Introduction to the Study of Religion
Final Exam
Gregory Hite
New College of Florida
December 14, 2006
You have three (3) hours to complete this exam. You may begin anytime you like as long as you only take 3 hours and turn it in on time
When you are done, please email it back to me IN THE BODY of the email and NOT as an attachment.
Be sure to have your NAME and the words “Religion Final” in the subject line
The exam is CLOSED BOOK/NOTE.
The Exam is due at 6:00 pm TODAY. If you are having trouble with your email, please place a copy of the exam in my box in Cook Hall. Note: the building closes at 5pm.
SHOULD ANYONE NEED TO CONTACT ME:
My cell number is 941-685-6930
Section 1: Identifications
Please identify and note the significance of fifteen (15) of the following. Your answers should NOT exceed two (2) sentences per response.
| 1. Rite of Passage 2. Leviticus 3. Conversion Experience 4. Essentialist Definition 5. Liminality 6. In illio Tempore 7. Sanctification 8. Polemic 9. Holiness Movement 10. Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans |
11. Mark 16 12. Decorum 13. Rites of Institution 14. Pentecost 15. Church of Jesus Christ Signs Following 16. Foreign Influence Theory 17. Communitas 18. Declaration of Independence 19. Dreamtime 20. Heirophany |
21. Memorial Day 22. Charismatic Leadership 23. The Third Eye 24. Lay Intellectualism 25. The Second Blessing 26. St. Teresa of Avila 27. Dualistic Theocidies 28. Gettysburg 29. Lamaism 30. Religious Geniuses |
Section 2: Answer three (3) of the following:
Please answer each question with a well-structured cogent argument. Be specific, define your terms, and answer the question asked of you. A minimum of three well-developed paragraphs for each essay.
A. Donald Lopez argues that popular culture is one of the major factors in diffusing particular understandings of religious traditions. What role did Frank Capra's Lost Horizon play in shaping an American understanding of Tibetan Buddhism? This vision if an example of what he calls the Prison of Shangri-La. What does he mean by this?
B. Dennis Covington's Salvation on Sand Mountain provides us an insiders view of how the Church of Jesus Christ Signs Following Church functions. Max Weber argues that the relationship between laity and the priesthood is a complicated and dynamic relationship characterized not by blind obedience to authority but rather through negotiation. Two components of his argument are the notions of lay intellectualism and lay conservatism. How do these concepts play out in Covington's book.
C. Robert Bellah argues that in American there exists a “civil religion;” a set of rituals, beliefs, symbols and ideas that shape how we articulate the meaning of America and who is an American. Within this worldview there are clear assumptions made in regard to the race, ethnicity and faith of “Americans.” In the film Shalom Ya'll, we see various strategies Southern Jews have employed to fit in without renouncing their religious and ethnic identity? In what ways have these Jews employed American Civil Religion, and in particular its Southern manifestation, to argue for their own inclusion in the region as well as the nation?
D. How does a scholars understanding of the nature of the human experience, or anthropology, play into his or her understanding of the nature of religion? Compare and contrast the anthropologies of William James and Mircea Eliade.
GOOD LUCK!