Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Biblical history: A Quiz
From: <HISWJH@BYUVM.BITNET>
Date: Friday, 28 Aug 1992 13:55:29 MDT
Organization: Brigham Young University



GENERAL

        Name three books in the Catholic Bible that are not
        in the Protestant Bible.
1 & 2 Maccabees, Tobit

        Name three ancient, Christian apocryphal works in neither.
Gospel of Thomas, Clementine Recognitions, Gospel of Philip

        What are the oldest surviving religious writings?
The Egyptian Pyramid Texts are the earliest complete collection, c. 2600 BCE,
although there are earlier fragments from Sumeria and Egypt.

NEW TESTAMENT

        Which books of the New Testament did John the Elder
        allegedly write?  Says who?
Gospel of John, Letters of John, Revelations (disputed).  Traditions include
Polycarp and Hegesippus (quoted by Eusebius), there are textual inferences in
the Gospels, John is named in the letters.  There is always the question of,
"These documents were not written by John, but by another man of the same
name."

        For whom was Mark supposedly an amaneunsis?  Who gave
        us this tradition?
Peter.  Hegesippus quoted by Eusebius; I believe Origen my discuss it as well.

        What language did Jesus speak?
Aramaic as common language, Hebrew (he could read in Synagogues), and
probably Greek (see latest BAR for discussion)

        According to traditional attributions, who is the major
        author of the New Testament?  The second author?  Were
        either of these with Jesus during his travels and
        preachings?
Paul, John or Luke.  Only John was (though he is probably the third)

        If you are a teacher, and two students turn in papers
        that include sections that are identical, does that
        indicate a common source, i.e., that not both are
        original?  What if this occurs in three gospels?
They derive from a related source.  The same can be said for the Synoptic
gospels.

        According to traditional attributions, how many of the
        original twelve apostles contributed to the New Testament?
Matthew, Peter, John

        What did Origen cut off?  Why did Tertullian believe?
        BONUS: Answer the second question in Latin.
His genitals.  Credo quia absurdum est, "I believe because it is absurd."
Although I think in context he intended a different meaning than it sounds
out of context.

        Other than Origen and Tertullian, name three church
        fathers of the second and third centuries.
Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria

        Who wrote the Gospel according to Thomas?  Says who?
Doubting Thomas is the alleged author (usually considered pseudepigraphic).
It is generally thought by modern scholars that the Gospel was composed in
Gnostic Egyptian Christian circles, but may in fact contain authentic sayings o
f
Jesus.

        What are the synoptic gospels?  What do they have in
        common?
Matthew, Mark, Luke all have very similar coverage of events and phrases.

        Which of the four canonical gospels, in its oldest
        version, gives no account of the resurrected
        Jesus?
Mark, chap. 16, although it is not certain that the absence of the last verses
is
the older version.

        It was common in the ancient world for a disciple or
        student to write what a famous person or teacher
       (allegedly) said, and put the teacher's name on the
        work.  How does the importance of such indirect
        attributions differ for philosophical works (e.g.,
        Socrates' apology) as opposed to historical or
        biographical works?
It doesn't.

OLD TESTAMENT

        What is the Torah?
Pentateuch, Books of Moses = Gen. Ex. Lev. Num. Deut.

        Which book of the Old Testament was partly written in
        Aramaic?  What is the importance of this?
Daniel (I think there is some Aramaic in Gen. and some in Kgs. too).
It is often thought that this means it is a late book, written after Aramaic
became the common tongue of Palestine.

        What is the Septuagint?  Which Ptolemy commissioned it?
        What tradition explains its name?  Why is it important?
Greek translations of the OT.  Ptolemy III? Soter?  (I can't remember)
Seventy scholars were locked up in separate rooms, told to translate the
Hebrew OT into Greek, and all came up with exactly the same translation.
The Septuagint is the version of the Bible used by all NT authors for
quotations from the OT, was the OT used by the Greek Fathers, and is the
official OT of the Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox Churches.

