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RS 200: Leininger
Outline of Topics: Exam 1
Page 1 of 1
Chapter 2: The Nature of the Sacred
Terms: sacred, profane, sacrilege, transcendent, and immanent
● 3 marks of the sacred: set apart, beyond full human control, important to human existence
● Provide examples of how persons, objects, spaces, and events can come to be regarded as sacred or
profane
Chapter 3: The Appearance of the Sacred
Terms: prophet, sacrament, sage, cosmology (see also chapter 4)
● 3 patterns of understanding the appearance of the sacred:
1. prophetic (stress on message re: belief, society, and morality—all centered around revelation),
2. sacramental (stress on sacred objects and ritual as vehicles for the sacred), and
3. mystical (stress on states of consciousness, feeling, and experience)
● Sacred media: persons, objects, space, time
Chapter 4: The Language of the Sacred
Terms: myth, parable, canon, scripture, tradition
● 4 functions of Sacred Stories: connect with sacred, order cosmos, traditio, and ethical
Buddhism (as explained by CK, Smith, Hanh, and lectures)
Terms: nirvana, interbeing, compassion, dharma, (the law of) karma, sangha, samsara, Buddha (and
Buddha nature), mindfulness
● List and explain the Four Noble Truths
● Story of the Buddha and how it illustrates a) the 4 Noble Truths and b) writings of Thich Nhat Hanh
● Be prepared to apply the concepts from chapters 2-4 of CK and the lectures to
Hanh’s writings. For example, “How do the three marks of the sacred apply or not to Hanh’s
writings?”
Judaism (as explained by Smith, CK, and lectures)
Terms: radical monotheism, idolatry, Torah (the laws in the first five books of Hebrew scriptures),
Hebrew prophets (their message), covenant (“I will be your God, and you shall be my people by being
faithful my laws”; God will bless Israel for its faithfulness and/or call it back to its covenant)
● Explain how Judaism understands God in terms of God’s relationship to
a) the universe (explain the creation myth in Genesis)
b) other gods (explain radical monotheism & sin as idolatry)
c) human history and morality (explain how God acts upon the covenant in history and how
humans are free to be faithful or not to their covenant with God)
Essay Questions.
1. What is the nature of ultimate reality? What practical difference does this understanding make
for how one lives everyday? Discuss the similarities and differences between the ways that
Buddhism and Judaism answer these two questions. Give examples from the assigned texts by
Thich Nhat Hanh and the assigned texts on Judaism.
2. Explain Kushner’s response to evil (including why God is not all powerful) and analyze how
he follows and/or departs from Judaism as described by the assigned readings and lectures.
(Be sure to discuss arguments for and against Kushner’s fidelity to Judaism.)
NOTE: this last question could also be the topic for the 5-6 page paper due on November 17.