biblical lit midterm exam
Scholars estimate literacy in antiquity to have been:
10-15 percent
The Maccabean revolt began around the year:
167 b.c.e.
Scholars think Jesus died around:
30 c.e.
In what year did Athanasius name the current twenty-seven books of the New Testament as authoritative?
367 C.E.
The Gospel of Mark was probably written around:
65-70 c.e.
What is the earliest surviving manuscript of the New Testament to date?
A fragment of the Gospel of John
Why, in the Gospel of John, does Pontius Pilate have to conduct the trial of Jesus through lengthy conversations between the prosecution and the defendant?
Because the Jewish leaders refuse to go into Pilate's residence, so they send Jesus in alone, leaving Pilate to go back and forth between them
Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls so valuable?
Because they are nearly a thousand years older than the oldest copies of the Hebrew Scriptures that we previously had
Which of the following represents an intentional scribal error?
Changing the text to fit doctrine.
Earlier scribes who copied the New Testament were more precise than later ones (t/f)
False
The manuscripts of the Nag Hammadi library are written in Greek (t/f)
False
The New Testament was written in what language?
Greek
Which of the following groups thought it was blasphemy to call Jesus God?
Jewish-Christian adoptionists
What does the term "gnosis" mean?
Knowledge
The word "epistle" means:
Letter
Which early Christian group believed in two Gods: the just God of the Old Testament and the merciful God of Jesus?
Marcionites
How many original copies of books of the New Testament do we have?
None
In the story of Jesus in the last minutes before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43-44), the account of his "sweating blood" while contemplating his imminent suffering is most likely:
Not an original part of any Gospel.
By what means have early Christian truth claims been handed down from one generation to the next?
Orally, Written Texts, Lifestyles
The Gospel of Matthew was probably written:
Outside Palestine around 80-85 C.E..
Who created the verse divisions that we have today?
Robert Stephanus
The term "canon" means
Ruler
What is the style of writing called that leaves out punctuation, capitalization, paragraph divisions, sentence divisions, and spaces between words?
Scriptio continua
New Testament manuscripts do not:
Show a lack of passion for their topics
What is the name of the academic discipline devoted to the study of ancient manuscripts to determine the most likely earliest readings?
Textual criticism
The Marcionites believed Jesus came to save people from
The Jewish God
At the end of what century did Christians begin to call Jesus' words Scripture?
The first century C.E.
What does the term "heresy" mean?
To choose
According to some Gnostics, the Old Testament God was evil (t/f)
True
Revelation is an example of a Christian apocalypse (t/f)
True
There are more differences between the manuscripts of the New Testament than there are words in the New Testament (t/f)
True
We do not have the original copy of any New Testament book (t/f)
True
In first-century apocalyptic Judaism, the term "Son of Man" referred to:
a cosmic figure
Jews expected the Son of Man to be:
a cosmic judge
When Jesus is baptized, the Spirit of God descends on him in the shape of:
a dove
What is the term for a category of literature in which texts share a range of conventions?
a genre
Third John is best understood as:
a letter to an individual in the church
Second John is best understood as:
a letter to the entire church
Although we cannot know for certain, many scholars believe Q probably did not contain:
a passion narrative
The most important event that had occurred within the Johannine community at the time the epistles were written was:
a schism in the community
An "apocryphon" is:
a secret book
In Luke, Jesus' public ministry begins with:
a sermon in a synagogue
Redaction criticism is:
a study of how an author changes his source
The emphasis placed on Jesus' death classifies the Gospels as:
a subgenre of the genre of ancient greco-roman biography
Scholars have suggested that Christianity is the religion:
about jesus
Matthew traces Jesus' lineage to:
abraham
Acts is organized:
acts of the apostles
The earliest account of the early church appears in:
acts of the apostles
Name one of the people Plutarch wrote about.
alexander the great
As opposed to most Jews' expectations, Christians came to believe that the messiah was:
an innocent suffering man
Our most advanced science informs us that miracles:
are not knowable via the scientific method
In Mark, the Temple curtain rips:
at jesus' death
According to the criterion of Aramaisms, if a piece of text makes more logical sense in the original language than in the translation, then it is likely to be
authentic
What ritual was necessary for new converts to Christianity to undergo?
baptism
John, the forerunner of Jesus, proclaims forgiveness of sins and performs:
baptisms
At Jesus' trial in Mark, the Sanhedrin charges him with:
blasphemy
Jesus began his ministry:
by being baptized by john
According to Luke, Jesus' death itself:
causes people to repent
Which of the following would an ancient reader of a biography not expect to find in the text?
