Languages of Faith Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Thee" and "thou" were less formal, and fit in with the egalitarian Quaker philosophy.

Like French ("tu" and "vous"), German ("du" and "Sie"), and Spanish ("tu" and "usted"), English once had formal and informal versions of "you." "Thou" began as the only singular second-person pronoun (the counterpart to the plural "ye"); eventually "you" (which can be either singular or plural) arose as a more formal alternative to both. Although they are considered archaic in almost all forms of modern English, "thee" and "thou" survive in some regional dialects.

Founded in 17th-century England, the Religious Society of Friends became known for their pacifism, for their simplicity, and for their emphasis on a very individual experience with God. Their philosophy of simplicity led to a pattern of "plain speaking," which (somewhat ironically) set them apart from their neighbors. In order to ignore class distinctions in their speech and actions, Quakers used the familiar pronouns "thee" and "thou" and refrained from all honorifics (such as "Sir" or "Mrs"). The practice still survives among many modern Quakers, although "thou" has dropped mostly out of use -- "thee" is used both as a subject pronoun and as an object pronoun, creating a uniquely Quaker grammar.

Answer: Pali

The Tipitaka, also known as the Pāli Canon for its original language, has three parts: a code of rules for monastic life, a set of discourses and parables attributed to the Buddha and his disciples, and a philosophical analysis of humanity and the universe. Recorded two millennia ago from a much older oral tradition, these are the fundamental texts of Theravada ("The Ancient Teaching") Buddhists, who number at least 100 million people around the world (especially in southeast Asia). Laypeople and monks alike recite passages from the Canon (in the original Pāli) as a pious aid to meditation.

Parts of the Tipitaka (especially the first two pitaka, or baskets) are very similar to parts of other standard Buddhist canons (such as the Kangyur of Tibetan Buddhism), although the scriptures are generally very different indeed.

Answer: Confucius

Confucius (a Latinized version of the name Kong Fuzi, or Master Kong) was a thinker who lived in what is now Shandong Province, China, from 551 to 479 BC. His teachings emphasize family loyalty, personal and governmental responsibility, and a strong social order. Zhengming is meant to support that social order: if you know and use the proper names of things, then you also know your place and your role. In the Analects (part 13), he explained it thus:

"If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success ... Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately."

Answer: Translations are given special titles with disclaimers, like "The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an."

Since one of the tenets of Islam is that previous revelations (namely the text of the Torah and Bible) had become corrupted from the original, special precautions must be taken to guard the "perfect revelation" of the Qur'an. Translations are not seen as divinely guided; in addition to the standard translation problems of ambiguous word meanings, passages that require understanding of the historical and cultural context, and human error, there is also a sense that - having come from God - the original Qur'an cannot, by definition, be imitated.

The title of The Qur'an is thus generally reserved for copies in the original Arabic; translations are styled as "interpretations" or "meanings" so as to make clear that they may differ from the original.

Answer: Kyrie, Eleison

The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Pater Noster (the Our Father, also known as the Lord's Prayer), and Ave Maria (Hail Mary) all have well-known translations into English, but at the discretion of the celebrant, they may be said or chanted in Latin instead at any given Mass. (When said or chanted in the local language, or vernacular, their titles are translated too.)

"Kýrie, Eléison" means "Lord, have mercy," in Greek. The prayer is said at the beginning of Mass, during or after the Penitential Rite; it consists of three lines, each said or sung three times, in honor of the Holy Trinity (the threefold nature of God). It is an even more prominent part of Eastern Orthodox services, where the first line is said in response to litanies (prayers of petition offered by the congregation, led by a priest or deacon).

Answer: Hinduism

The four Vedas are at least 2500 years old, and may actually be 1000 years older than that. For centuries before they were written down, pious people kept them alive as an oral tradition, following strict regimens of memorization and recitation in order to avoid error.

