This test is a study guide that can only provide some preliminary information for a personal encounter with Christ. The purpose of human life is not just to learn about Christ, but to know Christ, to get to know Him, and to fellowship with Him.
-
1. Who, first of all, is Jesus Christ in relation to men?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: Christ in Church TraditionComment:If we read the Gospels carefully, we see that the main subject of Christ's preaching is not appeals to charity, to love, or to repentance. The main subject of Christ's preaching is Himself as the Truth and the Source of all good things.
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life"(John 14:6). "I am the light of the world"(Jn. 8:12). "I am the bread of life" (Jn. 6:35). "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me"(Jn. 14:6); "Search the Scriptures: they testify of Me" (Jn.5:39).
While carrying out His earthly ministry, the Son of God revealed Himself as the Great Teacher, the Prophet (Jn.14:6). At the same time, He revealed in Himself, by Himself, by His life the Moral Ideal (Jn.8:12).
However, neither teaching, nor prophetic preaching, nor demonstration of an ideal example of holiness was the end in itself of His ministry. The main purpose of the coming of the Son of God into the world was Redemption, the Salvation of man.
God's teachers, prophets, and morally exalted people were active in the world before Christ, but this did not lead to a mass apostasy from sin and a genuine conversion to God.
-
2. Which prophecy about Jesus Christ was not given in the Old Testament?
Correct answer: №5Correct!Educational materials: Major Messianic Prophecies of the Old TestamentComment:1) The prophet Isaiah predicted the birth of Jesus Christ by a virgin more than ~700 years before Christ's birth (Isaiah 7:14).
2) The patriarch Jacob, who lived in ~1600 BC, prophetically predicted that Jesus would come from the tribe of Judah (Gen.49:10).
3) The prophet Micah in ~700 B.C. prophetically predicted that the Saviour of the world would be born in the jewish town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
4) The prophet Zechariah, ~V centuries before this event, prophesied that Almighty God would one day be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12-13).
5) The prophet and Psalmist David (Ps.15:9-10) left us a prophecy of the Saviour's death and Resurrection ~1000 years before this event. See also (Acts 2:29-31).
-
3. Who is Jesus Christ by nature?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: The God-ManComment:At the three Ecumenical Councils, the Third, Fourth, and Sixth, devoted to the unfolding of the doctrine of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was finally affirmed and established by ecclesiastical authority that the Lord Jesus Christ is Perfect God and Perfect Man, possessing the Divine will (and action) according to the Divine nature and the human will (and action) according to the human nature (with the human will being completely subordinate to the Divine will).
The image of the union of natures is expressed in the Chalcedonian Definition in the words:
Inseparable and unchangeable (or immutable). The divine and human natures in Christ do not merge or turn one into the other.
Inseparable, inseparable. The two natures are united forever, not forming two persons, only morally united, as Nestorius taught.
They are inseparable from the moment of conception (not first man was formed and then God was joined, but God the Word came into the bosom of Mary the Virgin and formed for Himself an animated human body). They are inseparable during the Saviour's sufferings on the cross, and at the moment of death, and at the resurrection, and at the ascension, and after the ascension, and forever and ever. The Lord Jesus Christ will also come in deified body at His second coming.
Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky
-
4. Why does God strive to save mankind, even to the point of humiliation and death on the cross?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: Love DivineComment:God, as the Omnipotent, Wise, Self-sufficient, All-Blessed One needs nothing and no one. He created man wisely and for the sake of making him a partaker of His benefits. Knowing from all eternity that man would sin, from all eternity He also had a plan for his salvation. Because of love and goodness, not because of inner necessity, and not because of fear of being slandered by the devil, God does everything necessary for the salvation of men.
