ARS1101: PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION TUTORIAL GUIDING

QUESTIONS.

1. Discuss the view that religion and its meaning are a complex reality that have for ages
perplexed scholars.
2. With relevant examples and illustrations, differentiate between the functional and
substantial definition of religion.
3. Discuss Simon Reinach’s view of religion as the total sum of scruples that impend the
free use of our human faculties.
4. Citing examples and illustration drawn from one religion of your choice, discuss the
dimensions of religion as proposed by Ninian Smart.
5. African Traditional Religion is not a religion as Christianity and Islam and therefore
African Traditional believers need to be converted. Using the knowledge acquired in
this course unit, assess the validity of this statement.
6. Basing on the arguments of Bshop Codrington and Mirch Eliade, examine the view that
religious moral demands are not divine commands but rather products of people’s
interaction with mana.
7. Clearly establish the relationship between animism and mana as anthropocentric
speculations for the origin of religion.
8. Examine the view that African Traditional Religions are animistic in nature.
9. Though presented as beliefs associated with the primitive man, Animism and Mana are
evident even in the religions of the modern man. Substantiate.
10. Examine the influence of animism on human perception and interaction with the natural
environment.
11. Religion is based on the solid facts of social experience and all its various forms are a
product of social consciousness. Discuss.
12. Basing on the arguments of Sir James George Frazer 1896-1941 and Rev. Fr. Wilhelm
Schmidt, establish the relationship between magic and religion.
13. Basing on the arguments from the Theo genetic proponents, discuss the view that
religion is not anthropocentric but rather a product of God’s self-revelation.
14. Basing on the Ugandan contemporary situation, analyze Sigmund Freud’s conviction
that religion is a product of emotional immaturity, a surrogate for facing reality.
15. Using the arguments of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, establish the origin of
religion.
16. To achieve a state of mental health, humans should embrace religion. Using the
arguments William James (1842-1910) and Sigmund Freud, assess the validity of the
above assertion.
17. As a product of the God talk, man creates God in his own image and in man’s image,
man creates God both male and female. Substantiate.
18. Expound on the claim that Man’s project is God.
19. As a student of Phenomenology of Religion, write a speech that you would present to
the patients at Mulago cancer institute, convincing them that God surely exists, He is
powerful, all knowing and perfectly loving, even amidst their predicaments.