Unit One Test

Question 1

The expectation for an imminent (very soon) second coming off Christ is also described as the expectation of the ______.

Answer 1

Parousia

Question 2

Match the early Christian/heretical group with the kind of teaching they promoted: (It may be either a heretical group or an orthodox group)

Ebionites

Answer 2

Jewish Christianity necessary, and Jesus was human but not divine

Question 3

Match the early Christian/heretical group with the kind of teaching they promoted: (It may be either a heretical group or an orthodox group)

Valentinians

Answer 3

In a world of good and evil, people can live a pure life through gnosis - - secret knowledge

Question 4

Match the early Christian/heretical group with the kind of teaching they promoted: (It may be either a heretical group or an orthodox group)

Desert fathers and mothers

Answer 4

Ascetic practice can aid people in singleminded devotion

Question 5

Match the early Christian/heretical group with the kind of teaching they promoted: (It may be either a heretical group or an orthodox group)

Marcionites

Answer 5

OT & NT = harsh god, and Jesus only seemed human but was divine

Question 6

First mosaic rule of life was developed by ________, who prioritized order and stability so that the monks could work and pray.

Answer 6

Benedict of Nursia

Question 7

Church leaders rejected the idea of the three members of the Trinity being homoiousias, or similar in nature.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Where does this excerpt come from?
“I was speaking and weeping in the most bitter contritions of my heart when I heard from a neighboring house a voice - - I do not know if it was a boy or a girl - - canine and repeating ‘Tolle lege; tolle lege.’ Take up and read; Take up and read’…I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book…..”

Answer 8

Augustine’s Confessions (conversion)

Question 9

The belief that Christ only had one nature, not two, is called ______.

Answer 9

Monophysitism

Question 10

After some of the bishops had handed over Scriptures during the persecutions, Donatists wanted to:

Answer 10

Create a pure church with leaders who had resisted the law

Question 11

The doctrine of purgatory developed to explain what would happen after death if someone had uncontested and unforgiven sin.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

The excerpt comes from where? “And the executioners arraigned the wood and told her to go up on the pile. And having made the sign of the cross she went up on the pile. And they lighted the fire. And though a great fire was blazing it did not touch her. For God, having compassions upon her, made an underground rumbling, and a cloud full of water and hail overshadowed the theatre from above…..and the fire was put out….”

Answer 12

“The Acts of Paul and Thecla”

Question 13

Influence by monasticism and asceticism, penance became an accepted Christian practice because it was seen as:

Answer 13

A chance for reconciliation and repentance

Question 14

The collection of books known as the Apostolic Fathers include all of the following:

Answer 14

1) The epistles of Ignatius of Antioch
2) The Shepherd of Hermas
3) The Didache
4) The Epistle to Diognetus

Question 15

The excerpt below comes from what text? “First, the devil tried to lead him away from the ascetic discipline, whispering to him to remember his wealth, the responsibility of caring for his sister, claims of family, love of money, love for glory, the various pleasers of food and the other relaxations of life, and at last the difficulty of virtue and the hard work it required.”

Answer 15

Athanasius’s Life of Anthony (monasticism)

Question 16

In his Confessions, Augustine attributes sinfulness to _______.

Answer 16

Disordered loves

Question 17

Irenaus of Lyons (125-202 CE), in combatting heresies, contributed many things to the early church, EXCEPT:

Answer 17

Wrote the Apostle’s Creed

Question 18

The doctrine of Incarnation refers to an angel becoming a human being.

Answer 18

False

Question 19

This excerpt comes from what text? “But by some inclination towards evil these souls lose their wings and come into bodies, first of then; then through their association with the irrational passions, after the allotted span of human life they are changed into beasts; from which they sink to a level of inanimate nature.”

Answer 19

Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles (Transmigration of souls)

Question 20

One idea from Neoplatonism that became influential in Christian thinking was the idea that the Divine must be a being who _______:

Answer 20

Is wholly transcendent, perfect, and immutable (unchangeable)

Question 21

After the Council of Chalcedon (in 351) when the church affirmed two natures of Christ coexistin in one, and of one substance with God the father, the disagreement of some bishops led to multiple outcomes, including:

Answer 21

1) Christians in Syria and the East were alienated.

2) Christians in Egypt and Ethiopia were alienated.

3) Conflicts began to develop between the Pope in Rome and the emperor in Constantinople

Question 22

The Roman Empire helped create an environment where Christianity grew because it had developed such good infrastructure, allowing people to travel and spread the gospel message.

Answer 22

True

Question 23

The ancient Greeks were important to early Christianity for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

Answer 23

Christians adopted the Greek pantheon of Gods to describe Jesus

Question 24

At the Jerusalem Council (in Acts 15 and Gal 2), the major decision by the early Christian leaders was that:

Answer 24

Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised to follow Jesus

Question 25

At the council of Ephesus (431), the third ecumenical council tried to settle the question of whether Jesus’s divinity and humanity meant two natures or one, and also the related question of whether Mary could be called _______.

