World Religion 101 Quiz

The Protestant faith split off from the Catholic Church due to various ideological differences. Protestants wanted the Mass to be more accessible (not given in Latin), and they thought churches should be decorated plainly and priests dressed simply. They thought people could pray directly to God rather than go through a priest for forgiveness. They also placed less emphasis on worshipping Mary, Jesus' mother.

The calendar we use today was created by a Russian monk named Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century A.D. He used Jesus' birth to divide history into two epochs, "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini," which means "the year of our Lord" in Latin and refers to all the years from Christ's birth onward. Exiguus used the data available to him at the time to calculate this year, but most modern scholars think Jesus was actually born in 4 B.C. or a little earlier.

Traditionally, the land that is approximately the modern-day country of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, is the site of the Holy Land. Mecca, on the other hand, is the holiest Muslim city, Egypt is the land from which Hebrew (Jewish) slaves fled and Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The Torah comprises the first five books of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and contains stories, rules and regulations for Jewish people to live by. These five books also correspond with the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is devoted to reflection and self-purification. Adult Muslims (those who are in good health, aren't pregnant, aren't very elderly, etc.) fast between sunup and sundown. They also abstain from tobacco, sex, alcohol and other indulgent behaviors.

Allah is the name Muslims call God by, whereas Muhammad was the political leader who founded the religion in the 7th century A.D. Muhammad is also considered a prophet by members of the faith, and their holy text was written based on the revelations he received from Allah.

The yin-and-yang symbol represents Taoist beliefs about duality, harmony and the masculine/feminine balance. The cross is a Christian symbol, the crescent moon is associated with Islam and, although it was unfortunately later co-opted by the Nazis, the swastika has been symbolic in many faiths over the course of history including Hinduism and certain Native American belief systems.

People who practice Islam are known as Muslims. "Islamist," on the other hand, is a word whose meaning is often debated but generally has more to do with political ideology than religious identity.

Located in western Saudi Arabia, Mecca is the holiest city of Islam. The prophet Muhammad was born there, and every year millions of Muslims make a pilgrimage (called the Hajj) to visit the holy site. All Muslims financially and physically able to do so are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lives.

Unitarian-Universalism espouses principles from many religions, from the spiritual philosophies of the East to the Golden Rule of Christianity and Judaism ("Do unto others as you would like done unto you.") Practitioners also advocate living in harmony with nature, applying reason/science and thinking for oneself.

"Monotheism" is the belief in one god, whereas "polytheism" is the belief in many. (Think of the pantheons of Ancient Greece and Rome.) While Hindus believe in one god, Brahman, there are several forms of Brahman and most Hindus select one as their personal god or goddess.

Also called "Shiva the Destroyer" within the Hindu trinity that includes Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, Shiva is one of the primary deities of the faith. (In Shaivism, a subset of contemporary Hinduism, he's *the* primary being.) His name means "the auspicious one" and, along with his destruction aspects, he's the patron of the arts, yoga and meditation.

Taoism dates to the 4th century B.C., possibly earlier. As with Confucianism and other traditional Chinese belief systems, the yin and yang symbol of harmony and duality is central to the philosophy.

Sikhism developed in the Punjabi region of India in the 15th century AD. According to tradition, it was founded by a man named Guru Nanak, the first "Guru." Nine successive Gurus led the religion after him, all said to be inhabited by the same spirit. After the tenth Guru passed away in 1708, this spirit was said to have transferred into the sacred text, Guru Granth Sahib.

Buddhism focuses on achieving enlightenment ("nirvana") through meditation and moral living. It does not specifically acknowledge a deity or deities, and many religious scholars prefer to classify it as a belief system or spiritual tradition rather than a religion per se. Buddhism is a particularly tolerant way of life, and many practitioners of other religions also consider themselves Buddhists.

The specifics are debated, but most scholars agree that Gautama was born a prince in present-day Nepal sometime between the 6th and 4th century B.C. He gave up his riches in favor of seeking spiritual enlightenment and teaching others to do the same. "Buddha" means "enlightened one," and thus others who achieve enlightenment can become buddhas as well.

The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University estimates that there are about 1.5 billion adherents to Islam worldwide. (Other sources say anywhere from 1.3 to 1.9 billion.) Most of these practitioners live in the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia. Islam is considered to be the second-most widely practiced religion today, after Christianity.

