Q.1
Once upon a time*, in an age before SatNav, travellers by road or on foot who were looking for a village (nestled in the hills &/or forest, perhaps) would know where or when to look out for it by recognising the Ordnance Survey map symbol for the church building at the likely heart of it, and watching for that to appear against the actual skyline. The symbol for a small chapel (such as a nonconformist one) would be a small plain black cross, but for a church as such, there would be another shape underneath the cross. What was the 'code' for recognising these at a distance? (* Way back in the 20th century, before you were born ~ if you are a potential GCSE candidate in or beyond the '20-teens'!)
  • A round base meant a church with a tower; a square base meant a church with a spire or steeple
  • A round base meant a church with a spire or steeple; a square base meant a church with a tower
  • A triangular base meant a church with a spire or steeple; a square base meant a church with a tower
  • A triangular base meant a church with a tower; a square base meant a church with a spire or steeple
Q.2
One of the most famous and recognisable pieces of sacred classical music is the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from the first great English oratorio (an art-form that lies, in broad terms, somewhere between church music and opera), written by George Frideric Handel in the mid-18th century. The oratorio outlines, and reflects on, the major stages of the earthly life of Jesus. What is the work's overall title?
  • The Messiah
  • The Crucifixion
  • The Life of Christ
  • The Requiem
Q.3
Of which of the following creative and visual arts might you expect to see active evidence in a place of Christian worship?
  • Architectural mouldings, wood-carvings and sculpture
  • Stained glass (abstract, or 'figurative' of Bible scenes, saints etc.)
  • Pictures, wall decorations, ceremonial pottery &/or metalware; ornamental fabrics on priestly clothing, cushions, altar-cloths etc.
  • Many or all of the above
Q.4
After Coventry's ('old', i.e. mediaeval) Cathedral was bombed during World War II, by enemy aircraft trying to destroy the local motor industry, a cross was made with three pieces from the old structure, and this has since become an international emblem for reconciliation and forgiveness. What items were salvaged to make this cross?
  • Beams
  • Organ pipes
  • Nails
  • Pew panels
Q.5
If you were to ask someone you knew that had no particular grounding in 'religious music' as such, to name any such piece they could think of (perhaps something they had last sung along to at a wedding or funeral) ~ apart from the odd Christmas carol, perhaps ~ they might at least be vaguely aware of 'Abide with Me, 'The Lord's my Shepherd' and 'Amazing Grace'. This third piece has 'Gospel' overtones, and indeed refers to the fairly spectacular personal conversion of a former 'sinner': who was he?
  • John Newton, captain of a shipwrecked slaving vessel
  • Isaac Watts, a hymnodist who had previously been a gambler
  • William Wilberforce, the social reformer
  • Martin Luther King, repenting of various personal mistakes in his younger life
Q.6
If you see any form of reproduction of an artwork (even ~ God forbid! ~ some modern parody of it) in which about a dozen men, probably bearded and in 1st-century clothes, are sitting around the far side of a long meal-table, with bread and wine prominent at the centre ... which Biblical occasion is this probably illustrating?
  • The Nativity
  • The Wedding at Cana in Galilee
  • The Last Supper
  • The Feeding of the Five Thousand
Q.7
Another 'holy' image which we might rightly dub iconic, is of a robed-and-sandalled Jesus pausing in front of a half-overgrown doorway. He has a lantern with Him in the darkness, and a crown of thorns on His head, and He is shown knocking at the door. What is the correct title of this richly-painted, heavily symbolic 19th-century image?
  • 'The Light of the World' by William Holman Hunt
  • 'The Sorrowing Saviour' by John Everett Millais
  • 'Love Locked Out' by Anna Lea Merritt
  • 'His Master's Voice' by Edward Elgar
Q.8
Which rightly famous organisation, that anonymously supports other people at their times of greatest personal crisis and need, takes its own name from the unlikely 'hero' of one of the Parables of Jesus?
  • Nightline
  • Samaritans
  • The Fisher Folk
  • Emmaus
Q.9
Which of the following is NOT a phrase in modern English use that comes from within stories in the Scriptures (i.e. the Holy Bible)?
  • 'Turn the other cheek'
  • 'Daily bread'
  • 'Let my people go'
  • (All of the above are from Scripture)
Q.10
Here are some song titles which you may well recognise (and you can sing or hum along if you like ... despite our splendid technology, we at this end very sadly won't be able to hear you)! But which of these, as with question 9, is NOT overtly inspired by Scripture?
  • 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'
  • 'Go Tell It on the Mountain'
  • 'Were You There?'
  • (All of the above are Spirituals)
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