment of wives in marriage was forbidden
Rely on both the Bible and Church traditions as sources of truth

4. During their centuries of conquest - Muslim rulers...
The sun goddess - believed to be the direct ancestor of the Japanese emperor - and a very important deity in Shinto.
Zoroastrianism.
A path to release the mind from distractions
Allowed subject peoples to practice their own religions

5. The most accurate explanation of why the Roman Catholic Church practices infant baptism is because...
Five Pillars.
It removes the stain of original sin
Vedanta; The Vedanta system holds that all the world - including humans - is an illusion
Rely on both the Bible and Church traditions as sources of truth

6. In addition to Muhammad - Muslims consider as prophets Abraham - Moses - and...
Men and women sitting together
No
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.
Jesus

7. The Eightfold Path includes what?
Magic
God is the creator of the world; All three religions believe that God is the creator of the world - and is all knowing - all powerful - and all present.
Right understanding - Right speech - Right livelihood; The steps of the Eightfold Path are right views - right thoughts - right speech - right action - right livelihood - right effort - right mindfulness - and right concentration.
Collections of sayings and actions of Muhammad

8. The Feast of Purim celebrates...
Roman Catholicism; Roman Catholics have a special devotion to the Virgin Mary that is a major difference with other Christian denominations.
The Exodus
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.
Its meaning differs among the various Christian religions; various religions have different interpretations of how original sin affects human nature.

9. Missionary work was never important to what religion?
A central principle of Hinduism is reincarnation
Returning to Allah what is his
Collections of sayings and actions of Muhammad
Shinto; Shinto was - and remains - a specifically Japanese religion.

10. What is not a true description of the Talmud?
The Talmud is the word of Yahweh
Achieved enlightenment
Both the Pentateuch and all oral and written teachings of Judaism
Benevolence

11. The god of the Hebrews was unlike the god of their neighbors because Yahweh...
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism
Torah; The Torah scroll is kept in the ark and read from during services
Required obedience to a set of moral behaviors
Eased kosher restrictions;

12. The only religion that requires miracles in order for a person to be named a saint is...
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.
Has no set list of beliefs that followers must accept
Roman Catholicism
Recognize when a boy and a girl are considered adults in Judaism.

13. What was adopted as the state religion in Japan in the Meiji Restoration of 1868?
Neither has priests. Neither Jewish rabbis nor Muslim imans are priests; both are teachers and leaders of services - which is not the same as a priest whose role is to make sacrifices.
He attempted to reconcile Judaism and Aristotelian philosophy; Like Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church - Maimonides attempted to reconcile Aristotle's philosophy with his own belief system and caused a similar controvers.
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.
Salvation came as a gift from God

14. Changes Reform Jews and the Protestant Reformation have in common.
A central principle of Hinduism is reincarnation
Rejection of the caste system
The replacement of a traditional language with a vernacular language.
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.

15. The goal of liberation theology is to...
Improve the lives of the poor through political activism
The most sacred to Muslims
Roman Catholics
Church's selling of indulgences

16. Predicting the future through divination is an element of...
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.
Confucianism
To show their humility before Allah
The Hindu Festival of lights.

17. The Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th century were known as...
An accurate explanation of Taoist teachings
Sephardim
Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations; Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations
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

18. Talmud
A compilation of ancient Jewish oral law and rabbinical teachings
In a final Judgment Day; Both Muslims and Christians believe that there will be a Judgment Day when the dead will be raised up.
Movement of Jews to areas outside Palestine beginning in the eighth century B.C.E.
Invasion of the Holy Land by the Crusaders

19. Mennonites do NOT believe...
That the government should support religion; They believe in separation of Church and State
Humaneness
Zoroastrianism
Submission

20. What is NOT a major doctrinal difference between Roman Catholicism and mainstream Protestant denominations?
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism
Easter; Easter fulfills Jesus' promise to his followers that he will overcome death as those who believe in him will
The sun goddess - believed to be the direct ancestor of the Japanese emperor - and a very important deity in Shinto.
Jesus is the son of God

21. Some authorities do not consider Confucianism a religion primarily because it does not include...
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.
Judaism; Islam
Any gods
French Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin

22. What was a central element of Confucianism as Confucius taught it?
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.
All Protestant denominations accept all three of the creeds
Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations; Exposure to Western culture and the growing secularization of Muslim nations
Circumcision; The ceremony of circumcision - known as brit - marks the entrance of a male child into Judaism.

23. Calling Hinduism polytheistic simplifies the religion because...
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.
Hindus believe that each deity is a representation of some aspect of Brahman
It is the revealed word of God; Muslims believe that God revealed his message to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Meng-zi reinforced Confucius's teaching that people were innately good - whereas Xun-zi taught that people were innately evil.

