Exam 5: Christianity Becomes a Religion

According to Valentinus, what were the categories of humanity?

Jesus started a new religion, but it took decades for it to become so.

Which emperor accused Christians of starting a fire in Rome?

In Clement of Rome's letter to the Corinthians, he argues that they should not remove and replace their elders. What was his reason?

What is Rabbinic Judaism?

According to the historian Tacitus, what was the attitude toward Christians in the late first century?

What does the term apostle literally mean?

The author claims that central gnostic claims were similar to those of Plato.

Which of the following factors was not cited as a reason why Christianity became a separate religion from Judaism?

What does the term gnosis literally mean?

The author says that bishops eventually represented a number of communities.

Which designations seem to have been equivalent in the New Testament?

The author claims that the persecutions of Christians was unrelenting and universal throughout the Roman Empire.

We have seen that the gnostic Christian Valentinus thought that the God of the Old Testament was different than the true God of the Christians. What do you think of this view? Is it completely far-fetched, or is there some plausibility to it?

The author says that the early church was typically led by a collective of leaders.

Gnosticism scholar Elaine Pagels believed that if the many forms of Gnosticism had not been persecuted, they would have survived as a rival Christian expressions.

What does the term catholic mean?

What does cosmology mean?

Given that early church apologists confronted complaints against Christianity with reasoned argument, what are some issues that the church faces today that are most in need of apologetic answers?

What does the term orthodox literally mean?