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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is different about Peter in comparison to Jude?

2. What term replaced "disciples"?

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

4. How did Luke portray Jesus?

5. What does Mack claim is Mark's greatest achievement?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the three themes that dominate the story of Jesus and his resurrection in the Gospel of Luke?

2. What did the Jewish scripture available to early Christians consist of?

3. What was Valentinus' story of the tragedy of the birth of the world?

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

5. What are the major points of the sermons contained in the Acts, according to Mack?

6. What is Mack's argument about why John wrote Revelations?

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

8. How does the Gospel of John differ from that of Mark?

9. What are the significant differences between the Pauline and Johannine traditions, as discussed by Mack in chapter 8?

10. What are the standard writing conventions used in the Acts of the Apostles?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the ideas of Marcion of Sinope to the ideas of Valentinus. Who were these individuals? What were their arguments against the centrist concept of Christianity? How do their arguments differ? How are they similar? Combined, how did their ideas influence the rest of the world? How did their ideas lead to the concept that the Jewish scriptures were "really" about Christians?

Essay Topic 2

List and discuss the three layers of the Gospel of Q. be sure to describe each in detail, and explain both what they describe, as well as their historical impact. Why was each written? What does each discuss? What are the seven blocks of Q1? Why are they called the Gospel of Q? How do the Q Gospels compare to the statements of the Cynics? What was added with Q3?

Essay Topic 3

List and discuss the four "proofs" from scripture that support the idea that the history of Israel can be read as the story of the Christian God. What are the four points? What do they mean? How do they tie together to create the idea of a scripture that supports the Christian God, rather than a Jewish God? Be sure to mention concepts such as the spirit of prophesy, the logos, and the idea that the history of Israel did not end with the Jews.

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