chapter two textbook notes

Question 1

what is a theodicies?

Answer 1

Theodicies are religious explanations that provide meaning for meaning­ threatening experiences.

Most religions, for example, offer theodicies of suf­fering and death . The content of these explanations differs among the various religions, but the desire to find meaning for such experiences appears virtually universal.

Question 2

_ and _ creates a problem of theodicy because?

Answer 2

Disaster and death create a problem of theodicy not because they are unpleasant, but because they threaten the fundamental assumptions of order underlying society itself

Question 3

what does theodicies tell an individual?

Answer 3

Theodicies tell the individual or group that the experience is not meaningless but is rather part of a larger sys­tem of order. Some successful theodicies are, in fact, nothing but assertions of order.

Question 4

meaning-threatening situation

Answer 4

The capability of religion to provide meaning can be illustrated by how a society handles the especially meaning-threatening situation of dying and death. There is an inherent problem of meaning in the prospect of one’s own or a loved one’s death.

Death seems to negate the individual’s or group’s sense of order. For this reason, the way in which a society handles the process of dying is revealing of its larger meaning system. Long before most individuals face death, their religion has been providing meaning for their various life stages (e.g., by rites of passage into adulthood or by legitimating the norms and prerogatives of old age)

Question 5

meaning-threatening situation

Answer 5

In many societies, the meaning system somewhat nor­malizes dying as a further stage of human development. Some meaning sys­ terms affirm an afterlife or a rebirth; others emphasize that people live on through their offspring or tribe.

In American society, dying and death have become particularly meaning-threatning

Question 6

problems of meaning of death

Answer 6

The problem of the meaning of death is especially acute in this society because its value system assigns comparatively great worth to indi­ vidual lives. Numerous social arrangements contribute to the problem. The dying person is typically segregated from one of the foremost meaning­ providing social supports the family