The Christian Orthodox Churches comprise another major branch of Christianity, along with Protestantism and Catholicism. There's also an Orthodox branch of Judaism; these Jews are very traditional, strict in their practice of the faith and regard the Torah (the Jewish holy text) as the literal word of God.

Shintoism is a polytheistic faith (one in which many gods are worshipped) that centers around gods/spiritual entities called "kami." These kami imbue things in the world around them with divine essence. The religion is heavily connected to the natural world and is estimated to have between 4 and 5 million practioners, most of whom live in Japan.

Followers of the Baha'i believe that more prophets (like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad) are on the way. They also believe in the essential unity of all religions and the inherent equality of all people.

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest practiced monotheistic religions. Scholars debate exactly when it was founded, but it comes from the region that is modern-day Iran and definitely predates Islam.

Like the ancient European and Middle Eastern spiritualities it's based upon, Neo-Paganism is highly focused on nature and its cycles. Its practicioners believe that the natural world is imbued with divine spirit. Neo-Paganism overlaps with modern witchcraft and folk magic.

A mosque is a Muslim place of worship, and a mandir is a place of worship in the Hindu faith. "Temple" is a term for the same used across various faiths. A mezuzah, on the other hand, is an amulet traditionally placed on a doorpost by practitioners of the Hebrew faith (Judaism).

With roots stretching back 4,000 years, Hinduism is considered to be the oldest major religion still widely practiced today. Most sources estimate that it has about 900 million followers, the vast majority of whom live in India. "Dharma" is the way of conducting one's life morally and correctly, "karma" is a cosmic principle of cause and effect that rewards correct behavior and punishes incorrect behavior and samsara is the cycle of death and rebirth that living beings are bound to until they reach enlightenment.

A caliphate refers to the reign of a Muslim ruler. The split between the Sunnis and Shi'ites happened because of a controversy as to who the rightful caliph was after the death of the first caliph, Muhammad. Sufis are a smaller sect focused on introspection and mysticism.

According to Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths provide a plan to deal with suffering. To sum them up (extremely briefly), these Truths are that suffering exists, that suffering is caused by the ego and by misplaced desire, that an end to suffering is available to us and that the path to liberation can be mapped out in a code of living called "The Eight-Fold Path."

Jainism derives from ancient India. Scholars estimate that it was founded between the 7th and 5th centuries B.C., making it one of India's three oldest religions along with Buddhism and Hinduism. The word "Jainism" comes from an old Sanskrit verb "to conquer," and it refers to the battle its practitioners fight against their own bodily urges in the pursuit of purity.

Over 2 billion people (over one third of the global population) are practicioners of Christianity, a faith which encompasses Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism and all their individual subsets.

The Vedas ("Books of Knowledge") are comprised of four Hindu holy texts: The Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. They were written between about 1200 B.C. and about 100 A.D. The Koran is the primary Muslim holy text, the Eddas (the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda) are two examples of medieval Icelandic literature concerning the old Norse gods, and the Mahayana Sutra is a Buddhist text.

Christians believe that although there's only one God, he has three aspects: The Father (the God of the Old Testament, who's the same God worshipped by Jewish people), the Son (Jesus Christ, the son of God and the Virgin Mary) and the Holy Spirit, a somewhat less well-defined being also referred to as the Holy Ghost.

Mitzvahs are the Jewish commandments. The Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies ("Bar Mitzvah" for boys, "Bat Mitzvah" for girls) signify that their recipients are now adults in the faith and thus obligated to live according to these principles.

Juche was founded by Kim Il-sung, the previous ruler of Korea and the father of current head of state Kim Jong-Il. Although "Juche" has been translated to "independent stand" and "spirit of self-reliance," the faith centers heavily on the deification (making into a god) of its founder.

The Great Schism, also called the East-West Schism, occured when ideological differences and longstanding tensions led the Christian Church to permanently split into two factions. These were the Roman Catholic Church, led by Pope Leo IX, and the Eastern Orthodox Church led, by Michael Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople. Each side excommunicated the other, a measure that wasn't lifted until 1965.

Hanukkah has its origins in 2nd century AD Jerusalem, when the Jewish people staged a revolt and overturned their Greco-Syrian rulers. (After a period of religious tolerance, these rulers had decided to force conversion and desecrated the Jewish temple.)

Tenrikyo originated in the 19th century with a 40-year-old woman named Nakayama Miki. She said she was possessed by a god called Tenri-O-no-Mikoto and developed a set of spiritual practices involving dancing, shamanism, healing and charitable acts.