Prompt/Instructions:
The final exam will test students’ critical thinking skills through an analysis and synthesis of class lecture
material. The exam is divided into four questions, each of which is worth twenty-five points. Exams are
worth 25% of the course grade and are to be type-written using “Times New Roman” font size 12, singlespaced, with fully justified margins, and are due in the designated drop-box on JCU’s Moodle platform
no later than 23,59 CET (Rome time) on Friday, 10 December 2021. Submit exams exclusively as a PDF
document. Late, emailed, and hand-written exams will not be accepted and will result in a failing grade
for the exam. This Final Exam is worth 25% of the final course grade. STUDENTS’ NAMES ARE TO APPEAR
NOWHERE ON THE EXAM: (This procedure is to ensure transparency in evaluating assignments and
calculating grades.) READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!
THE EXAM HEADER MUST INDICATE:
1) YOUR JCU ID NUMBER
2) COURSE CODE (i.e. “RL 225-1”)
3) TEACHING INSTRUCTOR OF COURSE (“Prof. Walters”)
4) ASSESSMENT METHOD (“Final Exam”)
5) DATE (“Friday, 10 December 2021”)
LECTURES:
1) Describe the development of the practice of the buying and selling of indulgences through the lay
investiture controversy and the debate between de iure pontificio and de iure divino (“Dictatus
Papae” and the “Magna Charta”), to Boniface VIII (“Unam Sanctam”) and the Jubilee of 1300. (c.
1,000 words)
2) So, you want to go to college. How would you have done that and what would that have entailed
in the Middle Ages? (c. 500 words)
3) Explain the development of the ancient cosmological argument into Anselm’s ontological
argument. Identify and explain Aquinas’ “Quinquae Viae” and the problem of infinite regression,
the eternity of the world, and Aquinas’ ultimate “solution” to the unavoidable paradox he
inadvertently introduces. (c. 1,000 words)
4) Define and explain the role and development of the office of Pontifex Maximus with these
dates/names as anchors in your answer: 63 BCE/Julius Caesar, 13 BCE/Caesar Augustus, 81
CE/Domitian, 313 CE/Constantine, 381 CE/Theodosius I, 451 CE/Leo Magnus, 754 CE/Stephen
II/Pepin the Short, 800 CE/Pope Leo III/Charlemagne. (c. 500 words)
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