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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two things cannot exist in the same person?
(a) Guilt and pride.
(b) The divine and the natural.
(c) Desire and goodwill.
(d) God and the devil.

2. As described in Book II, Chapter II, what are deeply rooted in the spirit of a person and must be removed by the purging of the soul?
(a) Spiritual imperfections.
(b) The seven deadly sins.
(c) Mortal sin.
(d) Habitual imperfections.

3. The soul starts to develop a habit of what during the dark night, as stated in Book I, Chapter XIII?
(a) Identifying sin.
(b) Peaceful sleep.
(c) Strong temptation of sin.
(d) Remembrance of God.

4. What is the title of the poem that is introduced in the prologue?
(a) "The Stanzas of the Soul."
(b) "Song of Songs."
(c) "Song of the Soul."
(d) "Mount Carmel."

5. In Book I, Chapter II, what sin do beginners exhibit when they choose leaders who agree with their views?
(a) Greed.
(b) Sloth.
(c) Avarice.
(d) Pride.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to St. John, what happens when beginners try to build their own spirituality instead of waiting on God?

2. St. John writes that a person experiencing the dark night might feel as if who has abandoned him?

3. When a man searches for God in a divine way, the spirit and the soul of that person are transformed into what, according to Book II, Chapter V?

4. How many important points are made in Book II, Chapter X, about the purification process?

5. The dark night refers to the darkness of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe the condition of beginners on their journey of faith?

2. In Book II, Chapter V, what reasons are given for the dark night to be named "dark" and not "light"?

3. What are the three types of pain that result from human and divine meeting in one, as discussed in Book II, Chapter VI?

4. In Book I, Chapter XI, what is the Christian's new desire upon being ignited with the spirit of love?

5. How does the author compare the use of fire to the purification process a person experiences during the dark night?

6. How does St. John say a person changes when his spirit becomes united with God and how does his understanding of love change?

7. What does St. John say must change in a person in order for the divine and the human to exist within the same person?

8. In Book I, Chapter XII, what is the main benefit for the soul as it travels through the night of darkness?

9. What are some of the benefits described in Book I, Chapter XIII of a soul that has been purified by the dark night?

10. How does a soul feel while experiencing the dark night and what happens during any period of rest in the dark night in Book II, Chapter VII?

(see the answer keys)

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