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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is an important distinction that Augustine teaches students to understand through three Books of "On Christian Doctrine?
(a) The difference between "things" and "signs."
(b) The difference between original sin and human nature.
(c) The difference between "special gifts" and talents.
(d) The difference between sins of omission and original sin.

2. What was the first type of criticism Augustine suggests his work "On Christian Doctrine" would face?
(a) Criticism that blending Greek and Christian philosophies was heretical.
(b) Criticism from those who cannot grasp his teaching.
(c) Criticism that his demands for linguistic studies were too exclusive.
(d) Criticism that his moral demands would be restricted to pagan converts.

3. How does Augustine characterize the argument that his teaching is not needed because it comes from a human source?
(a) It is being logically inconsistent.
(b) It is responsible for allowing "babes in the Faith being devoured by the wolves of the world."
(c) It is intolerant.
(d) It is being heretical.

4. What does Augustine encourage his critics to remember in the Preface?
(a) To be wary of falling into the trap of heresy.
(b) To remember experiencing learning for themselves.
(c) To patiently contemplate his points before they make a judgment.
(d) To practice the rhetorical skills he embraces to make criticism more effective.

5. Augustine endeavors to answer many questions about what subject in Book One?
(a) The doctrine of God's omnipotence.
(b) The Christian conception of love.
(c) The doctrine of Scriptural infallibility.
(d) The Christian conception of Christ's deity.

Short Answer Questions

1. What should be the nature of the relationship between humans and God according to Augustine?

2. What is Augustine's perception of God's dispensation of "special gifts" of interpreting Scripture?

3. What is the subject that Augustine addresses in Book One and Book Two?

4. What comes of loving oneself for reasons other than that which Augustine specified?

5. What basic fact do the critics discussed in the Preface ignore by discounting teaching from Augustine and others?

Short Essay Questions

1. What self-knowledge does Augustine write that students need and what steps does Augustine suggest for them to overcome the limits of that self-knowledge to learn to interpret Scripture?

2. What are the tasks of the orator according to Cicero?

3. How does Augustine suggest interpretations of Scripture should affect the subject about which he wants to answer many questions and how should that affect the student seeking to interpret Scripture?

4. What Christian virtue does Augustine claim that can keep negative traits in check?

5. What must a student keep in check while learning the subjects that Augustine recommends?

6. What does Augustine identify as an important consideration when determining how many ideas words or phrases from Scripture contain?

7. What does Augustine identify as the two types of passages interpreted from Scripture?

8. Why does Augustine suggest that the critics he focuses on in the Preface do not believe his teaching is necessary?

9. To what sect of Christianity did Tyconius belong and and why is it ironic that Augustine references his rules of interpretation?

10. Why does Augustine claim the topic of Book Three is so difficult?

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