Religion General Knowledge #5

Can you answer these questions about various world religions, past and present?
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Last updated: September 20, 2018
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First submittedFebruary 15, 2018
Times taken46,171
Average score65.0%
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Question
Answer
What country has the most Orthodox Christians?
Russia
What Indian religious principle can be roughly defined as "what goes around comes around"?
Karma
According to 2014 Gallup poll, what major country has the highest percentage of people who don't consider themselves religious (90%)?
China
What Islamic religious symbol can be found on the flags of 19 different countries, including Turkey and Malaysia?
Crescent
What religious symbol is depicted on the flag of Israel?
Star of David
Who was the Greek goddess of wisdom?
Athena
What is the name for the belief that, after death, a person starts a life in a new body?
Reincarnation
What is the term for a person who has been canonized?
a Saint
According to Jewish folklore, who had a first wife named Lilith?
Adam
What country has the most Shia muslims?
Iran
What hallucinogenic desert plant do some Native Americans consume for religious purposes?
Peyote
In Chinese philosophy, what is the opposite of "Yang"?
Yin
What is the Asian country with the largest Christian population?
Philippines
The Chinese government recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and ... ?
Taoism
What American religious group is famous for eschewing modern technology?
The Amish
What title was given to the supreme Islamic leaders who succeeded Muhammad? (Hint: starts with C)
Caliph
Who called religion "the opium of the masses"?
Karl Marx
Who was the first patriarch of the Jewish religion?
Abraham
What is the name for a form of government based on religion?
Theocracy
What are Seraphim and Cherubim?
Angels
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60 Comments
+3
Level 67
Feb 15, 2018
It's kind of odd that the Chinese government recognizes Buddhism. It's really not a religion and more of a way of life.
+32
Level 86
Feb 16, 2018
That's how a lot people view their own belief system.
+29
Level 67
Feb 16, 2018
I'm a Buddhist and I'm fine with calling it a religion, as it has many of the traditional components: mythologies, rituals, sacred texts, holy days, ordination, study, contemplation, etc. Some people find calling a school of thought that doesn't recognize God as being inherently disqualified from being called a religion, but I think most of those people probably believe in God :-)
+2
Level 72
Aug 23, 2023
it's essentially an atheist religion. A type of atheist gnostic spiritualism
+2
Level 81
Jun 22, 2024
Gods and spirits are important parts of plenty of Buddhists' lives
+1
Level 63
Nov 12, 2024
it's nontheistic or smth
+1
Level 46
Oct 5, 2025
Early Buddhism did not worship gods, but recognized the existence of at least some.
+1
Level 55
Mar 7, 2026
"A type of atheist gnostic spiritualism" - I would ask what on earth that is supposed to mean, but you would just tell me that I am too unenlightened to understand. It's twaddle like that that keeps me amused.
+10
Level 73
Sep 13, 2018
Right - a religion does not have to be theistic
+20
Level 66
Sep 7, 2021
Western, hippified Buddhism is more of a "way of life." In rural Thailand you're gonna find something that looks a lot closer to a traditional religion.
+1
Level 72
Aug 23, 2023
could also be said for daoism
+4
Level 62
Feb 16, 2018
"Metempsychosis" for "reincarnation" should also be accepted.
+7
Level 84
Feb 16, 2018
That question's not well worded anyway, as reincarnation isn't the word for the belief but for the process.
+10
Level 76
Feb 19, 2018
Agreed - it's interesting to realise there's no actual word that means "having a belief in reincarnation". That's a riddle that'll take me few lifetimes to contemplate.
+2
Level 99
Feb 17, 2018
agreed, i think metempsychosis is even more correct
+1
Level 50
Feb 16, 2018
Would Quakers be an acceptable answer for the 'eschewing modern technology' question?
+6
Level 95
Feb 16, 2018
No. Quakers, generally speaking, do not avoid modern technology.
+3
Level 62
Sep 8, 2021
I remember visiting a friend who had moved to Pennsylvania and as we drove on a country road she happily pointed out the easiest way to distinguish a Quaker house from an Amish house- the former would have a telephone line going to the house, while the latter would have it going to the barn.
+5
Level 87
Feb 16, 2018
Tried payote, payoti, payotte, payotti, pajote, pajoti, pajotte, pajotte, pyote, pyoti, pyotte, pyotti. If the quiz was a few more hours, I might have eventually tried peyote. Or maybe there could be some flexibility on this one?
+9
Level 89
Feb 26, 2018
Well I tried peyotl, which is the original Nahuatl name (and also what it's called in French).
+2
Level 68
Jun 22, 2024
Sounds like something I'd expect to hear from someone who's tried peyote
+1
Level 9
Feb 22, 2018
you should do a 1900s music quiz
+2
Level 80
Mar 19, 2018
That China answer surprised me. Notwithstanding the government's official position on the matter, I would have thought there would be much higher religious adherence amongst the population.
+5
Level 79
Oct 29, 2018
Contemporary Chinese life is still heavily influenced by Confucianism and Maoism and some consider these to be religions (with a dash of Buddhism, Taoism, and ancestor worship thrown in for good measure), but I think what this says is that the average Chinese person does not think of it this way.
+2
Level 92
Mar 11, 2020
Few of us practice "Maoism" in any way that would be considered a religion. The reason we are so low is because the Communists murdered a massive amount of religious people in the past century and still underreport stats (theories put Christian population between 40 and 100 million).

