Chapter 2: The Greco-Roman World of Early Christianity

Test Bank

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 01

1. What is Hellenization? In what ways do you think it might have affected the spread of Christianity?

Title: Chapter 02 Question 02

2. Discuss some of the ways Greco-Roman religions differ from modern religions.

Title: Chapter 02 Question 03

3. How did most people understand the relationship of human beings to the gods in the Greco-Roman world?

Title: Chapter 02 Question 04

4. Define cultus deorum. What did it involve and what was its purpose? In what other ways did pagans communicate with their gods?

Title: Chapter 02 Question 01

1. What was probably the first book of the New Testament to be written?

a. Matthew

b. Romans

c. First Thessalonians

d. Mark

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 02

2. Alexander the Great was originally king of what country?

a. Egypt

b. Palestine

c. India

d. Macedonia

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 03

3. The spread of Greek culture and language is known as _____.

a. paganism

b. Hellenization

c. Greco-Roman world

d. daimonia

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 04

4. When did Alexander the Great die?

a. 425 BCE

b. 323 BCE

c. 44 BCE

d. 70 CE

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 05

5. When was The Life of Apollonius written?

a. first century BCE

b. first century CE

c. second century CE

d. third century CE

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 06

6. Who wrote The Life of Apollonius?

a. Philostratus

b. Julius Caesar

c. Alexander the Great

d. Octavian

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 07

7. Greco-Roman religion incorporated which of the following?

a. creeds

b. tolerance

c. sacred texts

d. ethical commitments

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 08

8. Polytheism is the _____.

a. worship of one god

b. worship of nature

c. worship of many gods

d. worship of the emperor

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 09

9. Which of the following was thought to be the most powerful of the gods?

a. Genius

b. Lares

c. Daimonia

d. Zeus

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 10

10. Which of the following was not a household deity?

a. Penates

b. Lares

c. Daimonia

d. Genius

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 11

11. Who among the following was not thought to be a demigod or divine man?

a. Alexander the Great

b. Pythagoras

c. Heracles

d. Philostratus

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 12

12. The term “cult” means _____.

a. strange belief

b. magic

c. gods

d. care

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 13

13. Which of the following refers to a group of lesser gods in the Greco-Roman world?

a. augurs

b. extispicy

c. polytheism

d. daimonia

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 14

14. Which of the following was not used to determine the views of the gods?

a. extispicy

b. penates

c. auspices

d. divination

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 15

15. When individuals wished to know the will of a god, they visited a(n) _____.

a. oracle

b. cult

c. daimonia

d. lares

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 16

16. The leaders of priestly “colleges” were _____.

a. equestrians

b. geniuses

c. augurs

d. senators

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 17

17. What does “gentile” mean?

a. penates

b. Jew

c. non-Jew

d. pagan

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 18

18. Which was not a typical feature of Greco-Roman religions?

a. separation of church and state

b. polytheism

c. organization and hierarchy

d. cultic acts

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 19

19. Most people in the ancient world believed that _____.

a. religion brought a happy afterlife

b. religion brought immortality

c. religion secured life in this world

d. religion helped only moral people

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 20

20. Who among the following was often believed to be divine?

a. senators

b. equestrians

c. emperor

d. augurs

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 21

21. Which term refers to the interpretation of a sacrificial animal’s entrails?

a. lares

b. oracles

c. extispicy

d. augury

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 22

22. In the Greco-Roman world, the religious and political realms typically _____.

a. functioned together in hopes of securing peace and prosperity

b. remained distinct; politicians did not participate in religion

c. remained distinct; politicians created their own religions

d. clashed; they couldn’t agree on appropriate forms of worship

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 23

23. Which of the following likely influenced the pagan persecution of Christians?

a. a general religious intolerance among pagans

b. the Christian refusal to participate in sacrifices honoring the emperor

c. the pagan’s lack of familiarity with monotheism

d. Christianity was made illegal in the first century

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 24

24. In the ancient world, most people _____.

a. were priests

b. worshipped the same, exclusive set of gods

c. participated in religious rituals

d. were monotheists

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 25

25. Pagan religions typically lacked all of the following except _____.

a. systematic doctrine

b. an ethical system

c. sacred texts

d. temples

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 26

26. Understanding Greco-Roman religion is useful for the study of the New Testament because _____.

a. the Greco-Roman world foreshadows the early Christian experience

b. New Testament authors wrote within the context of the Greco-Roman world

c. Greco-Roman prophets made predictions about Jesus

d. Jesus’ ministry focused on converting pagans

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 27

27. The term “gentile” designates _____.

a. a non-Jew

b. a Jew

c. a disciple of Jesus

d. someone who is Hellenized.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 28

28. Which of the following does not apply to Alexander the Great?

a. He was a brilliant military strategist.

b. He controlled much of the lands surrounding the eastern Mediterranean.

c. He was the first Roman emperor.

d. He promoted Greek culture.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 29

29. Polytheism _____.

a. was not exclusive

b. refers only to the highest level of Greco-Roman gods

c. was not the most popular form of religion in the ancient world

d. focused on the afterlife

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 02 Question 30

30. Which claim about Jesus would have been most easily understood by pagans?

a. Jesus offers salvation from sin.

b. Jesus maintains the Torah.

c. Jesus is the messiah.

d. Jesus performed miracles.