Deck 7: The Imperial Church

Question 1

Constantine had a dream that he would win a decisive battle to control the western part of the Roman Empire. What did he dream?

A) That he would win the battle if he became a Christian
B) That he would win the battle if he put letters signifying Christ on his soldiers' shields
C) That he would win the battle if his soldiers were baptized
D) That he would win the battle at the cost of the death of his son

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Did Constantine favor Christianity?

A) Yes, but only insofar as allowing Christians to hold civic positions and worship freely
B) Yes, he devoted significant government funds to support the church
C) Yes, he even demanded that major cities had to be run by Christians
D) No, the big shift was religious tolerance of Christianity

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Where did Constantine move the empire's capital?

A) Milan
B) Damascus
C) Byzantium
D) He didn't, it remained in Rome

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What happened to Jews in the empire once Christianity became the state religion?

A) They lost many of their legal protections
B) They were no longer taxed twice
C) Many more Jews became Christian
D) They were now allowed full freedom of movement in the empire

Question 5

According to the author, were most emperors after Constantine Christian?

A) No, the next four were not
B) No, only about half were
C) Yes, every emperor had to be Christian
D) Yes, with the exception of one

Question 6

Emperor Justinian is noted for which of the following?

A) He created the first great Christian empire
B) He demanded that every citizen become Christian (at least in name)
C) He revised Roman law to better integrate Christian values
D) He built the great Roman church of St. Peter's Basilica

Question 7

What does doctrine mean?

A) It refers to spiritual medicine
B) It refers to religious rites
C) It refers to salves and physical medicine
D) It refers to religious teaching

Question 8

What does dogma mean?

A) It refers to an unwavering mind
B) It refers to core teaching
C) It refers to bigotry
D) It refers to the Christian use of canines

Question 9

Who called the ecumenical councils?

A) The bishop of Rome
B) The emperor
C) The bishop of Constantinople
D) The archdeacon of Rome

Question 10

Which of the following was not one of the sites for an ecumenical council?

A) Rome
B) Constantinople
C) Ephesus
D) Chalcedon

Question 11

What did Arius teach?

A) The Son was God
B) The Son was subordinate to God
C) The Son was a human elevated by God
D) God was the Trinity

Question 12

How did the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi influence the bishops?

A) They looked to the scriptures to see what to believe
B) They looked to their preaching to see what to believe
C) They looked to their parishioners to see what to believe
D) They looked to their worship to see what to believe

Question 13

Who presided over the first ecumenical council?

A) The bishop of Rome
B) The bishop of Constantinople
C) The emperor Constantine
D) Arius of Alexandria

Question 14

What does creed refer to?

A) A religious dispute
B) A religious text that would become part of the canon
C) A treatise on religious belief
D) A short statement of decisive beliefs

Question 15

What did the Cunctos Populos declare?

A) Christianity was now outlawed
B) Christianity had to believe in Jesus as Lord
C) Christianity had to believe in one deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
D) Christianity had to send out missionaries outside the Roman Empire

Question 16

What did the Antioch school emphasize?

A) The singularity of Jesus as a God-man
B) The fact that language could not represent divine things
C) The Trinity
D) The full humanity of Christ

Question 17

What did the Alexandrian school emphasize?

A) The singularity of Jesus as a God-man
B) The fact that language could not represent divine things
C) The Trinity
D) The full humanity of Christ

Question 18

In addressing Jesus's human nature, Gregory of Nazianzus asserted that whatever is not assumed is not saved. By this he meant:

A) Any part of human nature that the Word did not take on would not then be taken into the divine life
B) It must be assumed that Jesus is human because this is how we are saved
C) Jesus is assumed to be human because, if we cannot make this assumption we cannot be saved
D) If we cannot make humanity a basic presupposition about Jesus, then we cannot make him part of the human race

Question 19

What does theosis literally mean?

A) Worshipping God
B) Becoming God
C) Following God
D) God

Question 20

What is dynamic monarchianism?

A) The position that God is active in the world
B) The position that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God and distinct from each other
C) The position that the Son and Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father in nature
D) The position that God is a singularity, but reveals himself under different expressions

Question 21

What is modalistic monarchianism?

A) The position that God is active in the world
B) The position that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God and distinct from each other
C) The position that the Son and Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father in nature
D) The position that God is a singularity, but reveals himself under different expressions

Question 22

What is tri-theism?

