Deck 13: The Historical Jesus: Sources, Problems, and Methods

Question 1

Evaluate Jesus' cleansing of the Temple (Mark 11:15-33) using the criteria for the authenticity of a Gospel tradition.
(The instructor might provide the narratives [Mk 11:15-33 and parallels] to the students for analysis.)

Answer 1

Students should discuss and apply the various historical criteria of independent attestation, dissimilarity, and contextual credibility. They might also observe that the cleansing of the Temple provides a plausible reason for Jesus' execution at the hands of the Romans.

Question 2

Not one first-century pagan author mentions Jesus.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

More theologically orthodox sources are more likely to be historically accurate.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The criterion of dissimilarity involves finding stories that wouldn't be expected to have occurred in the historical context of Jesus' life.

Question 5

The criterion of contextual credibility is the one criterion with a strictly negative function.

Question 6

For many passages, Matthew and Luke only count as one independent source.

Question 7

Which of the following pagan authors does not mention Jesus?

A) Pliny the Younger
B) Plutarch
C) Suetonius
D) Tacitus

Question 8

The Roman historian Tacitus says that Christianity is:

A) The truth
B) A false religion
C) A superstition
D) Illegal

Question 9

Which of the following criteria can only be used to rule a tradition inauthentic?

A) The criterion of independent attestation
B) The criterion of dissimilarity
C) The criterion of similarity
D) The criterion of contextual credibility

Question 10

Jesus' baptism by John passes the criterion of dissimilarity because:

A) It is unlikely that Christians would have made up this tradition, since being baptized by John might have implied Jesus' subordination to John
B) Jesus' baptism was unlike the baptisms of later Christians: it was dissimilar to them because he was without sin
C) It is unlikely that Christians would have made up this tradition, because "inventing" a tradition would have been considered sinful
D) Jesus' baptism was unlike other religious rituals of the day because it emphasized the Spirit

Question 11

Which historian categorically states that Jesus was the messiah in book 18 of The Antiquities of the Jews?

A) Tacitus
B) Josephus
C) Ialdabaoth
D) Pliny the Younger

Question 12

Which would count as a basic methodological principle that historians can apply to their sources?

A) The earlier the better.
B) The later the better.
C) The more detail the better.
D) The less detail the better.

Question 13

Accounts with very highly developed theology are more likely to be:

A) More historically accurate
B) Less historically accurate
C) Written earlier
D) Written later

Question 14

What is one way to spot bias in a text?

A) When the author repeatedly states his or her credentials
B) When the author has a known affiliation with one of the views expressed in the text
C) When just about everything in the text makes a uniquely different point
D) When just about every story in the account drives at the same point

Question 15

Consistent testimony of many independent witnesses _____________ a case for a saying's or event's historical reliability.

A) strengthens
B) weakens
C) does not affect
D) indicates bias in

Question 16

If a piece of Greek text makes more logical sense when translated into Aramaic (Jesus' original language) then that particular passage:

A) is a historically reliable witness of the words of Jesus
B) is a historically unreliable witness of the words of Jesus
C) may likely trace back to an Aramaic original, but cannot-based on this alone-serve as evidence of a historically (un)reliable witness of the words of Jesus
D) has been altered for theological purposes

Question 17

Why will scholars always disagree about the end product of their labors; that is, why will their accounts of what happened in the past always be different than other scholars'?

A) Because no two scholars have access to exactly the same source material
B) Because the past can never be empirically proved; it can only be reconstructed
C) Because it is the nature of scholars to argue
D) Because their biases will always clash

Question 18

Which of the following episodes is most likely historical according to the criterion of dissimilarity?

A) The resurrection of Lazarus
B) The feeding of the five thousand
C) The betrayal of Jesus
D) The temptation of Jesus

Question 19

Which of the following is not a rule of thumb for one attempting to reconstruct the historical Jesus?

A) The earlier the better.
B) Beware the bias.
C) Use only sources that were eyewitnesses to the events at hand.
D) Highly developed theology makes a story less likely to be historical.

Question 20

Most historians think Josephus's testimony about Jesus as Messiah was:

A) Written late in his life after his conversion to Christianity
B) Inserted by a later Christian scribe
C) Originally written in Aramaic and only later translated into Greek
D) Expanded in the second edition of The Antiquities

Question 21

According to the Gospel of Peter, who is responsible for condemning Jesus?

A) Satan
B) Pontius Pilate
C) Herod
D) Judas