character development
Although the crucifixion was a stumbling block for the Jews, it was a foundation stone for:
christians
What framework were ancient biographies often crafted within?
chronological
Paul's mission is primarily to:
chronologically
According to Acts, Paul:
continued to follow jewish customs
In John, the signs are intended to:
convince people of jesus' true identity
In John's community, the belief in Jesus' divinity probably:
developed over time
"Diaspora" means:
dispersion
If genre criticism uncovers the same points uncovered by redaction criticism, then why use the redactional approach?
editorial activity provides more empirical evidence for the aim of the text
In Rome, the priestly art of reading the entrails of sacrificed animals was called:
extispicy
Ancient biographies tended to portray the protagonist's character as constant rather than in a state of development (t/f)
false
Ancient biographies were constructed in a manner very similar to modern biographies (t/f)
false
Ancient people didn't understand that nature works according to fixed patterns (t/f)
false
Apocalypticists were optimistic about the present
false
Marcion used an edited version of the Gospel of John as his starting point (t/f)
false
Markan priority depends on the Four-Source Hypothesis (t/f)
false
Matthew's Jesus argues that keeping the Law is not necessary for those who believe in him (t/f)
false
More theologically orthodox sources are more likely to be historically accurate (t/f)
false
Most scholars think the Gospel of John is more historically accurate than the Synoptic Gospels (t/f)
false
Redaction criticism is a form of reader-response criticism (t/f)
false
Sethian Gnostics were sexually promiscuous
false
The Gospel of John emphasizes Jesus' power over demons (t/f)
false
The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the atoning power of Jesus' death. (t/f)
false
The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus' birth (t/f)
false
The Gospel of Mark was written within a decade of Jesus' life (t/f)
false
The Gospel of Matthew was the first book of the Bible to be written (t/f)
false
The New Testament Gospels all have Jesus getting crucified at the same time of day (t/f)
false
The Pharisees are responsible for Jesus' death in the Gospel of Mark (t/f)
false
The Sadducees looked forward to the resurrection of the dead (t/f)
false
The criterion of dissimilarity involves finding stories that wouldn't be expected to have occurred in the historical context of Jesus' life (t/f)
false
Which was probably the first book of the New Testament to be written?
first thessalonians
Scholars refer to Matthew's use of Hebrew Scripture to show Jesus is the messiah as:
fulfillment citations
According to Luke:
god does not recognize a difference between jews and gentiles
What genre do the Gospels most closely fit?
greco-roman biography
The Gospel of John was probably written in:
greek
"Torah" means:
guidance
Most copies of New Testament manuscripts come from what time period?
he Middle Ages
The Romans convicted Jesus because:
he claimed to be king
After Jesus' resurrection, Christians believed that:
he had been exalted to heaven
John calls Jesus the "Lamb of God" because:
he is killed on passover
What was one way Jesus was like the Cynic philosophers?
he taught people not to concern themselves with wealth and other trappings of society
The author says that:
he used written sources
According to the Gospels, people believed that Jesus' ability to work miracles reflected all of the following except:
he would die
The earliest Christians used which of the following to explain Jesus' messiahship?
hebrew scripture
The spread of Greek culture and language is known as:
hellenization
Which of the following events strongly suggests that Jesus was an apocalypticist?
his baptism by john
Biographies written by Christians put a significant amount of emphasis on what event in Jesus' life, which was very unusual for ancient biographies?
his death
In John, Jesus' teachings focus primarily on:
his identity
How probable is it that any single ordinary, natural event occurs?
improbable
The Gospel of Peter was found:
in a monk's tomb
In Matthew, John the Baptist:
is hesitant to baptize jesus
On the way to Rome, Paul:
is involved in shipwreck
According to the Gospel of Thomas, the Kingdom of God:
is not a future event
When it is time for Jesus to die in Luke, he:
is ready
Luke is different from the other Gospels because:
it has a sequel
Which of the following is not true about the Passover festival?
it lasts two weeks
The Gospel of Peter is unique among all the surviving Gospels because:
it narrates the actual resurrection
According to Acts, Paul is converted by:
jesus
Jesus' earliest followers believed:
jesus had been raised from the dead never to die again
Which of the following stories is only found in Luke?
jesus teaching in the temple when he is twelve years old
The Gospel of Mark begins with:
jesus' baptism by john
Most scholars believe that Q contains mostly:
jesus' sayings
The phrase "Jesus' Passion" refers to:
jesus' suffering
Which of the following traditions does not pass the criterion of contextual credibility?
