Loading...A blog member recently asked me if I could post the pop quiz that I used to give t0 my New Testament class on the first day of the semester. I say “used to” because I have stopped teaching the course, after doing so for 35 years (!), yielding it over to the capable hands of my colleague Hugo Mendez, to allow me to teach small seminar-courses instead here as I progress into geezerhood.
I was simply going to refer the blog member to the post where I had given the quiz recently, and … and I can’t find where / when I did! I’m sure I did! Then again, I’m sure I know where my glasses, keys, and phone are. But so far as I can tell, it’s been years since I did. So — well, here it is. I think this is the post in which I *first* revealed the quiz to interested blog members some ten years ago. [editor’s note: Found it! My New Testament Pop Quiz]. After some preliminary remarks, I said…:
******************************
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.
You like this post? It's free! However, you'll need to be a blog member to read most articles here. Get access to Dr. Ehrman's library of 4,000+ articles plus five new articles per week. Membership starts at $2.99/mth and every cent goes to charity!
Unlock 4,000+ Articles Like This!
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 [2014]. (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:
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.
We have two goals at Ehrman Blog. One is to increase your knowledge of the New Testament and early Christianity. The other is to raise money for charity! In fact, in 2022, we raised over $360,000 for the charities below.
You must be logged in to post a comment.Over $2 Million Donated to Charity!
Share Bart’s Post on These Platforms
15 Comments
Leave A Comment
That’s a tough pop quiz. May have engendered an interest in world and Christian history.
That was the goal!
I’m sharing a personal experience with Bart’s quiz. In the last few years I’ve watched many of Bart’s lectures on YouTube where he has discussed this quiz. Especially the first question about the number of books in the NT. A couple of years ago, I was asked to join a quiz team in a quiz tournament at a fundraiser at a Methodist Church. That question was asked and I was the only one on my team who could answer it.(27 BTW) Our team Captain went to a borderline fundamentalist church. The shocked looked on her face that a Methodist could actually answer that question was priceless. Had to share this. Thanks Bart.(3x3x3)
Ha!!
8. “Of Tarsus”
On another note, In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus asks God to forgive us our debts and for us to forgive those who are indebted to us.
Does Jesus have in mind here debt slaves? If so, or if not, for most who became indebted to others was it very difficult to finally pay off that debt? And (last one) would there sometimes, or often, be a person who would pay off their debt for them, thereby redeeming them?
Since the prayer is given to the disciples, and they were NOT enslaved, I’d say probalby not. He’s referring to economic and (maybe even more) moral debt. And yes, paying off debts was hard no matter what. Often still is! Though not to many banks will “forgive” a mortgage….
Thanks for this, Bart!
I’d recently been watching some of your old lectures where you refer to this quiz to great effect — both humorous and instructive— so I was eager to see the whole thing.
That was fun thanks.
A1: 27
A2: Koine Greek
A3: First Century (most likely; perhaps a few in 2C)
A4: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
A5: John the Baptist; Joe of Arimathea; depends on the Gospel! Just the women, maybe Peter and John too.
A6: Paul
A7: 1 Peter = Peter, 2 Tim = “Paul,” 1 Andrew = _not_ a NT book!
A8: bar [something]
A9: Jesus = AD 30 or 33; Alex = 323 BC
A10: Moses, Isaiah, Alex, Augustus, Jesus, Paul, Constantine
A11: John the B, Jesus, Peter and Paul were Jews; Alex was Greek/Macedonian, and Tacitus was a Roman senator.
Bit of a trick question on who discovered the empty tomb? 🙂
Can’t let people off too easily…
Hey! Question 9 is cheating. The year Alexander the Great died is not a New Testament fact.
Didn’t say it was! Per se. It is a fact that helps one understand the NT. (In part because of the hellenizing efforts of his successors leading, among other things, to the Maccabean revolt
This is a great quiz, it makes you think about the differences between the gospels .
I have a question:
Concerning the ranking by date of death, regarding Moses, is Moses are trick question because he most likely did not exist? Or should we rank him based on tradition?
Ha, good point! I don’t think he existed, but if he did, whenever you put him, he was before, say, Isaiah….