-
5. Which of the following events during Christ's earthly ministry was the focal point of our salvation?
Correct answer: №4Correct!Educational materials: The Resurrection of ChristComment:"He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures...If it is preached of Christ that He rose from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen; and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain....As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, each in his own order: the first fruits of Christ, then those of Christ, at his coming"(1 Corinthians 15:4), (12-14,22-23)
Venerable Maximus the Confessor: "He who learns the mystery of the Cross and the tomb will also know the essential meaning of all things... He who penetrates still deeper than the Cross and the tomb, and is initiated into the mystery of the resurrection, will know the ultimate purpose for which God created all things from the beginning."
St Gregory the Theologian: "On this day the great Christ is called up from the dead to whom He has laid hold of. On this day He repelled the sting of death, broke the gloomy gates of a dismal hell, and granted freedom to souls. On this day, having risen from the tomb, He appeared to the people for whom He was born, died and was raised from the dead."
Vladimir Lossky: "Christ took upon Himself our nature... in order to resolve the tragedy of human freedom, to bridge the gap between God and human beings by bringing the gap into the interior of His Person, in whom there is no room for any gap... In His inexpressible kenosis, the God-Man incorporates Himself into the corrupt reality, exhausting it, purifying it from within by His ungrasping will. This voluntary incorporation of Himself into the conditions of fallen humanity must lead to death on the Cross, to the descent into hell... St Maximus teaches that the work of salvation involves three degrees which Christ has successively restored to nature: being, well-being and eternal existence. The first is achieved by the Incarnation, the second by the intactness of the earthly volition that led to the Cross, the third by the intactness of the natural, revealed in the Resurrection."
-
6. Which of the following names of God found in the Bible can be attributed to Jesus Christ?
Multiple correct answers are possible.Correct answers: №1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8Correct!Educational materials: Divine NamesComment:The correct answer is all the names that are listed.
Jesus Christ combined the divine and human natures, being both God and man in essence. Therefore, all Divine names, except the Hypostatic Names (such as Father, Holy Spirit), are fully applicable to Him.
The names of God are appellations attached to God, formed from His acts in the world He created. Following Orthodox theology, the Divine Essence itself is incomprehensible, and therefore unnameable.
"There is no one name which, having embraced the whole nature of God, would be sufficient to fully reflect it"
St Basil the Great.
-
7. The name "Jesus" means Saviour, but what does "Christ" mean?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: Jesus ChristComment:Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Yeshua (shortened from Jehoshua), which means help of God, or Saviour. Christ is the Greek word for the Anointed One, which in Hebrew sounds like Mashiach, the Messiah. The word Christ, Anointed One, is linked historically to the Old Testament religious tradition of anointing with holy oil, through which special gifts of the Holy Spirit were given. In Old Testament times there was a practice of anointing for priestly, royal, and prophetic office. Christ, as a man, was ennobled, deified at the moment of His conception (at the moment of taking human nature into His Divine Hypostasis) (Colossians 2:9). There are three interrelated areas of His ministry: high priestly, prophetic, royal.
-
8. Do the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament contain indications of the coming incarnation of God?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: Prophecies and Testimonies about Jesus ChristComment:The Old Testament contains such indications. In all, scholars estimate that the Old Testament contains a total of over 450 prophecies about Christ. Of these, at least one hundred are contained in the Psalms. Messianic prophecies are scattered throughout the Old Testament; many of them are already quoted in the New Testament as having been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
-
9. Are there historical records of Christ by non-Christian authors?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowellComment:At a debate organised by the student association of a university in the Midwestern United States, my opponent was a candidate for Congress from the Progressive Labour Party (Marxist) in New York In its opening remarks, she said: "Modern scholars have almost completely debunked the myth of the historicity of Christ...".
I couldn't believe my ears, though I was really grateful for her words, because it wasn't long before 2,500 students were convinced that this lady clearly hadn't prepared her history homework.
Josh McDowell
-
10. The genealogies of Jesus Christ in the reports of Matthew and Luke differ markedly, why?
Correct answer: №5Correct!Educational materials: The Genealogy of Jesus ChristComment:The Gospel of Matthew was most directly addressed to Jewish Christians; the descent of Christ, in humanity, is shown there as descended from Abraham (and David). In turn, Luke's Gospel was originally intended for Gentile Christians. Therefore, the genealogy of Christ is traced back to Adam, the ancestor of all nations in general.
Both Matthew and Luke describe the genealogy through Joseph as the father of Jesus Christ recognised by the Law (it was not the Jewish custom to draw up genealogies through wives). Meanwhile, according to Matthew's Gospel, Joseph is descended from David through Solomon, while according to Luke's Gospel, Joseph is descended through another son of David: Nathan. This formal and seemingly incomprehensible difference is removed by the explanation that Luke lists the ancestors of the Virgin Mary, while Matthew lists the actual ancestors of Joseph.
-
11. Continue the genealogy of Jesus Christ: Enos, Seth, Adam, (?).Correct answer: of GodCorrect!Comment:
Luke's holy gospel: Enos, Seth, Adam, of God (Luke 3:38).
-
12. Choose one from the list who is not among the cousins or named brothers (like Joseph's children from his first marriage) of Jesus Christ.
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: The Brothers of the Lord -
13. Did Jesus travel to India during His earthly life?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: Was Jesus in India?Comment:None of the legends of Christ's eastern journeys are documented earlier than the 19th century, whatever parallels the adherents of eastern pagan cults may have tried to find to popularise their teachings.
The question of "influences" can be resolved in a purely scientific way - by analysing the language of Christ and the Gospels. If a man had studied for many years in a religious-philosophical school, and especially if he had come under its influence, it is most probable that afterwards the language of that school would be reflected in his own speech. Even preaching in a different language, such a person would use the images and terminology he had learnt. Where are the traces of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy in Jesus' vocabulary? Dozens of Indian religious terms are used today from language to language ("karma" remains "karma" in Russian and English books). But Christ's speech is free from the jargon of the yogis.
The people of Israel strictly adhered to monotheism ('one God') and it is ridiculous to imagine that someone would go to learn the paganism despised by the Jews, rejecting the Divine Revelation of the Old Testament.
-
14. The Gospel speaks of this city as the main residence of Christ the Saviour since the beginning of His preaching. It is even called "His city". What city does it refer to?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: CapernaumComment:Christ was born in Bethlehem; brought up in Nazareth. He spent much time in Capernaum during His public ministry.
-
15. Is it possible that Christ was married?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: The fantasies and truth of The Da Vinci CodeComment:This myth has no theological, historical, or Biblical basis.
"...If this were really the case, there would be no need to hide it. In Jewish society, family relationships were respected and honoured, and childbearing was seen as a blessing. On the other hand, singleness was seen as something that did not fall within the common norms of human life. From this point of view, it would have been unnecessary to conceal in the Gospel that which was generally encouraged by the society of that time. But this was not the case, and the Gospel reflects reality. Christ was a lonely man, there is no doubt about that, and there was no doubt about it until the 21st century."
Archbishop Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad
-
16. Did Jesus Christ leave any written records during His earthly life?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: "Holy Scripture and the Church," by Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky)Comment:The Church has no tablets on which writings were inscribed by the Divine finger. The Church has the Holy Scriptures, but He Who created the Church wrote nothing. Only once it is said of Christ in the Gospel of John that He stooping low wrote, but even then Christ wrote with His finger and wrote on the ground.
Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky)
-
17. In the Gospel we read: "And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was...". Finish the phrase.
Correct answer: №4Correct!Educational materials: Getting to know Jesus of Nazareth...Comment:From the Holy Gospel of Luke, chapter 4:
31 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. (Luke.4:31)
32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. (Luke.4:32)
33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, (Luke.4:33)
34 Saying, «Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God! » (Luke.4:34)
35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, «Be quiet, and come out of him! » And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. (Luke.4:35)
36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, «What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. » (Luke.4:36)
-
18. Was Christ religiously tolerant in the meaning that all religions and creeds are soul-saving to man?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: What are the differences between religionsComment:We have taken the liberty of writing this way because it is clear from the Gospels that Christ believed that it was necessary to accept faith in Him as the Son of God and Saviour in order to be saved.
Yes, the Saviour did not think it was necessary to execute those who did not believe in Him. Once, when the Samaritans drove Him and His disciples away from their city, the apostles "...said, Lord, do you want us to say that fire should come down from heaven and destroy them, just as Elijah did? But He turned to them and rebuked them and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of men, but to save'" (Luke 9: 54-56).
Thus, Christ said, not because it is all the same to believe, but because not all are yet ready to accept the Truth. But Christ said repeatedly that finding Salvation is possible only through Him: "Jesus said to him, «I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John.14:6) "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John.10:9). "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark.16:16). The Evangelists also spoke about it: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. » (John.3:36)
-
19. How did Christ treat the ceremonies, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the houses of worship?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Comment:Regarding the requirements of the Law, Christ clearly said that He did not come to break it, but to fulfil it (Matt. 5:17). Meanwhile, the Gospel reports repeated cases of the Jews accusing Christ of breaking the Law. The point is that the Law was originally intended not only for the current life of the Jews, but also for their preparation for the future Coming of the Messiah. If they had understood the Law correctly, if they had obeyed it correctly, they should have recognised the Messianic dignity in Christ. But many, including the reprovers of Christ, did not. Why?
They called themselves zealots of the Law, but in reality, they were zealots of the requirements and rituals that were formed on the basis of their interpretation of the Law. Those requirements and ceremonies that were in conformity with the true meaning of the law were treated by Christ as divinely established; and those that were inconsistent, or even contradictory, were treated by Christ as distorting or perverting its inner meaning.
Furthermore, since the ceremonial requirements of the Law were temporary, they were abolished with the establishment of the New Covenant.
"And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. (Luke.4:15) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. (Luke.4:16)". (Also see, e.g., Mt.4:23; Mk.1:39; Lk.4:44; Mt.9:35).
"Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, (Luke.19:45),saying to them, «It is written, «My house is a house of prayer,́ but you have made it a «den of thieves.»́ (Luke.19:46) And He was teaching daily in the temple... (Luke.19:47)
-
20. How did Christ regard the activity of demons?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: Fallen SpiritsComment:"But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke.11:20). Christ's attitude to demons is very succinctly conveyed in the phrase with which the Saviour addressed the demons: "Be silent and come out of him" (Mk.1:25).
-
21. Did Christ say that all men would be saved?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: SalvationComment:We do not find a single statement of the Saviour about the salvation of everyone. But, on the contrary, from His lips a repeated sermon was preached about the punishment of sinners - people who refused salvation and life with God:
«Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. (Mat.7:13). Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. "(Mat.7:14)
Here is a fragment from the parable, in which Christ speaks about the sentence to sinners: "... «Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: (Mat.25:41) ... And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. » (Mat.25:46)
Or other words of Christ: "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice (John.5:28) and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." (John.5:29)
-
22. The Gospel of Luke (14:26): "Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, (Luke.14:25). If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke.14:26) ...'." What is the right way to understand these words of Christ?
Correct answer: №4Correct!Educational materials: Thoughts on Difficult Points in the GospelComment:Here, as in many other instances in the Bible, because of the peculiarities of Semitic languages (lack of degrees of comparison), the verb "to hate" has the comparative meaning of "to love less."
The word "hate" can mean different things in different contexts. In this context, according to most interpreters of Scripture, the words "whoever does not hate..." should have been translated differently: "whoever does not prefer God to father, mother..."
-
23. What did Christ not do?
Correct answer: №8Correct!Educational materials: If God exists, why doesn't he stop evil with the use of violence?Comment:How does one follow Him? - Listen to what the Saviour Himself says about this: "If any man want to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."
The words " any man who wills" mean that Jesus Christ does not force anyone to follow Him. He does not want captives; He wants each person to decide freely whether he wants to follow His way and be with Him. Consequently, only those who have voluntarily chosen the path shown by the Saviour enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
St Innocent of Alaska (Veniaminov)
St John Chrysostom says: "God does not force anyone. And if He wants and we do not want, our salvation is impossible."
St Macarius the Great expresses the same doctrine of human freedom: "human nature is capable of accepting both good and evil, divine Grace and contrary power, but it cannot be forced to do so...". Without the consent of the human will, God Himself does not work anything in man because of the freedom with which man is endowed".
-
24. What words belong to Christ?
Multiple correct answers are possible.Correct answers: №1,2,3,4,5,6Correct!Educational materials: The deity of the Son and His equality with the FatherComment:Christ, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, united in Himself two perfect natures, divine and human. Christ as the Incarnate God is proclaimed in the Gospel taken as a whole.
Along with sayings affirming the deity of the Second Hypostasis, there are texts in Scripture that speak of the subordination of the Son to the Father. These latter sayings have long been used by heretics, especially the Arians, to deny the divinity of the Son and His equality with the Father. For a correct understanding of these texts of Scripture we must bear in mind, firstly, that the Son of God after the Incarnation is not only God, but also the Son of Man, and secondly, that by His Divine Nature the Son is derived from the Father, the Father is the Hypostatic Initiation of the Son.
-
25. How many Apostles of the Twelve remained faithful to the Saviour and, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary, were at the Cross on which the Lord was crucified?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: Calvary. What was the purpose of the Saviour's death on the cross?Comment:Because of his fervent devotion and willingness to follow Christ everywhere, the apostle John enjoyed the Saviour's special love. Together with Peter and his brother James he was near the Lord during the most important and solemn moments of His earthly life. Thus, Apostle John saw the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor, and was a witness of the Saviour's Gethsemane prayer. And at the Last Supper he was so close to the Lord that he reclined at the breast of Jesus (John 13:23), whence came his name "confidant" (perci - from the Old Slavonic "breast"), which later became a noun when referring to a person especially close to someone.
John, the only one of all the Apostles, was not afraid of reprisals from the Jews when the Saviour was taken into custody, and together with the Blessed Virgin Mary was at the Cross, on which the Lord was crucified. The apostles scattered, even Peter denied Christ, and only John remained faithful to his beloved Master. For this, the Lord, who dying a terrible, painful death on the Cross, shows His special love and care for John: Jesus, seeing His mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son. Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother" (John 19:26-27).
-
26. Which of the 4 canonical Gospels tells of the Resurrection of Christ?
Correct answer: №5Correct!Educational materials: Priest's answers to the questions. The Resurrection of ChristComment:Where is it mentioned about the Resurrection of Christ? All four evangelists, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, tell us about it. Their statements differ in detail, but, interestingly, the Evangelists do not try to bring their testimonies artificially to agreement and uniformity. Because they are testimonies of the experiences of different eyewitnesses.
You know, as it happens with us: we have a unique experience and then we talk about it. But the person standing next to us also saw something, but in a slightly different way. We do not argue with him, but defend our experience, because it is precious to us, we can vouch with our lives that it was like this. The Evangelists have reported to us the experience of the witnesses of the Resurrection, speaking about what they heard, what they saw with their eyes, what they looked at and what their hands touched.
Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko
-
27. What does the Resurrection of Christ relate to us?
Correct answer: №5Correct!Educational materials: The Essence of ChristianityComment:Easter is not just a holiday. It is the essence of Christianity. Through His Resurrection, the Lord triumphed over hell and death; this event was the guarantee of the general resurrection of the dead. After the Resurrection, the Lord ascended to Heaven and paved the way to the Kingdom of Heaven for all His followers. If Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:17).
-
28. What happened from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to His Ascension?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: Ascension of the LordComment:Forty days passed from the Passover to the Ascension. For forty days the Lord stayed with His disciples, teaching them the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom. Before Christ's Resurrection these mysteries would have been incomprehensible and inaccessible to them. The number forty symbolises the time of spiritual trial and earthly life. Forty years Moses led the people through the wilderness to the promised land. Jesus Christ fasted for forty days before preaching the Gospel. For forty days after His Resurrection He remained on earth, appearing to His disciples and apostles, preparing them for the receiving of divine grace and the future preaching of the Gospel.
Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin)
-
29. Is a personal encounter with Christ possible for modern man?
Correct answer: №1Correct!Educational materials: God's CommunionComment:A Christian is not just a theoretical believer. It is a person who is in gracious, or talking in more understandable modern terms - energetic union with God. For ancient Christians, the very idea, that one could be called a Christian and not take communion, seemed absurd. Christians gathered to celebrate the Liturgy in order to receive communion even under threat of death; a person who did not receive communion for two or three weeks was excommunicated from the Church!
Priest Konstantin (Parkhomenko)
"... Where two or three are gathered in My name - there I am in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). Every churched Christian personally meets Christ in the main church meeting - the Eucharistic meeting, while telling Him his name (although, of course, Christ knows everyone's names! And not only names). On the other hand, we remember that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). As He met with Saul on the road to Damascus, so He can meet with each of us beyond the Eucharist. Probably, He meets everyone, especially in critical circumstances, but not everyone is able to understand and accept it....
Y.I. Ruban
-
30. Which of the listed ways involves the most intense fellowship between the believer and Christ?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: Why is wine considered as the blood of Christ and bread as His body?Comment:In his book My Life in Christ, Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt makes a remarkable comparison between feeding on mother's milk and the Sacrament of Communion:
"What wonder is it that you are offered for food and drink His Body and Blood by the Lord? He who gave you to eat the flesh of the animals He created, He gave you to eat and nourish Himself at last. He who nourished you with the teats of your mother, He Himself at last undertook to nourish you with His own flesh and blood, so that, just as with the milk of your mother you may absorb the known properties of your mother and her spirit, so with the Body and Blood of Christ the Saviour you may absorb His spirit and life. Or, as before in infancy you were nourished by your mother and lived by her milk, so now, when you have grown up and become a sinful man, you feed on the blood of your Life-giver, so that by this you may live and grow spiritually into a man of God, a holy man; in short: that just as then you were a mother's son, so now you may be a child of God, brought up, nourished by His Flesh and Blood, and more especially by His Spirit - His Flesh and Blood are spirit and life - and become an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven, for which you were created, for which you live".
-
31. Is the coming of prophets possible after the Incarnation of God, conveying new truths of doctrine?
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: ProphetsComment:Prophets are the saints of Old Testament times who foresaw the coming of Christ the Saviour by divine revelation, foretold future events, and announced God's will to the people of Israel.
Why do Christians not consider Mohammed a prophet?
Christ clearly said: "The law and the prophets until John; from this time forth the kingdom of God is preached..". (Lk.16:16).
The Apostle John the Theologian: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have appeared in the world. Recognise the spirit of God (and the spirit of error) in this way: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, is not from God..". (1Jn.4:1-3). "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matt.7:15). All this does not exclude the possibility of a prophetic gift from God in our time, but God does not contradict Himself, so the new prophecies do not cancel the previous ones.
-
32. The soul of Jesus Christ:
Correct answer: №2Correct!Comment:The Lord Jesus Christ is not only God and not only Man. He is the incarnated God. This means that in His Person there are two natures, the divine and the human. As God, Christ possesses the fullness of divine perfections, and as Man, the fullness of human perfections. As Man, He also possesses a perfect human soul.
