RELG 1010 MIDTERM #2

A and B

Which of the following practices does Pliny impute to Christians in his letter to Trajan?

A: Sing a hymn to Christ as a god

B: Eat a meal

C: Observe the Sabbath

D: A and B

E: None of the above

Temples are being deserted

Why is Pliny most concerned about the growth of Christianity?

A: Temples are being deserted

B: They are plotting insurrection

C: Strange natural disasters are occurring

D: None of the above

Begs her to renounce Christianity

After Perpetua is arrested, her father:

A: Converts to Christianity himself

B: Demands that the governor release her

C: Dies of grief

D: Begs her to renounce Christianity

An angel delivers golden tablets to her

Which of the following visions does NOT appear in Perpetua’s diary?

A: Fighting an Egyptian

B: Climbing a ladder to heaven

C: An angel delivers golden tablets to her

D: Her brother being restored to health

• Supersessionism: The belief that Christians have displaced Jews as God’s Chosen People

• Parting of the Ways: The emergence of Christianity as a separate religion from Judaism

• Anti-Judaism: Denigration of Jews as a group based on imputed shared characteristics

• Second Temple Period: From the construction to the destruction of the Temple following the Babylonian exile

Match the terms with their correct definitions

• Supersessionism

• Parting of the Ways

• Anti-Judaism

• Second Temple Period

• The belief that Christians have displaced Jews as God’s Chosen People

• The emergence of Christianity as a separate religion from Judaism

• Denigration of Jews as a group based on imputed shared characteristics

• From the construction to the destruction of the Temple following the Babylonian exile

A and B

In the first and second centuries, the term “church” could refer to:

A: The global community of Christians

B: A local community of Christians

C: A building dedicated for worship

D: A and B

The person tasked with overseeing all of the churches in a geographic region

The term bishop (Greek: episkopos) eventually comes to refer to:

A: The person who collects money for the church

B: The person tasked with overseeing all of the churches in a geographic region

C: The only person allowed to preach a sermon

D: The only person allowed to read from the Bible

The Nicene Creed

The document that comes to define how christians should understand the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ is called:

A: The Passion of Perpetua

B: The Mishnah

C: The Nicene Creed

D: The letter of Pliny to Trajan

The concept of God taking on a human body

The term Incarnation refers to:

A: A ritual of initiation

B: A special kind of priest

C: A genre of biblical literature

D: The concept of God taking on a human body

All of the above

According to the reading by Christian Hayes, when the Rabbis referred to “Torah”, what were they speaking about:

A: The first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch)

B: The entire Bible

C: The entire Jewish interpretive tradition of the Bible

D: All of the above

1. Abraham

2. Ishmael

3. Moses

4. Joshua

Place the following in chronological order:

• Ishmael

• Moses

• Abraham

• Joshua

1. Joshua

2. Samuel

3. David

4. Elijah

Place the following in chronological order:

• Samuel

• Joshua

• Elijah

• David

1. Jesus

2. Pliny

3. Melito

4. Athanasius

Place the following in chronological order:

• Melito

• Jesus

• Athanasius

• Pliny

1. Exodus from Egypt

2. Exile in Babylon

3. Persecution of Antiochus IV

4. Destruction of the Second Temple

Place the following in chronological order:

• Destruction of the Second Temple

• Exile in Babylon

• Exodus from Egypt

• Persecution of Antiochus IV

1. Crucifixion of Jesus

2. Destruction of the Second Temple

3. Persecution of Perpetua

4. Council of Nicaea

Place the following in chronological order:

• Persecution of Perpetua

• Council of Nicaea

• Destruction of the Second Temple

• Crucifixion of Jesus

A division of the Quran

A Surah refers to:

A: The resurrection

B: A gathering place

C: A division of the Quran

D: A ritual bath

A, B, and D

The Quran teaches the following about Jesus (check all that apply, there may be more than one):

A: Born from the Virgin Mary

B: Raised to heaven

C: Is the Son of God

D: Creates a bird from clay that becomes alive

Arabian peninsula

The city of Mecca is found in which region:

A: Syria

B: Arabian peninsula

C: Turkey

D: North Africa

Members of the other monotheistic religions

People of the Book refers to:

A: Members of other monotheistic religions

B: The merchant class of Mecca

C: Another name for Muslims

D: Those who have completed formal study of the Quran

Father of Mary

The figure of Imran in the Quran is:

A: Companion of the Prophet Muhammad

B: Third child of Abraham

C: Ancestor of Adam and Eve

D: Father of Mary

Flight of the prophet to Medina

The Hijrah is the Arabic term for:

A: Black stone shrine in Mecca

B: Death of the Prophet

C: Flight of the prophet to Medina

D: Birth of the Prophet

Apostle Paul was a first-century Jewish diaspora Pharisee who converted to Christianity and became the most influential missionary and theologian of the early Church. He authored numerous epistles in the New Testament that articulated core Christian doctrines, such as justification by faith and the inclusion of Gentiles without requiring circumcision. For Western Religion, Paul is significant because his letters shaped systemic Christian theology and successfully transitioned Christianity from a localized Jewish sect into a universal world religion.

