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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What should the practice of silence result in, according to Abelard?
(a) Concentrating the mind.
(b) Emptying the mind.
(c) Purifying the mind.
(d) Ascending to God.

2. What does Abelard say life becomes in poverty?
(a) A common store.
(b) A community.
(c) A firm law.
(d) A resource.

3. What news about Abelard does the sender of Letter 9 relate?
(a) That he is becoming a popular leader.
(b) That he has proposed an order for nuns.
(c) That he is accused of heresy.
(d) That he is instituting progressive reforms.

4. What does Peter the Venerable say Abelard's last days with him were devoted to?
(a) God.
(b) Writing.
(c) Service.
(d) Praying.

5. What does Peter the Venerable say about Abelard?
(a) He praises his writing.
(b) He praises his intellect.
(c) He praises his temperament.
(d) He praises his work.

6. Which is not a part of the Rule Abelard describes to Heloise in Letter 8?
(a) The life of poverty.
(b) The life of continence.
(c) The life of silence.
(d) The life of prayer.

7. What does Letter 7 describe to Heloise?
(a) Reasons why women should not receive lighter burdens.
(b) Examples of women who bore more than men could bear.
(c) Examples of women favored by the church.
(d) Reasons why women should receive lighter burdens.

8. How would you describe Abelard's method of arranging Letter 7?
(a) A developmental crescendo.
(b) Haphazard.
(c) Chaotic.
(d) Orderly.

9. Who was Innocent II?
(a) The Abbott of Cluny.
(b) The pope.
(c) Heloise.
(d) Abelard.

10. Why did Peter the Venerable send Abelard away?
(a) To have an operation.
(b) To recuperate.
(c) To find a safe refuge.
(d) To instruct monks.

11. Why aren't outward manifestations reliable in indicating devotion, according to Heloise?
(a) People can learn them from each other.
(b) They are not reliable.
(c) They vary from person to person.
(d) They can be feigned.

12. Why does Heloise argue for special dispensations?
(a) Monastic life was designed for ascetics, not for everyone.
(b) Monastic life should not be imposed on people who will only fail at it.
(c) Not everyone can emulate the sufferings of Christ the same way.
(d) She does not want certain nuns to be sent away from the convent.

13. How does Abelard say women acted in the early church?
(a) He says that women were among the first to persecute the apostles.
(b) He says that women were the first to ask for rules of worship.
(c) He says that women were devoted to Christ early on.
(d) He says that women doubted Christ's divinity.

14. What step did the sender recommend Abelard to take to change his position?
(a) Stop writing.
(b) Recant his writing.
(c) Surrender himself.
(d) Remove offensive language from his writing.

15. What reason does the sender give for writing Letter 9?
(a) He is looking for support for Abelard.
(b) He is preparing Abelard's case.
(c) He is writing on Abelard's behalf.
(d) He is looking for contributions for Abelard.

Short Answer Questions

1. What contrast does Abelard describe between early practice and current practice?

2. What does Abelard say nuns should study?

3. Whom does Abelard say Jesus honored?

4. When was Abelard with Peter the Venerable?

5. How does Heloise say that the thing that pleases God is manifested?

(see the answer keys)

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