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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the two types of signs in Book Two?
(a) Literal or metaphorical.
(b) Things or words.
(c) Illuminated or hidden.
(d) Angelic or demonic.

2. According to Augustine, how can signs become ambiguous?
(a) By being things that don't appear as signs.
(b) By being words that appear as things.
(c) By being used things that are also enjoyed.
(d) By containing misunderstood words or expressions.

3. What does Augustine identify as a necessary subject that a student must learn to understand Scripture?
(a) The Apocrypha so the hidden meaning of Scriptural signs can be illuminated.
(b) Records of the Council of Trent to know the points of sound doctrine.
(c) The relevant languages and make all the translations he can find.
(d) The working order of the Catholic Church to understand where to go for sound reference and guidance.

4. What was the topic of Book Three?
(a) Learning the philosophy of Classic Greeks as a key to Scriptural interpretation.
(b) Learning how to handle unknown or unfamiliar signs.
(c) Learning as a discipline to prove Christian convictions.
(d) Learning how to overcome critics with well-reasoned and complete prose.

5. What is the topic of Book Three?
(a) Augustine details the difference of signs given to groups and signs given to individuals.
(b) Augustine addresses the controversy of the human filter inhibiting the interpretation of Scripture.
(c) Augustine differentiates between signs given by God and signs give by angels.
(d) Augustine tackles the problem of understanding signs that are ambiguous.

6. What does Book Three state is the purpose of God or angels using condemning terms?
(a) To identify human nature.
(b) To announce displeasure with human conduct.
(c) In relation to destroying evil or lust.
(d) To announce judgment.

7. Since Augustine regards his disciples as "divinely instituted," what responsibility falls on his students?
(a) They have the duty to develop their "inner eye."
(b) They have the duty to apply good social and intellectual practices.
(c) They have the duty to discover their "special gift."
(d) They have the duty to know the difference between things and signs.

8. What does Augustine state an interpreter sometimes looks to to get the right meanings and right number of meanings from a passage?
(a) The original manuscripts.
(b) The author's intentions.
(c) The history of the period that the Scripture was recorded.
(d) The original language.

9. How can recommendations Augustine makes from Book Three prevent students from falling into the trap that misleads them?
(a) Augustine painstakingly differentiates between signs and things to guide students away from misapplying both.
(b) Augustine devotes much of Book Two to detailing the demands on the serious student of Scripture.
(c) Augustine recommends that students learn the culture, language, and history from the periods that Scripture was written to develop the skill to interpret Scripture intelligently.
(d) Augustine warns against allowing the increased knowledge of students from developing into pride.

10. Of the areas that Augustine emphasizes, what area receives the most intense focus?
(a) History, culture and languages of Biblical peoples.
(b) The role of Mosaic Law and Biblical social law in founding Israelite society.
(c) The foundations of Israelite history and the influence of prophecy on the Christian Church.
(d) Dietary law and moral law in creating stable, healthy judges, and teachers.

11. What is a major challenge in dealing with the topic addressed in Book Three?
(a) Often figurative language is used to represent both God and angels and this language must be investigated in its original form, not translations.
(b) Understanding the difference between signs given to groups and signs given to individuals can only be achieved after study of the languages in which languages were written.
(c) The meanings of Scriptural phrases that contain ambiguous signs can often be changed with misplaced punctuation.
(d) The sinful nature of the human filter can interfere with the interpretation of Scripture at any stage of investigation.

12. Based on the academic demands that Augustine places on his students, it is clear that Augustine believes what?
(a) That God is the master of all creation and language and the more you know of each the better you understand what God passed on in Scripture.
(b) That those who sought Augustine as a teacher will need to have conviction and determination to take on the challenges he puts before his students.
(c) That learning as much as possible is the best way to separate the individual from the common population.
(d) That personal discipline and focusing on things outside of the body helps build chastity and humility.

13. What does Augustine reason, from the scriptural reference regarding the hazard of learning, that a student must be sure to develop.
(a) Care of how eschatology is applied.
(b) To grow love in one's heart first and foremost.
(c) Diligently apply Scripture properly in every case.
(d) Sensitivity to compare signs to what is being learned from Scripture.

14. What are the two categories of signs Augustine identifies in Book Two?
(a) Natural signs and given signs.
(b) Signs that can be used and signs that can be enjoyed.
(c) Signs that are things and signs that are words.
(d) Signs that are given through special gifts and signs that are given through angels.

15. Even though Augustine does not mention this subject directly, what will his students need to master to understand languages?
(a) Regional accents.
(b) Dialects.
(c) Grammar.
(d) Metaphors.

Short Answer Questions

1. Of Tyconius' rules for interpreting Scripture that Augustine examined, which two relate to the subjects that Augustine recommended for study in Book Two?

2. What Scriptural reference does Augustine make to prove his point regarding checking this hazard to learning the fields pertaining to Scripture?

3. What does Augustine recommend as methods for handling the topic in Book Three?

4. How does Augustine treat Tyconius' rules that he cites in his book?

5. According to Book Three, what is the cause of Christians who are not diligent in separating themselves from pagans?

(see the answer keys)

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