Apostle Paul

The Church refers to both the local communities of Christian believers and the global, institutional body of Christians collectively known scripturally as the "Body of Christ." Originating from the Greek word ekklesia meaning "assembly," it evolved structurally from hidden house-churches during Roman persecution into a centralized hierarchy led by bishops. In the study of Western Religion, the Church is historically significant as the institutional vehicle that preserved, standardized, and propagated religious doctrine, literacy, and political power throughout Europe.

Church

A Gospel, meaning "good news," refers specifically to the four canonical New Testament narratives—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—that recount the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Written in Greek between 70 and 100 CE, these texts combine theological interpretations with historical claims to present Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah. Within Western Religion, the Gospels are significant because they serve as the foundational scriptural authority for Christian faith, ethics, and liturgy, shaping the core cultural narrative of Western civilization.

Gospel

Heresy is any belief, teaching, or practice that directly contradicts the established, orthodox doctrines of a centralized religious authority. In the early Christian centuries, dominant factions labeled alternative movements like Gnosticism and Arianism as heresies to enforce theological uniformity. This term is vital for understanding Western Religion because the active suppression of heresy drove the institutionalization of the Church and forced the formal codification of official creeds and biblical canons.

Heresy

The Incarnation is the central Christian doctrine stating that the eternal Son of God took on human flesh and became fully man in the person of Jesus Christ. Athanasius of Alexandria defended this doctrine in his 4th-century treatise On the Incarnation, famously arguing that God became human so that humanity might be redeemed and made divine. This is significant for Western Religion because it established the orthodox framework for Christian salvation and Christology, separating mainstream Christianity from alternative monotheistic interpretations that rejected a divine-human crossover.

Incarnation / Athanasius, On the Incarnation

The Nicene Creed is a formal statement of Christian belief originally adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE to resolve intense theological disputes regarding the divinity of Christ. It explicitly affirmed orthodoxy by declaring that Jesus is "of the same substance" (homoousios) as God the Father, directly rejecting the Arian view that Jesus was a created being. This creed is highly significant in Western Religion because it represents the first state-backed effort to establish a universal Christian orthodoxy, and it remains the foundational doctrinal standard for major Western Christian denominations today.

Nicene Creed

A martyr is an individual who chooses to suffer persecution or death rather than renounce their religious beliefs or witness to their faith. In the early Roman Empire, Christians who refused to participate in civic pagan sacrifices were executed, and their deaths were celebrated by the community as ultimate spiritual victories. Martyrdom is deeply significant to Western Religion because the veneration of these individuals created a powerful holy dead culture, transformed suffering into a sacred ideal, and ultimately accelerated the growth of the early Church.

Martyr / Martyrdom

Perpetua was a young, educated noblewoman martyred in Carthage in 203 CE, whose prison diary forms the core of the text The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas. The account details her visions and steadfast refusal to offer sacrifices for the Roman emperor, despite the pleading of her pagan father and her status as a nursing mother. This text is uniquely significant for Western Religion because it provides a rare, first-hand female perspective from antiquity, demonstrating how early Christian identity could entirely upend traditional Roman familial, patriarchal, and civic obligations.

Perpetua / Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas

Pliny the Younger was a Roman provincial governor who wrote a famous letter to Emperor Trajan around 112 CE seeking legal advice on how to prosecute suspected Christians. The letter describes early Christian worship rituals—such as meeting before dawn to sing hymns to Christ "as to a god"—and outlines Pliny's policy of executing those who refused to curse Christ. This correspondence is highly significant for Western Religion because it offers the earliest surviving pagan description of Christian liturgical practices and reveals the Roman Empire's pragmatic, legally ambiguous approach to handling this new religious movement.

Pliny / Letter to Trajan

Isaiah is one of the three major written prophets in the Hebrew Bible, originating from the Southern Kingdom of Judah before the Babylonian exile and believed by modern scholars to have been composed by at least three different authors. The text anticipated the tragic destruction of Judah and the Temple due to the people's abrogation of their divine covenant, while simultaneously prophesying a permanent restoration to the land of Israel after their punishment. Within the study of Western Religion, Isaiah is uniquely significant because its dual themes of covenantal judgment and future restoration deeply shaped post-exilic Jewish theological identity and provided the foundational scriptural framework early Christians used to legitimize the messianic mission of Jesus.

