Alister McGrath

Historical Theology

Chapter 1: The Patristic Period, c. 100-451

Quiz questions

  1. The patristic period begins around 100 and is usually thought to end in 451 at the Council of ______.
  2. A key turning point in the patristic era occurred in 321, when ______converted to Christianity.
  3. The defined group of writings that is accepted as authoritative within the church is known as the ______.
  4. The Antiochene and Alexandrian schools clashed over the term ______, which refers to Mary and means the mother or bearer of God.
  5. Cyprian of Carthage famously wrote, “You cannot have God as father unless you have ______as mother.”

Multiple-choice questions

1) In his debate with the Donatists, Augustine argued that

  1. the holiness of the church depends on the holiness of its ministers
  2. traditorescannot administer the sacraments
  3. people who had renounced the faith under persecution must be re-baptized
  4. the church is a mixed body of both saints and sinners

2) One of the firmest opponents of mixing theology with secular philosophy was

  1. Tertullian
  2. Cyprian
  3. Irenaeus of Lyons
  4. Origen

3) Arius (or Arianism) argued that

  1. Christ was not human at all, but was fully divine
  2. Christ was divine but was not equal to God
  3. Christ only appeared to die on the cross
  4. Christ was a created and not a divine being

4) In contrast to Pelagius, Augustine believed that salvation is

  1. a justly earned reward
  2. a cooperative effort between humanity and God
  3. achievable only by a fully divine Christ
  4. an unmerited gift from God

5) The Council of Nicea’s main purpose was to

  1. address broken relations between churches in the East and West
  2. decide the New Testament canon
  3. settle Christological debates
  4. determine the doctrine of the Trinity

6) Irenaeus of Lyons wrote Against Heresies to combat Gnosticism, a movement that believed which of the following:

  1. Christ was a human being and not a god
  2. Salvation is available only through secret knowledge that is hidden in the Bible
  3. The Trinity exists only in one person at a time: the Father, then the Son, then the Holy Spirit
  4. It is possible for humans to achieve perfection in this life, through hard work

7) Augustine viewed the Holy Spirit as

  1. the love that unites the Father and the Son
  2. a second Son of the Father
  3. “of the same substance” with God
  4. not fully divine

8) The filioquecontroversy between the eastern and western church focused on this phrase in the Nicene creed:

  1. the resurrection of the flesh
  2. the only-begotten Son of God
  3. he suffered
  4. and from the Son

9) According to the Vincentian canon, authentic Christian teaching derives from

  1. the Bible
  2. whoever has been inspired by the Holy Spirit
  3. interpretations of Scripture that are accepted everywhere, always, and by all people
  4. the bishops

10) The phrase “what has not been assumed has not been healed” was used in arguments against Apollinaris by

  1. Origen
  2. Nestorius
  3. Justin Martyr
  4. Gregory of Nazianzus

11) The eastern approach to the Trinity tended to emphasize

  1. the distinct individuality of the three persons of the Trinity
  2. the humanity of the Son
  3. the unity and mutual fellowship of the three persons
  4. the relationship of the Son to the Spirit

12) Augustine described sin as

  1. guilt
  2. a power
  3. a disease
  4. all of the above

13) Clement of Alexandria taught that

  1. the church should have nothing to do with philosophy
  2. theology should rely only on the New Testament and discard the Old Testament
  3. classical philosophy paves the way for the gospel
  4. most heresies derive from Greek philosophy

14) Which of these was not an important center of theological reflection in the patristic era?

  1. Alexandria, Egypt
  2. Antioch, Syria
  3. Paris, France
  4. Carthage, western North Africa

15) The union of the divine and human natures in Christ is also called

  1. the communication of attributes
  2. the hypostatic union
  3. perichoresis
  4. Logos Christology