Answer 25

Theotokos (God-bearer)

Question 26

When Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 CE) argued against the Ebionites and the docetists, he emphasized the importance of _____ would help to guard the church against heresies.

Answer 26

The authority of the bishop

Question 27

Montanism was an early movement emphasizing the end times, rigorous spiritual descipline, and prophetic revelations.

Answer 27

True

Question 28

Before the Council of Nicaea (325), Arian’s teachings had been troubling the other bishops, since he proclaimed:

Answer 28

“There was [a time] when he was not.”

Question 29

The early church developed a defined hierarchy of leadership that reduced women’s roles over time.

Answer 29

True

Question 30

Constantine’s conversion impacted the early churches in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

Answer 30

Creating a unified theology accepted by all Christians

Question 31

The term “Trinity” appears twice in the Christian Scriptures.

Answer 31

False

Question 32

The Didache instructed early Christians about how to perform important early Christian rituals, including:

Answer 32

1) Baptism
2) Prayer
3) Fasting
4) Eucharist (communion)

Question 33

The fundamental issue in the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius was:

Answer 33

God’s sovereignty vs. human free will

Question 34

The excerpt below comes from what text? “On the same principle, now that we had voluntarily bartered away our freedom, it was required that no arbitrary method of recover, but the one consonant with justice should be devised by Him Who in His goodness had undertaken our rescue. Now this method is….to make over to the master of the slave whatever ransom he may agree to accept for the person in his possession.

Answer 34

Gregory of Nyssa’s “On Not Three Gods” (theory of the atonement)

Question 35

When Justin Martyr wrote his Dialogue with Trypho and explained Christian faith’s positive relationship to philosophy, he emphasized that Jesus was ______.

Answer 35

The Logos, the universal reason

Question 36

In the Trinitarian controversy over whether God might just be explained as having three modes of appearing to humans (modalism), the problem of Patripassianism couldn’t be avoided- - meaning that:

Answer 36

The Father had to have suffered and died.

Question 37

When the early church had periods of persecution, there were no Christians willing to renounce their faith to survive.

Answer 37

False

Question 38

For the Hebrew people, there were many important elements involved in their faith/religion. All of the following terms are important to that faith.

Election

Answer 38

God’s choice of Abraham’s descendants to be the covenant people

Question 39

For the Hebrew people, there were many important elements involved in their faith/religion. All of the following terms are important to that faith.

Torah

Answer 39

The law of God, Made up of the 1st 5 books: Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy

Question 40

For the Hebrew people, there were many important elements involved in their faith/religion. All of the following terms are important to that faith.

Monotheism

Answer 40

Belief in one God, alone worthy of worship

Question 41

For the Hebrew people, there were many important elements involved in their faith/religion. All of the following terms are important to that faith.

Righteousness

Answer 41

Moral goodness, holiness, compassion (on top of doing justly)

Question 42

According to the Hebrew Bible Tradition, when Abraham encountered and was chose by God, Abraham asked God’s name. God’s response was ____, meaning, “I am”.

Answer 42

Yahweh

Question 43

Eventually, the church explained the Trinity as one ousia (nature) in three hypostases (persons)

Answer 43

True

Question 44

Based on class lectures and readings, which of the following was NOT a key issue for the major church councils.

Answer 44

The question of martyrdom

Question 45

The Didache is the earliest Christian text to speak against abortion.

Answer 45

True

Question 46

In early Christianity, some new movements became incorporated into the faith, while others were deemed heretical.

Led early heretical movements.

Answer 46

Valentines, Ebion, Marcion, Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilia

Question 47

In early Christianity, some new movements became incorporated into the faith, while others were deemed heretical.

Led early accepted Christian movements.

Answer 47

Macrina, Benedict of Nursia, Pachomius and Mary of the desert

Question 48

Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE), who embraced philosophy alongside Christianity, is also criticized for developing a type of ____.

Answer 48

Platonic Christianity

Question 49

A number of motivating factors guided early Christians to seek a Scriptural Canon, including:

Answer 49

1) The proliferation of Christian texts, and confusion over which had authority

2) Persecution targeting destroying Scriptures

3) The challenge of Marcion’s competing canon

Question 50

In Celtic Christianity, the monasteries started off as the central institution in Christianity.

Answer 50

True

Question 51

Second Temple Judaism came to an end when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed in 70 CE.

Answer 51

True

Question 52

The early church did NOT develop the Doctrine of the Trinity in response to experiences of God, but out of pure rational thinking.

Answer 52

False

Question 53

The Pharisees were an influential group of leaders in Second Temple Judaism who emphasized correct interpretation and application of Jewish law.

Answer 53

True