Exam Questions Women In Early Christianity Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Test Bank

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 01

1. Jesus’ associations with women are best explained by which of the following?

a. He was rejecting the Jewish law.

b. He was enacting his apocalyptic belief in the reversal of fortunes.

c. He believed women were more capable of understanding his message.

d. He was a Pharisee.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 02

2. During Jesus’ ministry, women seem to have done all the following except _____.

a. anoint him with oil

b. provide him with financial support

c. participate in the Last Supper

d. travel with him from Galilee to Jerusalem

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 03

3. Jesus’ associations with women are characterized as all of the following except _____.

a. typical for Judaism at the time

b. multiply attested

c. a regular element of his ministry

d. contextually credible

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 04

4. Besides the disciples of Jesus, which other early Jewish group seems to have benefited from the support of women?

a. Pharisees

b. Essenes

c. Zealots

d. Cynics

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 05

5. Mary Magdalene appears _____.

a. only in Luke’s Gospel

b. only in John’s Gospel

c. in all four canonical Gospels

d. only in the Synoptic Gospels

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 06

6. The Gospels report all of the following about Mary Magdalene except _____.

a. she was a prostitute

b. she experienced an exorcism

c. she was one of the women who visited the empty tomb

d. she traveled with Jesus and his disciples around Galilee

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 07

7. Which of the following noncanonical Gospels suggests a more intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene than that depicted in the canonical Gospels?

a. the Gospel of Peter

b. the Gospel of Philip

c. the Gospel of Judas

d. the Gospel of Thomas

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 08

8. In Paul’s letter to Rome, he calls Phoebe _____.

a. foremost among the apostles

b. a deacon

c. a bishop

d. an elder

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 09

9. In Romans, Paul refers to Junia as _____.

a. foremost among the apostles

b. a deacon

c. a bishop

d. an elder

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 10

10. Who is not among the list of women in Romans 16?

a. Prisca

b. Junia

c. Julia

d. Euodia

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 11

11. According to Paul, Prisca _____.

a. contributed significantly to the Gentile mission

b. was one of the prominent disciples of Jesus

c. was martyred for the Christian faith

d. remained unmarried like Paul

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 12

12. Paul seems to have believed that _____.

a. there is sexual equality in this world

b. women should act like men

c. sexual equality was not yet a social reality

d. men should urge women to preach

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 13

13. The New Testament says this figure engaged in public dialogue and debate with women.

a. Timothy

b. Jesus

c. Peter

d. James

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 14

14. Which of the following does not serve as evidence that 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 was later added to 1 Corinthians by someone other than Paul?

a. The passage is written in different places in different manuscripts.

b. The passage interrupts the flow of Paul’s discourse.

c. Paul viewed women as naturally different than men.

d. Paul does not encourage the silence of women anywhere else in his letters.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 15

15. The early Christian movement _____.

a. was made up largely of men

b. was made up largely of women

c. was a public group

d. was non-apocalyptic

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 16

16. In antiquity, men were believed to be _____.

a. more fully developed than women

b. the same as women

c. irrational

d. weaker than women

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 17

17. The most important virtue for men in antiquity was _____.

a. love

b. knowledge

c. honor

d. fairness

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 18

18. In antiquity, women exercised authority primarily in _____.

a. the Temple

b. the workplace

c. the court of law

d. the home

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 19

19. In antiquity, people believed males and females were _____.

a. completely unrelated

b. different in degree

c. different in kind

d. equal in status

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 20

20. In the ancient world, which of the following groups advocated equality for women?

a. Sadducees

b. public officials

c. Essenes

d. Epicureans

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 21

21. All of the following texts seem to have allowed women to hold significant positions except _____.

a. 1 Timothy

b. Romans

c. Acts

d. Philippians

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 22

22. The author of 1 Timothy requires that all male leaders (bishops, deacons, and elders) be _____.

a. celibate

b. married

c. submissive to their wives in the household

d. model their personal lives after Paul’s

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 23

23. 1 Timothy recommends all of the following for women except _____.

a. they should procreate with their husbands

b. they should avoid teaching in their congregations

c. they should avoid marriage

d. they should avoid telling old wives’ tales

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 24

24. Which of the following is not among the reasons 1Timothy offers for why women should not teach men?

a. The church already has enough male teachers.

b. Women were created as secondary to men.

c. Women are like Eve.

d. Women are easily deceived.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 25

