Catholic Apologetics
Unit Three: The Search for Jesus
Directions: Respond the following questions as you read through the assignment. Write your responses in
complete sentences using dark blue or black ink. Please record the question on one line, and the response
on thefollowing lines. In most instances the response will be more than a single sentence. Don’t forget to
write the complete heading (full name, row number, date, period, description) in the top, right corner.
Remember to use blue or black ink and that neatness counts!
Catholicism & Reason, Hayes, Hayes, Drummey
Review Questions for chapter 4The Gospels in Our Life
1. What are the two viewpoints for considering the New Testament?
2. What are the various criteria for investigating the reliability of an old book?
3. When were the books of the New Testament written relative to Christ?
4. How can we know that the writers of the second century were accurate in telling us the names of the New Testament authors?
5. Explain the reasons why it seems unlikely that the Gospel writers were frauds?
6. Describe the “credentials” of each of the Evangelists (i.e., where did they get their information)?
7. Why is it very unlikely that myths grew up around Christ?
8. What are reasons why the New Testament writers could not have deceived even if they wished to do so?
9. In what ways has the science of archeology corroborated the New Testament accounts?
10. What assurance do we have that the New Testament we have today has not been altered?
Review Questions for chapter 5The Man Who Cannot Be Ignored
1. Summarize the message of the reflection on the impact of Jesus on history.
2. What sorts of questions would one ask in considering the credibility of a person’s authority?
3. Briefly summarize five passages where Jesus claimed to be divine.
4. Make a copy of the flow chart on page 42.
5. Briefly note the three occasions cited by the authors when Jesus showed his mental competence.
6. Why is it impossible for Jesus to have been a lunatic or a liar?
7. What are the do’s and don’ts of Jesus’ moral code?
8. What is the lesson taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan? In the parable of the Prodigal Son?
9. What is one of the strongest arguments in support of Jesus’ claim to be a divine legate, a messenger from God? Explain.
Review Questions for chapter 6The Divinity of Christ
1. What are the three types of evidence of Jesus’ divinity?
2.-3. (double points!) List the twelve Old Testament prophecies about Jesus cited in the reading.
4. List the five prophecies of Christ cited in the reading.
5. Why does the author believe that Jesus’ prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem is his most striking prophecy?
6. What is a miracle? What does it prove?
7. What three criteria are used by the Church to evaluate a miracle?
8. Illustrate several ways man can intervene in the laws of nature. How does this apply to God?
9. What makes the medical bureau at Lourdes so persuasive?
10. What do the authors mean that it is not God’s purpose to compel us to believe in the supernatural?
11. What are the reasons for miracles?
12. What facts help to confirm that Christ’s miracles really happened?
13. What are the difficulties in explaining the miracles with the forces of nature? (hint: four parts to this)
14. Why can’t Jesus’ miracles be attributed to chance or evil spirits?
15. According to the CCC, what was the purpose of Jesus’ messianic signs?
16. What are the four important things to remember about Jesus’ healing of the man born blind?
17. In what sense were Christ’s miracles his “credentials?”
Review Questions for chapter 7The Passion of Christ
1. Explain the phenomenon known as hematidrosa. What is the cause of hematidrosa?
2. What mission did Jesus have left to accomplish?
3. Who was Annas and what role did he play in Jesus’ death?
4. What was the goal of the interrogation of Jesus by Annas? What was Jesus’ response?
5. What was Peter’s reaction when he recalled the words Jesus had spoken to him? Why such a response?
6. What quandary did Jesus face in responding to the question as to whether he was the Messiah or not?
7. Explain how Jesus’ trial was a farce.
8. What was hypocritical about the Jewish leaders’ decision to take Jesus to Pilate?
9. What were the numerous ways Pilate tried to appease the crowd without having Jesus crucified?
10. Why did Pilate finally allow Jesus to be taken away to be executed?
11. Why did the Romans stage crucifixions in such public places?
12. Describe the physical sufferings Jesus endured on his way to Calvary.
13. What was Dr. Barbet’s most startling finding about Jesus’ crucifixion?
14. Why did Jesus refuse the drink of wine flavored with gall?
15. What would Jesus have to do in order to breath and speak?
16. What had Jesus won by his death?
17. Why did water flow from Jesus’ side?
Review Questions for chapter 8The Greatest Miracle of All
1. How important was the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ?
2. What is ironic about Jesus’ predictions of his resurrection?
3. What comment does John make about the burial wrappings he saw at the tomb?
4. What did Jesus decipher for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? When do they finally recognize Jesus?
5. What three arguments do the authors offer to refute the claim that Jesus’ body was stolen by his followers?
6. What three arguments do the authors offer to refute the claim that Jesus really did not die?
7. What argument can be made against the theory that an earthquake swallowed up the body of Christ?
8. What proof of Jesus’ resurrection does the empty tomb offer?
9. The authors argue that the apparitions of Jesus help to prove Jesus was really raised from the dead. What three proofs are offered?
10. In what ways were the apostles changed by the bodily resurrection of Christ?
Four arguments for why the Resurrection really happened
a) The inconsistencies:Though the four accounts of the resurrection tell a similar story, there are inconsistencies (who arrived first, who informed the women, which Apostle came next to the tomb, etc.). These make it more believable, not less. If Jesus’ disciples had indeed stolen the body and then fabricated a story, they certainly would have been more concerned about getting the details of their story straight.
b) The discovery and report by women: In all the accounts women are the first to hear and spread the word. The way that Jesus valued women was unusual in his era and culture. In the society of that time women were not valued as reliable witnesses for anything. Their word was not taken seriously. If the followers had been trying to pull a hoax, it would have been illogical to develop an account that so prominently featured the witness and testimony of women. They certainly would have developed a more “credible” story line, with high-status witnesses.
c) The dramatic change in his disciples: We know that Jesus’ followers scattered in fear after his death, terrified for their own lives. Yet shortly afterward, they boldly and joyfully professed their faith in Jesus to everyone who would listen. They seemed to have lost all fear. This was true for hundreds of people, not just a few. So deep was their conviction that many of them would later die as martyrs rather than deny their belief. This sense of conviction in hundreds of people would not have been the result of a mass hallucination.
d) The unanimous belief by early Christians: The early church made no attempt to explain the Resurrection; instead the Gospels simply and powerfully proclaimed it. Belief in the Resurrection was unanimous in the early Christian communities. St. Paul whose letters to those communities are the earliest writings in the Christian Testament wrote (read 1 Cor. 15:3-5, 11). Paul proclaimed the Resurrection, and the depth of that belief, seem most reasonably explain by an actual, not an imagined, Resurrection.