Q.1
According to the earliest stages of Genesis, what is the first main positive purpose of humankind?
  • To do what God tells us and never anything else
  • To share in the joy of God's creation and bear responsibility for taking care of it ('stewardship')
  • That the human female was an afterthought on God's part
  • That free-will can only be a curse upon humankind
Q.2
Rather later in the Old Testament, the prophet Micah offers an almost disarmingly simple prescription for the behaviour of a true believer (see 6:8 in his Book). 'What does the Lord require?' he asks, rhetorically ... and then offers three of the following answers, among which we have mischievously hidden a false fourth one. Which is this FALSE one?
  • Do justly
  • Love mercy
  • Honour your neighbour
  • Walk humbly with your God
Q.3
Jesus Himself summarised the Jewish Law in basic terms of memorably few principles: how few?
  • Two
  • Three
  • Five
  • Seven
Q.4
St Teresa of Avila (born 1515) beautifully described the mission of living believers in a meditation which begins: 'Christ has no body now on earth but ... (?) ...
  • ... yours ... '
  • ... pray to Him in the Spirit and He will answer you'
  • ... intercedes for you from the Throne of Heaven'
  • ... is raised for your Salvation'
Q.5
St Richard of Chichester wrote another, somewhat parallel, devotional prayer which has also remained deservedly popular. It concludes: 'May we ... (?) ... (There then follow three of these four Christian intentions; which ONE is not in the original?)
  • Know you more clearly
  • Love you more dearly
  • Grow in wisdom yearly
  • Follow you more nearly
Q.6
The story of the very early Church (as told by 'Dr. Luke' in The Acts of the Apostles) sheds interesting light on how the first believers sought to live. Chapter 4 vs. 32-5 might reasonably fairly be paraphrased: 'Everything was shared between the believers ... so nobody went short; even funds from the sale of private dwellings were distributed to help alleviate the needs of others.' On first glance, at least, to what great political movement does this behaviour (and even wording) bear almost startling similarity?
  • The Emancipation of Slaves
  • The Charter of Human Rights
  • The Welfare State
  • The Communist Manifesto
Q.7
Within the Lord's Prayer, Christians daily pray 'Thy kingdom come; Thy will be on earth, as it is in heaven'. Several other Bible texts give ground for hope and encouragement towards this being achieved: which of the following seems the LEAST relevant?
  • 'The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea' (Isa.11:9 ; Hbk.2:14)
  • 'God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose' (Phil.2:13)
  • 'Those who sow with tears will ... reap and return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves ...' (Ps.126:5-6)
  • 'Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His field' (Mt.9:38)
Q.8
St Paul has plenty to offer on the purpose of Christian life, having taken this up with great enthusiasm in surprising circumstances (see Acts 9). In his letter to the Romans, who were living at the very centre of the then-known world with all its bustle and luxuries, he wrote: 'The kingdom of God is not a matter of ( ... ... ) , but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit'. What was, or were, the rejected priority in the 'blank' above?
  • what we eat or drink
  • satisfying our ambitions and appetites
  • avoiding trouble with our neighbours
  • dying with a reasonably clear conscience
Q.9
What, as understood in mainstream Christianity, happens when a personal Christian believer dies?
  • The signs of mortal life are extinguished, and 'that's it' apart from the formalities of cremation &/or burial
  • The soul is released into the eternal joy of heaven
  • Judgement comes, and the 'unsaved' or worthless are cast out, so missing the prospect of eternal bliss
  • Jesus comes in person to collect the soul of the departed
Q.10
Of course, 'being us', we find ourselves naturally led to look at life, and the world, taking our own immediate surroundings and experience as a starting-point. But the Psalmist (possibly David ~ him again: shepherd, king, musician, soldier ... with an unusual variety of experience in his own life!) sets himself firmly into humble perspective in the context of creation: the God whom he later claims to be his personal 'shepherd', is Lord of the universe. Having explored the dimensions and majesty of this ~ see Pss. 8 and 19 ~ he signs-off with a prayer which any believer might echo: 'May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be (always) pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my ~ (How does he then refer to God?)
  • Light
  • Rock and Redeemer
  • Refuge
  • Master
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