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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Augustine, to whom are commands from Scripture intended?
(a) Those who live in violation of God's moral standards.
(b) Those who reject God's call to action.
(c) Certain individuals or groups.
(d) Those who can discern signs from things.

2. What are the two general confusions that Augustine says come from Christians who do not differentiate themselves from pagans?
(a) Individuals will be led to worship the creation rather than the Creator.
(b) Emotions will become the focus of worship and Christian community will crumble.
(c) Signs are treated as things and things are treated as signs.
(d) Students will attempt to win supporters to their views and Christian community will be broken.

3. What type of language from Scriptural characters must be taken literally, according to Augustine?
(a) Any speech or language that condemns evil and recommends love or kindness.
(b) Any speech or language that describes blessings for the chosen of God.
(c) Any speech or language that details the authority of God.
(d) Any speech or language that defines how a thing is a sign.

4. What does Augustine prove from the demands he expects from his students that he began defending against critics in the Preface?
(a) That Augustine intends to protect the integrity of his students by dominating their time.
(b) That Augustine does not trust his students, therefore he plans to keep them occupied.
(c) That understanding Scripture requires intense and focused study so proper interpretation can be applied and demonic misleading can be avoided.
(d) That Augustine does not respect people who believe they do not need to study.

5. Based on the academic demands that Augustine places on his students, it is clear that Augustine believes what?
(a) That personal discipline and focusing on things outside of the body helps build chastity and humility.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
(d) That learning as much as possible is the best way to separate the individual from the common population.

6. 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 sinful nature of the human filter can interfere with the interpretation of Scripture at any stage of investigation.
(d) The meanings of Scriptural phrases that contain ambiguous signs can often be changed with misplaced punctuation.

7. What ethical principle of the Bible does Augustine require for students to use as a guide for interpretation of Scripture?
(a) The principle of original sin.
(b) The principle of love.
(c) The principle of God's authority over judgment.
(d) The principle of the omnipotence of God.

8. According to Augustine, how should misunderstood signs become understood?
(a) By examining the use of the word that appears to be a thing.
(b) By examining the context in which things appear as signs.
(c) By considering how the used thing is accepted by the community.
(d) By committing the misunderstood words or expressions to memory.

9. What does Augustine say the student pass through if he/she will be able to understand Scripture?
(a) A 40-day period of seclusion and fasting so they can better know the mind of Christ.
(b) The purging of unclean spiritual occupations that are too common in the pagan cultures.
(c) Stages of spiritual purification and understand the need for God and Christian virtues.
(d) Rigorous physical and mental challenges to prove to God the seriousness of the desire to learn.

10. What does Augustine call signs that are only used to express and transmit thoughts?
(a) Natural signs.
(b) Signs that are words.
(c) Given signs.
(d) Signs that are things.

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

12. 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 warns against allowing the increased knowledge of students from developing into pride.
(d) 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.

13. What does Augustine state the student must do once the figurative and literal passages have been separated from each other?
(a) A second division needs to be made separating Old Testament from New Testament.
(b) The language and grammar must be checked for accuracy and similarities.
(c) The background of the passages needs to be compared.
(d) The meanings must be harmonized.

14. What is an apparent contradiction regarding Augustine's expectation of students to interpretation and an omission from his commentaries in "On Christian Doctrine"?
(a) Augustine expects his students to investigate the intentions of the authors of Scripture, but he does not detail his intentions in choosing the issues on which he focuses.
(b) Augustine writes that the understanding of the principles of Christian love are sufficient to begin the interpretation of Scripture, but he spends more time examining Old Testament law.
(c) Augustine demands his students to spend time in seclusion and study, but does not call for the same from teachers.
(d) Augustine criticizes the Donatists yet he uses their theology on which to base "On Christian Doctrine."

15. What are the two different ways that God and angels speak in Scripture, as identified in Book Three?
(a) Figuratively and literally.
(b) Of signs and things.
(c) With cruelty and kindness.
(d) In spiritual terms and human terms.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Augustine reason, from the scriptural reference regarding the hazard of learning, that a student must be sure to develop.

2. What Scriptural passage does Augustine use to remind the reader of "On Christian Doctrine" of the condition that affects holy men?

3. Even though Augustine does not mention this subject directly, what will his students need to master to understand languages?

4. What facts of Scripture does Augustine set as the foundation for understanding it?

5. Why does Augustine suggest that God would use confusing signs?

(see the answer keys)

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