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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. If Jesus' claims about himself were false, what can be said about his moral teachings?

2. What surprised Lewis about the club that he formed?

3. How common is the belief in the conflict between religion and science?

4. According to his speech in Part I, Essay 10, "Christian Apologetics", what terms does Lewis prefer to speak on?

5. Which of the following is one of the options that Joad believed rational persons must choose from?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the way that Lewis states that probability judgments of events in Christianity should be made?

2. According to Lewis, how could a Materialist lead a good life without Christianity?

3. What does Lewis believe about the roles of suffering and discomfort in Christianity?

4. According to Lewis' argument in Part I, Essay 12, "Man or Rabbit?", what are the difficulties of using Christianity to become a better person ?

5. According to Lewis, what distinction does Christianity carry, compared to other religions?

6. What is the difference between religion and politics, according to Lewis?

7. What does Dr. Pittenger say about Lewis' arguments in his earlier works?

8. According to Lewis' writings in Part I, Essay 19, "What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ", what possible contradiction makes it difficult to discount the miracles associated with the life of Jesus?

9. What is the problem with relying only on experience according to Lewis' argument in Part I, Essay 2, "Miracles"?

10. Why does Lewis believe that the gospels are not legend?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis suggests that Christmas is the most important spiritual holiday in the year for many Christians. However, he complains that it has been co-opted by commercial interests, a phenomenon that he views as destructive and undesirable in many respects.

1) Discuss the commercial impact of Christmas according to Lewis and use his arguments to assess whether or not the commercial aspects of the holiday have a net positive or negative impact on the wider culture that they occur in.

2) Discuss Lewis opinion about the impact that the commercialization of Christmas has on Christians and their observance of this important holiday.

3) Summarize the unusual arguments that Lewis puts forward to denounce the commercialization of Christmas.

Essay Topic 2

According to Lewis and the scholars he shares correspondence with, suffering appears to be nearly universal in the world. It is not difficult to find human suffering, even in wealthy first-world nations, and animals suffer both in the wild and in human captivity. These scholars agree that the problem of suffering is a significant and important one for Christians, who believe that God is loving and moreover, pure good.

1) Explain the argument that some use to explain how suffering shows that the Christian God does not exist.

2) Describe the counter-arguments made by Lewis and others on this subject, to show that suffering may be an important and necessary component of the world.

3) Assess whether or not suffering is inherently evil, and which position this quality of suffering supports.

Essay Topic 3

Lewis discusses the arguments that many have made, believing that females should be allowed to serve the Christian church as priests. He suggests that this reform has been enacted in very few denominations for good reasons, and he cites practical and theological reasons to advise against it.

1) Discuss some of the practical difficulties that Lewis brings up regarding allowing women to serve as priests, and the theological basis behind this restriction.

2) Explain the arguments that Lewis explains that speak in favor of allowing females to serve as priests.

3) Using Lewis' predictions and warnings, speculate about what the consequences would be for a major denomination within Christianity to allow females to serve as priests.

(see the answer keys)

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