Isaiah

Diaspora refers to the geographical dispersion of the Jewish people outside their traditional homeland of Israel, which intensified after the Babylonian exile and the Roman destructions of Jerusalem. Living in minority communities across the Mediterranean world, Jews had to maintain their distinct religious identity, dietary laws, and monotheism without physical proximity to a central sanctuary. This concept is crucial for Western Religion because it forced Judaism to adapt from a localized, temple-centered sacrificial cult into a portable, text-based religion, laying the groundwork for the survival of Rabbinic Judaism.

Diaspora

A synagogue is a Jewish communal house of worship, assembly, and scriptural study that became the institutional heart of Jewish life during the Diaspora. Unlike the ancient Temple, a synagogue requires no priesthood or animal sacrifices, functioning instead as a democratic space where any qualified adult can read and teach scripture. The synagogue is highly significant in Western Religion because its decentralized, prayer-and-text-centered model directly influenced the structural development of both the Christian church and the Islamic mosque.

Synagogue

Rabbis are Jewish religious teachers, scholars, and legal experts who emerged as the primary leaders of Judaism following the catastrophic destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Replacing the traditional hereditary temple priesthood, they focused on interpreting biblical texts and preserving oral traditions to guide daily Jewish life. Rabbis are central to Western Religion because they masterminded the transition to Rabbinic Judaism, shifting the religion’s core from localized animal sacrifice to decentralized text study, prayer, and ethical deeds.

Rabbis

The Oral Torah is a Rabbinic Jewish concept asserting that God gave Moses a spoken set of laws and interpretations on Mount Sinai alongside the written text of the Pentateuch. Passed down through generations of scholars, these interpretations were eventually compiled and codified in writing as the Mishnah and the Talmud to preserve them amidst persecution. This concept is fundamental to Western Religion because it authorized the rabbis to dynamically interpret biblical law for changing historical circumstances, ensuring that post-Temple Judaism remained a living, adaptable tradition.

Oral Torah

Sacrifice is the ritual act of offering gifts, food, grain, or animal lives to a deity to establish communion, express gratitude, or achieve atonement for sins. In ancient Israelite religion, sacrifice was strictly centralized at the Jerusalem Temple and performed exclusively by the Levitical priesthood. For Western Religion, the evolution of sacrifice is critical; its abrupt end in 70 CE forced Judaism to substitute prayer and Torah study for rituals, while Christianity theoretically reinterpreted the practice by defining Jesus's death as the final, absolute sacrifice for humanity.

Sacrifice

Supersessionism, or replacement theology, is the traditional Christian doctrine asserting that the Christian Church has succeeded Israel as God's true chosen people. This theology argues that the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ nullifies or fulfills the Mosaic Covenant, rendering traditional Jewish ritual law obsolete. In the context of Western Religion, supersessionism is deeply significant because it fueled centuries of theological anti-Judaism, shaped Christian identity over and against Jewish identity, and directly impacted the political and social realities of Jewish minorities in Christian Europe.

Supersessionism

Resurrection refers to the belief in the literal, physical revival of the dead at the end of time, a core eschatological concept that evolved dynamically across the Abrahamic religions. While early biblical Judaism focused primarily on a shadowy underworld called Sheol, later Pharisaic tradition, Christianity, and Islam all integrated vivid doctrines of physical resurrection, final judgment, and eternal reward or punishment. This concept is profoundly significant for Western Religion because it shifted religious focus toward personal morality and ultimate cosmic justice, serving as a primary driver for religious conversion across Western history.

Resurrection / Afterlife

Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE) is the central prophet and founder of Islam, whom Muslims revere as the final messenger in a long line of Abrahamic prophets. Born in Mecca, he received oral revelations from God via the Angel Gabriel over a twenty-three-year period, which were later compiled into the Quran. For a course in Western Religion, Muhammad is profoundly significant because he successfully united the Arabian Peninsula under radical monotheism, launching a religious and geopolitical civilization that fundamentally reshaped the Mediterranean and Western worlds.

Muhammad

The Quran is the holy book of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the literal, unadulterated word of God revealed orally to the Prophet Muhammad. Organized into 114 chapters called surahs, it addresses theology, morality, law, and narratives of earlier biblical figures like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Within Western Religion, the Quran is significant as a corrective scripture that explicitly engages with, critiques, and seeks to supersede Jewish and Christian theological developments, completing the tripartite trajectory of the major Abrahamic faiths.

Quran