They were the first in a long line of Sanskrit scriptures which further illuminated philosophy, theology and the legendary stories of people and gods. Its poetry, hymns, mantras and original texts combine to make this a well-studied language, still heard in temples and universities, and in the silence of believers' hearts.

Answer: Hebrew

Classical or Biblical Hebrew is the language of the Tanakh (which Christians know as the Old Testament of the Bible), and its close descendant is the language of the Mishnah (200 AD) - the first known written exposition of Jewish oral law. But the first centuries of the first millennium were difficult ones for the Jewish people. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, and the harsh Roman response to the failed revolt of Bar Kokhba in 135, a long period of diaspora (or exile) began. Over the centuries, as Jews spread out over Europe and northern Africa, the use of Hebrew in everyday life declined as Jewish speech was influenced by the dialects of their new neighbors. Medieval Hebrew survived for centuries as "the holy language," a tongue of study, prayer and poetry -- but not a native language.

Hebrew was reborn as a mother tongue in the 19th century, as a Jewish nationalist movement gained speed. Jews from very different parts of the world were coming together once more in Jerusalem, and there was both a need for a common tongue and a desire for a return to a seemingly purer past. Hebrew began to be spoken in the marketplace, in a few families, and in classrooms. Over time, Hebrew became fashionable; in 1909, the city of Tel Aviv switched to Hebrew for conducting all its official business. At first, this reconstructed Hebrew (heavily influenced by Yiddish and carefully developed by adults) was a somewhat stilted language -- but the raising of a generation of children in Hebrew-speaking households made Hebrew a living and idiomatic language once more. It is not the same as its classical ancestor - the passage of time guarantees that - but it is an impressive testimonial to the power of faith.

Answer: The Maya

The Popol Vuh is in the classical Quiché language as it existed in the 1500s, when the Guatemalan highlands were ruled as a Maya kingdom. Although the Maya did have a complete system of writing, featuring symbols for specific words as well as symbols for individual syllables, it is not known for certain whether the Popol Vuh existed as a written text before the arrival of the Spanish. The earliest copy we know of was written phonetically, using the Spanish alphabet, from a recitation of the work.

Like many other sacred texts (both written and oral), the Popol Vuh strongly emphasizes the power of its words. Here is its beginning, as translated by Luis Enrique Sam Colop:

"This is the root of the ancient word of this place called Quiché. Here we shall write, we shall plant the ancient word, the origin, the beginning of all what has been done in the Quiché Nation..."

Answer: Yoruba

Santería had its birth as the religion of slaves. Millions of people, men, women and children, were torn from West Africa in the centuries after the European discovery of the New World. They came from different peoples, with distinct languages and cultures, but Yoruba, Igbo, Wolof, Hausa and others were thrown together on the slave ships and plantations.

In the hard years that followed, many called on the gods of their homelands for comfort and protection; this was how Santería arose, in appeals to Olurun (and his intermediaries the orishas), whom the Yoruba held dear. Over time, the traditional Yoruba beliefs took on a Catholic flair - which helped protect believers from Cuba's Catholic slaveowners - and the modern religion of Santería was born.

Other Caribbean religions - Vodou being the most famous - have similar stories.

Answer: It comes from an alphabet invented by two 9th-century saints to translate the Bible into Slavic languages.

Saint Cyril (827-869) and Saint Methodius (826-885) were brothers, born in the Byzantine Empire and sent in 862 to become missionaries to the Slavs. Among their first tasks was to translate the Bible, as well as some other Christian texts, into the language we now refer to as Old Church Slavonic.

In order to accomplish this, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet, a set of letters whose name means "the marks that speak." Cyrillic, a simpler alphabet, is traditionally credited to a disciple of the missionary brothers, Saint Clement of Ohrid.

Its name is an homage to Saint Cyril himself! (I am unaware, sadly, of any Methodian alphabet). Russian is the most widely spoken modern language that uses this alphabet, but children learn these letters all the way from Serbia to Mongolia.