Deck 10: Expansion and Change in the East and North

Question 1

What did the Christians of Alexandria do with their patriarch Proterius?

A) They elevated him to become the universal patriarch of the whole church
B) They killed him in church
C) They demanded that he resign, which he did
D) They had the emperor depose him

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the author, the Egyptian church:

A) Was at odds with the Greek culture of Alexandria
B) Ensured that only Greek-speaking bishops could be the patriarch
C) Demanded that only monks could eventually become bishops
D) Made a deal with the emperor to retain its lasting heritage

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Who did the author identify as the first influential writer in Coptic?

A) Antony
B) Pachomius
C) Marcian
D) Shenoute

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Who or what was principally responsible for building regular churches throughout Egypt?

A) Pachomius
B) Monasticism
C) The emperor
D) The patriarch of Alexandria

Question 5

When did Nubia become Christian?

A) Second century
B) Fourth century
C) Sixth century
D) Eighth century

Question 6

Was Nubian Christianity aligned with the decisions from the Council of Chalcedon?

A) Yes, this is why it spread so fast
B) Yes, the emperor insisted on this as his first condition
C) No, it always distrusted Byzantine Christianity
D) No, the emperor's wife schemed to ensure a monophysite missionary

Question 7

When did Christianity fundamentally die out in Nubia?

A) Sixth century
B) Tenth century
C) Fifteenth century
D) It never did as Christianity is Nubia's state religion

Question 8

When was Ethiopia introduced to Christianity?

A) Certainly by the third century
B) Not until the eighth century
C) Only in the tenth century
D) Ethiopia resisted Christianity and ultimately became Muslim

Question 9

The author describes Ethiopia as:

A) An extraordinarily advanced culture
B) A culture in which Christianity simply did not make sense
C) A culture of such great diversity that Christianity had to morph into various sub-religions
D) A culture of animosity toward all foreigners

Question 10

Was the link between Alexandria and Ethiopia strong?

A) No, Ethiopians resisted anything aligned with the Byzantine Empire
B) No, Alexandrians distrusted the Ethiopians ever since the Red Sea incident
C) Yes, They depended on each other for trade
D) Yes, the Alexandrian patriarch would appoint its leading bishop well into the modern period

Question 11

What was distinctive about Ethiopian Christianity?

A) Nothing, it resisted Christianity
B) It was highly influenced by Zoroastrianism
C) It had distinctly Judaic qualities
D) It was far from any Roman influence

Question 12

Ethiopian Christianity:

A) Understood itself as the new Israel, even politically and biologically
B) Produced the first Bible
C) Demanded religious tribute
D) None of the above

Question 13

Those Syrian Christians who followed Nestorius became known as:

A) Nestoria Profoundici
B) Church of the East
C) Church of the Resurrection
D) The nay-sayers

Question 14

In 489, what did the emperor Zeno do?

A) He tried to reverse the Roman Empire to its pagan origins
B) He deposed every patriarch in order to start over
C) He demanded that all Christians pay a devotion tax
D) He demanded all Christians embrace Chalcedon's decision

Question 15

What is the catholicos of the East?

A) Christians in Persia
B) The Persian patriarch
C) All Christians east of the Byzantine empire
D) Asian Christians

Question 16

According to the author:

A) The Church of the East was responsible for Christianity across the Middle East
B) The Church of the East became the most feared form of Christianity
C) The Church of the East created the form of Christianity most aligned to Zoroastrianism
D) The Church of the East eventually faded by the late Middle Ages

Question 17

What form of Christianity was responsible for the development of the faith in India?

A) Byzantine Orthodox
B) Roman Catholic
C) The Church of the East
D) The author says no form, as it created its own

Question 18

When did Christianity come to India?

A) At least by the third century
B) At least by the fourth century
C) At least by the fifth century
D) Not until the tenth century

Question 19

When did Christianity arrive in China?

A) Fifth century
B) Sixth century
C) Eighth century
D) Tenth century

Question 20

What was the Jesus Messiah Sutra?

A) An Indian text that contains the basic teachings of Christianity
B) An Indian text that tried to unite Christianity with Hinduism
C) A Chinese text that contains the basic teachings of Christianity
D) A Chinese text that tried to unite Christianity with Confucianism

Question 21

Did Christianity last in China?

