Chapter 5: Getting Started: Preliminaries

Quiz questions:

  1. The ultimate source for Christian theology is ______.
  2. The question of ______is the question of what needs to be said before beginning the study of theology itself.
  3. According to F.D.E. Schleiermacher, heresy is that which preserves the appearance of Christianity while contradicting its ______.
  4. For most Christian theologians, the four primary sources of theology are the Bible, tradition, reason, and ______.
  5. The terms spiritual theology and ______theology are sometimes used interchangeably.

Multiple-choice questions:

1) Theology emerged as a primarily theoretical, rather than practical, discipline during the period of

  1. the Reformation, especially in Geneva under John Calvin
  2. the rise of the Enlightenment in Germany
  3. the founding of universities in western Europe in the twelfth century
  4. the early patristic writers

2) In the modern period, systematic theology is largely characterized by

  1. organization around the historic creeds
  2. reflections on the Trinity
  3. the relationship between Christianity and culture
  4. a concern for method

3) Study of the concept of God’s relationship to time is an example of

  1. philosophical theology
  2. historical theology
  3. systematic theology
  4. biblical theology

4) John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is a major work of

  1. philosophical theology
  2. historical theology
  3. systematic theology
  4. biblical theology

5) The phrase “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem” is associated with

  1. Thomas Aquinas
  2. F.D.E. Schleiermacher
  3. Martin Buber
  4. Tertullian

6) The idea that God cannot suffer became embedded in Christian theology

  1. because it was shown to have important roots in Scripture
  2. during the Enlightenment, when questions about suffering were central
  3. when early Christian theologians adopted the notion from Greek philosophy
  4. in the eighteenth century in Germany

7) The close link between theology and spirituality was maintained by

  1. Alasdair MacIntyre
  2. Thomas Merton
  3. Karl Rahner
  4. Walter Bauer

8) The following theologian did not seek to ground Christian theology in human experience:

  1. Karl Barth
  2. Friedrich Schleiermacher
  3. Karl Rahner
  4. Paul Tillich

9) Which of the following theologies is most likely to argue for the importance of neutrality in the study of theology?

  1. liberation theology
  2. postliberal theology
  3. liberal theology
  4. Augustinian theology

10) Walter Bauer is best known for his view that

  1. Christian unity in the early church lay in its adoption of formal doctrines
  2. orthodox views were imposed by the church in Rome over against earlier views deemed to be heretical in retrospect
  3. orthodoxy is the majority view of most Christians, achieved by consensus
  4. heresy refers to ideas that arose later as corruptions of original, orthodox teachings

11) For F.D.E. Schleiermacher, heresy

  1. is always associated with marginalized or minority communities
  2. occurs when Christianity associates too closely with secular philosophy
  3. arises when theology becomes detached from Scripture
  4. is an inadequate or inauthentic interpretation of Christian faith

12) The “critical appropriation of classical culture” is an approach to Christianity and culture developed by

  1. Justin Martyr
  2. Tertullian
  3. Augustine
  4. Aquinas

13) According to H. Richard Niebuhr’s typology, which theologian represents the “Christ and culture in paradox” approach?

  1. Martin Luther
  2. John Calvin
  3. Thomas Aquinas
  4. Menno Simons

14) Which theologian represents Niebuhr’s “Christ above culture” approach?

  1. Tertullian
  2. Martin Luther
  3. Augustine
  4. Thomas Aquinas

15) In general, Christian theology

  1. has always been a practical discipline
  2. interacts and overlaps with multiple other fields of study
  3. has kept itself detached from secular culture
  4. is confined mainly to seminaries and divinity schools

Wiley-Blackwell 2010