Filed under: books and articles, quizzes, religion | Tags: quizzes, religious literacy, religious studies
A quiz by Stephen Prothero
Christian Century, 00095281, 9/4/2007, Vol. 124, Issue 1
- Name the four Gospels. List as many as you can.
- Name a sacred text of Hinduism.
- What is the name of the holy book of Islam?
- Where, according to the Bible, was Jesus born?
- President George W. Bush spoke in his first inaugural address of the Jericho road. What Bible story was he invoking?
- What are the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament?
- What is the Golden Rule?
- “God helps those who help themselves”: Is this in the Bible? If so, where?
- “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”: Does this appear in the Bible? If so, where?
- Name the Ten Commandments. List as many as you can.
- Name the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.
- What are the seven sacraments of Catholicism? List as many as you can.
- The First Amendment says two things about religion, each in its own clause. What are the two religion clauses of the First Amendment?
- What is Ramadan? In what religion is it celebrated?
- Match the Bible characters with the stories in which they appear. Draw a line from one to the other. Hint: Some characters may be matched with more than one story or vice versa.
Adam and Eve Exodus Paul Binding of Isaac Moses Olive Branch Noah Garden of Eden Jesus Parting of the Red Sea Abraham Road to Damascus Serpent Garden of Gethsemane
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Filed under: books and articles, religion | Tags: plualism, religious studies
By Timothy Renick
Christian Century, 00095281, 9/4/2007, Vol. 124, Issue 18
ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, my job got a lot easier. I had been toiling for 15 years to establish a department of religious studies at my university. Its strongly secular faculty, sensitive to political winds in a southern, conservative state, feared that such a program would inevitably be dominated by evangelical Christians. State legislators, suspicious as always of college professors, feared that religious studies in a university set ting would mean state-sponsored attacks on Christian belief. The university resident had nightmares about headlines in the local paper. Besides, the university had more pressing needs. Religious studies seemed either a luxury or a potential headache–something the university couldn’t afford or didn’t need.
Until September 11, that is. The dialogue about religious literacy changed that day. It was not merely that my arguments extolling the importance of students understanding world religions no longer fell on deaf ears; the arguments began to be made by others. The university president mentioned our efforts in religious studies in his standard stump speech to state legislators. The press began to call the university in search of expert opinions on religious sects and practices. Our Islam scholar began to appear on CNN. A major donor decided to endow a faculty chair–not in Christianity but in world religions. By 2005, the university not only had created an undergraduate department of religious studies; it had added a master’s program as well.
In a world shaped not merely by 9/11 but by conflict in Iraq, Bosnia, Kashmir and the West Bank–not merely by abortion but by gay marriage, intelligent design, euthanasia and stem cells–Americans increasingly accept the idea that we need to understand religion better. What we haven’t quite figured out is where and how this should happen.
Two important new books target the challenges posed by the so-called new religious pluralism, exploring ways in which religious diversity is shaping public life. Stephen Prothero makes a case for teaching about religion in public schools. Thomas Banchoff offers 15 essays by leading scholars that examine the complex contours of religion in the public setting. Both books suggest that Americans have not paid enough attention to how religious diversity has altered the dynamics of public life and the demands of citizenship.
Filed under: Angry B.S., religion | Tags: pro-choice, pro-life, abortion, anti-abortion, christian right, georgia state
The courtyard at GSU is normally filled with students (and plenty of non-students) hanging around, blasting the latest hip-hop jam and making everyone’s day a little bit happier. Way to go ATL.
Today, however, a pro-life group has posted huge billboard signs all over place with disgusting photos of breast cancer, lynchings, genocide and aborted fetuses.
Would someone please explain to me their line of logic? Because last time I checked, abortions weren’t usually done in malice, nor are they diseases. I seriously doubt young women across the country are intentionally getting knocked up, just so they can vacuum out their insides and undergo an emotional trauma that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Filed under: religion
Foster the gods with this,
and may they foster you;
by enriching one another,
you will achieve a higher good. (3.11)
Whatever a leader does,
the ordinary people also do.
He sets the standard
for the world to follow. (3.21)
(more…)
religious fanatics and fundementalists always have the best websites