        From which older culture do some scholars think parts
        of Levitical law derive?  To what kind of evidence do
        they appeal?
Babylon, Hammurabi's code and other similar law codes.

        Which was written first, the Pentateuch or the
        Homeric epics?  (This is a trick question; the goal is
        to give an answer that makes some kind of sense.)
Depends on when you date the Pentateuch and Homer (of course).  Generally
it is thought that Homer is 7C BC, and Pentateuch is 6C BC (in its final
redaction), so Homer is first.  However, this compares the original version of
Homer with the final version of the Pentateuch.  Homer was also edited and
redacted after the 7C BC, therefore, the Pentateuch in its final form is probab
ly
older than Homer in his final form.

        Which occurred first, Moses leading the Jews out of
        Egypt, or the Achaean's war against Troy?  Other than the
        Homeric epics, what evidence do we have for the latter?
        Other than the Pentateuch, what evidence do we have
        for the former?
Again it depends on when you date the events; its disputed.  Generally, the
Exodus is thought to have been first (Exodus, c. 1250 BC, Troy, c. 1200 BC).
Evidence for Trojan war: Archaeology of Troy and Mycenaean world, Hittite
documents, Mycenaean Linear B documents, other later Greek traditions, Sea
Peoples migrations.
Evidence for Exodus: ambiguous and disputed archaeology in Palestine in 12C
BC, Merneptah stella, the newly interpreted Merneptah reliefs at Karnak.

        Which country held Judah before Nebuchadnezzar's reign?
Egypt (Necho II conquered Palestine for a few years after killing Josiah at the

battle of Megiddo)
        BONUS: What does Nebuchadnezzar's name mean?
Don't know
        BIG BONUS: What does "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin" mean?
Weighed and divided

        What century did David live?  Why are we more sure of
        David's existence than King Arthur's?
c. 1020-960 BC.  I don't think we are more sure of David than Arthur.  There is

no non-Biblical evidence for David's existence.  (Although I think both
existed)

        What is a redactor?
Editor

        What was special about the tribe of Levi?
They didn't get an alotment of land, and served as priests for Israel.

        Who was Antiochus Epiphanes?  What was his importance
        to the Old Testament?
Seleucid Greek King who suppressed Jewish temple rituals in 163 BC, starting
the Maccabean wars.

        Why are multiple sources postulated for the Pentateuch?
Literary duplications, word usage, contradictions, anachronisms

ESSAY

        Name at least two cultures that influenced Jewish history
        and that had deities whose ceremonies included sexual
        activity.  Describe the ceromonies and their importance.
        Name the gods.  Explain how the conflict between these
        cultures and the Israelites influenced portions of the
        Bible.
Canaanites: Baal, Ashera, Anat
Mesopotamians: Marduk, Ishtar
Prophets condemn participation in ritual prostitution and orgies associated
with these gods and goddesses

        Name two heresies that were important prior to
        Constantine.  Name apocryphal works (if any) associated
        with these.  In the final analysis, what determines
        orthodoxy?  Is your answer from the viewpoint of a
        particular sect or based on prior religious assumptions?
        In what sense is it objective?
Gnosticism (Nag Hammadi texts), Arianism.  Orthodoxy is determined by
political power; the denomination which gains the support of the political
authorities in a particular region becomes the orthodox religion.

        Jesus, among some other famous religious leaders, never
        wrote a book, nor otherwise left us a direct composition
        of his thoughts.  Instead, we have only sayings that
        others attribute to him (most likely via oral tradition).
        Even if we make the assumption that all such quotes are
        verbatim, does the process of setting the context and
        selecting what was important enough to write down
        constitute an interpretation?  Is there any sense in
        which we "can go back to the source" and study Jesus's
        own thoughts the way we can study, for example,
        Wittgenstein's or Jefferson's?
No.

        Who was the thirteenth apostle?  How would Christianity
        be different if he had not become Christian?
Matthias (Acts 1).  However, I assume you are referring to Paul.  His
importance is that he initiated the preaching of Christianity to the Gentiles.

William J. Hamblin