BTheol Bachelor of Theology Church History 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Anabaptist movement in the 16th century was distinguished from other Protestant groups primarily by which belief?
- Rejection of the Old Testament
- Believer's baptism and separation of church and state (Correct answer)
- Acceptance of the Pope's spiritual authority
- Embrace of liturgical worship from Catholic tradition
Correct answer: Believer's baptism and separation of church and state
Anabaptists rejected infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism and strongly advocated for the separation of church and state, suffering persecution from both Catholics and Protestants.
Question 2: The Didache, an early Christian document from the late first or early second century, primarily addresses which topics?
- The canon of Scripture and apostolic authorship
- Church practice including baptism, fasting, Eucharist, and church order (Correct answer)
- A defense of Christianity against Roman persecution
- A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
Correct answer: Church practice including baptism, fasting, Eucharist, and church order
The Didache ('Teaching of the Twelve Apostles') is an early manual of church practice covering baptism, fasting, the Lord's Prayer, Eucharist, and church leadership.
Question 3: Which 19th-century movement in American Christianity sought to restore the 'New Testament church' and rejected creeds and denominational names?
- The Social Gospel Movement
- The Restoration Movement (Stone-Campbell Movement) (Correct answer)
- Transcendentalism
- The Holiness Movement
Correct answer: The Restoration Movement (Stone-Campbell Movement)
The Restoration Movement, led by figures like Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell, sought to unify Christians by returning to the New Testament as the sole guide for faith and practice.
Question 4: The Protestant concept of 'sola scriptura' asserts that Scripture alone is what?
- Sufficient for scientific and historical knowledge
- The only book Christians need to read
- The supreme and sole authoritative rule for Christian faith and practice (Correct answer)
- Inspired only in its original manuscripts, not translations
Correct answer: The supreme and sole authoritative rule for Christian faith and practice
Sola scriptura holds that the Bible is the highest and final authority for Christian doctrine and practice, over against church tradition, councils, or papal pronouncements.
Question 5: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims a connection to the Old Testament through which biblical figure?
- King David
- Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Correct answer)
- Moses
- Abraham
Correct answer: Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church traces its heritage to the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, claiming the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by their son Menelik I.
Question 6: The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II, 1962–1965) is best characterized by its embrace of which approach?
- Reaffirmation of the Syllabus of Errors against modernism
- Aggiornamento — updating and opening the Church to the modern world (Correct answer)
- Condemnation of Protestant churches as schismatic
- Centralization of all authority in the Roman Curia
Correct answer: Aggiornamento — updating and opening the Church to the modern world
Vatican II embraced 'aggiornamento' (updating), promoting ecumenism, liturgical reform including Mass in the vernacular, and a renewed engagement with the modern world.
Question 7: Which early heresy taught that matter was evil and that Christ only appeared to have a physical body, never truly becoming human?
- Pelagianism
- Monophysitism
- Docetism (Correct answer)
- Modalism
Correct answer: Docetism
Docetism (from the Greek 'dokein,' to seem) taught that Christ only appeared to be human and to suffer, denying the Incarnation, and was condemned as incompatible with Christian teaching.
BTheol Bachelor of Theology Church History 5
The Anabaptist movement in the 16th century was distinguished from other Protestant groups primarily by which belief?