View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mack argue the Letter to the Hebrews is, in reality?
(a) A philosophical exhortation.
(b) False letters from the Jewish leaders.
(c) Letters that should be attributed to Paul.
(d) A statement of principle.

2. Who began to give an account of the new religion to Greeks, Romans, and others?
(a) Local Bishops.
(b) Christian intellectuals.
(c) Roman rulers.
(d) Jewish intellectuals.

3. Why does Mack argue Jesus' death is qualitatively different from all other deaths of the prophets?
(a) Jesus was the enemy of the state.
(b) Jesus was immortal.
(c) Jesus was the son of God.
(d) Jesus was a martyr.

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

5. 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 disassociate from John.
(c) Christians began to attribute more writings to Jesus himself.
(d) Christians began to associate gospels with disciples.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did early Christians think of their world?

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

3. How many miracles occur in the Gospel of John?

4. When do scholars place the writing of the Gospel of John?

5. What did Clement argue about the "new song" of Christianity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Matthew's depiction of Jesus.

2. What two values are integrated in the Letters of Ignatius, and what is the result?

3. Explain Mack's discussion of when the Epistles of Peter and Jude were written. What references does he use to attempt to date the pieces?

4. What was Marcion of Sinope's logic, in terms of his views of two Gods, and what to do about the Jewish contamination in the gospels?

5. What two strong desires drove Christianity?

6. What were the two key arguments that the centrists tried to use against the non-centrist positions of Valentinus and Marcion?

7. What are the four types of miracle interpretation occurring in the Gospel of John?

8. What does Mack say about the "overwhelming concern" in the Didache about the practice of alms, gift giving, and supporting those who ask for hand outs?

9. What evidence does Mack put forth that the attempts to move into mainstream Christianity worked?

10. Explain the conversion of Constantine, and why it was pivotal in the creation of the Bible.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,019 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample