Question 1
Question
S1 -
According to Thomas Aquinas, the truth about God that can be known by reason alone. . .
Answer
-
will only be known by the senses that have been purified of phantasms.
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will only be known by a few, after a long time, and only with an admixture of error.
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will only be known by known with an admixture of error and only through an "instantaneous, intuitive" knowledge.
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None of the options is correct
Question 2
Question
S1
Which of the following best represents the major theme of Ratzinger's famous Erasmus lecture?
Answer
-
The need for a critique of contemporary biblical criticism, particularly its philosophical presuppositions
-
The priority of spiritual exegesis over the literal sense
-
The teaching of John Paul II regarding the role of the New Vulgate
-
The debate between Antioch and Alexandria regarding biblical interpretation
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None of the options is correct (except this one)
Question 3
Question
Match "rationalism", "fideism", and "Gnosticism". (One you should know by the process of elimination).
The belief that only truths revealed by God are true and that reason is not important to faith. [blank_start]Fideism[blank_end]
The belief that all truth can be demonstrated by reason and arrived at through reason alone. [blank_start]Rationalism[blank_end]
The heresy that held that believers can come to understand all mysteries through "secret known." [blank_start]Gnosticism[blank_end]
Answer
-
Fideism
-
Rationalism
-
Gnosticism
-
Rationalism
-
Fideism
-
Gnosticim
-
Gnosticism
-
Rationalism
-
Fideism
Question 4
Question
S1
Which is true of Thomas Aquinas?
Answer
-
When he had difficulties in his academic work, he spent more time in prayer than in study.
-
When he had difficulties in his academic work, he spent as much time in prayer as he did study.
-
When he had difficulties in his academic work, he spent more time in study than in prayer.
Question 5
Question
S1
According to the lecture, 2 Timothy 3:16 explains that Scripture is useful for what four reasons?
Answer
-
Catechesis, Apologetics, Morality, and Science
-
Catechesis, Science, Apologetics, and Liturgy
-
Catechesis, Apologetics, Morality, and Holiness
-
Catechesis, Morality, Theology, and Prayer
Question 6
Question
S1
According to the Catechism, there is only one order of knowledge, namely, the power of human reason. This is the only way human beings know the truth about who God is.
Question 7
Question
S1
According to the Catechism, the whole body of the faithful can err in matters of belief.
Question 8
Question
S1
Private revelation often contradicts public revelation, but this is not a problem for faith--this is "mystery".
Question 9
Question
S1
The Magisterium is superior to the word of God
Question 10
Question
S1
What is the living transmission of the apostolic preaching accomplished in the Holy Spirit called?
Answer
-
Gospel
-
Deposit of Faith
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Tradition
-
Private revelation
Question 11
Question
S2
Which approach to Vatican II does Benedict XVI advocate
Answer
-
Hermeneutics of continuity and reform
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Hermeneutics of discontinuity and rupture
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Hermeneutics of sacramentality and faith
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None of the options above is correct
Question 12
Question
S2
Revelation is perfected how?
Question 13
Question
S2
Faith is a g______ of God
Question 14
Question
S2
Faith is certain.
Question 15
Question
S2
Ad gentes is one of the major constitutions of the Second Vatican Council.
Question 16
Question
S2
The term aggiornamento was used by Pope St. John XXIII to describe the need to return to the sources and retrieve the ancient tradition of the Church.
Question 17
Question
S2
The lecture described the way revelation does which three things for reason:
Answer
-
Heal, Transform, Annihilate
-
Convert, Heal, Transform
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Perfect, Elevate, Transform
-
Heal, Perfect, Elevate
Question 18
Question
S2
Believing is a human act
Question 19
Question
S2
The Gospel is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching.
Question 20
Question
S2
According to the Catechism, only some parts of the biblical books are inspired; other parts of Scripture are not inspired.
Question 21
Question
S3
The word oikonomia comes from which two Greek words?
Answer
-
House and law
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House and covenant
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Salvation and law
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Pedagogy and covenant
Question 22
Question
S3
According to Catholic teaching, only some parts of Scripture are inspired
Question 23
Question
S3
The proclamation Jesus is "Christ" tells us what for Ratzinger? (Pick the best answer).
Answer
-
How Christ is related to Mary?
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How Christ is related to the Old Testament?
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How Christ is related to the New Testament?
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How Christ is related to God?
Question 24
Question
S3
Which best encapsulates Ratzinger's position? (Pick the best answer)
Answer
-
Christ is sufficient
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The Magisterium is sufficient
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Tradition is "materially sufficient"
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Scripture is "materially sufficient"
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None of the answers provided is correct.
Question 25
Question
S3
Which concept relates to the observation that the assumption was celebrated in the liturgy long before it was defined as dogma?
Question 26
Question
S3
The Old Testament contains some things that are incomplete and temporary
Question 27
Question
S3
What is the starting point for Geiselmann's position?
Answer
-
Vatican I held that the scripture contains "the fullness of revelation"
-
Trent explicitly taught that divine revelation is transmitted "partly in scripture and partly in Tradition"
-
Vatican I spoke of both scripture and tradition as "tradition"
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None of the answers is correct
Question 28
Question
S3
According to Ratzinger, which key element is left out of the Augsburg confession?
Answer
-
baptism
-
scripture
-
office
-
revelation
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eucharist
Question 29
Question
S3
Ratzinger explains that the two developments of Creed and Liturgy were two sides of the same coin.
Question 30
Question
S3
Ratzinger says that Christ's presence in the New Testament is primarily linked to which two principles?
Answer
-
faith and the mystical body of Christ (the community)
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faith and apostolic witness
-
faith and scripture
-
scripture and apostolic ministry
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 31
Question
S11
Benedict highlights 3 major problems with the historical-critical method: (1) what is primitive is deemed to be early; (2) Scripture is isolated from the church; (3) a neglect of textual critical issues.
Question 32
Question
S11
According to Pope Benedict, the normative theologians are
Question 33
Question
S11
In Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict only treats the areas relating to academic studies and does not really enter into a conversation about the role of Scripture within the Church.
Question 34
Question
S11
Benedict writes: "where exegesis is not theology, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, however theology need not involve interpretation of Scripture."
Question 35
Question
S11
Which is NOT true about Benedict's letter, Verbum Domini?
Answer
-
Benedict talks about Mary as a model for understanding the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture.
-
Benedict discusses the important relationship of exegesis and theology, highlighting the need for theology to be rooted in the interpretation of Scripture
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Benedict affirms the relationship of truth and inspiration yet does not get into an extended debate about Dei Verbum, no. 11.
-
Benedict says that today's academic exegesis, including that of Catholic scholars, is highly competent in paying attention to the theological dimension of the biblical texts.
Question 36
Question
S11
Drawing from the lecture on Ratzinger, which is NOT true about a hermeneutic of faith?
Answer
-
A hermeneutic of faith is based on solid methodological considerations
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It recognizes the biblical texts as inspired
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It tends towards a spiritualization in order to reject diachronic analysis
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It recognizes the unity of the scriptures
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It involves a synchronic approach, for example, canonical exegesis
Question 37
Question
S11
According to the lecture, "auxiliary" languages (as opposed to referential language) would involve which of the following?
Answer
-
Church
-
Lord
-
Messiah
-
Transubstantiation
-
Covenant
Question 38
Question
S11
Which is true regarding the Catechism of the Catholic Church's three criteria for proper biblical interpretation?
Answer
-
The criterion of the analogy of faith relates to the fact that all the truths of divine revelation are harmonious with one another and mutually illuminative.
-
The first criterion given in the Catechism for proper interpretation of Scripture involves paying attention to the analogy of faith, which relates to studying each biblical passage in light of its proper historical context.
-
The criterion of the canon and unity of Scripture involves paying attention to the way the early Church fathers interpreted the biblical texts.
-
The criterion involving the "analogy of faith" is best understood in terms of reading Scripture in the context of the liturgy.
Question 39
Question
S11
Which of the following best describes the use of the tropological sense?
Answer
-
Recognizing how the feast of unleavened bread--which involves removing yeast from the house as a symbol of sin--teaches us to remove sin from our lives.
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Recognizing that Christ is the true passover lamb
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Recognizing that the true temple is that found in the heavenly Jerusalem
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Seeing in the sacrifice of Isaac an image of the suffering of Christ
Question 40
Question
S11
Which of the following is NOT true?
