Q.1.
According to the earliest stages of Genesis, what is the first main positive purpose of humankind?
Q.2.
Rather later in the Old Testament, the prophet Micah offers an almost disarmingly simple prescription for the behaviour of a true believer (see 6:8 in his Book). 'What does the Lord require?' he asks, rhetorically ... and then offers three of the following answers, among which we have mischievously hidden a false fourth one. Which is this FALSE one?
Q.3.
Jesus Himself summarised the Jewish Law in basic terms of memorably few principles: how few?
Q.4.
St Teresa of Avila (born 1515) beautifully described the mission of living believers in a meditation which begins: 'Christ has no body now on earth but ... (?) ...
Q.5.
St Richard of Chichester wrote another, somewhat parallel, devotional prayer which has also remained deservedly popular. It concludes: 'May we ... (?) ... (There then follow three of these four Christian intentions; which ONE is not in the original?)
Q.6.
The story of the very early Church (as told by 'Dr. Luke' in The Acts of the Apostles) sheds interesting light on how the first believers sought to live. Chapter 4 vs. 32-5 might reasonably fairly be paraphrased: 'Everything was shared between the believers ... so nobody went short; even funds from the sale of private dwellings were distributed to help alleviate the needs of others.' On first glance, at least, to what great political movement does this behaviour (and even wording) bear almost startling similarity?
Q.7.
Within the Lord's Prayer, Christians daily pray 'Thy kingdom come; Thy will be on earth, as it is in heaven'. Several other Bible texts give ground for hope and encouragement towards this being achieved: which of the following seems the LEAST relevant?
Q.8.
St Paul has plenty to offer on the purpose of Christian life, having taken this up with great enthusiasm in surprising circumstances (see Acts 9). In his letter to the Romans, who were living at the very centre of the then-known world with all its bustle and luxuries, he wrote: 'The kingdom of God is not a matter of ( ... ... ) , but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit'. What was, or were, the rejected priority in the 'blank' above?
Q.9.
What, as understood in mainstream Christianity, happens when a personal Christian believer dies?
Q.10.
Of course, 'being us', we find ourselves naturally led to look at life, and the world, taking our own immediate surroundings and experience as a starting-point. But the Psalmist (possibly David ~ him again: shepherd, king, musician, soldier ... with an unusual variety of experience in his own life!) sets himself firmly into humble perspective in the context of creation: the God whom he later claims to be his personal 'shepherd', is Lord of the universe. Having explored the dimensions and majesty of this ~ see Pss. 8 and 19 ~ he signs-off with a prayer which any believer might echo: 'May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be (always) pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my ~ (How does he then refer to God?)