March 21st, 2010

Test your knowledge of religious founders, deities and leaders from the major spiritual traditions around the world. Study each image carefully to recognize important clues hidden within. Answers are below.

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Answers

1. Lord Shiva, the Supreme God of Hinduism, and one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta division of Hinduism.
2. Simon Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, and the founder of Catholicism. St. Peter is often depicted in religious art along with a set of keys to the Church.
3. Selim the Excellent, the first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to also be a Caliph of Islam.
4. Pope Pius IX, the longest-reigning Pope of the Catholic Church, and the first Pope to declare the infallibility of the papacy. Pius IX also created the first Vatican Council, in 1868.
5. Ieronymos II, the present Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, which is a part of the Greek Orthodox Church.
6. Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Siddhartha was Gautama Buddha’s birth name, and in most sects of Buddhism, is considered to be the most supreme Buddha.
7. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant religion who famously nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Germany, which started the Reformation.
8. Jupiter, the king of the sky, thunder and all other gods in Roman mythology. He is known as Zeus in Greek mythology.
9. Laozi, or "Old Master" from the 6th century BC. Laozi is considered a deity by most Taoists and "One of the Three Pure Ones."
10. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher whose ideas have influenced government, society, and Asian religions like Taoism.
11. Moses, the Hebrew prophet who led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt and who was given the Ten Commandments when God spoke to him on Mount Sinai.
12. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She is known as Venus in Roman mythology.
13. Parshvanath, or Parshva, a central leader and first historical figure in Jainism. Parshva was a nobleman who became a monk and attained nirvana. He is known as the 23rd Tirthankar, or human who is able to achieve enlightenment.
14. John Calvin, French pastor who fled to Basel, Switzerland, and founded Calvinism during the Protestant Reformation.
15. Isaac, a Biblical figure from the Book of Genesis who was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old. Isaac is considered one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people.
16. Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru or Enlightened Master, who founded the Sikh religion in 1499.
17. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science religion, which she established in America in 1875. Eddy also founded the Church of Christ, Scientist and The Christian Science Monitor.
18. Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam, in Detroit, MI. After he disappeared in 1934, his successor Elijah Muhammad declared that Fard Muhammad had actually been Allah.
19. Gerald Gardner, also known as Scire, is credited with bringing public attention to the Wiccan religion and witchcraft by establishing variuos covens throughout England.
20. Bodhidharma, a member of the Pallava dynasty and a Buddhist monk who brought Zen to China from southern India.

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