Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is different about Peter in comparison to Jude?
2. During the time of the writing of Revelations, what does Mack argue the Christians were being accused of by the Romans?
3. What does Mack argue John was worried about, which resulted in his authorship of Revelations?
4. Who defended the centrist Christian position from those who challenged it?
5. What does Mack claim the author of Acts found, in terms of an answer to what Christianity owed to Jewish history?
Short Essay Questions
1. What did the Jewish scripture available to early Christians consist of?
2. What were the common values contained in both the temple system of sacrifice and the family system of rituals that allowed the translation of one into the other?
3. What are the standard writing conventions used in the Acts of the Apostles?
4. 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?
5. What two values are integrated in the Letters of Ignatius, and what is the result?
6. What does Mack say about the "overwhelming concern" in the Didache about the practice of alms, gift giving, and supporting those who ask for hand outs?
7. Explain the observations Mack claims are important about Mark's use of the pronouncement stories.
8. What are the three themes that dominate the story of Jesus and his resurrection in the Gospel of Luke?
9. What evidence does Mack put forth that the attempts to move into mainstream Christianity worked?
10. Explain the conversion of Constantine, and why it was pivotal in the creation of the Bible.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Explain, in detail, the mythologies that were used to provide the logic for the concept of Jesus' death and resurrection. Be sure to include information about the Greek myth of noble death, the Jewish concepts of martyrdom, the Jewish myth of the persecuted sage, examples of each, and how these myths tied into the Christ cult's concept of the death and resurrection.
Essay Topic 2
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?
Essay Topic 3
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
This section contains 1,097 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |