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Total questions: 98
Worksheet time: 49mins
Christianity was originally viewed by Roman authorities as
A revolutionary political movement
A foreign mystery religion
A Jewish sect
A philosophical school
The Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 led Emperor Nero to
Legalize Christianity
Convert to Christianity
Blame Christians and persecute them
Destroy the Jewish Temple
Which apostles were likely martyred during Nero’s persecution?
James and John
Andrew and Thomas
Peter and Paul
Matthew and Mark
The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70 contributed to
The end of Christianity
Roman conversion to Judaism
A clearer separation between Judaism and Christianity
The formation of the papacy
Roman suspicion toward Christians included accusations of
Treason and cannibalism
Worshiping idols
Immorality
All of the above
Early Christians were accused of “atheism” by Romans primarily because they
Rejected moral law
Denied the existence of God
Refused to worship Roman gods
Worshiped secretly
Pliny the Younger described Christians as people who
Planned rebellion
Practiced sorcery
Met regularly to sing to Christ as God
Rejected all authority
One reason martyr stories strengthened the early church was that they
Encouraged rebellion
Created fear
Demonstrated faith under suffering
Promoted isolation
The phrase “Jesus is Lord” was controversial in Rome because it
Was unclear
Denied resurrection
Challenged loyalty to Caesar
Rejected Scripture
Early Christian worship most often took place in
Basilicas
Temples
Homes
Public forums
Christian writers who defended the faith against false accusations were known as
Prophets
Bishops
Martyrs
Apologists
Justin Martyr is remembered primarily as
A Roman emperor
A Gnostic teacher
A Christian philosopher and apologist
A desert monk
Gnosticism taught that
Jesus was only human
The Old Testament was supreme
The physical world was evil
Salvation came through good works
Marcion rejected
Paul’s letters
The New Testament
The Old Testament God
The Gospel of John
The New Testament canon developed primarily because the church needed to
Control believers
Support Roman authority
Respond to false teachings
Replace oral tradition
Which writings were universally recognized earliest by the church?
Revelation and Hebrews
The Apocrypha
The four Gospels and Paul’s letters
Church council rulings
Gnostic writings were rejected because they
Were too mystical
Contradicted known apostolic teaching
Were written too late
Lacked moral teaching
The fish symbol (ichthys) was used by Christians to
Mark churches
Show wealth
Confess core beliefs about Jesus
Avoid persecution
The “Rule of Faith” later became known as
The Nicene Creed
The Apostles’ Creed
The Chalcedonian Definition
The Athanasian Creed
Bishops gained increased authority primarily to
Expand empire influence
Enforce Roman law
Preserve doctrinal unity
Replace Scripture
Early church leadership developed most rapidly in response to
Population growth
Roman support
Doctrinal threats
The Apostles’ Creed was primarily used to
Replace Scripture
Unite empire and church
Teach new believers core doctrine
Define church hierarchy
A disagreement over the date of Easter highlighted growing tensions between
Jews and Christians
Monks and bishops
Eastern and Western churches
Rome and Jerusalem
Early Christian growth was helped because the faith
Promised political power
Offered wealth
Valued women, children, and human dignity
Required no moral standards
Emperor Constantine claimed conversion after
Reading Scripture
Meeting a bishop
Seeing a vision before battle
Being baptized as a child
The Edict of Milan (313)
Made Christianity mandatory
Outlawed pagan worship
Legalized Christianity
Created the papacy
Constantine’s support of Christianity resulted in
Immediate doctrinal unity
The end of heresy
Increased church wealth and influence
Elimination of persecution worldwide
One unintended consequence of imperial favor was
Increased evangelism
Simpler worship
Political involvement in theology
Greater persecution
The Council of Nicaea (325) addressed the teaching that
Jesus was only human
The Spirit was inferior
Jesus was created and not eternal
Mary was divine
Arius taught that Jesus
Was fully human only
Had a beginning in time
Was equal to the Father
Was merely symbolic
Athanasius is remembered for
Founding monasticism
Translating Scripture
Defending Christ’s full divinity
Supporting imperial theology
The Nicene Creed affirmed that Jesus is
A lesser god
Of the same essence as the Father
A great prophet
A created being
The Nicene Creed helped the church by
Ending all disputes
Replacing Scripture
Clarifying biblical teaching about Christ
Creating denominational structures
After Christianity became legal, some believers pursued holiness through
Military service
Political leadership
Monastic life
Academic study
Augustine wrote The City of God in response to
Arianism
Pelagianism
The fall of Rome
The Great Schism
Pelagius argued that
Grace is irresistible
Humans are predestined
Humans can obey God without grace
Scripture is unclear
Augustine’s distinction between the City of God and City of Man emphasized that
Christians should withdraw
Rome was divine
God’s kingdom is not tied to political power
Governments are evil
The Council of Chalcedon (451) declared that Christ is
Two persons
Only divine
Only human
One person with two natures
Early desert monks sought
Political power
Isolation from God
A disciplined, devoted Christian life
Wealth and influence
Monastic communities eventually contributed to
Church decline
Pagan worship
Education and preservation of texts
Abandonment of Scripture
Jerome’s Latin Bible was significant because it
Replaced Greek manuscripts
Added new books
Standardized Scripture for Western Christianity
Eliminated Hebrew influence
Gregory the Great is significant because he
Translated the Bible
Founded monasteries
Strengthened the role of the bishop of Rome
The rise of Islam in the 7th century
Eliminated Christianity
Strengthened Rome
Reduced Christian territories
Ended theological debate
Iconoclasm involved disputes over
Baptism
Church authority
Religious images
Church councils
Iconoclasts opposed icons because they believed icons
Were ineffective
Were unnecessary
Encouraged idolatry
Were pagan art
The Second Council of Nicaea (787) ruled that icons
Must be destroyed
Must be worshiped
May be venerated but not worshiped
Are heretical
The Filioque controversy concerned
Church authority
Baptism
The procession of the Holy Spirit
The divinity of Christ
The Great Schism of 1054 divided
Catholics and Protestants
Jews and Christians
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics
Monks and bishops
The crowning of Charlemagne in 800 showed that
Kings ruled the church
The church could create emperors
Rome had fallen
Eastern Christianity dominated
One long-term result of the Crusades was
Church unity
Muslim conversion
Deeper division between East and West
End of Islam
The Fourth Crusade was especially damaging because it
Failed militarily
Strengthened Islam
Attacked fellow Christians
Ended pilgrimages
Medieval monastic reforms sought to
Increase wealth
Support crusades
Restore spiritual discipline
Expand empire
Scholasticism attempted to
Reject philosophy
Replace Scripture
Harmonize faith and reason
Promote mysticism only
Scholastics believed that reason
Replaced faith
Opposed theology
Could serve faith
Was irrelevant
Thomas Aquinas is best known for
Founding monasteries
Translating Scripture
Systematic theology using reason
Leading crusades
Mystics such as Bernard of Clairvaux emphasized
Church law
Political power
Personal devotion and love for God
Military strength
The Western Schism involved
Pagan revival
Two popes only
Multiple competing popes
Eastern churches
The Avignon Papacy damaged the church’s credibility because it
Ended Rome’s authority
Appeared politically corrupt
Rejected Scripture
Opposed reform
Conciliarism argued that
Popes were infallible
Scripture was unclear
Church councils could correct popes
Bishops had no authority
John Wycliffe believed the true church consisted of
Bishops
Popes
God’s people
Councils
Translating the Bible into the vernacular was controversial because it
Was expensive
Took too long
Empowered lay believers
Reduced literacy
Jan Hus was executed primarily for
Political rebellion
Denying Christ
Challenging church authority
Supporting Islam
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 contributed to
Islamic decline
End of learning
Renewed study of Greek texts in the West
Supporting Islam
Renaissance humanism emphasized
Church tradition
Mysticism
Returning to original sources
Anti-Christian philosophy
Martin Luther’s theological breakthrough came from
Church councils
Monastic discipline
Romans 1:17
Augustine’s writings
Luther’s 95 Theses primarily challenged
Papal infallibility
