RGST Midterm & Final Sheet PDF

[[isabelkliaw\@gmail.com]](mailto:[email protected]) Hi! I wrote something for every statement, however, if you feel it doesn\'t make sense, please feel free to change it! PART A. IDENTIFICATION OF TERMS Session 2 Session 7 Session 12 Session 17 Session 3 Session 8 Session 13 Session 18 Sess...

[[isabelkliaw\@gmail.com]](mailto:[email protected]) Hi! I wrote something for every statement, however, if you feel it doesn\'t make sense, please feel free to change it! PART A. IDENTIFICATION OF TERMS Session 2 Session 7 Session 12 Session 17 Session 3 Session 8 Session 13 Session 18 Session 4 Session 9 Session 14 Session 19 Session 5 Session10 Session 15 Session 20-21? Session 6 Session 11 Session 16 Session 22 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 2\. CH 2-3, 11-12 / **6. CH 8,10, 21,13, 22** / 10. CH 25-27 / **14. | | CH 49, 34, 35** / 18. CH 45, 52, 54 / **22. CH 31, 69** | | | | 3\. CH 62-65 / **7. CH 5-7** / 11. CH 73-76 / **15. CH 46-48, | | 50-51** / 19. CH 14-15, 24 / **23. 80, 81** | | | | 4\. CH 70-71, 77-78 / **8. CH 9, 33, 37, 43** / 12. 43, 66, 67, 69 / | | **16. CH 53, 58, 59, 61** / 20. CH 4, 30, 35 | | | | 5\. CH 17-19, 44 / **9. 20, 23, 29** / 13. CH 36, 38, 41, 42 / **17. | | CH 16, 28, 68, 72** / 21. CH 32, 56, 57 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1. **Absent authority figures:** *deconstruction of a set of relationships where power exists and who benefits from the process.* Gods, saints, spirits, and other types of *supernatural entities* or beings who have passed away can be categorized as absent figures, including those that are considered *founders.* 2. Animism *Term to describe the religions of Indigenous communities.* This term was meant to convey how Indigenous communities believed that features of the natural world from trees and animals to the wind and geological formations were imbued or animated with spirits. While this t*heory of Native Amerivans and Indigenous religions accurately depicted the ways that many Native Americans have long recognized many spiritual entities in nature, early scholars viewed these beliefs about the natural world as superstitious or childish, and saw animistic forms of religion as inherently inferior to monotheistic religions.* 3. Budai Through the blend of *Buddhism and Chinese folklore,* his appearance transformed. Tradition points to a tenth century *Buddhist monk named Budai as the model for the popular 'laughing Buddha.'* Budai became synonyms with Maitreya, leading to the current global popularity of the 'laughing Buddha' statue. 4. Buddha is a title not a name, *that means the 'awakened one'.* Buddha one day *will be Maitreya.* The birth of *Mitreya will restore virtue to humanity, because once he becomes a Buddha, he will reinvigorate the 'dharma' the teachings of the Buddha. Maitreya is recognized as a Buddha in waiting,* since Maitreya observes the world from his heavenly abode known as Tusita, planning how he will teach the world once he becomes Buddha. 5. Cognitive Science of Religion *Subfield that considers the role of the physical sciences can play in the academic study of religion*. It utilizes data from cognitive and neurosciences. Scholars who engage in this research study the mind/brain as a product of the physical world and evolution. *CSR scholars have the objection that concepts like the spiritual, belief, or experience reduce human consciousness and behaviours to subjective descriptions of reality.* Advocates of CSR embody cutting edge research in the sciences-on questions like the nature of consciousness and the meaning of personhood. 6. Creationism *Modern movement that originated in the early twentieth century as part of the Fundamentalist reaction against biblical criticism and Liberal Protestantism.* Creationism is the name for fundamentalists\' opposition to biological evolution, defends the biblical doctrine of the special creation by God. The extensive scientific evidence for evolution is irrelevant because the critical issue for creationists is not the content of evolutionary science itself but the defense of biblical inerrancy. *They are three varieties of creationism: Old Earth Creationism, Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent design.* 7. Eisegesis is a term used to describe an interpretation of a text that supports an exegete's own views. For example, the interpretation of the Song of Solomon as an allegory between God and Israel or Jesus and Church expresses the ideas of the reader rather than the text, which is a secular, erotic love poem from ancient Israel between two unwed lovers. 8. Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion. He used and reduced Evenki shaman characteristics to a set of practices that could be found in many other cultures. He specifically highlighted the soul journey a shaman makes while in an 'ecstatic' trance and heightened state of consciousness. This universalized the term Shamanism beyond its semantic origins. However, an issue to Eliade's approach is that it privileges certain types of activities and ignores the unconscious/passive experiences of shamans, who experience "possession" states instead of conscious ones. 9. Emic way of describing theology, or an insider practice. 10. Exegesis *Synonym for interpretation.* Usually refers to the i*nterpretation of text that adherents deem canonical or somehow sacred*, often imagined to contain the seeds of all wisdom and it\'s up to the interpreter to tease out legal, mystical, or philosophical meaning. An example of this is the phrase in the *book of Exodus* *"eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,"* which is usually seen as a person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree. However, the rabbis of Talmud argued that this phrase could not be taken this way since someone who is visually impaired in one eye, taking the other one out would not be fair as they would leave them completely impaired. *The role of allegory plays an important role.* 11. Fieldwork: *activity that is done to study cultures, where scholars visit places of a particular religion.* Fieldwork has meant for some scholars as guests in other peoples cultural houses, careful not to tread too heavily on other peoples presumptions and interests. *Fieldwork in the study of religion tends to risk authorizing the religious insider as an expert on their own behaviours.