Deck 3: Jesus and the New Testament

Question 1

By the time of Jesus, which religious party represented the noble and priestly classes?

A) Pharisee
B) Sadducee
C) Essene
D) Zealot

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following was the greatest hardship for the people of the land?

A) They had no leader
B) They were only permitted to eat food they produced
C) They were persecuted by the Romans
D) They could not afford the double taxation.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which religious party was most likely to particularly look for a messiah?

A) Pharisee
B) Sadducee
C) People of the land
D) The Seekers of the Anointed.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which religious party withdrew from society?

A) Pharisee
B) Sadducee
C) Essene
D) Zealot

Question 5

Which religious party saw only the first five books of the Bible as canonical?

A) Pharisee
B) Sadducee
C) Essene
D) Zealot

Question 6

Which canonical criteria was not one that the author cited?

A) Orthodoxy
B) Apostolicity
C) Recommended by the Jerusalem church
D) Broad acceptance.

Question 7

According to the author, why were the gospels written so many decades after the life of Jesus?

A) God had not inspired them yet
B) Jesus had not returned as they had expected, and the apostles had died
C) Paul demanded a true account of the life and ministry of Jesus in writing
D) The Romans demanded a true account of the life and ministry of Jesus in writing.

Question 8

What role did Marcion play in the development of the New Testament?

A) He urged church leaders to form a canon just before he was martyred
B) He argued for the necessity of apostolicity in accepting any text for the canon
C) He forced canonical lists by challenging most commonly used texts and rejected the God of the Old Testament
D) He went from city to city trying to get churches to use the same canon.

Question 9

When was the canon of the New Testament ultimately determined?

A) Late first century
B) Late second century
C) Late third century
D) Late fourth century

Question 10

The term gospel, or euangelion in Greek, literally means:

A) Good news
B) Truth
C) True story
D) Salvation.

Question 11

According to the author, which gospel was the last to be written?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John.

Question 12

What does quelle refer to?

A) The essence of the gospel
B) A coherent outline of the gospel
C) Source material for the synoptic gospels
D) The data for John's gospel.

Question 13

Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke called the synoptic gospels?

A) They share the same viewpoint
B) They share the same narrative outline
C) They all came from the same source
D) They were first disseminated in Synopia, Asia Minor (Modern Turkey).

Question 14

Where did Jesus grow up?

A) Bethlehem
B) Egypt
C) Jerusalem
D) Nazareth

Question 15

What new era did Jesus preach?

A) Salvation by faith
B) Kingdom of God
C) Radical love
D) Era of the Resurrection.

Question 16

Jesus often preached about

A) A coming apocalypse
B) Inner holiness
C) Revolution of the social and religious status quo
D) All of the above.

Question 17

Who crucified Jesus?

A) The Roman governor Pilate
B) The Jewish High Priests
C) The people of Jerusalem
D) Judas Iscariot.

Question 18

According to the author, which gospel was written first?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John.

Question 19

In which Gospel is Jesus most imagined as a kind of new Moses?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John.

Question 20

Which gospel emphasizes the reversal of fortunes where the poor will be raised up?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 21

Which gospel portrays Jesus as an apocalyptic hero?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 22

Which gospel tells of the baby Jesus being swept off to Egypt by his parents?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 23

Which gospel emphasizes metaphors of absolute distinction, for example, light or darkness, spirit or flesh?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 24

Which gospel is Jesus's message focused on works of righteousness?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 25

Which gospel has the highest Christology?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 26

Which gospel portrays Jesus as a universal savior?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John.

Question 27

Which gospel has the regular theme of the messianic secret?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 28

In which gospel does Jesus seem to mediate everything spiritual?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 29

Which gospel portrays the cross as something glorious?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 30

Which gospel emphasizes daunting dark powers challenging Jesus's power?

A) Matthew
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) John

Question 31

In the first century, Judaism had finally become unified theologically.

Question 32

Unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees believed that the prophets and the writings were canonical.

Question 33

The Dead Sea Scrolls come from the Zealot religious party.

Question 34

The author thinks the synoptic gospels are fundamentally historical.

Question 35

Jesus broke many religious taboos.

Question 36

The Sadducees were an apocalyptic religious party.

Question 37

The Essenes awaited two different messiahs.

Question 38

The Zealot party was particularly known for their understanding of the oral law.

Question 39

The Pharisees believed in a last judgment, heaven and hell, and the resurrection from the dead.

Question 40

Most Jews thought of Samaritans as separated brothers who were to be cared for and even pitied.

Question 41

Typically, Romans used the term gospel, or euangelion in Greek, to praise the emperor who was imagined to be a semi-deity.

Question 42

John the Baptizer preached about the coming of a new age.

Question 43

Jesus tried to make friends with the Pharisees, but they rejected him.

Question 44

The author thinks that Jesus's preaching did not cohere into a cohesive whole.

Question 45

Jesus announced his new covenant at the Last Supper.

Question 46

Do you think that the time and place in which he lived was conducive to Jesus's message? How so or why not?

Question 47

Given that today we experience the Bible as a settled package, what is your reaction to the development of the canon?

Question 48

Does the plurality of interpretations of Jesus in the four gospels bring confusion to his message or fill it out? Explain.

Question 49

Is there a particular gospel that appeals more to you than others? What do you think this implies about your life?

Question 50

Given Jesus's concentrating on the message of the kingdom of God, some scholars have posed the provocative thesis that Jesus went about preaching the kingdom of God and his followers changed the message to preaching about Jesus. What do you think about this position? Is there evidence in the New Testament to support it? Is there counter-evidence in the New Testament to challenge it?