Answer
-
If an interpretive solution solves problems it did not set out to solve, that's an indicator that the solution is faulty
-
Early sources are not always less theologically sophisticated than later sources
-
Sometimes the biblical authors may not have understood the full meaning of what they wrote
-
In ancient times, writers did not have to relate historical events in their exact sequence
-
When the fathers are unanimous about the meaning of a passage, Catholic exegetes are not free to contradict them.
Question 41
Question
S12
Which of the following is NOT true?
Answer
-
An open-historical critical method is unlike the closed-historical method
because the closed-historical method makes no philosophical or metaphysical
claims and is purely objective while the open-historical method is biased by a
particular worldview, namely, faith
-
The closed-historical method, which insists that naturalistic explanations
must always be employed, insists that miracles are unacceptable to the
"modern mind", while ignoring that in fact many people today actually do
believe in miracles.
-
An open-historical critical method is consistent with a hermeneutic of faith
-
The open-historical critical method can actually be viewed as more critical
than the closed-historical critical method.
Question 42
Question
S12
Which of the following is NOT true about the book of Psalms?
Answer
-
The Psalter is comprised of five "books".
-
Aquinas says that the Psalms contain the whole of Scripture, describing the
various ways God acts towards the world and prophesying about the coming of
Christ.
-
The term "Psalter" is derived from the word for a musical instrument.
-
According to most contemporary biblical scholars, the psalms never existed in Hebrew but were only written in Gree
Question 43
Question
S12
Which is an example of form-critical analysis of Psalm 2?
Answer
-
The psalm describes the son of David as "begotten", which evokes God's promises to David in other books of the bible.
-
The psalm is used in the Church's liturgy as a hymn about Christ.
-
The psalm was originally a royal psalm and may have been used as part of an enthronement ceremony of the king.
-
The psalm was placed at the beginning of the Psalter with Psalm 1 as a kind of introduction to the Psalter
Question 44
Question
S12
Which of the following is NOT true?
Answer
-
If a psalm originated with David it would never have been further edited by subsequent redactors
-
When the titles in the Psalter describe a psalm as "of David" the Hebrew is ambiguous and could mean to indicate that the psalm is either "by" David or "about" David.
-
Some scholars insist that David could not have written certain psalms because they describe the temple. Yet the term that appears for temple was also applied to the tabernacle, which existed in David's day.
-
Some scholars insist that David could not have written psalms attributed to him because they speak of the king in the third person. Yet such an argument ignores the fact that David speaks that way in other places in Scripture.
Question 45
Question
S12
Which of the following would be an example of applying the criterion of the analogy of faith to Psalm 2?
Answer
-
Since the psalm describes the king as "begotten" it raises the question of the relationship of the true son of David, Christ, to God the Father, leading to a reflection on the Trinity
-
The overlap in imagery between Psalms 1-2 suggests that the two psalms were intentionally placed together in the Psalter to be read in light of one another
-
The psalm's description of the nations attempting to burst their bonds with the Davidic king can be read in light of Old Testament texts which explain how the nations entered into a covenant relationship with the Davidic king.
-
The psalm is used in the liturgy to describe Christ. This leads us to consider how New Testament texts describe Christ as the fulfillment of this psalm.
Question 46
Question
S12
Which of the following regarding the development of the Psalter is NOT true?
Answer
-
The psalms became used for specific festivals and occasions which gave them layers of significance they did not originally have
-
When a royal psalm is read in a post-exilic setting it would seem to take on messianic significance it may not have originally had.
-
The individuals psalms take on new meaning when read in the final form of the Psalter as they seem to relate to one another in important ways.
-
The human author responsible for writing most of the psalms was the same person who put them in the order we now find them in the Psalter.
Question 47
Question
S12
Which of the following does NOT reflect what Ratzinger says in the reading assigned from God's Word?
Answer
-
Historical-critical exegesis has been used by scholars in a way thoroughly informed by a hermeneutic of faith
-
Rejection of the historical-critical method altogether would be imprudent
-
The work of the biblical scholar should involve questions regarding the historical dimension of the text
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 48
Question
S12
In the Ratzinger reading, he calls for a "criticism of criticism". Which does NOT reflect what that means?
Answer
-
Recognizing that pure objectivity is what authentic scholarship ought to consist of.
