[Revised 4/23/2019. Terms in parentheses will not be potential
ID choices,
but you might still want to talk about these terms should you end up
writing on the related essay.]
FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
POTENTIAL ID'S
EUSEBIUS, DEMONSTRATION OF THE GOSPEL,
PAMPHILIUS, ABGAR, PHILO, JOSEPHUS, THEOPHANIES, FTG I*, FTG II*
CANON, ECCLESIASTICUS, TOBIT, JUDITH, DEUTEROCANONICALS,
APOCRYPHA, PSEUDEPIGRAPHA, ACTS OF PAUL AND THECLA, GOSPEL OF THOMAS
NERO, (DOMITIAN), PLINY, TRAJAN, DECIUS, (VALERIAN), POLYCARP,
BLANDINA,
DIOCLETIAN, GALERIUS
GNOSTICISM, VALENTINUS, MARCION, IRENAEUS, (HIPPOLYTUS), QUARODECIMIANS, MONTANISTS, SABELLIUS, PAUL
OF SAMOSATA, NOVATIAN, CYPRIAN
CONSTANTINE, EDICT OF MILAN, ARIANS, COUNCIL OF NICAEA, ECUMENICAL
COUNCILS, JUSTIN MARTYR, ATHENAGORAS, ORIGEN
*FTG = Favorite Theater Game
POTENTIAL ESSAY
QUESTIONS:
A. Eusebius' History of the
Church is an extremely valuable source for anyone who wants to
understand the development of the church during the Ante-Nicene
period. Playing theater games might help too. Comment.
B. One task facing the early church was to decide what writings
would and would not be accepted as authoritative scripture,
"canonical." Many have argued that they made a mistake or two in
their decisions, but, for the most part, it would be hard to improve on
their choices. Comment.
C. It is not surprising that Christians were persecuted by the
Romans. It is somewhat more surprising that persecution not only
failed to eradicate Christianity but may even have led to its
spread. Comment.
D. In some ways, dealing with heresy is as tricky as dealing with
cancer. While the early church was able to develop diagnostic
tools and surgical instruments effective in containing some forms of
heresy, the church found other forms of heresy much harder to diagnose
and treat. Comment.
E. Constantine is one of the most important figures in the
history of the church. The support he gave the church was
certainly an important factor in the eventual triumph of Christianity
over paganism. But while the political support of men like
Constantine was important, there was something even more important to
the success of the church--the triumph of Christian thinkers in the
battle for the hearts and minds of men. Comment.