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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. What does Augustine reason is the consequence to human teaching if learning comes from Divine gifts?

2. What does Augustine claim is the consequence of refusing to learn in a proper setting for Scriptural learning?

3. What does Augustine use to illustrate a thing to be used?

4. According to Augustine, what are competing influences on an individual's thinking?

5. What items or situations does Augustine use to illustrate his distinction of things?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Augustine suggest that Christians should learn to use rhetoric?

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

3. What are the two items that Augustine writes that students must differentiate to learn what Scripture teaches?

4. What subjects does Augustine recommend that students lea to interpret scripture?

5. What does Augustine recommend to the pastor who cannot acquire the skill of rhetoric?

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

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

8. How does Cicero detail an orator speaking in proportion with the gravity of the subject matter?

9. According to Augustine, for whom are written commands in Scripture intended?

10. What does Augustine claim is one of the causes of a sign's ambiguity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Book Four focuses on the significance of rhetorical skill in the defense of Scriptural interpretation, yet Augustine chooses not to teach rhetoric and advises his students to study people who are effective rhetoricians. Compare learning rhetorical skill from a textbook to learning it directly from someone who demonstrates the gifts for using rhetoric effectively. Choose someone you know to be a public speaker and identify techniques that person uses to effectively communicate with an audience and how you could apply their style to your deliveries.

Essay Topic 2

In Book Two, Augustine identified challenges of translating the original languages of Scripture into the Roman-Latin language of his day. Explain the difficulty with translating older English versions of the Bible, such as the King James version, into the type of terms and phrases that students use today. How can translating the Bible from old English style to modern jargon be done while preserving the integrity of Scripture?

Essay Topic 3

Book Three begins with an examination of how faith, punctuation, and pronunciation can contribute to clearing up ambiguities of Scriptural passages. Detail what steps a student would have to take to develop each of those abilities and compare the Scriptural interpreter who has developed them to one who claims "special gifts" as their source for interpretation and teaching.

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