-
Scholarship is often dictated by philosophical biases that exclude God from history
-
The real debate over history is actually a debate about philosophical issues
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 49
Question
S12
There is imagery in Psalm 2 which would seem to point to the idea of a cominguniversal judgment of God.
Question 50
Question
S12
Which best characterizes Aquinas' approach to Psalm 2?
Answer
-
The psalm is ultimately only about David.
-
The psalm originally describes David as a type of Christ
-
The psalm is about Hezekiah
-
The psalm is only about Christ
Question 51
Question
S13
Scholars who believe the Fourth Gospel contradicts the chronology of the Last Supper found in the Synoptics also observe that the Fourth Gospel is not always consistent with itself.
Question 52
Question
S13
Which of the following is consistent with Brown's approach in the book, "The Critical Meaning of the Bible"?
Answer
-
What the Bible "meant" is the same as what the Bible "means" to the Church today
-
Historical-critical exegesis uncovers what the bible "means"
-
Canonical criticism, aligned with historical criticism, is the only way to uncover what the bible "meant"
-
The Church's Living Tradition shows us what the biblical texts "meant"
-
None of the answers provided above is correct.
Question 53
Question
S13
According to the lecture, which of the following would reflect a "Nestorian" reading of the Incarnational Analogy for Inspiration?
Answer
-
What the authors of Scripture affirm is affirmed by the Holy Spirit.
-
The human authors intended a meaning was false--i.e., in error--but biblical texts do not mean today what they meant, and acquire entirely different meanings in light of Church tradition.
-
The biblical texts may have a "fuller meaning" that might go beyond what the human author understood, but not what the divine author intended.
-
The biblical texts have a "potency" or an implicit "fuller meaning", which may not be able to be recognized without a hermeneutic of faith.
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 54
Question
S13
According to Aquinas, the imprecatory psalms
Answer
-
Can only be understood as "mysterious"
-
Relate to the celebration of divine justice
-
Relate to vengeance
-
Relate to Christ's death
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 55
Question
S13
What accounts for why Jesus identifies "Abiathar" as high priest in the story of David receiving the bread of the presence?
Answer
-
Mark's readers would not have known the difference between Abiathar or another priest
-
The Old Testament story has Abiathar as the high priest who gave David the bread of the presence
-
Abiathar was the first righteous priest since Phinehas to serve as high priest
-
Abiathar was the name of Caiaphas' father-in-law
-
None of the answers provided here is correct
Question 56
Question
S13
Which of the following is true?
Answer
-
Matthew and Mark do not both have Jesus identify Abiathar as the high priest who gave David the bread of the presence; only one of them says Jesus explicitly called said the high priest was "Abiathar".
-
By identifying the high priest as "Abiathar", Jesus draws the Pharisees into the allusion to the Old Testament story; just as the coming of David marked the end of one regime of power, so too Jesus' coming brings to an end the regime of the Jewish leaders of his day.
-
Matthew and Mark both tell us that Jesus identified "Abiathar" as the high priest who gave David the bread of the presence.
-
By identifying the high priest in the story of David receiving the bread of the presence, Jesus describes the Pharisees as Zadok.
Question 57
Question
S13
Which of the following is NOT true about the debate about the date of the Last Supper?
Answer
-
The Fourth Gospel tells us that the high priests would not enter the praetorian because they did not want to be defiled and so be unable to eat "the passover."
-
"Passover" can refer to the actual feast of Passover but it can also mean the entire seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread
-
The Fourth Gospel tells us Jesus was crucified at the same time the lambs in the temple were sacrificed
-
The Synoptic Gospels tell us that Jesus' Last Supper was a Passover meal
-
The "Day of Preparation" is a reference to "Friday", the day of preparation for the Sabbath (not the feast day of Passover per se)
Question 58
Question
S13
Which of the following is true about Raymond Brown?
Answer
-
He denied the dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary
-
He argued that his approach to exegesis was not beholden to problematic philosophical positions, pointing out that he wrote a thesis on the philosophy of Einstein.
-
He said the Bible is not inspired
-
He rejected the authority of Tradition
-
None of the answers provided is correct
Question 59
Question
S13
Raymond Brown says in the Critical Meaning of the Bible that God does not speak. The problem with this statement is that it fails to recognize "analogy".