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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What collection of early Christian texts does the Didache now belong to?
(a) The Apostolic Fathers.
(b) Acts of the Apostles.
(c) The Dead Sea Scrolls.
(d) Revelations.

2. How many miracles occur in the Gospel of John?
(a) Three.
(b) Five.
(c) Ten.
(d) Seven.

3. Who was the first of this group to attack centrist Christianity?
(a) Marcion of Sinope.
(b) Caesar.
(c) Justin.
(d) Valentinus.

4. What was the shift in mythmaking, according to Mack, that occurred at the turn of the second century?
(a) Christians began to leave behind the gospels.
(b) Christians began to attribute more writings to Jesus himself.
(c) Christians began to disassociate from John.
(d) Christians began to associate gospels with disciples.

5. How did Luke portray Jesus?
(a) A powerful deity.
(b) A wandering prophet.
(c) The manifestation of obedience to the spirit.
(d) A teacher of the Torah.

6. What word is used to imply the significance of the miracle stories in the Gospel of John?
(a) Revelations.
(b) Gifts.
(c) Signs.
(d) Logos.

7. What does Mack claim the author of the Acts of the Apostles set out to show?
(a) Disagreement between Christianity and Judaism.
(b) Disagreement among the apostles.
(c) Agreement between Christianity and Judaism.
(d) Agreement among the apostles.

8. What is the common core of the Jewish scriptures?
(a) The Dead Sea Scrolls.
(b) Revelations.
(c) The New Testament.
(d) The five books of Moses.

9. Why did the literature that the early bishops threw out survive?
(a) Christians continued to read it.
(b) It was protected by other bishops.
(c) It was protected by the Romans.
(d) Jews preserved it.

10. Who defended the centrist Christian position from those who challenged it?
(a) Valentinus.
(b) Marcion.
(c) Justin Martyr.
(d) Philo.

11. What is the only feature that all Christian religions have in common?
(a) Prayers to Mary.
(b) Reliance on the Bible.
(c) Alms for the poor.
(d) Prayers for the sick.

12. What does Mack claim about Paul's letters to Colossians and Ephesians?
(a) They did not truly exist.
(b) They are filled with lies.
(c) They are not authentic.
(d) They are attempts to sabotage his name.

13. What became an interest for early third century scholars?
(a) The Torah.
(b) Apostolic writings.
(c) Letters of Esther.
(d) The Montanist.

14. It is as important for the disciples to be apostles as it is for Jesus to be ___________________.
(a) God.
(b) Son of man.
(c) Son of God.
(d) The Christ.

15. What was the core objective of the epic of Israel through the end of the second temple?
(a) The establishment of the temple-state.
(b) The confirmation of God as a Jewish myth.
(c) The establishment of the Church.
(d) The confirmation of the death of Christ.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Ignatius' second appeal in his letters to the churches?

2. What does Mack claim the Bible is the story of?

3. What does Mack argue is the point of Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus?

4. What did the temple at Jerusalem serve as, in terms of a symbol?

5. What does canon mean?

(see the answer keys)

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