QUIZ OF HUSTON SMITH’S PRESENTATION

OF CHRISTIANITY
January 23. 2008

1. What “rule” is found in every religion?

2. What Christian symbols do you see in this presentation?

3. Why does Dr. Smith think people pray?

4. When Jesus is in his prophetic mode, lashing out against the times, what bothered him?

5. What is the central symbol of Christianity, and what does it symbolize to the informed Christian?

6. What is the chief wisdom Christianity brings to the world?

7. What negative consequences followed the wedding of state and church?

8. What is the gift/benefit of religion in Dr. Smith’s thinking?

CONFUCIANISM—QUIZ

Huston Smith’s Presentation

January 30,2008

1.   What is the Chinese name for this symbol?  What does it represent?

2. Huston Smith tells a Chinese parable which illustrates Confucianism.  First a farmer loses his horse, then the horse comes back with more horses, then the son break’s his leg taming a horse, then a warlord comes through the area and can’t take the son whose leg is broken.  What does this parable seek to illustrate?

3. How do the Chinese see the relationship between Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism?

4. What does Chinese folk religion center on?

5. What is the central contribution of Confucianism?

6. What is the secret for healthy relationships according to Confucianism?

7. To become fully human, what social relationships must be cultivated?

Quiz on the DVD Inside Mecca

February 20, 2008

1. What ancient patriarch, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, is remembered during the pilgrimage to Mecca ?

  2.    What ritual takes place on the plain of Arafat?

  3.    What does the pilgrim declare and search for in this ritual?

 4.      What attitude is required in order for God to hear and forgive a Muslim?

  5.    What is the point of the hadj?

  6.     At the ritual, the stoning of Satan, what does the believer affirm?

  7.     What does the Muslim hope to get rid of through this ritual?

8.       Why is there a great slaughter of animals at the end of the hadj, and where does the meat go?

  9.     What does the cutting of the hair represent?

  10.   What does the Ka’ba represent?

Quiz on the film with Houston Smith on Buddhism

1.      What surprised Houston Smith about the Tibetan Buddhist chanting?

2.      What does the chanting have to do with worship?

  3.    What is the essence of Buddhism?

  4.      How did Buddha answer the question, What are you?

  5.      Several statues with Buddha faces are shown.  What is the message of these faces?

  6.      What is a Koan?  And, is the answer a verbal answer or an experience?

  7.      Why is there a growing interest in Buddhism in the West?

  8.      In the sand painting ritual, what does the scattering of the sand symbolize?

  9.     What is the goal of Zen?

  10.   What is the Zen life?