The presence in Christ of two wills, Divine and human, cannot be understood in the sense that both of them (these wills) essentially belong to His soul. The divine will belong to Him in His divine essence, and the human will belong to Him in His human nature.
-
33. The divine and human natures were united in Christ:
Correct answer: №2Correct!Educational materials: Hypostatic UnificationComment:The essence of the hypostatic unification of the two natures in Jesus Christ is that the Divine and human natures are both united in the Divine Hypostasis of the Son of God. The image of the hypostatic unification of the natures in Christ is well expressed by St Gregory the Theologian: "The Son of God is pleased to become and to be called also the son of man, not changing what He was (because this is unchangeable), but receiving what He was not (because He is merciful to mankind, so that what is incompossible may be made fit, entering into communion with us through the mediating flesh). In the one hypostasis of the Son of God, the divine and human natures are united inseparably, unchangeably, indivisibly, indissolubly, inseparably.
-
34. Where did Christ say, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day"?
Correct answer: №3Correct!Educational materials: Jn.6:53-59Comment:Jesus said to them, "Then Jesus said to them, «Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. (John.6:53) Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John.6:54) For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. (John.6:55) He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John.6:56) As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. (John.6:57) This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. » (John.6:58) These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. (John.6:59)
-
35. How many women besides the Blessed Virgin Mary are listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ given by Matthew the Evangelist?
Correct answer: №4Correct!Educational materials: Matthew 1:1-16Comment:In the genealogy of Christ given by Matthew the evangelist, four women are mentioned: Tamar, Raab, Ruth, and "which was after Uriah," that is, Bathsheba. The presence of women's names in Matthew's genealogy is justified for theological reasons. The evangelist shows how God's plan of union with man is realised in a specific people and in specific individuals. He therefore points to the most significant episodes of Jewish history: the division into 12 tribes (1:2), the rise of the monarchy (1:6), and the Babylonian captivity (1:11-12). Wishing to demonstrate that the monarchical ideology of this particular nation was a foreshadowing of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew traces the genealogy of Christ through David's legitimate son Solomon, the living and active image of the coming Messianic king (Psalm 71). It is important for the evangelist to show that the Providence of God interacts with the free will of the specific heroes of Jewish history, which began with Abraham empowering himself for an unconditioned act and ended (not chronologically, but metaphysically) with the free choice of the Virgin Mary. For the same reason the Evangelist included women in the genealogy. They are the forerunners of the Virgin Mary in that their willful acts changed the course of history of the Divinely created people.
-
36. Jesus Christ descended into hell:
Correct answer: №2Correct!Comment:For the correct answer to this question, the following aspects should be taken into consideration; firstly, the descent of the body is out of the question, since Christ's body was in the tomb on the day of the Great Sabbath. Secondly, the option "as the Deity" is excluded, because God is omnipresent (omnipresent, immeasurable, limitless). As God, Christ is present everywhere, including hell; He was present there even before His death on the Cross. Deity and mankind are united in Christ inseparably, unchangeably, inseparably and indivisibly; this too must not be forgotten. Thus, the option of "human soul" remains, which is confirmed by the well-known troparion: "In the grave carnally, but in hell with the soul as God.."..
Psalm 138:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. (Ps.138:8)
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (1Cor.15:3) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (1Cor.15:4)
-
37. When we commune with the Body of Christ, we are united with Him...
Correct answer: №3Correct!Comment:According to Orthodox doctrine, each particle of the Holy Gifts offered to the believers for consumption in the Eucharistic Sacrament is not a part of the Body of Christ, but the Body of Christ (cf: the words of the priest spoken at the Divine Liturgy: "The Lamb of God is being split and divided, splitted and undivided, always eaten and never hungry, but sanctifying to those who receive Communion). But the body of Christ is united with His soul, and also with the Godhead. Meanwhile, by consuming the Body of Christ, Christians are united to the Saviour according to their faith.
Log in to save test results in your account and to join the ranking.
Comment