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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was the person from whom Christianity originated?
(a) Jesus, a Jewish tax collector
(b) Jesus, a Jewish carpenter
(c) Jesus, a Jewish fisherman
(d) Jesus, a high priest of the Jews

2. What Jewish writing became a basis for all laws concerning moral restraint?
(a) The History of the Prophets
(b) The Torah
(c) The Ten Commandments
(d) The letters of the minor prophets

3. What area of the world did Christianity quickly take over?
(a) The Mediterranean
(b) Most of Asia
(c) The Middle East
(d) The Americas

4. How do Jewish people view their traditions?
(a) As handles on the real world around them
(b) As meaningless ritual
(c) As unimportant except for the fun they bring
(d) As the memories of the past which are treasured possessions

5. How does the Australian aboriginal measure time?
(a) From sun up to sun down
(b) By the migration of animals
(c) As everywhen in an unending procession
(d) By the phases of the moon

6. To the aboriginal, what is the purpose of the ancestors?
(a) To return one day to change things
(b) To frighten the children when they misbehave
(c) To hold fast the present to tribal roots
(d) To remain aloof from the present

7. Why is there no word for "art" in tribal American Indian languages?
(a) Because they do not have art
(b) Because no one has time for art
(c) Because to them everything is art
(d) Because they believe art will capture souls

8. How is the length of Jesus' ministry best described?
(a) It was cut short by his resurrection
(b) It lasted thirty years and then he was crucified.
(c) It was short and then he was crucified.
(d) It lasted four decades before he was crucified.

9. How does the aboriginal see the figures of antiquity?
(a) As gods who made the world
(b) As special creatures put here by God to fashion the world
(c) As geniuses that fashioned everything so perfectly in the ordinary world
(d) As primatives who had to learn everything the hard way

10. When did the Christian church become the official religion in Rome?
(a) 33 A. D.
(b) 420 A. D.
(c) 313 A. D.
(d) 1054 A. D.

11. What are the three areas of mysticism in Sufism?
(a) Love, ecstasy, intuition
(b) Communication with the dead, using hallucinogens, speaking in tongues
(c) Faith, hope, charity
(d) Prophecy, interpretation, seances

12. What is the basis for Protestant belief?
(a) The denial of individual relationship with God
(b) The great preachers who challenged Rome
(c) The right of the church to change scripture
(d) The Bible as the living word of God

13. Why does Huston Smith say attempts to unite Protestantism have failed?
(a) Because people gave up too quickly
(b) Because people like change
(c) Because no one tried to do it
(d) Because of reluctance to let go of certain tenets

14. How does Islam nail down the actions of humans?
(a) Forbidden, indifferent, and obligatory
(b) Wrong, right, exceptional, and loving
(c) Good, evil, hopeful, and accidental
(d) Advised against, forbidden, and allowed

15. How do Muslims justify Islam's history of aggressiveness?
(a) That it was misrepresented by European historians
(b) That it was no different from other major religions.
(c) That it never happened at all
(d) That is was needed only at the beginning of the religion

Short Answer Questions

1. What two things became most important after Rome destroyed the temple in Jerusalem?

2. Why do primal religions draw no strict lines between the temporal and the spiritual?

3. What teaching of Protestantism differs from Catholic doctrine?

4. What are hadiths?

5. What was evident in the bearers of the Good News?

(see the answer keys)

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