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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How must God be approached?
(a) As the means.
(b) As the road.
(c) As One who shares in human suffering.
(d) As the goal.

2. Why does the author think that Lazarus got a "raw deal"?
(a) Lazarus was a martyr.
(b) Lazarus was still ill when he came back to life.
(c) Lazarus did not want to rise from the dead.
(d) Lazarus had to die twice.

3. In Chapter Four, what does the author decide loving H. is like?
(a) Loving the author's self.
(b) Loving a memory.
(c) Loving God.
(d) Loving a lie.

4. As Chapter Three begins, what does the author record that he is afraid his grief will turn into?
(a) Rage.
(b) Unending sorrow.
(c) Dead flatness.
(d) Distorted memories of H.

5. What metaphor does the author use to describe grief in the beginning of the fourth chapter?
(a) A house of cards.
(b) A long, winding valley.
(c) A hopeless child.
(d) A broken trolley.

6. What does the author conclude in Chapter Three was the purpose of his earlier rage against God?
(a) To help the author redefine his idea of God.
(b) To manipulate God.
(c) To strike back at God.
(d) To know the unknowable.

7. What does the author think it means if human suffering is unnecessary?
(a) That Satan causes suffering.
(b) That human suffering is an illusion.
(c) Either there is no God or He is bad.
(d) That humans bring on their own suffering.

8. Why could the author's records not achieve his intended purpose?
(a) Because sorrow never ends.
(b) Because the author stopped recording his thoughts.
(c) Because the author cannot understand his own thoughts.
(d) Because sorrow is a process, not a state.

9. What do Bridge-players tell the author makes the game serious?
(a) Concentration.
(b) Friends gathering.
(c) Money.
(d) Nothing makes Bridge serious.

10. What does the author think might have influenced his love for H.?
(a) Reflection of the author's love of God.
(b) Egoism.
(c) Loneliness.
(d) A desire to have children.

11. Who is the source of the author's problem?
(a) H.
(b) God.
(c) The author himself.
(d) Nobody.

12. At the beginning of the third chapter, what does the author say is the reason he does not think about H. all the time?
(a) He tries to distract himself.
(b) Work and conversation get in the way.
(c) He is writing a book.
(d) His children take up his time.

13. What does it mean if there is a good God, according to the author?
(a) Suffering is a human invention.
(b) Human beings do not suffer.
(c) Human suffering is unnecessary.
(d) Human suffering is necessary.

14. In Chapter Three, why does the author conclude he wants H. back?
(a) Because the author is selfish.
(b) To restore the author's past.
(c) So the author's children will have their mother.
(d) To prove that God is all-powerful.

15. When will the author know if his restored faith is solid?
(a) When he no longer misses H.
(b) When the next tragic blow comes.
(c) When he prays daily.
(d) When he returns to church.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was another time when the author enjoyed rambling walks?

2. What does the author prefer to the "feelings, feelings, feelings"?

3. Why can the body suffer so much more than the mind, according to the author?

4. What is the author's idea about reunion with the dead?

5. What does the author think about people who are not offended by iconoclasm?

(see the answer keys)

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