* 12. Flying Spaghetti Monster Or Pastafarianism is a new religious movement which was created over the debate of creationism and intelligent design. This NRM pushes for the teaching of its own creation story, in which the Universe is created by the all powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster. 13. Franklin Frazier was an American sociologist who argued against Melville Herskovits (American anthropologist) that there was no evidence of there being 'African' in African-American religions. More specifically, he stated "it is impossible to establish any continuity between African religious practices and the Negro church in the United States". By doing so prevents African-American from being understood as Americans and "prevented blacks from all over the world from being allowed and able to embrace a more positive future". Both Frazier and Herskovits are an example of an ideological claim, which a scholar must be critical of when studying religions. 14. Functionalist Focuses on the wider role something plays, the purpose it serves, or the reflect it has. It tends to be more prominent in scholarships. 15. Fundamentalism *New form of conservative Christianity that developed in the 19th century, first spread through the US.* Fundamentalists reject Catholicism, atheism, evolution, liberal Christianity, and secularity more broadly. Instead they affirm their commitment to what they believe are traditional forms of Christianity, including a literal interpretation of the bible. 16. Gospel of Mary 9/10? Is a piece of Christian text that retells the story of Mary's close interaction with Jesus but was not included in the bible. This is an example of the role of women in leadership, especially with how women are disempowered in religion, having lower leadership positions in religious organizations. It challenges the question of who has and grants authority regarding what is considered important or not. 17. Melville Herskovits was an American anthropologist who believed that "black people of the Americas retained a significant portion of African heritage", that was brought over and influenced some religions such as African-American Protestantism. He argued that practices of African-American Protestantism, such as baptism and links to music and dance, showed traces of African history. With this, he claimed the connection as a way of "dignifying and legitimizing an entire group of people". Both Herskovits and Frazier are an example of an ideological claim, which a scholar must be critical of when studying religions. 18. Messiah One definition can be a person that has fulfilled all of the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. However a more *consistent expectation is that the Messiah will liberate the Jewish people from oppressive regimes and usher in an age characterized by God\'s justice and peace.* The term *'messiah' itself comes from the Hebrew word mashiach, which simply translates to 'anointed one' (the Greek Translation is christos).* 19. **Mindfulness movement:** *Jeff Wilson,* one of the many scholars that have discussed the movement explains it as a *movement in North America* that has been *characterized by an individualistic self-focused meditative practice* that *discards many of other ritualistic practices and organizational aspects commonly associated with Buddhism.* This movement cas *no central organization* and this no 'official leader,' the fact that is not an organized movement or does not have an official leader, legitimized the practice. 20. Nones Emerged as an object of study by polling firms in the mid-2000s. Nones share an avoidance of traditional religious institutions more than any doctrinal belief. *Nones are an organizational convenience devised by pollsetfs to describe people who do religious things but do not identify with traditional religious organizations.* 21. Orientalism *Term by which Edward Said referred to a long history of Western writers depicting the 'Orient' as the opposite or 'other of Western civilization.* The Book Reel Bad Arabs by Jack Shaheen details a number of common tropes about Arabs and Muslims found in Hollywood movies, such as the terrorist, the uncivilized desert-dweller, and the misogynistic who is repressive or violent toward women. 22. Religionsgeschichtliche Schule German school of thinking of the nineteenth century that encompasses the study of religion. 23. Secularism is a way of perceiving good historical arguments, which are considered to be non-religious, that dominated Europe as a historical development directly from Protestantism. 24. Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) who interacts with the supernatural world through altered states of consciousness. Often described as humankind\'s earliest form of religion, evidenced by prehistoric cave paintings and ancient artifacts. May also be understood as a discursive category for placing sets of selected characteristics together and imbuing them with romantic primitivist longing of the civilized discontent. 25. Substantive *What someone might take to be key or necessary features that one would expect to find when looking at a religion, such as belief in a god (the feature that most people presume to be essential when it comes to seeing something as religious.* It has a commonsense ring to it, and is often favored in popular discourses on religion. 26. Parody religion is a term used to describe mock religions that are created to challenge the spiritual conviction of others. For example, Pastafarianism which follows the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. 27. Mysticism is the ideology of becoming one with God or with a higher being. For example, Sufism or Islamic mysticism work to become one with God through prayer and following the Qur'an. 28. Voodoo System of beliefs and practices that emerged out of the interaction of African, Native American, and European religions in the Caribbean and the United States. PART B. STATEMENTS 1. A religious movement is more legitimate if it does not have any people who are 2. Since religion is a lived experience, and people do religion, there is actually very little 3. Setting aside the difficulty of defining 'religion' in the ancient world, there are gaps 4. People 'do' religion and it follows that the study of religion must prioritize fieldwork 5. The more a religious movement expands through time and place, divisions inevitably 6. The teaching of religion in public schools as well as exposing students to other 7. As the study of religion continues to develop from its historical roots, methods that 8. The identification of a religion as 'African-American', 'Western', or 'Asian' allows 9. Since it is impossible to separate religious views from public discourses on health, the 10. A religious movement that does not experience --- or even actively resists --- changes 11. There is very little insight that new religious movements and parody religions that 12. While key concepts and ideas such as messiah, jihad, dharma, or shaman originate 13. In the interest of developing existing and creating new theories in the study of 14. As demonstrated by serpent --- not snake! --- handlers in Appalachia, every religious