Premade Test (Chapter Exams)
Premade Test (chapter exams)
The Bible: An Introduction
Jerry L. Sumney
For the answer key to this test, please email .
Chapter 1
The collection of documents that shows what the form of most books of the Hebrew Bible were like in the first century is known as ______.
The three parts of the Hebrew Bible are ______, ______, and ______.
Short Answer
What are at least two reasons that groups need a canon or set of regulations?
When did the books of the Hebrew Bible begin to take the shape they now have?
What are three criteria used to determine whether a document would be authoritative in the early church and so become a book in the New Testament?
Essay Question
Discuss the reasons why the early church decided it needed an authoritative group of writings.
Chapter 2
The paper-like material made from reeds that grow along the Nile (among other places) is called ______.
A manuscript that has the form of the earliest type of book is known as ______.
What is the basic task of textual criticism?
Why did some copyists that what the text of a book of the New Testament said?
What is the Textus Receptus?
What are at least two things about the King James Version that Sumney says make it a problematic translation for use today?
Discussion Question
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of dynamic equivalence and formal correspondence as translation strategies.
Chapter 3
Two authors who use allegory to interpret the Bible are ______and ______.
The movement that rejected the things that Enlightenment interpreters discovered about the Bible is known as ______.
______is one writer of a book of the Bible who used allegory to interpret earlier things in the Bible.
What does the author of 2 Timothy think being inspired does for a book?
Modern theories about the meaning of inspiration of the Bible can be divided into what two types?
Discussion (Answer EITHER A or B)
- Compare what “plenary inspiration” meant to ancient writers and what it means to 20th and 21st century writers. What problems does Sumney find with the 20th and 21st century meanings of plenary inspiration?
- Why did the leaders of the Reformation reject allegorical and spiritual readings of the Bible? What influence did their views have on the way that ideas about inspiration developed?
Chapter 4
The scholar who developed the Documentary Hypothesis was ______.
A person who believes in multiple gods is a ______.
The first ancestor of the Jewish people is ______.
The ancestor who tricked his brother and father to get the position of leader of the clan was ______.
The ancestor who has dreams that his family members will bow before them is ______.
What are the 4 sources identified by the Documentary hypothesis? Identify what each designation stands for. (This question counts double)
How does the Deuteronomistic historian think about the way God works with the Israelites?
What were the consequences of the “Fall”?
Explain how the ancestors of the Israelites end up living in Egypt.
Discussion. Answer ONE of the following.
- What is the point of the creation narratives of Genesis? How can you tell that from their genre? What does this say about the relationship between the Genesis story and a scientific account of the beginning of the world?
- Compare and contrast the flood story of Genesis with another flood story being told when Genesis was written. Be specific about where the story is from and how it is alike and different.
- Discuss the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. What does the text of Genesis say Abraham is to learn from it. What does Sumney think the main points of this story are? What is the evidence he gives for this reading?
Chapter 5
The stories in the last 4 books of the Torah are written in the genre of ______.
The story of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt is known as ______.
The instructions about how to live a holy life and to organize society around marriage appear in a section of Leviticus known as ______.
Deuteronomy says that if the nation is faithful God will______, but if they worship other gods , God will______.
Why does the story of the exodus have the Israelites go through the Red Sea?
What is the lex talionis?
The tent at which Moses met God and Israel worshipped at Mt. Sinai is known as the ______.
The rules about ______apply when a person wants to be prepared to enter the presence of God.
______was hired by King Balak to curse Israel, but he is warned by his donkey not to do it.
The stories in Numbers intend to show what about God?
Essay Question
What is the religious function of many of the civil and ritual laws of the Israelites? Why did the writers think that function was a good goal?
How does the preamble to the Ten Commandments show that the Mosaic covenant is not legalistic?
Chapter 6
The books that try to explain how the Israelite nations could have been defeated and exiles are known as the ______.
The first city Joshua conquers is ______.
The book that gives twelve examples of the Deuteronomistic pattern happening in the communal lives of the Israelites is ______.
______is the system in which a close relative marries the widow of a man who dies without having children.
The great-grandmother of David who is a Moabite is ______.
The container that holds the tablets of the law and the rod of Aaron was ______.
The person who reads the Book of the Law to the people after they return from exile is ______.
What nation defeats and exiles the nation of Israel?
What two things does Saul do that lead God to reject him from being king?
What phrase from 1 and 2 Kings summarizes what the authors of those books think about most kings of Israel and Judah?
Who are the king and queen who exemplify what is wrong with the rulers of Israel and Judah?