jesus' teaching to Nicodemus: "you must be born again"
All of the following figures recognize Jesus in Mark except:
john the baptist
Jesus identified most closely with:
john the baptist
Jesus provides the continuity of apocalyptic belief between which of the following?
john the baptist and the early church
Which historian categorically states that Jesus was the messiah in book 18 of The Antiquities of the Jews?
josephus
Which of the following was not a sect of Judaism?
josephus
In Luke's temptation narrative, Jesus' final temptation is:
jumping from the top of the temple
In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus performs all of the following miracles except:
killing his opponents
Gnostics believed that ____________ was essential for salvation
knowledge
Christians used Psalms of ____________ to show that Jesus was the messiah
lament
Accounts with very highly developed theology are more likely to be:
less historically accurate
When Mark and Matthew tell the same story, Mark's story is:
longer
Those who believe that the precise point at which Jesus became the Son of God was at his baptism justify their belief with the passage in ___________, which states that a voice from heaven announced, "You are my son, today I have begotten you."
luke
Which of the following Gospels states that there were other Gospels written?
luke
Of the following, the most important reason Matthew makes Jesus' identity public is to:
make the jewish leaders culpable for jesus' suffering
Both Matthew and Luke used _____________ as a literary source
mark
The "Four-Source Hypothesis" relies on the idea that:
mark was written first
Who assembled all the miracle stories dispersed throughout Mark into one large collection?
matthew
In Matthew, Jesus' birth story is most reminiscent of whose birth?
moses'
Pagan religions that required initiation were:
mystery cults
Revelation discourses:
narrate the secret teachings of the risen jesus
Did the authors of the Gospels claim to be eyewitnesses to the events that they narrated?
no
How many first-century pagan authors mention Jesus by name?
none
The Gospel of Thomas is:
not ordered in a recognizable form
What is the dilemma historians face when they write about past miracles?
on the one hand, they can only establish what probably happened; on the other hand, miracles by definition defy all probability
Chapters 13 through 19, the second part of the Gospel of John, take place over:
one day
From a historian's perspective, those who are willing to believe that Jesus did miracles must concede that:
other people did them as well
Marcion appealed to ___________ as the authority for his teachings
paul
The Gospel of Luke came to be attributed to a man who was thought to have been:
paul's companion
The Christian mission was conducted primarily:
person to person
First John is most likely a:
persuasive essay
Historically speaking, who was responsible for Jesus' death?
pilate
Which of the following occurs only in Matthew?
pilate's washing his hands of jesus' blood
State priesthoods in the Roman Empire were:
political appointments
Subversive teachers from Jesus' day were labeled:
prophets
Stoicism, Platonism, and Epicureanism all involved the exercise of:
reason
From the beginning, Luke's Jesus expects to be:
rejected
One of the most popular pagan authors of the second century, Plutarch, wrote fifty biographies of prominent Greek and Roman men. His main aim in these accounts was to:
reveal their characters
The sect of Judaism that wielded the most political power at the time of Jesus was the:
sadducees
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' birth narrative parallels that of:
samuel
Missionary movements in the Greco-Roman world were advanced mostly by:
schools of philosophy
"Synoptic" means:
seen together
Even if you assume that miracles are possible, there is still no way to:
show that they have ever happened
The Roman Empire began as a(n):
small farming village
Why did God instruct Moses to have every Israelite family sacrifice a lamb and paint their doorframes with its blood?
so the angel of death would pass over those houses
If historians firmly believe in miracles, they have a professional responsibility to:
speak and write about it in their capacity as believers, but not in their capacity as impartial historians
At Pentecost, the disciples:
speak in the native languages of those gathered
People in Greco-Roman times were more likely to view the deeds of Jesus as ________ than as miraculous
spectacular
The first martyr in Christian history was:
stephen
Consistent testimony of many independent witnesses _____________ a case
strengthens
According to Mark, the messiah must:
suffer and die
An alternative place of worship (to the Temple in Jerusalem) where Jews came together in the community to discuss the sacred traditions of the Torah was called a(n):
synagogue
When writing about an alleged miracle that Jesus did, what can a historian not claim?
that he actually did it
Identify one discrepancy in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' crucifixion
the account in mark has it occuring at 9am, while john's takes place after noon
All of the following are associated with Jesus' apocalyptic thought except:
the belief that good people would be taken up alive into heaven
For Matthew, the core of the Law is:
the commandment to love
Jesus' baptism by John does not pass:
the criterion of independent attestation
Which of the following is not a criterion used by scholars to authenticate traditions about Jesus?
