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Last semester I posted here on the blog the pop quiz I gave on the first day of the semester to my class on Jesus in Scholarship and Film. As you may have noticed in my post yesterday, I also give a quiz to begin my New Testament class, which I started teaching yesterday. If you were on the blog five months ago, and have a very good memory, the quiz will look very familiar. About half the questions are the same.
I give a quiz on the first day – before I’ve taught the students anything – both in order to break the ice while having some fun together and in order to teach a few things, as I give the answers after they have taken a stab at them. I’ll say a few things about what I try to accomplish with that in my next post.
I told the students yesterday that if anyone got at least nine of the eleven answers correct, I would buy them dinner at the Armadillo Grill. It turns out that out of a class of 240, I will have to buy 7 dinners this semester. (To get an answer correct, if there were multiple parts, every part had to be correct: no partial credit!) (and no partial dinners!) I think 7 is a pretty good total – although I should point out that I asked the whole class how many of them had studied the Bible in any context: school, church, Sunday school, Bible study, whatever. Virtually everyone had. Well, whatever they were studying, it wasn’t the basic facts about the NT….
In any event, I won’t be buying *you* dinner if you get nine right! Still, for the heckuvit, here’s the NT quiz:
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Quiz on the NT
- How many books are in the NT?
- In what language were they written?
- In what century were they written?
- Name the Gospels of the NT.
- According to the Gospels, who baptized Jesus? Who carried his cross? Who discovered his empty tomb?
- Which author of the NT wrote the most books?
- Who wrote the NT book of 1 Peter? 2 Timothy? 1 Andrew?
- What was the Apostle Paul’s last name?
- In about what year did Jesus die? Alexander the Great?
- Rank the following persons in order, according to the date of their deaths: the Apostle Paul, the Emperor Constantine, Jesus, Moses, the prophet Isaiah, Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus.
- Which of the following were Jews? John the Baptist, Alexander the Great, Jesus, Simon Peter, Tacitus, the Apostle Paul.
1. I have no idea, but there are 66 in the whole Protestant version of the bible.
2. NT=Greek
3. I’m going with second century CE.
4. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
5. His cousin John; Um, some dude they conscripted when he couldn’t; Mary Magdalene
6. I’m gonna go with Paul
7. Again, I’m gonna guess Paul
8. He had a last name? Can I say “Jerkwad?” (I’m not a fan of Paul.)
9. 33, and … I have no idea.
10. Moses, Isaiah, Caesar Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine, Alexander
11. John the Baptist, Jesus, Simon Peter, the Apostle Paul
How’d I do? 🙂
How many books are in the NT?
27
In what language were they written?
koine greek
In what century were they written?
1st CE
Name the Gospels of the NT.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
According to the Gospels, who baptized Jesus?
John the Baptist
Who carried his cross?
Jesus, then Simon of Cyrene
Who discovered his empty tomb?
Women, different ones depending on the Gospel
Which author of the NT wrote the most books?
Paul
Who wrote the NT book of 1 Peter?
Unknown
2 Timothy?
Unknown
1 Andrew?
There is no 1 Andrew. Lol.
What was the Apostle Paul’s last name?
Unknown
In about what year did Jesus die?
Unknown , guesses range from 27 CE to even as high as 33CE; 45 CE by some speculators.
Alexander the Great?
323 BCE
Rank the following persons in order, according to the date of their deaths:
Moses
the prophet Isaiah
Alexander the Great
Caesar Augustus
Jesus
the Apostle Paul
the Emperor Constantine
Which of the following were Jews?
John the Baptist, Yes
Alexander the Great, No
Jesus, Yes
Simon Peter, Yes
Tacitus, No
the Apostle Paul, Yes
Looks like I’ll be buying my own dinner. Couldn’t quite pull off nine correct answers. Close, though.
(No need to respond)
-robert
I started auditing an online course this week about the letters of Paul. I am shocked how many people continue to insist – even after the lecture – that Paul wrote in Hebrew (He was a Jew!). Even the students who concede this point claim he only wrote in Greek out of courtesy to his audience. All I could think about as I read through the pages and pages of comments was how skilled a professor you must be to confront so many firmly entrenched beliefs semester after semester. I applaud you!
Hebrew?!? Interesting….
A question to go along with this comment: How familiar was Paul with Hebrew? What about Jews at that time in general? And, of course, what about Jesus, who grew up in the middle of nowhere? Were there translations of the Jewish Bible into languages they were more familiar with in their day?
My sense is that the more highly educated in Israel could read Hebrew; few could speak it; and the vast majority of people were not educated at all; most widely throughout the world the Bible was read in Greek; Jesus and his followers were not able to read Greek. It is hard to know if Jesus could read the Hebrew Bible himself or simply knew it (as did most others) by hearing it read.