25. The term “widows” in 1 Timothy seems to refer to _____.

a. early Christian women whose husbands had died

b. early Christian women who had no husband, regardless of prior marital status

c. elderly Christian women

d. clever women in the Christian community

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 26

26. The Acts of Thecla serves as stark contrast to which of the following?

a. the Pastoral epistles

b. Paul’s letter to the Romans

c. Jesus’ associations with women

d. Stoic philosophy

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 27

27. Who claimed, “There is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”?

a. Jesus

b. Paul

c. 1 Timothy

d. Thecla

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 28

28. In the early church, women occupied all of the following roles except _____.

a. financial supporters

b. evangelist

c. vestal virgin

d. prophet

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 29

29. Which of the following did not seem to contribute to diminished roles for women in the early church?

a. the increasingly public presence of the church

b. Jesus’ experience with women

c. ancient ideologies of gender

d. the decline in apocalyptic fervor

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 30

30. The New Testament canon portrays _____.

a. a singular view of women that is typical of the ancient world

b. multiple views of women

c. the same view of women that is expressed in the Jewish Scriptures

d. only Paul’s view of women

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 01

1. Discuss the evidence for women’s activity in Paul’s communities. What do we know about Paul’s view on women?

Feedback: Paul’s undisputed letters indicate that women played a role in the foundation of the earliest churches. Romans 16, for instance, lists numerous women who contribute to Paul’s mission, including Junia, “foremost among the apostles” (v. 7), and Prisca, who helps support a congregation in her home (vv. 3–4). 1 Corinthians, Philippians, and Acts suggest women were active in Paul’s mission. Elsewhere in Paul’s letters, he offers his own sentiments on gender roles. Paul allows women to participate equally in the church, but they are to do so as women, whose nature differs from men. Equality before Christ did not necessitate social equality for Paul. Also, there are good reasons to view the admonition that women remain silent in 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 as secondary and not representative of Paul’s views of women.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 02

2. How are women involved in Jesus’ ministry? How might Jesus’ association with women have affected women’s roles in the early Church?

Feedback: The earliest Gospel traditions make clear that there were many women associated with Jesus: women provided financial support for his ministry, accompanied him in his public ministry, traveled with him to Jerusalem, anointed him with oil, remained faithful to the end of his life, were the first disciples at the empty tomb, and thus the first to proclaim the resurrection. Many of these traditions are multiply attested. In terms of contextual credibility, certain ancient philosophical schools advocated equality for women. Jesus’ association with women may also be historically credible, in part, because of his apocalyptic views. Because part of his message was the reversal of fortunes, it is possible that Jesus’ association with women—a part of society generally perceived to be inferior—was an enactment of his apocalyptic message.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 03

3. Discuss the two opposing positions on women that emerge among early Christians in the wake of Paul. How do both sides rely on Paul? Which traditions are associated with each position? Which side ultimately reflects the predominant, authoritative view?

Feedback: Because Paul’s tradition includes both opportunities and limitations for women, it is not surprising that subsequent Christian groups used Paul to advance their own, very different views. One group took the side that women were equal to men in every way (e.g., the Acts of Paul and Thecla) and drew on Paul’s advice to remain celibate. Other Christians, however, took the opposite stance and argued that women should marry and occupy a traditional, submissive role (e.g., the Pastoral epistles). The latter view becomes authoritative, a position solidified through its inclusion in the canon.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 04

4. How do you explain the shift in early Christianity from women occupying positions of status and significance to women being restricted to submissive roles? What factors were likely involved?

Feedback: As long as Christians met within the confines of the private home, women were able to hold positions of authority and prominence. As the movement grew, however, and Christianity became more public, it became problematic for women to retain their leadership positions, especially in light of ancient views of gender. Students may also consider how the progressive structure of the church diminished the equality of the earlier charismatic communities, leaving few options for female leaders.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 01

1. What evidence exists to suggest that women played a prominent role in Paul’s churches?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 02

2. What evidence suggests that women played an important role in the ministry of Jesus?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 03

3. Was Jesus, in your view, a social revolutionary with regard to women? Was Paul?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 04

4. Did Paul try to implement his own view of women into the social arrangements of his churches? If so, how? If not, why not?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 05

5. How did women fare in Pauline churches after Paul passed off the scene? How do you explain their demise from positions of prestige and authority?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 06

6. How do ancient ideologies of gender help explain the fate of women in the early Christian churches, that is, their progressive oppression? Why were women thought to be inferior to men in that world? How did these views come to be implemented in the churches associated with Paul?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 07

7. Why did asceticism become popular among Christian women?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 08

8. Why do many scholars question the Pauline authorship of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 09

9. How does Galatians 3:28 fit into Paul’s overall view of women?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 18 Question 10

10. How is Mary Magdalene depicted in Gospel traditions?