A) The position that God is active in the world
B) The position that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God and distinct from each other
C) The position that the Son and Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father in nature
D) The position that God is a singularity, but reveals himself under different expressions

Question 23

Why does the author claim that most Christians do not understand the ecumenical councils' decisions about the nature of the Trinity?

A) The standard use of language do not lend itself to these philosophical distinctions
B) Most Christians are poorly educated in their faith
C) Most Christians are uncomfortable with the implications of the decisions
D) Few Christians take enough philosophy to understand them

Question 24

According to the author, what was the sociological upshot of the ecumenical councils?

A) The Christian faith was now unified under a clear set of beliefs
B) The Christian faith broke up
C) The Christian faith was now ready to send its message throughout the world
D) The Christian faith became more of a philosophical faith than a lived one.

Question 25

What is Caesaro-papism?

A) The bishop of Rome trying to take over the whole church
B) The Pope claiming the right to tax the entire church
C) Roman emperors seeing themselves as the head of both church and state
D) Roman emperors demanding the right to tax the entire church

Question 26

The author claims that Persian Christians were fortunate to reject Chalcedon. Why?

A) Their faith was not the same as that of the Byzantine Empire
B) Persian religious authorities came to the same conclusions and thus favored Persian Christians
C) Their position aligned better with Zoroastrianism, the official Persian religion
D) Actually, the author said that their rejecting of Chalcedon did not help them but led to their persecution

Question 27

The author claimed that sometimes bishops defied the emperor. How did Ambrose defy the emperor and his mother?

A) He refused to allow the church to be taxed
B) He refused to give communion to both the emperor and his mother until they repented
C) He chastised them publically for their ostentatious wealth
D) He refused to give up one of his churches to Arian Christianity

Question 28

What is a patriarchal see?

A) One of five centers where the bishop had particular authority and prestige
B) One of the twelve bishops named to be father of the church
C) This is another name for a metropolitan bishop
D) One of the principal cities in the empire where the governor was also a bishop

Question 29

Where did the Chair of Peter reside?

A) Rome
B) Constantinople
C) Jerusalem
D) Wherever the emperor resided

Question 30

Which bishop claimed hierarchical supremacy over all other bishops?

A) Bishop of Alexandria
B) Bishop of Constantinople
C) Bishop of Rome
D) Bishop of Jerusalem

Question 31

The author thinks that Constantine was probably a bona fide Christian.

Question 32

Constantine used Christianity to unite the empire.

Question 33

According to the ecumenical councils, Jesus was half-divine and half-human.

Question 34

According to the ecumenical councils, Jesus's divine nature was similar to but not the same as the Father's.

Question 35

According to the ecumenical councils, the church decided that Mary was a God-bearer.

Question 36

According to the ecumenical councils, since the incarnation, the Eternal Word can now be identified with Jesus of Nazareth.

Question 37

The author says that the Bible never details central Christian dogmas, but provides both evidence and counterevidence for all of them.

Question 38

The author claims that the Bible regularly identifies Jesus as divine.

Question 39

The author claims that most Christians are modalistic monarchianists.

Question 40

The author claims that the Cappadocian Fathers undermined the decisions of the ecumenical councils, leading to Christianity's breakup.

Question 41

The author claims that there is massive evidence Christians believed in theosis.

Question 42

The author claims that the theological councils never really addressed the Trinity.

Question 43

Emperors regularly deposed bishops who believed differently than they did.

Question 44

John Chrysostom was deposed for challenging the wealth of the upper class, including the emperor's family.

Question 45

A metropolitan bishop holds the highest authority among bishops.

Question 46

Christianity became part of the Roman Empire with a complicated power dynamic. Compare and contrast this situation to that of today. How does separation of church and state affect how the church carries out its mission? How would society be different if the church and state were still aligned?

Question 47

The claim for the primacy of Rome is controversial. Where do you stand on this issue, and why?

Question 48

Constantine was a complicated and highly influential figure in church history. What do you think about his motivations and ambitions?

Question 49

Every ecumenical council of the early church was convoked and presided over by the emperor? Does this taint those councils' decisions or even call the councils themselves into question? Why or why not?

Question 50

Given what the councils decided about the nature of Jesus and the Trinity, do you think that many or most Christians today actually have a similar understanding? If not, what does this suggest about authentic Christian life today?