Off the top of my head, without checking:
1. 27
2. Koine Greek
3. Almost entirely 1st C, though some scholars think some may be early 2nd
4. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
5. a) John the Baptist. b) Simon of Cyrene. c) Mary Magdalene
6. Paul
7. a) Probably not Peter, but a later follower of Paul. b) Probably not Paul, but a later follower. c) No such book.
8. No last name. Though he was known, according to Acts, as Paul of Tarsis
9. a) Sometime between 26-36CE (when Pilate was in power). b) c.330BCE?
10. Moses, Isaiah, Alexander, Caesar Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine
11. John the Baptist, Jesus, Simon Peter, Paul.
Farily confident I’ve earned myself a free dinner! 9b and 10 are the only I’m afraid of…
27, Greek, first CE, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, John, Simon of Cyrene, depends on the gospel, Paul, nobody knows, doesn’t have one, 30, 340 BCE, Moses, Isaiah, Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine, all Jews but the two Greeks
I’m pretty confident I got at least 6 right out of 11.
1) 27.
2) Greek.
3) Not sure. 2nd or 3rd. I’m going for the 3rd. (Does this mean I fail?)
4) Mathew, Mark, Luke, John.
5) John (the Baptist). That depends upon which gospel one draws his/her information from. Jesus alone, or Jesus and Simon of Cyrene. Then again, no one actually carried the “cross”, rather the cross bow/bar. Does that count? That too depends upon which gospel you draw your information from. Certainly Mary Magdalene. Perhaps also Mary, the mother of Jesus and her daughter Salome. Woman/women, anyway.
6) Paul.
7) Paul.
8) Well, it wasn’t Tarsus.
9) 30 CE. 300 BCE something. A long, time ago, anyway.
10) Moses, Isaiah, Alexander the Great, Jesus, Caesar, Paul, Constantine. Maybe.
11) All of them; unless Paul was really a Roman.
Oh ye great professor of online historic biblical education, do have mercy upon our souls that are forever seeking after truth. 🙂
No, I will not be a student that can earn your free dinner. But the food for thought and search for truth is exceptionally filling and priceless.
For the heckuvit , I’ll have fish, just for the halibut ;-(
If I recall you post your answers and then grade yourself on the honor policy. Okay, here goes. No cheating, I promise.
1.ouch-I don’t know off the top of my head. Gospels+Acts, 6 Paul, 7? PseudoPaul, half dozen other epistles, revelation…25?
2.Probably all Koine Greek but there are hints that some sayings were put down in Aramaic initially.
3.50-150 CE so I guess the first-and-a-half century.
4.Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, though the patristic sources often refer to them by numbers (“the first gospel” or “the third Gospel.”)
5.John the Baptist baptized him, Jesus of Nazareth and Simon of Cyrene took turns carrying Jesus’s cross and some combination of the women in Jesus’s group (most of them named “Mary” but IIRC the sources don’t all agree on how many women) found the empty tomb.
6.Paul, (unless you’re a modern evangelical/charismatic, in which case the answer is that God himself wrote them all and just transmitted them through various pawns.)
7. We don’t really know. The best answers we can give are pseudoPeter, pseudoPaul and I don’t remember if Andrew is the claimed author or recipient so I won’t say pseudoAndy….
8. He didn’t have one the way we would think of it. If we knew his father’s name I guess you could say it was “bar (hisfather’sname),” and it’s not certain he came from Tarsus, but you could make the argument that he was known as Saul of Tarsus to differentiate him from other Sauls in the cities he preached in, though it’s hard to imagine he was the only “Saul” of his generation born in a city that size.
9. Jesus somewhere between 30 and 36 CE, Alexander in about 330 BCE.(?)
10. First to last: Moses, Alexander, Isaiah, Jesus, Augustus, Paul, and finally Constantine. Alexander and Augustus really throw me here.
11. John, Jesus, Simon Peter and Paul (again unless you’re an evangelical in which case you would argue that none of them were because they were all preconfigured Christians because the “word” was there in the beginning, blah blah…)
I have a question about Paul and his persecution of the Christians. In Acts 8:3, Paul is going house to house, dragging off men and women and putting them in prison. This would imply Paul was given authority by someone (I assume the Jewish Sanhedrin) to place people in jail. In Galatians 1:13 Paul writes he was violently persecuting the church and trying to destroy it. Though he doesn’t say exactly what this persecution entailed. It sounds more like a personal vendetta on his part in Galatians, instead of an organized action described in Acts. I thought I read somewhere (though I can’t remember where), that Christians were not banned from Jewish synagogues until after 70 CE.
