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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 does Mack claim about the Book of Isaiah?

2. What did Paul's argument do to Jews and Christians?

3. What does Mack claim about the authors of the sections in the New Testament?

4. What does Mack note is mythmaking on a cosmic scale, in terms of the Christ hymn in Philippians 2:6-11?

5. Whose stories are mimicked in the Miracle Stories?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the three ideas that groups gathered around that resulted in the Jesus movements?

2. Why does Mack believe early Christians were excited about the concept of the kingdom of God?

3. How did Paul link Christianity to the Greek concept of self control?

4. What were some of the problems exporting the Athens model of society?

5. Describe the temple-state.

6. What are the four features of the Christ myth Mack claims are a result of the involvement of God?

7. What three factors surfaced as questions to answer that would help the different culture's relate to one another, and why were they important?

8. Explain what was meant by Jesus in referring to his body as the bread, and his blood as the wine.

9. What is the catch-22 Mack finds when discussing the New Testament and the origins of the Christian Church?

10. What does Mack say about the Bible in early American history?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast two of the following Gospels. Be sure to include the time of the writing, the location, the portrayal of Jesus, the use of other documents to form a basis, and the individual additions of each author to the main story line. How are the two similar, and how are they different?

• The Gospel of Mark

• The Gospel of Matthew

• The Gospel of Luke

Essay Topic 2

Explain, in detail, Paul's letters to the Romans. Why did it differ from other letters? How does Paul explain the human problem that the gospel answers? How does he describe the Christ myth? What does he say about the resurrection? How did Paul tie in the Greek concept of self control? How did he change the view of apocalypse to fit the Greek concept?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Mack's interpretation of Paul's argument to the Thessalonians in terms of the question of those who had already perished. What was the original intent of the question, according to Mack? How did Paul respond? What were his arguments? How did he alter the message of the Christ myth to fit his argument? Why was the question of a concern for the dead a common issue in the Easter Mediterranean? Why does Mack argue that Paul's response to the question indicates the question was really about belonging? How did Paul's answers lead to an idea of eternal life?

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