The History of Atheism Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jainism

The first historical leader of the Jains is commonly accepted to be Parshvanatha who was a Tirthankara; one who has achieved enlightenment. Lord Parshvanatha lived in the Indian city of Varanasi and his concept, whether it be spiritual or in material form, is a source of great admiration and devotion to followers of Jainism. Interestingly Parshvanatha had 108 names and for the safety of everybody's sanity I am not going to type them here!

Shinto is a Japanese based belief system and, far from being nontheist, the religion is based upon polytheism. Zoroastrianism is an Iranian set of beliefs that is covered under the monotheistic religions. Sikhism also comes under the umbrella of monotheism; the belief in one omnipotent and omniscient god.

Answer: Hrafnkell

At the start of the saga, a copy of which is found in the Árni Magnússon Institute (Iceland), the main character Hrafnkell was a devoted believer in the god, Freyr. However, situations in his life took a turn for the worse and Hrafnkell interprets his belief in Freyr as being misplaced. Hrafnkell eventually recovered and became a powerful chieftain, but, remained from there on an atheist.

Answer: Ibn al-Rawandi

'The Book of the Emerald' puts across many points which relate to the philosophical field of epistemology. Historical opinion of al-Rawandi is that he was a heretic due to him stating things such as that miracles are merely an exploitation of physical phenomena. However, there is a growing movement that suggests that the 'Kitab al-Zumurrud' was a dialogue and that al-Rawandi was actually a believer in a system which involved prophecy.

Gamal Abdul Nasser was an Egyptian president who was heavily involved in the displacement of British rule in the north African country. Ibn Al-Nafis typifies the counter-claim that 'everything' was discovered in Europe and the western world. Ibn Al-Nafis is widely attributed as being the first person to correctly describe the system of pulmonary circulation some 300 years before the English physician, William Harvey. Rezazadeh Hossein was an Olympic gold medallist in weightlifting.

Answer: Voltaire

The fate of de la Barre was an unenviable one of torture and beheading. His crime was allegedly to have a vandalised a crucifix and as such to have embodied two sacrilegious traits of atheism and heresy. As ever with the killing of a person who is involved in the freedom of rights and in particular the freedom of religious expression, he was considered by some, a martyr.

The author, Voltaire, fought on the side of de la Barre and tried to get his sentence overturned. However, he was unsuccessful.

In 1794, during the French Revolution, Jean-François de la Barre received a posthumous pardon from the National Convention; an executive body in France at the time.

Answer: University College

The Dean of University College, one of the oldest colleges in the University of Oxford, became aware of a pamphlet that glorified atheism in 1811. When asked by the college staff about his literature, 'The Necessity of Atheism', Shelley defended it and refused to renege upon his beliefs.

The result? Indeed it was expulsion. It is quite ironic that now the romanticism of Shelley is a staple of British and world poetry and he is far more renowned and praised than those who originally lectured him!

Answer: Charles Bradlaugh

The British politician Charles Bradlaugh was elected by the constituents of Northampton on many occasions, however, he was not afforded the right to sit in the House of Commons based on his atheism and subsequent refusal to recite an oath. He campaigned along with many supporters for his right as an elected MP to sit in parliament despite his disbelief in God. For much of his time of service he wasn't granted the right to sit with his fellow MPs, but, upon the appointment of Arthur Wellesley Peel to the role Speaker of the House of Commons, Bradlaugh's wish was granted. Thus, in the late 19th century there was a momentous step forward in freethinking and liberalism in Great Britain; the first MP to enter parliament upon an affirmation.

Answer: Karl Marx

The most famous quote from the literature of Karl Marx is, "Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes" or, in English, "Religion is the opiate [often seen as opium] of the people". Essentially this area of philosophy and the struggles of the classes documented in Marx's treatise 'Das Kapital' (Capital) formed the basis of communism.

This social and economic ideology was implemented with vigour in the USSR from 1917 through 1991 and consequently the Russian Orthodox religion and establishment was suppressed in that period.

Answer: Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell, whom I find an extremely interesting philosopher, seemed to base his opinion entirely on logic to an extent that I have never seen or heard of in another person. I think this quote sums up what I'm trying to say perfectly: "At the age of eighteen, however, shortly before I went to Cambridge, I read Mill's Autobiography, where I found a sentence to the effect that his father taught him the question "Who made me?" cannot be answered, since it immediately suggests the further question "Who made God?" This led me to abandon the "First Cause" argument, and to become an atheist."
Quite controversially Russell, also a mathematician and historian, believed that religion is based on fear.

Just a note on the volume of works by Russell, 'Principia Mathematica', this shouldn't be confused with the works by Sir Isaac Newton of a similar name. The name of Newton's famous piece of work was, 'Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica' which is rather confusingly shortened to 'Principia Mathematica'!

Answer: Albania

This was quite a turn around in the grand scheme of things. Throughout history, particularly during the Middle Ages, it was forbidden not to comply to a religion. However, in communist Albania, it became a criminal offence to partake in any religious ceremonies or worship. Fortunately, religious equality and freedom of expression was restored in 1991 under the presidency of Ramiz Alia.

Answer: Richard Dawkins

The highly decorated Richard Dawkins, a zoology graduate, is known worldwide and is seen by many as the leading figure in atheism and evolutionary biology. Though, more importantly, he is seen as being very good at conveying difficult biological and philosophical concepts in a way that is interesting and accessible. Dawkins fiercely denies the idea of an ultimate creator and in his typical style demonstrates his beliefs by evaluating conjectures such as the 'Watchmaker Analogy'. This analogy states that a design implies a designer, particularly for as something as complex as life. However, that is for another time. :)

Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoyed the quiz!