Who is the king who begins to reign as a child and enacts reforms that include repairing the temple and reinstituting the celebration of the Passover?
How is the perspective of 1 and 2 Chronicles different from that of 1 and 2 Kings?
What is an early act of Jeroboam I that shows how the nation of Israel will be continually unfaithful to God?
What does Elijah do at Mt. Carmel? What is he trying to prove?
Essay
Why do the writers of the book of Joshua think it is a good idea to kill all the people in a city? Be sure to tell about what in the experience of the authors might contribute to that view.
Chapter 7
While they are also concerned about personal morality and the necessity of worshiping only God, the main ethical concern of the 8th century prophets was ______.
The prophet who live through the final fall of the city of Jerusalem was ______.
The king who allows the people of Judah to return home from exile is ______.
The leading character in the book of Daniel lives in______.
How are the “classical prophets” different from the prophets who came just before them?
Why did Amos say that worship at the temple in Jerusalem was unacceptable to God?
What does the unfaithfulness of Hosea’s wife symbolize?
Which book was probably written by three different prophets who wrote in the same name?
Why does the prophet Habakkuk question God’s justice?
What does Haggai want the people to do? What is the political implication of his message?
What was the usual view of the afterlife in most of the Hebrew Bible? How is Daniel’s view different?
Essay
When the prophets speak of restoration after the exile, why do they say God will restore the nation? That is, what about the relationship between God and Israel do they think this act of God gives expression to?
What do the Ezekiel’s visions of the chariot-throne of God being in Babylon symbolize? Why is this an important message when Ezekiel sees it? What does it say about God that is somewhat surprising about this to Ezekiel and those to whom he prophecies?
What are the surprising messages of the book of Jonah. How do the fantastic elements of the story contribute to readers seeing what those points are?
Chapter 8
The three books within the genre of Wisdom are ______, ______, and ______.
The question that Job addresses, that of why bad things happen to good people, is called ______.
The Israelite who becomes queen of the king of Persia is ______.
The book of Esther tells the story that is the basis for the Feast ______.
The book that has a wise old man pass on wisdom is ______.
The book that is composed of a series of short maxims is ______.
Name two things that make the Wisdom literature distinctive from the rest of the book of the Hebrew Bible?
What is “general revelation”?
Why do some sayings within Proverbs contradict other sayings in the same book?
What does Ecclesiastes say about the meaningfulness of life?
Essay
Tell about the development of the idea of satan from the book of Job through the time of the New Testament.
Compare the outlook on life in the Wisdom Literature with that in the Deuteronomisitic histories. How might this be influenced by the different ways the two kinds of literature think they get information about God?
Chapter 9
The literary technique that has two consecutive lines repeat the same idea is ______.
The literary technique that has two consecutive lines state opposite ideas is ______.
The Song of Solomon is ______.
What is the function of a Didactic Psalm?
What makes the perspective of the Psalms different from that of other books of the Bible?
Essay
What does the collection of the Psalms show about the experience of God the Israelites had in their lives? What do they say about the view that Judaism was a religion of formalism?
Chapter 10
The Macedonian who established the largest empire the world had known in the 4th century B.C.E. was ______.
The Seleucid king who defiles the Jerusalem temple in 167 B.C.E. was ______.
When Mattathias stopped a person in his hometown from making a sacrifice to another God, he started ______.
The three most influential understandings (often called sects) of Judaism in the first century were ______, ______, and ______.
The party within first-century Judaism that was known for its expertise in the interpretation of Scripture was the ______.
The person who funded the building of the large and beautiful temple in 1st century Jerusalem was ______.
What party within first-century Judaism probably found and occupied the compound at Qumran?
When and how did the Romans get involved with the political situation in Jerusalem?
What is the Oral Torah?
What important documents come to us from the area of Qumran?
Essay Questions
Answer ONE of the following
- Compare what the three leading groups within first-century Judaism thought about what writings were authoritative, how a person should interpret Scripture, and what happened to people at death.
- Discuss how political developments in Judea and the surrounding areas influenced the development of the leading groups of first-century Judaism. Include discussion of when each group emerged and how changes in the political situation led to their emergence at that moment.
- How did Alexander the Great and his Successors promote Hellenism? Include some examples of how they went about it and of its results.
Chapter 11
What early believers in Christ remembered about what he did and said that they passed on to others by word of mouth is known as the ______.
The term used for the writer of a Gospel is an ______.
The three Synoptic Gospels are ______, ______, and ______.
According to the Two-Source Hypothesis, Matthew found most of the sayings of Jesus he records in a source known as ______.