What do think of the historical accuracy of what Acts and Galatians and any other sources say about Paul and his persecution of the Christians?
I think Paul is telling us the truth — but he is very allusive, so it’s hard to know what to make of it. I don’t think Acts can be historically accurate in its account (written some 50 years after the events its narrating, by someone who wasn’t there and probably didn’t know anyone who was there).
1. 26
2. Koine Greek
3. late first and even early 2nd
4. Mark, Matthew, Luke, John
5. John the Baptist. Darn it (maybe I should guess, Darnititus). Mary Magdelene and a cast of other women, mostly named Mary. Not quite. Mary mother of James, Salome, Johanna.
6. Paul, even if he only wrote four or so.
7. Not Peter, Andrew or Timothy. Neither was it Paul.
8. Silvanus
9. 30 CE. 309BCE.
10. Moses, Isaiah, Alexander, Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine
11. the Baptist, Jesus, Simon Peter, Paul
At least you won’t owe me that dinner.
Alright, here we go:
How many books are in the NT?
27
In what language were they written?
(Ancient) Greek
In what century were they written?
The First (none in the Second?)
Name the Gospels of the NT.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
According to the Gospels, who baptized Jesus? Who carried his cross? Who discovered his empty tomb?
John the Baptist, Jesus (and maybe Simon of Cyrene), Mary Magdalene (and some other women)
Which author of the NT wrote the most books?
Paul
Who wrote the NT book of 1 Peter? 2 Timothy? 1 Andrew?
That’s probably a trick question, because nobody can tell
What was the Apostle Paul’s last name?
He didn’t have one
In about what year did Jesus die? Alexander the Great?
Jesus died around the year 30 AD, Alexander way earlier (250ish BC?)
Rank the following persons in order, according to the date of their deaths:
Moses, Isaiah, Alexander, Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine
Which of the following were Jews?
No: Alexander the Great, Tacitus
Yes: John the Baptist, Jesus, Simon Peter, the Apostle Paul
Something popped into my mind when answering the last question: Who are the earliest people that can be called Christians? Were the Twelve Christians when they came to believe in the resurrection? Was Paul? When?
1) How many books are in the NT?
27
2) In what language were they written?
GREEK
3) In what century were they written?
1st CENTURY AD
4) Name the Gospels of the NT.
MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN
5) According to the Gospels, who baptized Jesus? Who carried his cross? Who discovered his empty tomb?
JOHN THE BAPTIST
I DON’T REMEMBER
THREE WOMEN (Mary Magdalene, Virgin Mary, I don’t remember the third)
6) Which author of the NT wrote the most books?
APOSTLE PAUL
7) Who wrote the NT book of 1 Peter? 2 Timothy? 1 Andrew?
A SCRIBE FOR SIMON PETER
THE OTHER 2 I DON’T KNOW
8) What was the Apostle Paul’s last name?
WE DON’T KNOW, TARSUS WAS HIS BIRTHPLACE
9) In about what year did Jesus die? Alexander the Great?
30 A.D. / I DON’T REMEMBER ALEXANDER
10) Rank the following persons in order, according to the date of their deaths: the Apostle Paul, the Emperor Constantine, Jesus, Moses, the prophet Isaiah, Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus.
MOSES
ISAIAH
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
CESAR AUGUSTUS
JESUS
APOSTLE PAUL
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
11) Which of the following were Jews? John the Baptist, Alexander the Great, Jesus, Simon Peter, Tacitus, the Apostle Paul.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
JESUS
SIMON PETER
APOSTLE PAUL
Hi רבא, YaHuShHah יהושה Can you help me with #9. YaHuHah יהוה depends on the system we use, but lets eliminate the Gregorian calendar system it did not exist in my Lords day. My Lord is a Hebrew, used the Hebrew calendar system, lived in a Greek setting. Modern Hebrew date is 5780 today. 5780 – 3412 = 2368 the birth of Moses. 3412 the 2nd Temple completed. in 3448 (328BC), Alexander (age 28) supposedly met the High Priest of Jerusalem (according to Chadbad website). 5780 – 3448 = 2332 Levi died in 2332, 36 years before the birth of Moses. Alexander died in 323 BC or 3453 Modern Hebrew Cal, age 33. Gregorian says my Lord died in 30 BC, but they’ve added 12 years to the calendar. Modern Hebrews say my Lord died in 3789, they follow lunar and are missing years…I say my Lord was crucified in 18 AD, born in 15 BC (age 33), or Ancient Hebrew calendar crucified in 4147, born in 4114, age 33. אלהים = 41 and יהושה = 47. if you divide 4116 by 28 you get 147 (3448 + 666 = 4114) YaHuHah יראה
לבר אלהין = 76
יוסף לוי = 76