24. In Hinduism - ahimsa is the principle of...
Eating pork
Possession of wealth and power
Is a righteous God who demands moral and ethical behavior from people
Nonviolence

25. Whereas Hindus refuse to eat beef - Muslims refuse to eat...
The growing materialism of Islam around the 800s
Pork
Purify the body and mind.
Monasticism

26. Members of the Pure Land sect of Buddhism believe that the Land of Bliss...
It taught people to accept the status quo
Can be entered by living a good life and reciting the name of Amitabha
The sun goddess - believed to be the direct ancestor of the Japanese emperor - and a very important deity in Shinto.
It emphasizes the joyous and ecstatic nature of Judaism

27. What quality would best express the Confucian principle of jen?
Baal Shem Tov
Humaneness
Meng-zi reinforced Confucius's teaching that people were innately good - whereas Xun-zi taught that people were innately evil.
The role of its clergy; Shi'a has a clerical hierarchy.

28. Harmony
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism
Judaism - Christianity - and Islam
It acknowledges that everything belongs to Allah ultimately.
The dominant theme of Taoism

29. Which of the following Buddhist sects is credited with instilling the idea of nationalism among the Japanese?
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.
Shinto; Shinto was - and remains - a specifically Japanese religion.
Nichiren
Martin Luther

30. What are aspects of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths?
Desire is the cause of all suffering; The Eightfold Path; All life is suffering; The only way to end suffering is to end desire
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.
Moses
Episcopal

31. In Zen Buddhism - 'satori' is...
Improve the lives of the poor through political activism
Enlightenment
Zoroastrianism
Angels - heaven - and hell

32. Does NOT accurately describe Taoist beliefs
Hindus; part of the epic 'Mahabharata'
Rejection of the caste system
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.
Quality of human-heartedness. 'Jen' may also be translated as social virtue or goodness.

33. The ecumenical movement has resulted in changes within...
Roman Catholicism
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
Just social action; Confucius taught the importance of acting justly in all social interactions.
Religious practice of ancient Egyptians

34. Hadith
An imperceptible presence in the universe
Collections of sayings and actions of Muhammad
The teachings of Buddha - or religious truth.
Hinduism

35. What will you NOT see in an orthodox synagogue?
Five Pillars
Men and women sitting together
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.
Founder

36. What is the most important holy day in the Christian calendar?

37. 'Lotus Sutra'
Moksha
The holy scripture of Nichiren Buddhism
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).
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism

38. A major difference between Buddhism and Hinduism is Buddhism's rejection of...
Economics and social concerns of African Americans within an Islamic framework
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
The Exodus
The caste system

39. Who united the Israelites into a single nation?
Roman Catholicism
David
Five Pillars.
The First Pillar of Islam

40. Hinduism differs from Buddhism in Hinduism's acceptance of...
The caste system.
Zoroastrianism
Ritual; A code of moral conduct; An afterlife
While delaying their own entrance into nirvana

41. Christian fundamentalism began in the late nineteenth century...
In response to the works of scientists and philosophers like Darwin and Marx
Political. The basis for the split was a disagreement over who would succeed Muhammad after his death.
Is neither a life of pleasure nor one of self-denial
It removes the stain of original sin

42. The menorah is a symbol used for which Jewish holy day?

43. What was the main reason for the centuries-long mutual hatred between Christians and Muslims?
Invasion of the Holy Land by the Crusaders
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.'
Christians' belief in an immortal soul; Native Americans in general believe that if people forget the dead - over time their souls will cease to exist.
Ramadan

44. Which religion is the largest in the world?
Christianity
Compassion
Myths explain the natural world and the reasons for the religious beliefs and customs of a group
Islam

45. Is Monasticism found in Islam?
No schools that teach religion to their followers
To redeem humankind from sin
No
Confer special grace on the gravely ill person

46. The person who was most responsible for the spread of Buddhism outside India was...
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.
The Exodus
The teachings of Buddha - or religious truth.
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.

47. A rite of passage in Judaism is...
Circumcision; The ceremony of circumcision - known as brit - marks the entrance of a male child into Judaism.
Reverence toward family and tradition
While delaying their own entrance into nirvana
The first week of mourning after a death

48. What changes in Arab society resulted from Muhammad's teachings?
The recognition of Jesus as the messiah of Israel and the savior of all peoples
God's goodness can heal illness as well as sin
Reliance on magic
Dowries were given to brides - not their fathers; Women gained property and inheritance rights; Mistreatment of wives in marriage was forbidden

49. Unlike most religions - Hinduism has no...
Invasion of the Holy Land by the Crusaders
Easter; Easter fulfills Jesus' promise to his followers that he will overcome death as those who believe in him will
Founder
The holy scripture of Nichiren Buddhism

50. Zeus
The father of the gods in the Greek pantheon.
Nonviolence
Native American religions.
The representation of an eternal Buddha; one of many Buddhas