Anthony Giddens • Sociology 6th edition

Student Resources

Chapter 16 — Religion

1. Durkheim’s famous definition of religion includes three main elements. Which of these is not one of the three?
   a) religion is a form of culture
   b) religion involves belief in God
   c) religion provides a sense of purpose
   d) religion involves beliefs and ritual practices
2. Ludwig Feuerbach’s views on Christianity influenced the ideas of which classical sociologist?
   a) Max Weber
   b) Emile Durkheim
   c) Vilfredo Pareto
   d) Karl Marx
3. What concept does Durkheim use to explain how religious ceremonies generate social solidarity?
   a) collective conciousness
   b) collective interaction
   c) collective effervescence
   d) class conciousness
4. Weber’s famous study, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904/5), was part of a larger project to study what?
   a) Christianity’s influence in the West
   b) the influence of the world religions on social development
   c) how salvation beliefs have shaped the modern world economy
   d) the impact of capitalism on the world religions
5. Which is the oldest of the world religions, being at least 6,000 years old?
   a) Islam
   b) Confucianism
   c) Buddhism
   d) Hinduism
6. How has Grace Davie (1994) characterized the general religious position within Western Europe?
   a) religious pluralism with many gods
   b) believing without belonging
   c) secularization against religion
   d) belonging without believing
7. Which of the following is, with 20 million adherents, the largest non-Christian faith in Europe?
   a) Judaism
   b) Buddhism
   c) Islam
   d) Hinduism
8. According to Steve Bruce (1996), which of the following was a factor in generating strong religious commitment in the USA as compared to Europe?
   a) an evangelical strand of Christianity
   b) a non-established church
   c) a variety of new religious movements
   d) late and very rapid industrialization
9. What is religious fundamentalism?
   a) strict or literal adherence to basic religious principles and beliefs
   b) acceptance and use of violent means to transform secular societies
   c) commitment to the fundamental beliefs of charismatic leaders
   d) religious beliefs associated with new age sects
10. Who theorized that we might be witnessing the ‘clash of civilizations’?
    a) Giles Kepel
    b) Amartya Sen
    c) Samuel Huntington
    d) Michel Maffesoli
11. Of which of the following, according to Marx, does religion provide an example?
    a) alienation
    b) anomie
    c) authority
    d) animism
12. According to Durkheim, religion separates objects and symbols into the sacred and which of the following?
    a) the profound
    b) the profuse
    c) the profitable
    d) the profane
13. The emphasis on the relationship between religion and which ONE of the following is distinctive to Weber's study of religion?
    a) social inequality
    b) social change
    c) social solidarity
    d) social conflict
14. Which of the following is NOT one of the 'ethical religions'?
    a) Buddhism
    b) Confucianism
    c) Hinduism
    d) Taoism
15. Which is the most recently established of the great world religions?
    a) Judaism
    b) Islam
    c) Hinduism
    d) Christianity
16. Which term describes religious organizations of a loosely knit and transient kind?
    a) church
    b) denomination
    c) sect
    d) cult
17. Charismatic leaders build a following based upon which of the following?
    a) traditional authority
    b) rational argument
    c) personal qualities
    d) collective wealth
18. 'New age' movements are an example of which type of religious movement?
    a) world-affirming
    b) world-rejecting
    c) world-enhancing
    d) world-accommodating
19. Which term describes the process whereby religion looses its influence over various spheres of social life?
    a) secularization
    b) evangelicalism
    c) fundamentalism
    d) alienation
20. In which of these countries is Orthodox Christianity the dominant religion?
    a) Finland
    b) Greece
    c) Ireland
    d) Spain
21. According to the 1851 Census, what percent of the population attended church every Sunday?
    a) 80
    b) 60
    c) 40
    d) 20
22. When compared with other industrialized nations, which of the following describes the population of the United States?
    a) atheistic
    b) agnostic
    c) religious
    d) secular
23. What sociological approach argues that religions can be fruitfully understood as organizations in competition with one another for followers?
    a) religious economy
    b) religious culture
    c) religious ritual
    d) religious polity
24. Which of the following is a polytheistic religion?
    a) Christianity
    b) Hinduism
    c) Islam
    d) Judaism

e-alerts  •  privacy policy  •  contact webmaster