the criterion of similarity
Which would count as a basic methodological principle that historians can apply to their sources?
the earlier the better
Which of the following groups was apocalyptic?
the essenes
The Pentateuch is:
the first five books of the bible
The most popular scholarly resolution to the Synoptic Problem is:
the four-source hypothesis
The Gospel of the Nazareans is most closely related to:
the gospel of matthew
At the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to teach the gospel and baptize the nations. Scholars call this:
the great commission
Who was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies?
the high priest
In John, Jesus tells the disciples that after he leaves:
the holy spirit will come to instruct them
Which traditional symbol is the Gospel author Mark associated with?
the lion
The Jewish response to Antiochus Epiphanes' actions was:
the maccabean revolt
The most significant archaeological find for the study of Gnosticism was:
the nag hammadi library
In Matthew, Jesus explicitly teaches against:
the pharisees' hypocrisy
Scholars refer to the first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John as:
the prologue
Which of the following Gospels explains the extraordinary character of Jesus' mother, Mary?
the proto-gospel of james
According to Gnostics, the world was:
the result of a cosmic disaster
All of the following were apocalyptic groups/individuals except:
the sadducees
Which of the following sources was probably written to convert Jews?
the signs source
Which of the following methods seeks to uncover how a community's history affects the way it writes its history?
the socio-historical method
The book of Acts focuses primarily on:
the spread of the christian religion
Apocalypticists adhered to all of the following tenets except:
the suffering of the righteous would only get worse
How did pagan literature of the first century refer to the events surrounding Jesus?
there werent any references made to him
How can historians certify that an event occurred, but outside the natural order?
they cant
How did the ancient Jews feel about keeping the Law embodied in the Torah?
they considered it a great joy
Which of the following is not true about the Cynics?
they generally enjoyed the finer things of life
Which of the following was not one of the ways Jews reacted to the situation in Palestine under Roman domination in the first century?
they used divination to place curses on the romans
Which of the following texts argues against an apocalyptic message?
thomas
Ancient biographies were usually written for what main purpose?
to give instruction on proper behavior
All of the New Testament letters were written:
to particular communities to address specific issues
A wide variety of religious expression was tolerated across the Greco-Roman world
true
Apocalypticism tried to make sense of the oppression of God's people
true
First John is better categorized as a persuasive essay than as a letter
true
Historians can never demonstrate that a miracle probably happened (t/f)
true
In Matthew, Jesus provides the true understanding of the Jewish Law and shows how it must be kept (t/f)
true
In the ancient world, books were almost always read aloud (t/f)
true
Jesus claims to be divine in the Gospel of John (t/f)
true
Jesus' genealogy in Luke is significantly different from the one found in Matthew. (t/f)
true
John the Baptist preached an apocalyptic message
true
Luke puts more emphasis on Jerusalem than the other New Testament Gospels do. (t/f)
true
Most ancient Jews were not a member of any particular sect (t/f)
true
Most ancient people believed in the possibility of miracles (t/f)
true
Most of the Sermon on the Mount comes from Q material (t/f)
true
Not one first-century pagan author mentions Jesus (t/f)
true
Pieces of writing that share a range of conventions are classified together as a trope (t/f)
true
The Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as keeping his messianic identity hidden (t/f)
true
The Gospel of Thomas is a sayings Gospel without a central narrative (t/f)
true
The Gospel of the Nazareans was very similar to the Gospel of Matthew (t/f)
true
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke most likely used the Gospel of Mark as a source (t/f)
true
The Pharisees did not have significant political clout (t/f)
true
Valentinian Gnostics were often difficult to distinguish from proto-orthodox Christians (t/f)
true
When society at large approves of a cultic practice, it is called "religious," while more marginal practices are called "magical."
true
Oral cultures tend to:
understand stories as changeable
The term "apocalypse" means:
unveiling
According to Gnostics, Christ:
was completely divine
According to Gnostics, the world:
was created by an inferior, ignorant god
What might the first question on people's minds have been as they observed Jesus' miracles?
what is the source of his power
What is one way to spot bias in a text?
when just about every story in the account drives at the same point
According to the textbook, when did Christianity begin?
with the belief in jesus' resurrection
Polytheism is the:
worship of many gods
Which of the following was thought to be the most powerful of the gods?
zeus
