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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mack claim both Marcion and Valentinus offered?
(a) A way to avoid God.
(b) A revised way to view God.
(c) A new way to view God.
(d) An ancient way to view God.

2. What does the gospel of Matthew argue Jesus' teachings were based on?
(a) The gospel of Q.
(b) The gospel of Mark.
(c) The gospel of Luke.
(d) The Torah.

3. Who was the leader of the empire who tried to have his images placed in the temple of Jerusalem?
(a) Claudius.
(b) Arippa I.
(c) Nero.
(d) Caligula.

4. What did Clement argue about the "new song" of Christianity?
(a) It was not new at all.
(b) It was an incorrect theory.
(c) It was a new, vibrant way to view God.
(d) It was based on Judaism.

5. Who does Mack argue at the end of Chapter 8 became the beloved disciple?
(a) Mark.
(b) Paul.
(c) John.
(d) Matthew.

6. What was the first act in Valentinus' cosmic drama?
(a) The world was created.
(b) Man was created.
(c) Man was destroyed.
(d) The world was destroyed.

7. What did the temple at Jerusalem serve as, in terms of a symbol?
(a) It was the symbol of God.
(b) It was the symbol of peace.
(c) It was the symbol of Jesus.
(d) It was the symbol of Jewish presence.

8. Whose conversion eventually led to the creation of the New Testament?
(a) Caesar.
(b) Jerome.
(c) Eusebius.
(d) Constantine.

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

10. During the time of the writing of Revelations, what does Mack argue the Christians were being accused of by the Romans?
(a) Extortion.
(b) Murder.
(c) Theft.
(d) Disloyalty.

11. What did the Centrists seek to prove to the challengers?
(a) That God did not exist.
(b) That God cared only for the Jews.
(c) That the Christian God was not the same as the Jewish God.
(d) That the Christian God was the same as the Jewish God.

12. What does Mark's gospel do to the disciples that the story of Q did not?
(a) Ignores them.
(b) Kills them.
(c) Worships them.
(d) Names them.

13. Why were the revisions of the scriptures not convincing before 70 C.E.?
(a) They could not match the logic that the epic was for the Greek state.
(b) They could not match the logic that the epic was for Jesus.
(c) They could not match the logic that the epic was for the second-temple Jerusalem.
(d) They could not match the logic that the epic was for the Roman empire.

14. Why did the book of Hebrews not succeed?
(a) It was illogical.
(b) It was too long.
(c) It was too intellectual.
(d) It was against the Jews.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is contained in 1 Clement?

2. Who first discussed the twelve disciples?

3. What collection of early Christian texts does the Didache now belong to?

4. What two sources does Mack claim Matthew used for his gospel?

5. Where did the writer of the gospel of Luke write the gospel, according to Mack?

(see the answer keys)

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