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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. The Catholic Church bases its authority on the shoes of the ___________, according to the text in this chapter.

2. Two separate versions of Paul's experience in Damascus have spectators hearing the voice, but only one account includes the _________.

3. In the Apocryphon of John, the ____________ was the Holy Spirit as a part of the Holy Trinity.

4. Jesus says that he will lead Mary, make her _______ so that she too may become a living spirit, resembling the others in the room.

5. In a newly discovered Nag Hammadi text, it says, "I am __________. I am both Mother and Father since I copulate with myself. I am the Womb, the All."

Short Essay Questions

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

2. To whom did one's real allegiance belong, according to the ideas of Valentine?

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

4. What does Pagels point out as being the key building block of Christianity?

5. What did the Roman Empire seem to think of the new following of Jesus and the development of Christianity?

6. When one looks at the gnostic groups, what is the one thing which remains certain, according to the author?

7. When Paul is writing in his letters, he refers to something that is 'whether it is in the body or out of the body I do not know.' What is he referring to?

8. What made Christianity an easy reach for the masses, while also consolidating power in the Church?

9. What did Professional Giles Quispel find so startling about the Coptic Museum's codices when he read them?

10. What is a possible explanation for the burial of the sacred texts in the jar that Mohammed 'Ali found?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the end, it seems unclear as to what a true Christian might look like or believe.

Part 1: Do you think there should be only one definition of what a Christian is? Why or why not?

Part 2: How do you think that religion would change if there was only one definition of a Christian?

Part 3: Why do you think it's important for some to have a definition of what a Christian is?

Essay Topic 2

Looking at the Bible in a different way is not always something that people are willing to do.

Part 1: Why do you think people are resistant to seeing the Bible in a new way?

Part 2: Do you think that it's a good idea or a bad idea to look at new perspectives in the Bible? Why?

Part 3: How do you think religion might change if the gnostic gospels were considered to be true? Why?

Essay Topic 3

There is also some debate that the Gnostic gospels were not necessarily written by the actual apostles to whom they are ascribed, but rather that they are written in the spirit of these apostles.

Part 1: Why do you think that some felt it necessary to point out the possible difference in the authors?

Part 2: Do you think it matters who wrote the gospels which were found? Why or why not?

Part 3: How do you think the Gnostic viewpoint might change if it were proven that none of the gospels were written by the actual apostles? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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