Deck 4: Development of Christianity in the New Testament

Question 1

Where was the earliest church centered?

A) Jerusalem
B) Nazareth
C) Rome
D) Antioch

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Given the symbolic number of twelve, after Judas betrayed Jesus and killed himself, what did the other eleven apostles do regarding this number?

A) They believed that the gap represented a symbolic lack of fulfillment that anticipated Jesus's second coming and full restoration
B) They voted and chose Paul to replace Judas
C) They interpreted it as a sign that they would be persecuted
D) They threw lots (dice) and from this chose Matthias.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

After Peter's first speech, Acts says that many were baptized. How many did Acts say?

A) 500
B) 1,000
C) 3,000
D) 5,000

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Who was the first martyr?

A) Paul
B) Peter
C) Stephen
D) John

Question 5

The first recorded baptism of Gentiles in Acts was:

A) Pontius Pilate's household
B) Barnabas's household
C) The Synagogue of Freemen
D) Cornelius's household

Question 6

What were God-fearers?

A) Devout Jews who awaited the messiah
B) Gentiles who followed much of the Jewish religion
C) This became another name for the apostles and leaders of the early church
D) Gentiles who were afraid of God and therefore refused to be converted.

Question 7

Where was Paul raised?

A) Rome
B) Nazareth
C) Jerusalem
D) Damascus

Question 8

Paul (also named Saul), had a conversion experience after hearing a voice from the risen Jesus. What did Jesus say?

A) Saul, Saul, I command you to believe
B) Saul, Saul, you are persecuting the righteous ones
C) Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me
D) Saul, Saul, I curse you for persecuting those who know the truth.

Question 9

What did Paul do immediately after his baptism?

A) He went to Damascus
B) He began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues
C) He preached the faith in Rome
D) He spent three years learning the faith

Question 10

What was Paul's strategy for sharing the Christian faith when he went to a new city?

A) He began in the synagogue, proclaiming Jesus as the messiah
B) He began in the street corner, proclaiming Jesus to whomever would listen
C) He began by trying to convert the civic leaders, which rarely worked
D) He began by going to Roman places of worship, denouncing their idols and proclaiming Jesus the true savior.

Question 11

To whom was Paul most successful in converting?

A) God fearers
B) Rabbis
C) Peasant Jews
D) Leading civic leaders

Question 12

Which letter of Paul's is widely disputed by scholars as not having been written by Paul himself?

A) Romans
B) 2 Corinthians
C) Philippians
D) 1 Timothy

Question 13

How did Paul try to ensure that others would not write letters in his name?

A) He signed them
B) He named people in them who were his personal friends
C) He insisted that they check his unique handwriting
D) He sent them by personal friends

Question 14

Paul's letters are arranged in the Bible by:

A) Size
B) Theological depth
C) Time of writing
D) Importance

Question 15

What did the Judaizers believe?

A) Judaism was meant to save Jews and was not interested in Gentiles
B) Anyone who believed in Jesus was a false Jew
C) Unless Judaism was suppressed, the Roman Empire would eventually fall
D) To become a convert to the new faith in Jesus, one had to become Jewish.

Question 16

What did the Council of Jerusalem decide?

A) Jesus was the messiah
B) Jesus was not the messiah, and his believers deserved persecution
C) Gentile believers did not have to take on the Jewish Law
D) Gentile believers had to take on the Jewish Law

Question 17

According to the author, which of the following was historically at stake in the decision about Gentiles and the Jewish Law?

A) Whether Christianity would become truly universal
B) Whether kosher laws really represented God's will
C) Whether Jews would ever eventually believe in Jesus
D) Whether God could be trusted

Question 18

What was a main argument some scholars have that challenged some letters attributed to Paul as being actually from others?

A) They challenged Paul's belief in justification by faith
B) They do not share the same kerygma or central message
C) They reflect a more established church than in Paul's time
D) They clearly do not have Paul's handwriting

Question 19

What does the author say about Paul's theology?

A) Paul has a central message repeated in every letter
B) Paul never clearly lays out a doctrine
C) Paul insisted on justification by faith alone-his central theological point
D) Putting all of Paul's letters together gives the reader a complete theological treatise.

Question 20

What does soteriology refer to?

A) What humans need to believe
B) How believers are to conduct oneself morally
C) The study of a Christian sect known as Soter
D) How humans are saved and from what

Question 21

What was the Letter to the Galatians intended to address?

A) Whether Jesus had actually risen from the dead
B) Whether it was lawful to eat meat sacrificed to idols
C) Whether Gentiles had to adopt the Jewish Law
D) Whether Jesus was God

Question 22

According to Galatians, Paul had a public dispute with Peter. What did he say to Peter?

