Basic Human Religion

Question 1

Can we have a single definition of religion?

Answer 1

No. There has never been a universal definition of religion.

Question 2

True or False: Religion has always been with us and has taken a central place in the lives of virtually all civilizations and cultures.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

What are the oldest religions? (5)

Answer 3

1) Egypt (4000 BCE)
2) Phoenicia (2700 BCE)
3) Sumer (2100 BCE)
4) Greece (800 BCE)
5) Roman (c. 100 CE)

Question 4

What is the fastest growing religion in North America?

Answer 4

the nones otherwise known as agnostic

Question 5

What is Stonehenge an example of?

Answer 5

A human religious expression

Question 6

When was Stonehenge erected?

Answer 6

Between 3500 to 4000 years ago

Question 7

What are the few concepts, shared by virtually all human cultures, which seem fundamental to what we call religion?

Answer 7

• powerful gods
• sacred places
• a life of some kind after death
• the present of spirits in the physical world

Question 8

Looking from the similar human religious expressions, it seems that humans around the globe have imagined the world to consist of what three levels?

Answer 8

sky, earth, and underworld

Question 9

What was Stonehenge?

Answer 9

A burial site

Question 10

What has the sky typically been considered?

Answer 10

the home of the deities

Question 11

What was one contributing factor to the belief that the sky was the home of the deities?

Answer 11

human observation of the sun, the moon, the stars, the poor of storms

Question 12

What is earth in religion?

Answer 12

the intermediate level where humans lived

Question 13

What is the underworld in religion?

Answer 13

under the earth, iced the spirits or serpents manifested in various form, often associated with animals and evil power

Question 14

What are sacred places?

Answer 14

Around the world, there are certain types of places where humans tend to feel they are in the presence of some universal power. These places are set apart from the everyday world and are treated with special respect.

Question 15

What are some examples of sacred places?

Answer 15

mountains, hilltops (the places closest to the sky-swelling deities), rivers, waterfalls, etc.

Question 16

What is the Jordan River?

Answer 16

Has a major significance in Christianity and Judaism. It is the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist; the same site where the Israelites crossed into he Promised land.

Question 17

What are animal spirits?

Answer 17

Another common and long standing human tendency has been to attribute spirits to animal.

Question 18

Where were animals spirits popular?

Answer 18

Animal as a guardian spirit was very common among traditional hunting societies.

Question 19

What re some common expressions of death and burial?

Answer 19

The body was positioned with the head facing east where the sun rises, or placed in the fetal position, suggesting hope for rebirth. Graves contained “grave goods” of various kinds to help the dead in the afterlife. Where grave goods appear, grave robbery is a potential problem.

Question 20

What is Sati?

Answer 20

From india…pious widow jumping on funeral pyre of her husband hoping she will accompany her dead husband in the afterlife. Jumping voluntarily or by force.

Question 21

What are three reasons why humans are religious?

Answer 21

• fear of death
• the hope for a good afterlife
• the uncertainty surrounding natural events

Question 22

What are the two dimensions of religion?

Answer 22

• religion has emotional dimension (awe, love, and hate)
• it also has intellectual dimension, such as curiosity about what causes things to happen, or about a sense or order in the universe.