What is the intention of the Gospel writers when they tell their stories about Jesus in the precise ways they tell them?
Luke makes the story of Jesus returning to his hometown after becoming famous the very first story in his narrative of the ministry of Jesus. What does this tell you about what he does not intend to do with his account of Jesus’ ministry?
Why are the Synoptic Gospels given that designation?
What does it mean to talk about the “historical Jesus”?
Essays
Answer EITHER A or B
- Discuss the relationship between faith and objective history. Include discussion of whether current historians think objective history is possible and of what faith is or how it shows itself in the context of a discussion about these issues.
- Discuss the Synoptic Problem. What is it and what is the solution that most scholars adopt? Be sure to describe the solution and its various elements.
Chapter 12
Forcing a demon to leave a person so that it no longer possesses him or her is called an ______.
The week that leads up to the crucifixion of Jesus is known as ______.
The Synoptic Gospel that was written for a predominantly Jewish church is ______.
The only Gospel in which Pilate washes his hands during the trial of Jesus is ______.
The Gospel that emphasizes God’s concern for the second-class and disadvantaged is ______.
The Beloved Disciples wrote ______.
The only Gospel that talks about a pre-existence for Christ before the birth of Jesus is ______.
How does the composition of the original audience of a Gospel influence its content?
What two things might it mean when Mark has Jesus say that the Kingdom of God is near?
What is the Messianic Secret?
How does Mark present the disciples? Why does he present them in this way? (This question counts double)
Why does Matthew speak of the “kingdom of Heaven” rather than the “kingdom of God”?
What does it mean when the Gospel of John talks about “the Jews”? Who are they in relation to the author and his church? (This question counts double)
Essays
Answer ONE of the following:
- Why does Matthew spend so much time in the Sermon of the Mount having Jesus interpret the commands of the Mosaic Law? What does this say about who Jesus is? What does it say about the place of the Law in Matthew’s church?
- What is a Formula Quotation? How does remembering that ancient authors thought texts could have multiple levels of meanings help you understand what it means when Matthew quotes passages from the Hebrew Bible using this device?
- Compare the ways Matthew and Luke use Formula Quotations. How are they alike and how are they different? What do these differences show about what they think about how to read Scripture? What do they show about how each sees God’s activity involved with the life of Jesus?
Chapter 13
The Two leading characters in the Acts of the Apostles are ______and ______.
The first non-Jewish person in the church is ______.
The first Christian martyr is ______.
The Apostle to the Gentiles is ______.
The Apostle to the Jews is ______.
The first emperor to distinguish between Jews and members of the church was ______.
In Acts, what day is it when the church starts?
Who preaches the first sermon on the first day of the life of the church?
What was the discussion about at the Jerusalem Conference?
What does Luke mean when he talks about the church as an institution of ‘the last days”?
Essay
Answer EITHER A or B
- Tell the story of the conversion of Cornelius. Why is it such an important story? How can you tell it is important to Luke? Why is it important to notice who the characters in the story are and what the order of events is?
- Why is it important for Luke that Paul is not convicted of any crimes by Roman judges? How does this fit with an important characteristic of Acts? How else is this characteristic seen in the book?
Chapter 14
In Greek mythology, the abode of the dead is ______.
The central issue in the first part of 1 Corinthians is defining ______.
Paul called the meal that the early church ate together to remember the death of Jesus the ______.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul derisively refers to the teachers who claim extraordinary powers from the Spirit and who want to replace him as the apostle of this church as ______.
Where does Paul tell the Romans he wants to go to start some new mission work?
What is the topic if the letter to the Galatians?
Glossolalia is the technical term for what phenomenon?
What are the two issues 1 Thessalonians was written the deal with?
What might be the reason why the writer of 1 Timothy tells women not to braid their hair?
Who are Euodia and Syntyche?
Essay
Answer ONE of the following.
- Reflect on the idea that we are all trapped by the systems of the socio-economic systems of the world so that we constantly do evil. What would lead people to make such an assertion? What might count against that assertion? Why do you think there are or are not ethical implications involved with what we but in stores or with how our government spends money?
- How does recognizing that Paul’s writings are letters influence the way you think about the advice they gave their readers? How does recognizing their genre help you think about the contradictory advice that he gives different communities?
- Compare and contrast the idea of spirituality that Paul opposed in 1 Corinthians with popular spirituality today? How are they alike and different? What kinds of values support Paul’s view and what values support that of the Corinthians? What would Paul’s critique of the Corinthian’s spirituality say to today’s understanding of spirituality?
Chapter 15