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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. Marion concluded that there were ___________ because of the brutal God in the Old Testament and the compassionate God in the New Testament.
(a) False texts.
(b) Two Gods.
(c) Two Bibles.
(d) Lies in the Bible.

2. The resurrection was useful ____________, which is why it became such an important part of religious dogma.
(a) Spiritually.
(b) Politically.
(c) Biblically.
(d) Financially.

3. While the scrolls were taken to the Coptic museum for safekeeping, _______ of the codices were smuggled out of the country.
(a) 4.
(b) 6.
(c) 5.
(d) 3.

4. Pagels points out that it was __________ that ultimately expelled the Valentinians who strove to maintain their membership.
(a) The Church.
(b) The Romans.
(c) The Gnostics.
(d) The Jews.

5. Who did Professor Giles Quispel persuade to try to buy the codices in order to study them further?
(a) British Museum.
(b) Egyptian Museum.
(c) Jung Foundation.
(d) His father.

Short Answer Questions

1. Once committed to the Mother and Father of the world, the candidate undertook the secret sacrament of apolytrosis, or _________.

2. Another Gnostic text, the Gospel of ____________, highlighted a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

3. The language in many texts respects the idea of the female, though not in pagan terms, rather in presenting God as a Mother/Father ______.

4. The Gnostics considered themselves to be ____________, not believers and were despised by orthodox theologians.

5. One God, One _________ became the doctrine of the church, according to the text in this chapter.

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Marcus the Magician relate to the idea of a feminine God or God-figure?

2. Why does Pagels suggest that perhaps there was a social aspect to the way the Church wanted to function?

3. What are some of the images of Christ that John and James witness in the Acts of John, discovered before Nag Hammadi?

4. What does Pagels speculate united the Gnostics, as diverse as they were in the world?

5. What is the idea that Marcion concluded about God since he found a brutal God in the Old Testament and a compassionate God in the New Testament?

6. What are some of the roles that a masculine God might have in the prayers of Christians, Jews, and Muslims?

7. What has created a lot of controversy when it comes to discussions between scholars of biblical texts?

8. Describe the idea of the social reality in which those who practice orthodox faith live.

9. What was the vision that John had, emotionally distraught over the crucifixion in the Apocryphon of John?

10. What was one of the most important archaeological events that took place in December of 1945?

(see the answer keys)

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