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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 is an important distinction that Augustine teaches students to understand through three Books of "On Christian Doctrine?
(a) The difference between original sin and human nature.
(b) The difference between sins of omission and original sin.
(c) The difference between "things" and "signs."
(d) The difference between "special gifts" and talents.

2. With what prediction does Augustine start "On Christian Doctrine"?
(a) The work will face three kinds of criticism.
(b) Christians will transform society through piety and rhetorical skill.
(c) Christians will gather around a uniform doctrine.
(d) God will assure that the Church will become the primary social force in the world.

3. To what does Augustine compare his distinction of things?
(a) To that between critics who do not understand and critics who believe in "special gifts."
(b) To that between human nature and original sin.
(c) To that between God and Lucifer.
(d) To that between instrumental and intrinsic good.

4. What does Augustine encourage his critics to remember in the Preface?
(a) To be wary of falling into the trap of heresy.
(b) To practice the rhetorical skills he embraces to make criticism more effective.
(c) To remember experiencing learning for themselves.
(d) To patiently contemplate his points before they make a judgment.

5. What basic fact do the critics discussed in the Preface ignore by discounting teaching from Augustine and others?
(a) Many writers have intensely studied Scriptures and have left their impressions for their use.
(b) The works of writers closer to the time of the authors of Scripture are frequently incomplete, disjointed, and often unverifiable.
(c) The fact that they learned important tools, such as the alphabet, from other humans.
(d) Trial and error application often give non-Christians the opportunity to "mock God."

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the problem for the critics that Augustine addresses in the Preface when they choose to teach?

2. What is Augustine's perception of God's dispensation of "special gifts" of interpreting Scripture?

3. What items or situations does Augustine use to illustrate his distinction of things?

4. What setting does Augustine recommend for sound Scriptural learning?

5. Based on Augustine's Preface, what is the perception of critics toward learning?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Augustine identify as an important consideration when determining how many ideas words or phrases from Scripture contain?

2. What subjects does Augustine recommend that students lea to interpret scripture?

3. What is the illustration Augustine uses to show the difference between things "enjoyed" and things "used"?

4. How does Augustine suggest interpretations of Scripture should affect the subject about which he wants to answer many questions and how should that affect the student seeking to interpret Scripture?

5. Why does Augustine suggest that Christians should learn to use rhetoric?

6. What are some types of tropes that Augustine discusses?

7. Upon which type of critics does Augustine focus his attention in the preface?

8. According to Augustine, how are words as signs difficult to understand?

9. What question does Augustine raise to those who believe that Scriptural interpretation can only be learned from "special gifts"?

10. About what subject does Augustine want to answer many questions in Book One and for what two reasons does he want to answer them?

(see the answer keys)

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