(14) The academic approach to the study of religions (religious...

(14) The academic approach to the study of religions (religious studies) attempts to balance _________________ perspectives, which provides the best vantage point on the lived realities of practicing the religion but may be

partial or biased toward it, with ____________________ perspectives, which lack reasons to feel bias for the religion under study, and hence may have greater objectivity, but which lack the benefit of experiencing the practice of and belief in the religion firsthand

Name:__________________
Religion 1301/Prof. Lewin Quiz 1 (6/19/2016)
(1) Explicit accounts/defniTons oF the concept (or category) oF religion are ___a___.
(a) truly ancient phenomena, daTng back to the very earliest historical records we can Fnd.
(b) according to most religious scholars and our textbook, really, very easy to provide and there is li±le disagreement or
di²erence between the accounts o²ered.
(c) completely unworkable and hopeless.
(d) relaTvely recent phenomena, daTng back to around the European Enlightenment.
(2) What is the etymology/linguist root oF the word “religion”? What context did the word or concept arise?
Old LaTn word religio deFned as forbidden/taboo, limitaTon. Religion originates from the two words re and ligare. Re is
a preFx importance return and ligare intends to bind.
(3) Which oF the Following concepTons/defniTons oF religion was not one that we covered?
(a) Sociologist Emile Durkheim’s concepTon of religion, that (over) emphasizes its social nature.
(b) Cultural Anthropologist Melford Spiro’s concepTon of religion as “an insTtuTon consisTng of culturally pa±erned
interacTon with culturally postulated superhuman beings.”
(c) Linguist Noam Chomsky’s (overly) criTcal deFniTon of religion as a series of irraTonal, spiritual beliefs o³en resulTng in
immoral acTons of surrounding solidarity movements.
(d) Protestant ´heologian Paul ´illich’s (over) emphasis on the existenTal aspects of religion in his view that “the religious
aspect points to that which is ulTmate, inFnite, and uncondiTonal in man’s spiritual life.
Religion, in the most basic sense of the word, is ulTmate concern.”
(4) What is methodological agnosTcism and what does it require that we do in religious studies?
Methodological agnosTcism implies that conFrmaTon is drawn nearer in a manner that supernatural and divine agency
is thought to be mysterious and accordingly should be overlooked for study.
(5) HenotheisTc religions these are religions that belief in and worship of one god while accepTng the existence or
possible existence of other deiTes.
(6) What are three prominent, recurring quesTons answered in some Form in nearly every religious tradiTon?
What is UlTmate Reality? How should we live in this world? What is our UlTmate Purpose?
(7) Gerald Larson’s account oF the concept oF religion is praised by the authors oF our textbook For its
di±erenTaTon From Geetz’s in what two ways?
(8) ´he authors of the textbook, “InvitaTon to World Religions” o²er what as their deFniTon of religion? What sort of
account of religion do they take it to be?
(9) What is the phenomenon oF heirophany ? hierophany reFers to a maniFestaTon oF the sacred.
´he word hierophany recurs frequently in the works of the religious historian Mircea Eliade, which he preferred to
the more constricTve word theophany (an appearance of a god).
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