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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 contained in 1 Clement?

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

3. How did Mark portray Jesus?

4. What does Mack claim about Paul's letters to Colossians and Ephesians?

5. What does Mark's gospel do to the disciples that the story of Q did not?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the observations Mack claims are important about Mark's use of the pronouncement stories.

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

3. What two strong desires drove Christianity?

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

5. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Mack's three arguments about why the Bible has survived unquestioned throughout history. Why does he say this has happened? Be sure to discuss Mack's views of the Bible as an oracle, the Bible as the ritual text of Christianity, and the Bible's function as an epic for the American dream. What are each of these, and why do they help to position the Bible in a high, unquestionable place of power?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Describe why Mack believes his book can help view Christianity in a new way, and what he fantasizes about in terms of an honest discussion of the Bible, and Christianity as a whole. What does he think we should do, in terms of religion? Why does he think his book can help humanity begin to question Christianity as a source for social order? Do you agree? Why or why not?

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