Infant baptism
The sale of indulgences
Church creeds
The term “Protestant” originated from
Luther’s writings
Calvin’s theology
A political protest against church rulings
Anabaptist movements
Luther’s phrase “Here I stand” reflects his commitment to
Church unity
Papal authority
Scriptural conscience
Political reform
The Protestant Reformation spread rapidly due to
Military conquest
Church support
Printing technology
Universal literacy
John Calvin is best known for
Translating the Bible
Founding monastic orders
Systematizing Reformation theology
Leading the English church
Calvin’s theology emphasized
Human freedom above all
Church ritual
The sovereignty of God
Mystical experience
Anabaptists differed from other Reformers by rejecting
Scripture
Grace
Infant baptism
Church discipline
Anabaptists were persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants because they
Denied Christ
Opposed Scripture
Rejected state-church assumptions
Supported violence
William Tyndale’s major contribution was
Church reform
Political theology
Translating the Bible into English
Writing creeds
Tyndale’s execution highlights the danger of
Illiteracy
Reform councils
Challenging political and religious authority
Bible translation errors
The Council of Trent was the Catholic Church’s response to
Islam
Humanism
The Protestant Reformation
The Enlightenment
The Council of Trent affirmed that
Faith alone saves
Scripture alone is authority
Tradition and Scripture are both authoritative
Indulgences were abolished entirely
The Council of Trent reformed abuses but also
Accepted Protestant theology
Rejected Protestant theology
Abolished church councils
Removed all tradition from doctrine
Catholic renewal included
Ending monastic life
Founding new religious orders
Rejecting missions
Eliminating education
Erasmus’ Greek New Testament contributed to
Church unity
Catholic suppression
Renewed study of Scripture in original languages
The end of Latin Bibles
Erasmus differed from Luther because he
Rejected Scripture
Denied grace
Remained within the Catholic Church
Opposed reform
One lasting effect of the Reformation was
Complete unity
End of doctrine
Multiple Christian traditions
Decline of Christianity
Church history shows that
Doctrine never changed
Faith always declined
The church continually re-examined Scripture
Politics always helped faith
Many church councils were called primarily to
Gain power
Impress emperors
Respond to theological error
End persecution
Repeated reform movements suggest that
Christianity failed
The church was false
Believers sought faithfulness to Scripture
Throughout church history, persecution often resulted in
Church collapse
Doctrinal confusion
Spiritual clarity and growth
Loss of faith
A central theme of church history is that
The church steadily improved
Politics always corrupted faith
God worked through both faithfulness and failure
Doctrine never changed
One consistent tension in church history is between
Faith and science
Scripture and reason
Spiritual authority and political power
Eastern and Western culture
Many reformers believed that true renewal required
New traditions
Stronger governments
A return to Scripture
Church unity at all costs
The spread of Christianity across cultures required
Uniform practices
Political force
Translation and adaptation
Rejection of tradition
Church history demonstrates that heresies often arose from
Too much Scripture
Too many councils
Imbalanced interpretations of biblical truth
Political pressure alone
Many early doctrinal debates focused on
Worship music
Church buildings
The identity of Jesus Christ
Mission strategy
One reason church history is studied today is to
Judge past believers
Eliminate tradition
Learn from both successes and failures
Replace Scripture
Church tradition, when healthiest, has functioned to
Replace the Bible
Control believers
Preserve and pass on biblical teaching
Prevent reform
Across centuries, Christian unity has been most challenged by
Language differences
Geography
Theological disagreements
Worship styles
Despite division, Christianity has continued because
Institutions endured
Empires supported it
The gospel continued to be proclaimed
Doctrine never changed
A central lesson of church history is that
Institutions save the church
Power preserves truth
God remains faithful despite human failure
Reform ends conflict
Where were believers in Jesus Christ first get called "Christians"
Antioch
Jerusalem
Alexandria
Nazareth