Most Chinese people are not Atheist, they are agnostic. Chinese people are actually very open to religion, as most of us are vaguely spiritual in some way.

+1
Level 79
Apr 22, 2020
Do they still sell copies of Mao's Little Red Book?
+2
Level 45
Jan 12, 2022
Yes - Generally you can buy most communist works online in China.
+3
Level 72
Jan 9, 2019
Great quiz. Just one nitpicky grammar thing. Should be "hallucinogenic," not "hallucinogen."
+5
Level 35
Jan 9, 2019
include more hindu questions. If it is "Religion" quiz, it should ask equal questions about each religion. This is a request, please.
+3
Level 79
Jan 9, 2019
This request is impossible (as there are more religions than there are questions on this quiz) and impractical (as not all religions are equally well-known to visitors of this website).
+3
Level 79
Jan 9, 2019
But anyway there's this many questions about these religious beliefs: Eastern Orthodoxy (1) Hinduism, primarily (2) Irreligiosity (1) Islam (2) Judaism (3) Greek mythology (1) Catholicism (1) Shiitism (1) Navajo religion (1) Taoism (1) Amish (1) Communism (1) and Christianity (1)

so... Hinduism is ahead of most. What are you complaining about?

+3
Level 35
Jan 10, 2019
ok kal, okay. I see you, i see you
+1
Level 32
Jun 24, 2024
Way too many questions on judaism
+2
Level 45
Jan 9, 2019
Can you accept 'Pallas Athena' for 'Athena'?
+3
Level 92
Jan 9, 2019
Seriously, why?
+2
Level 45
Jan 12, 2019
I was taught about her in school under this name.

Wikipedia confirms Pallas Athena refers to Athena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas_Athena_(disambiguation)

+4
Level 74
Mar 14, 2021
Possibly, but it's just an epithet so would be a bit like accepting "Cunning Odysseus" in a mythology quiz - a bit odd.
+2
Level 45
Jan 9, 2019
Also, I'd expect 'Ayahuasca' as a correct answer instead of Peyote (assuming native Brasilians are counted as native americans). Probably not even the only two answers that meet the description.
+3
Level 61
Jan 9, 2019
I mean, the questions does specify desert plant, and there aren't a huge number of deserts in the Americas...
+5
Level 80
Jan 13, 2019
Yeah, the question specifies desert plant, and the Amazon rainforest is pretty much the exact opposite of a desert.
+1
Level 36
Jun 22, 2024
I only know 'Ayahuasca' from that one Moistcritikal video about aliens.
+9
Level 70
Apr 19, 2019
What is the term for a person who has been canonized? Me: Um, "Human Cannonball?" I did get the question right, but my brain fart kept making me giggle.
+3
Level 67
Sep 22, 2019
Is it bad that I only knew the one about Lilith and Adam from Supernatural?
+1
Level 86
Oct 30, 2020
Not from Frasier?
+4
Level 83
Feb 12, 2021
That definition about the Indian principle is pretty "rough". I pointed this out on the Buddhist quiz as well, but I might as well say it here, too. "What goes around comes around" is the common Western adage that has been conflated with the actual meaning of Karma. It's unfortunate that most people will never think of Karma beyond this common, glib definition. Karma are actions. The law of Karma is what the western adage aligns with!
+1
Level 63
Nov 12, 2024
yeah, the description here aint good
+1
Level 82
Feb 22, 2021
In one of the questions, 'recognizes' is spelt wrong.
+1
Level 70
Dec 20, 2021
The Philippines aren't really Asia - they're Oceania. They're not a part of the Asian *Continent*.
+4
Level 79
Jun 10, 2022
They're even less a part of the Oceanic "continent" (the continental part of Oceania being Australia)... is it your position that all island nations must be in Oceania? So.. the United Kingdom is in Oceania?
+1
Level 46
Feb 3, 2026
It was in 1984.
+1
Level 45
Nov 16, 2023
read question 3 as in which country do more than 90% consider themselves religious, typed in vatican and gave up
+2
Level 78
Jun 22, 2024
Why isn't "moon" accepted for the flag symbol? Those aren't random crescents; they symbolize a stage of the lunar cycle.
+1
Level 83
Jun 24, 2024
I'm not certain about this, but I'd suspect that all or nearly all crescent symbols/artifacts originated as representations of the moon. It is unavoidably the most prominent crescent shape any human will have observed, and will have been observed by every human with vision.

With that in mind, 'moon' would be a less specific, less correct answer.

+1
Level 41
Jun 22, 2024
Catholicism and Protestantism aren't religions
+3
Level 81
Jun 22, 2024
What are they, fast food chains?
+2
Level 41
Jun 22, 2024
Denominations. Christianity is the religion
+1
Level 32
Jun 24, 2024
Should moon be also acepted for the flags oke
+1
Level 60
Sep 10, 2024
I'm agnostic and got 101/101 on all 5 of these lol
+1
Level 51
Apr 16, 2025
You only allow peyote for the Native American hallucinogen - what about ayahuasca? If you want to have peyote as the only answer you need to specify Native NORTH Americans.
+1
Level 46
Feb 3, 2026
Again, as others have already pointed out, the question specifies a desert plant, and ayahuasca is from the Amazon rainforest.