View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is something Augustine finds very difficult to follow in real life?

2. Who does Augustine arrange to marry?

3. Why does Augustine find a woman to live with him while his fiance is too young?

4. How does Augustine later view the Manichean myths?

5. To whom was the book he lost dedicated?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Augustine decide about reading Scripture and interpreting it?

2. What does Augustine fear about the effect of studying pagan myths when he was young?

3. What are Augustine's reflections on life and death?

4. Why did one of Augustine's friends abandon Christianity and what happens after that?

5. Basically, what is Confessions about?

6. How does Augustine's initial conversion to Christianity come about?

7. Where is Augustine a student in Carthage and why does he study so diligently?

8. What is Augustine's thinking on marriage?

9. What did Augustine wonder about in relationship to God and the world and what are a couple of the questions he asked?

10. What does Augustine foreshadow about philosophy and himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Augustine believes that the most of the men who play prominent roles in the Bible were not totally righteous. Discuss the following ideas:

1. What do you think the word "righteous" means within the context of this book?

2. Can an imperfect "messenger" deliver a "perfect" message?

3. Is it realistic to expect any human to be perfectly righteous?

Essay Topic 2

There is no harm in having different interpretations of the Scriptures, at least as long as various heresies are avoided, according to Augustine. If two people both believe in the word of God, it can even be fruitful to have a debate about different interpretations of the Scriptures.

1. Why do you think different people have different interpretations of religious writings?

2. Do you think different interpretations of writings apply to writings other than religious ones? Explain your reasoning.

3. Discuss the problem with language and why it might lead to different interpretations of the same writings.

Essay Topic 3

Augustine asks questions such as, "whether I had any knowledge of myself when I was in the womb?" and, "where did I come from?" Augustine asks all these questions, but they do not shake his faith as they would modern skeptics, but rather strengthen his feeling about the mystery and omnipotence and infinite wisdom of God.

1. What do you think is meant by this statement? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. Do you think these two questions Augustine asked are common questions? How important are these two questions to you?

3. How would you go about trying to find an answer to these two questions of Augustine's within yourself or your belief system?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,015 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample