Section 13

Question 1

no contemporary Jewish or Roman account constitutes primary, external evidence of the actual events of Jesus’ life. The closest we come is a brief mention by the Roman historian _________

Answer 1

Tacitus

Question 2

the Jewish historian and general ________ also notes the existence of early Christians, but he was active several decades after Jesus’ life and thus cannot serve as an eyewitness to the central events lying at the heart of Christianity.

Answer 2

Josephus

Question 3

the Romans’ general eviction of the Jews from the Holy Lands

Answer 3

Diaspora

Question 4

Jesus most likely spoke ________, a Semitic tongue used commonly throughout the Holy Lands in his day.

Answer 4

Aramaic

Question 5

the greatest of Christ’s interpreters in the wake of his crucifixion. Often called the “second founder of the Christian church,” he was a Jew who had Roman citizenship and initially oppressed Christians until he experienced an intense vision of Christ and converted to Christianity

Answer 5

Paul (Saul of Tarsus)

Question 6

the assumption that all people are fundamentally equal, that slavery is an abomination and that war does less good in the world than peace

Answer 6

Stoicism

Question 7

late third-century Rome finally found the savior it so desperately needed, not a divine one but a hard-nosed, working-class emperor named _______

Answer 7

Diocletian

Question 8

In the generation after Diocletian, ________ (ca. 285-337 CE) came to power. He was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity

Answer 8

Constantine

Question 9

he grew up in the Roman West, yet he later preferred the Hellenized East and, in fact, moved the center of Roman government there, where he built a grand new capital named after himself, ____________

Answer 9

Constantinople

Question 10

With this ensign, conquer

Answer 10

In Hoc Signo Vince

Question 11

Constantine did not go so far as to declare Rome a Christian state, he did enforce a policy of official neutrality in Christian affairs

Answer 11

Edict of Milan

Question 12

it seriously alienated the many who refused to join the Church, those traditional __________

Answer 12

Pagans (Paganus)

Question 13

in Greek, “straight opinion,” meaning those views sanctioned by the officials of the Church

Answer 13

Orthodox(y)

Question 14

choice,” implying the freedom to follow a doctrine of one’s own desire

Answer 14

Heresy

Question 15

represented not so much an organized sect as a motley collection of alternative Christians whose views on the nature of Jesus and the lessons of his ministry differed broadly, sometimes directly contradicting each other as much as the Church

Answer 15

Gnostics

Question 16

a work which has made the world of nascent Christianity accessible to many non-historians today

Answer 16

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels

Question 17

in 1945, a fortuitous find of ancient texts later called the _______________ library—_________________ is the site in southern Egypt where these texts were discovered—increased enormously our awareness of the wide range of religious views early Christians embraced

Answer 17

Nag Hammadi

Question 18

in the words of the Gnostic teacher ________, “each person recognizes the Lord in his own way, not all alike

Answer 18

Theodotus

Question 19

the Gnostic _____________ envisions her as the foremost of the apostles and calls her the “woman who knew the All

Answer 19

Gospel of Mary

Question 20

a dynamic and well-educated priest named _______ (ca. 250-336 CE), who championed a more remedial version of Christ than the mystical, enigmatic vision offered by the orthodox Church

Answer 20

Arius

Question 21

Seeing Jesus as a divine being and the offspring of God but not a god exactly like God—in other words, a very high-level, celestial messenger sent to earth—this __________ later called Arianism endorsed the position that, if Jesus is the Son of God, then he cannot be allowed to assume precedence over his Father in heaven or on earth

Answer 21

Arianism

Question 22

Leading the opponents of Arianism was none other than Arius’ own superior ___________—his boss, so to speak—the patriarch of Alexandria and a formidable power-broker in the Church.

Answer 22

Athanasius

Question 23

Like any powerful, under-educated politician confronted with a real brain-teaser of this sort, the emperor called together his advisors, in this case, Christian clergy from all across the Empire to a synod, the famous ____________

Answer 23

Council of Nicaea

Question 24

After some vigorous debate, the bishops ended up backing Athanasius and forged the famous ___________ in which adherents and converts to Christianity were sworn to uphold the orthodox perception of Christ as “begotten not made” by God and “(who) was made flesh, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day

Answer 24

Nicene Creed

Question 25

Doctrine and ritual came to center around what is now known as the seven _____________: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, marriage, ordination and final unction

Answer 25

Sacraments

Question 26

each of these oversaw a see

Answer 26

Bishop(s)

Question 27

a religious “province” of sorts

Answer 27

See

Question 28

the Bishop of Rome stood out among his peers and hence came to be called the _________ (“Father”). From this evolved the papacy and the office of Pope.

Answer 28

Papa

Question 29

the transference of power from Jesus to the apostles and then to the bishops came to be called the ____________________

Answer 29

Apostolic Succession