Have a Great Afterlife! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christianity

There are well over two billion Christians, making Christianity the world religion with most adherents. There are three main branches of Christianity (Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox) and each one of them has many subsets. Christianity originated in first-century Europe, although at this point it was a Jewish sect. Christianity is based around Jesus Christ, a prophet whom Christians believe was the son of God.

Answer: I will be born again into a new body

Reincarnation is a major component of many religions. However, keep in mind that reincarnation and life-after-death are not the same! Reincarnation is (in most cases) being born into a new body on this Earth in this world. Many religions believe that if you sin in this life, in the next life you will be born into a lowly form (ant, fly, blade of grass, etc.).

Answer: No one specific empire

Religion has done a lot of good in the world - for instance, if you believe that sinning will bring about misfortune after death, you'll become a better person out of self-interest. However, it has also brought about great sorrow. The Crusades were a series of campaigns waged in the 11th-13th centuries, where in the name of God, European Catholics campaigned in a series of military expeditions into mainly Muslim lands.

The wars were waged for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest results was that an immense amount of non-Catholics (predominantly Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians) were converted to some form of Catholicism.

There was no one leader of the Crusades; it was fought by many different European kingdoms and empires. The Pope often had a large amount of influence, but did not claim leadership of the campaigns.

The terrible irony about the Crusades was that Jesus Christ preached peace, as clearly seen in the Gospels.

Answer: Samsara

One of the interesting things about Samsara is that many Sikhs, Hindus, Jains and especially Buddhists believe that Samsara is something to escape - in fact, they believe that the entire purpose of life is to get out of the cycle. They believe this is possible by being enlightened.

They believe that at this point, after your death you will not be reincarnated into a new body, but instead enter a state of Nirvana, which is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists. Nirvana is a state of complete calm and peace, where you lose your body, your thoughts, and your individuality, and become one with everything else.

Answer: Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an empire in North Africa that formed in about 3150 BC. There are very many legends and myths surrounding it, especially the ones from the times of the Pharaohs - the kings of Ancient Egypt, supposedly divinely merged with the Egyptian Gods.

Answer: The Underworld

Ah, Ancient Greece! Most of us know it for its myths - we think of it as the land of thundering Zeus, of wise Athena, of beautiful Aphrodite. According to the myths and to the Ancient Greek religion, we all will go to a place under the ground, fittingly named the "Underworld." The immediate picture of the Underworld most of us today would imagine would be a hellish land, the place where Sisyphus will strive to achieve his never-ceasing task.

However, the Underworld was actually more varied a place - if you were virtuous and honorable in life, you would go to the Elysian Fields, which is basically the Greek version of Heaven. If you were neutral, and weren't good nor evil in your life, you'd go to the Asphodel Meadows. And if you were evil... you'd go to Hades' domain, which is the Greek version of Hell. You'd be subjected to your individual fate.

It might be worse or better than Sisyphus's; I hope you never have to find out!

Answer: Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster. It used to be one of the largest religions in the world, though its numbers are now dwindling. It is mainly based around the struggle between Order and Chaos, or between asha and druj. Zoroastrians believe in one God, Ahura Mazda.

They believe that in order to ensure happiness and defeat druj, every human must have good thoughts, words and deeds. They believe that eventually, asha will overcome druj, at which point time will end, and the good will be reincarnated while the evil will be permanently destroyed.

Answer: Islam

Islam is the second most populous religion (after Christianity), with well over 1/5th of the world's population being Muslim. (Muslims are those who follow Islam.) Islam's primary principles are that there is one and only God, and that a man named Muhammed (the founder of Islam, who lived from 570 till 632 C.E) was the last prophet.

Answer: Atheists

In current times, atheism is common. However, the farther you go back in time, the less prevalent atheism is all across the world, and the more influence religion has in day-to-day lives. This can be explained with the following argument: religion is largely engendered from unanswerable questions. Humans are thirsty for explanations of pretty much everything, and so when a provable explanation to a particular query cannot be found, we tend to believe in unprovable ones.

However, as the study of the world around us progresses more and more, we have been able to answer many of these questions, thereby eliminating one of the causes of religion.

Answer: Agnostics

Agnosticism is, in a sense, the most humble approach to these questions. Agnostics can't find a reason to believe that God exists, but they also can't find a reason to believe God DOESN'T exist. Therefore, they just accept their ultimate ignorance, and live by it without claiming to know any of the answers to questions of God, religion, and the afterlife.