A) If you know that Jesus is Lord, why is it that you accept other Jews that believe otherwise?
B) Why do you recommend marriage when you know that Jesus is coming soon? Do you believe this or not?
C) If you are the prophet of Jesus to the Jews, why challenge that I may be called to go to the Gentiles?
D) If you, though a Jew, live as a Gentile, and not as a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to life as Jews?

Question 23

According to Galatians, what was God's intention in bringing the Law?

A) As a test of Israel's will, to see if they were worthy
B) As a way of showing that all are sinners and need salvation
C) As a provisional covenant and discipline until Christ came
D) As an eternal Law that could not be rejected

Question 24

What is the position about the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament?

A) It is an eternal way to be holy
B) It is a temporary guide until the messiah comes
C) It was given by God because God knew his children needed guidance
D) There is no exact Law, this is the fundamental problem

Question 25

In Galatians, what does Paul think of those who follow the Law for their justification?

A) They are like half-believers
B) They are beloved by God
C) They are like slaves
D) They are like angels

Question 26

According to Galatians, representatives from James:

A) Demanded that Paul return to Jerusalem
B) Still wanted Gentiles to take on the Jewish Law
C) Invited Paul to preach to the nations
D) Implored Paul to stop preaching when his life was at stake

Question 27

According to Paul, what does grace mean?

A) God's favor and saving gift of himself
B) God's undisputed act of salvation
C) God's friendship and joy in discipleship
D) The human response to God's offer of salvation

Question 28

Why was Paul arrested in Jerusalem?

A) He stood in the temple and announced that Jesus was the messiah
B) He denounced the High Priest and announced that Jesus was the true High Priest
C) He denounced Peter publicly, and this caused a scandal
D) Roman soldiers intervened while he was being beaten

Question 29

What finally ensured that Paul would be tried in Rome and ultimately martyred?

A) Paul appealed as a Roman citizen that this was his right
B) The governor Festus feared Paul would create a riot in Jerusalem
C) King Agrippa was decidedly anti-Christian and wanted the full weight of Roman law to fall on Paul
D) He was charged with being a "ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."

Question 30

Paul was in Rome for two years before he went to trial. How did the author characterize this time?

A) He was basically beaten daily
B) He was tortured on every Jewish feast day
C) He was put in the farthest prison cell where he could speak to no one
D) He had freedom of movement

Question 31

The early church understood Jesus's mission in apocalyptic terms.

Question 32

Acts of the Apostles presents an idealized church that did not accurately represent complicated relations or decisions.

Question 33

Most scholars think that Paul did not write some of the letters that have his name on them.

Question 34

The most important thing in Paul's letters was Paul's interpretation of Jesus's preaching.

Question 35

The author says that Paul sometimes blurred the identity of the Holy Spirit with Jesus himself.

Question 36

According to the author, Paul believed that Jesus died for the sins of the world, but that this was not exactly a sacrificial atonement.

Question 37

Jesus taught that the Torah or Law would be displaced by faith in him.

Question 38

The author says that Paul's metaphysics seems confused.

Question 39

Paul saw Jesus as a pre-existent messiah.

Question 40

Jews widely believed that the Torah or Law was a burden too great for them to carry.

Question 41

In his letters, Paul was careful to distinguish God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Question 42

Jews believed that following the Torah or Law justified them.

Question 43

In Galatians, Paul claims that Moses's covenant was never annulled.

Question 44

The author says that the upshot of the Letter to the Galatians is that Paul nullified the Law not just for the Gentiles but for Jews as well.

Question 45

The author attributes Paul as being the most important member of the early church in terms of church history.

Question 46

If those scholars who dispute Paul's authorship on some of his letters are correct, how could this to affect reading the Bible as authoritative?

Question 47

The early church did not resolve the central issues in church order or doctrine. Rather, it approached these issues through its members' ongoing experience. Should the dynamic of experience affect Christian practice and thought today? If so, how so? If not, why not?

Question 48

Some of Jesus's ministry was apocalyptic and gave the impression that the end of the world was imminent. The preaching of the apostles seems to support this. Given that the end of the world did not happen in the first century, what should one make of this type of preaching? How does your reasoning then address the fact that some Christians today think that the end of the world is imminent?

Question 49

The council of Jerusalem decided that Gentiles did not have to take on the Jewish law (Torah), but certainly presumed that fellow Jewish believers would continue. Does then Paul's argument that the time of the law for everyone is over contradict this? How might Paul defend himself against this claim?

Question 50

The author sees Paul as both distinguishing and blurring distinctions among God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ, even that "Paul's metaphysics seems confused." If this is correct, what does this say about biblical inspiration? What does it imply about using the Bible to derive secure Christian doctrines?