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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. Which of the following does Chesterton note it is important to remember about the psychology of myths?
(a) They contain all shades of sincerity.
(b) They contain all shades of insincerity.
(c) All of these.
(d) They are often strictly local.

2. What does Chesterton say is missing from the popular depiction of prehistory?
(a) Practicality.
(b) The family unit.
(c) Mysticism.
(d) Humor.

3. What does Chesterton say is the simplest truth about mankind?
(a) Mankind is a very strange being.
(b) Mankind is the only religious being.
(c) Mankind is made in the image of God.
(d) Mankind is a microcosm of the universe.

4. What difference does Chesterton assert between the antiquity of Egypt and Babylon on one hand and the antiquity of China on the other?
(a) Egypt and Babylon are linked to biblical places.
(b) The refinement of the Chinese culture sets it apart from the others.
(c) Egypt and Babylon are part of his cultural tradition.
(d) Egypt and Babylon are both fallen cultures.

5. What happens when an onlooker tries to envision the church as a member of a throng of superstitions lobbying for believers?
(a) The future of the church becomes uncertain.
(b) One sees the difference of the church from other religions.
(c) One can see clearly the universal truth of all religions.
(d) God becomes non-existent.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the elements Chesterton says are popularly believed to be the root of religion?

2. Chesterton's list of great influential philosophers includes which of the following?

3. To what description of the life of the cave-man does Chesterton especially object?

4. According to Chesterton, how does monotheism become polytheistic?

5. What statement is intuitively understood, according to Chesterton, regarding the cave paintings?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what Chesterton was trying to explain with his example of the horse and rider.

2. Summarize Chesterton's explanation of the battle between Carthage and Rome.

3. Who, according to Chesterton, are some of the greatest philosophers?

4. Explain how and why, according to Chesterton, the pace at which things move changes our perception of them.

5. In the chapter titled "The War of the Gods and Demons", who are the Gods and who are the Demons? Why does Chesterton label them as such?

6. How sincere does Chesterton say myths are? Explain your answer.

7. How does Troy and the Iliad enter into Chesterton's argument?

8. How well does Chesterton think science is explaining the origins of mankind? Why?

9. Explain where, according to Chesterton, we find religion and reason and how they interact.

10. What is Chesterton's analysis of symbols such as the circle, the swastika, and the cross?

(see the answer keys)

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