A) No, it was suppressed in the ninth century and disappeared in the tenth
B) No, it collapsed in the Chinese revolution of 1249
C) Yes, it retained a small following that remains today
D) Yes, but only in its monastic forms until the nineteenth century

Question 22

Traditionally, the conversion of the Armenian people is credited to:

A) Alphonse the Liberator
B) Petrus the Consecrator
C) Nestorius the Masticator
D) Gregory the Illuminator

Question 23

Who is credited as converting the eastern part of Georgia?

A) The slave woman Nino
B) The deacon Jacobius
C) Arian Christians of Cappadocia
D) The Byzantine emperor himself

Question 24

Did the Georgians embrace the Council of Constantinople?

A) Yes, but they demanded it be understood along Nestorian lines
B) Yes, thus creating and alliance with the imperial church
C) No, they couldn't because of the threat of the Persian Empire
D) No, they refused, citing their own theological independence

Question 25

Who were the two great missionaries to the Slavs?

A) Antony and Pachomius
B) Petrus and Patronius
C) Cyril and Methodius
D) Theodore and Nestorius

Question 26

Did the Russian ruler Vladimir fully embrace Christianity?

A) Yes, he worked energetically to bring the faith to his people
B) Yes, but not until the Byzantine emperor made him Czar
C) No, the author says that it was fraudulent and superficial
D) No, he renounced the faith as soon as he gained full political control

Question 27

When did Moscow become a Patriarchal See?

A) In 666
B) In 982
C) in 1377
D) In 1589

Question 28

What does the author mean by conversions from the top down?

A) When rulers were converted, they expected their subjects to take on the new faith
B) Conversions became conditioned on that of the head of the household (father or grandfather)
C) Conversions came at the request of patriarchs or local bishops
D) Conversions always started with the preaching of bishops and only then priests

Question 29

Early Islam spread:

A) Slowly but systematically
B) Slowly and haphazardly
C) Very rapidly
D) With the support of the Persian Empire

Question 30

Did early Islam understand itself as superseding Christianity?

A) Theoretically, it was supposed to be a companion religion
B) Yes, assuredly
C) Not initially, but it came to believe this several centuries after Muhammad
D) Yes, but supposedly only in the Arabian Peninsula

Question 31

Arian Christianity continued to challenge orthodox Christianity until the Protestant Reformation.

Question 32

The majority of Egyptians never really took on the Greek culture.

Question 33

The Egyptian church rejected Chalcedon.

Question 34

Ethiopia had a Semitic language and was influenced by Judaism.

Question 35

Theodore of Mopsuestia was one of the great articulators of the Alexandrian School.

Question 36

Persian Christians remained loyal to Byzantium until they were persecuted by the Zoroastrians.

Question 37

Middle Eastern Christians typically are members of the Church of the East.

Question 38

Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History places Christianity as becoming a bona fide religion only in the fourth century.

Question 39

A Persian monk brought Christianity to China.

Question 40

After Bohemia became a Christian nation, Poland did as well.

Question 41

Vladimir's decision to become Christian was originally tied to political and economic factors.

Question 42

The patriarchate of the Rus, was centered in Kiev until the late nineteenth century.

Question 43

The Russian Orthodox Church considered itself the Third Rome.

Question 44

The most shocking Muslim conquest to the Christian imagination was the loss of Jerusalem.

Question 45

Aristotle's works were derided by Islamic scholars, which is why they came into Christian hands.

Question 46

What is your reaction to the story of Thomas's journey to convert India? Which parts do you think are historically factual and which parts mythic? Do these matter and why?

Question 47

The monophysite controversy played an important part in the expansion of the church in the East. How important do you think this issue is theologically and philosophically? Do you think that this issue should still divide Christians? Why or why not?

Question 48

This chapter discussed the practice of mass conversions. Do you think these were, at the time, legitimate or illegitimate? Why or why not?

Question 49

The author notes that Islam saw itself as superseding Christianity just as Christianity saw itself as superseding Judaism. How do you imagine Jews, Christians, and Muslims cooperating with each other today, while most still hold such a view? Does supersessionism necessarily create conflict? Explain your answer.

Question 50

Read the box with some of the text of the Nestorian Stele. Christianity is depicted in a way that looks foreign to its usual expression. Do you think it represented the authentic Christian tradition or deviated from it? Explain.