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

Short Answer Questions

1. Gnostic teachers debated whether or not the Dyad was an actual unified __________, with a male/female structure.

2. In Christianity, Judaism and in Islam, God is the king, lord, master, judge, and ____________.

3. The redefinition of who sees Jesus first is a tradition which first indicated that the direction of the _________ more than the importance of the doctrine.

4. The Gnostics called the orthodox view the faith of ___________, according to the text presented in the chapter.

5. In 1896, the amazing manuscript called the Gospel of _________ was found by a German Egyptologist.

Short Essay Questions

1. What has created a lot of controversy when it comes to discussions between scholars of biblical texts?

2. What are some of the roles that a masculine God might have in the prayers of Christians, Jews, and Muslims?

3. What made the idea of there only being a strict and narrow path to God so attractive to the orthodox?

4. What does Jesus challenge his apostles to do in order to see that he has indeed resurrected?

5. Why does Pagels suggest that perhaps there was a social aspect to the way the Church wanted to function?

6. What was the primary goal of the Valentianians in the way they lived and followed their beliefs?

7. What did Mohammed and his brothers do to the man who was responsible for killing their father?

8. What are the two occasions described in the Bible in which the reappearance of Jesus might be called into question?

9. What are some of the images of Christ that John and James witness in the Acts of John, discovered before Nag Hammadi?

10. What kind of suffering was focused on in the Gnostic path and the belief system?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Gnostic gospels seem to state that it's not that becoming a martyr will lead to Heaven each time, but that the awareness of the teachings of Christ is the reward.

Part 1: Do you think that Heaven should be seen as the ultimate reward in the Christian life? Why or why not?

Part 2: Do you believe that the awareness of Christ is something that is more important than what happens when you die? Why or why not?

Part 3: How do you think Christianity might change if there was no idea of Heaven or Hell?

Essay Topic 2

The Gnostics seem to have several different versions of the story of what happened to Jesus after he hung on the cross.

Part 1: Why do you think the Gnostics are fine with having multiple and varying stories?

Part 2: Do you think it's a good idea to have as many different sorts of stories as possible or to have one story? Why?

Part 3: How do you think the Gnostic person interprets the idea of the resurrection? Why?

Essay Topic 3

In many modern Christian religions, it seems that the feminine aspect is not as widely addressed or celebrated as the male aspect.

Part 1: Why do you think that the male gender is one which is celebrated more than the female?

Part 2: Do you think that having a hierarchy of genders within religions is helpful or hurtful?

Part 3: How do you think that that society's view of religions would change if there was no focus on gender?

(see the answer keys)

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