Deck 6: The Gospels

Question 1

The Synoptic Problem is

A)the scholarly attempt to unravel the literary connections between Matthew,Mark,and Luke.
B)the scholarly attempt to disprove the existence of the Q document.
C)the scholarly attempt to identify the actual authors of Matthew,Mark,and Luke.
D)the scholarly attempt to justify John with Matthew,Mark,and Luke.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The critical method that attempts to identify the oldest oral form underlying the Gospels' written texts is called

A)periscopes.
B)oral criticism.
C)oral history.
D)form criticism.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Though there are geographical and chronological differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels,the most important difference is

A)in the way Jesus speaks.
B)in the physical description of Jesus.
C)in the description of Mary.
D)in the description of Jesus' birth.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The Synoptic Gospels include all but that of

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

Question 5

Which of the four Gospels is believed to be the earliest?

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

Question 6

The authors of the canonical Gospels present themselves as

A)eyewitnesses to Jesus' life.
B)anonymous but omniscient storytellers.
C)relatives of Jesus.
D)simple recorders of oral traditions.

Question 7

Form critics are searching for

A)the way in which the four writers of the Synoptic Gospels altered shared parables.
B)the way in which the four writers of the Synoptic Gospels borrowed from each other.
C)the social circumstances and settings in which stories about Jesus originated and were orally transmitted.
D)the Q document.

Question 8

When searching for the historical Jesus,scholars rely least upon the Gospel of

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

Question 9

Mark's Gospel views Jerusalem

A)positively.
B)negatively.
C)neutrally.
D)as unimportant.

Question 10

The Christian kerygma is

A)the traditional belief that Mary was present at the Crucifixion.
B)the traditional belief that the four canonical Gospels are divinely inspired.
C)the proclamation about Jesus,which was accomplished almost exclusively by word of mouth for approximately forty years.
D)the collection of earliest writings about Jesus,which includes the canonical Gospels as well as Paul's letters and the Gospel of Thomas.

Question 11

The resuscitation of Lazarus from the dead appears in

A)Matthew and Mark,but not Luke and John.
B)John exclusively.
C)Matthew,Mark,and Luke,but not John.
D)Mark exclusively.

Question 12

What percentage of John's Gospel is unique (as compared to the Synoptic Gospels)?

A)30
B)75
C)50
D)90

Question 13

How many of the early Christian community's Gospels were eventually admitted into the canon?

A)five
B)six
C)four
D)none

Question 14

Mark,the earliest canonical Gospel,was written

A)between about 80 and 95 CE.
B)approximately thirty-two years after the Crucifixion.
C)approximately four hundred years after the Crucifixion.
D)approximately forty years after the Crucifixion.

Question 15

The Book of Acts continues the story of Christian origins,tracing the expansion of the new religion from Jerusalem,

A)to Sodom,to Gomorrah.
B)to Greece,to Rome.
C)to Alexandria,to Damascus.
D)to Rome,to Gaul.

Question 16

What are the oldest surviving Christian documents?

A)Thomas's collection of sayings
B)Paul's letters to Gentile congregations
C)Mark's "wartime" Gospel
D)Matthew's Gospel

Question 17

Which type of form criticism involves the analysis of documents that purport to record historical events,investigating the historical setting in which the texts originated.

A)narrative criticism
B)authoritarian criticism
C)historical criticism
D)redaction criticism

Question 18

The oral period of the Gospels' development lasted approximately

A)one hundred years.
B)thirty-two years.
C)forty years.
D)four generations.

Question 19

The "triple tradition" refers to

A)the belief in the shared divinity of the Father,the Son,and the Holy Ghost.
B)the belief that Mark,Matthew,and Luke composed their Gospels together.
C)the idea that Jesus was crucified along with two common criminals.
D)the shared narrative and teaching material of Mark,Matthew,and Luke.

Question 20

Which type of form criticism emphasizes such factors as the manner in which a story is constructed,the point of view from which it is told,the author's implied attitude toward his subject or characters,and even the use of geographical settings to convey authorial intent?

A)narrative criticism
B)authoritarian criticism
C)historical criticism
D)redaction criticism

Question 21

Pericopes are the individual acts that Jesus performed during his life.

Question 22

The fact that the early Christian community generally did not promote a single,uniform edition of Jesus' life or adopt one "official" version free of seeming contradictions is significant.

Question 23

According to many scholars,Mark's Gospel was likely an oral composition that was probably performed both before and after it was recorded in writing.

Question 24

We do not know the names of the actual authors of Matthew,Mark,Luke,and John.

Question 25

"Synoptic" means from opposite points of view.

Question 26

Matthew was the last Gospel accepted into the canon.

Question 27

The Griesbach Theory

A)denies Markan priority.
B)insists upon Markan priority.
C)insists that Matthew is a conflation and abridgement of Mark and Luke.
D)denies the authenticity of John,as it is so different from the Synoptic Gospels.

Question 28

John the Baptist appears in Matthew,Mark,Luke,and John.

Question 29

The Gospels claim to be error-free.

Question 30

Scholars have deduced the likely contents of the Q document by

A)isolating the teaching material that is contained in both Luke and Matthew but missing from Mark.
B)comparing the parables used in John to those used in Matthew,Mark,and Luke.
C)isolating the references to Jesus' Passion in Matthew and Luke and comparing them to Mark.
D)comparing the "cast of characters" which are contained in both Matthew and Mark but missing from Luke.

Question 31

Every story or parable found in Mark is also found in Matthew and Luke.

Question 32

The Q document refers to a hypothetical collection of Jesus' sayings which were likely consulted by Matthew and Luke.

Question 33

In the Synoptic Gospels,Jesus teaches largely through parables or aphorisms.

Question 34

Redaction criticism focuses upon the style of writing and point of view used in each canonical Gospel.

Question 35

Fundamentalists generally question John's Gospel,but accept Matthew,Mark,and Luke without hesitation.