View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to St. John, what two states does a person have to pass through to realize a state of perfection with God?
(a) Infant and newborn.
(b) Immortal and divine.
(c) Beginner and proficient.
(d) Believer and sinner.

2. When is a person supposed to start climbing the secret ladder?
(a) Directly after birth.
(b) After passing through the dark night.
(c) When first believing in God.
(d) After death.

3. What does that author say the soul finds after passing through the dark night?
(a) Joy and wealth.
(b) Honor and glory.
(c) Peace and rest.
(d) Strength and divine powers.

4. What is the main topic of discussion in Book II, Chapter XV?
(a) A chapter from the Bible.
(b) The second stanza of the poem.
(c) The author's beliefs on marriage.
(d) The first stanza of the poem.

5. Who does the author use as an example of the yearning for God that takes place in the second night of darkness?
(a) Ruth.
(b) Mary, mother of Jesus.
(c) Rachel.
(d) Mary Magdalene.

6. Why, according to St. John, does God give the devil access to the life of a believing Christian?
(a) God is uncaring.
(b) To go to war with evil.
(c) To give an equal chance at allegiance.
(d) God has no control over the devil.

7. When the souls on earth are purged, with what do they become infused, according to Book II, Chapter XII?
(a) Guilt and suffering.
(b) Freedom and pain.
(c) Grace and redemption.
(d) Love and wisdom.

8. In what other way does the author describe the passions of man being at rest?
(a) Tortured.
(b) Aroused.
(c) Asleep.
(d) Imprisoned.

9. In Book II, Chapter XVIII, what does the secret ladder assist humans in reaching?
(a) Heaven.
(b) Forgiveness for the soul.
(c) Spiritual understanding.
(d) God's dwelling place.

10. Why does the soul become secure after passing through the dark night, according to St. John?
(a) It has forgiven God's mistakes.
(b) It has found itself.
(c) It has become strong in sin.
(d) It has become like God.

11. What happens when the soul has a more complete purging, according to the author?
(a) The better of a chance to backslide.
(b) The better of a chance to enter heaven.
(c) The more likely to sin.
(d) The closer to God a being will become.

12. How many steps are on the ladder of love?
(a) Ten.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Infinite.
(d) A hundred.

13. What is the purpose of the disguise worn on the ladder, as described by the author?
(a) To hide oneself to achieve a goal.
(b) To become a new person.
(c) To hide oneself from God.
(d) To overcome the pain of the dark night.

14. St. John's use of writing about a spiritual ladder as a path to unification with God is an example of what?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Acronym.
(c) Foreshadowing.
(d) Allegory.

15. With what are the spirits in purgatory purged?
(a) God's love.
(b) Sin.
(c) Real fire.
(d) Water.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where must man walk to be protected from the evil of natural senses?

2. In Book II, Chapter XI, the author writes about the depth and power of what?

3. What happens to human senses, according to the author, when a human is in the darkness?

4. The use of the term "dark night" throughout Dark Night of the Soul by St. John is an example of what?

5. In what is the soul enveloped before passing through the dark night?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 569 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample