The Apostolic Age I Trivia Quiz

Answer: Matthew and Luke

Matthew and Luke describe the birth of Jesus, Matthew with a lengthy genealogy, and Luke with the beautiful passages of Mary's encounter with the angel, her visit to her kinswoman, Elizabeth, and an event in the childhood of Jesus. Neither Mark nor John deal with the birth of Jesus; they simply launch into Jesus' ministry.

Answer: He was accused of being a blasphemer.

Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue, and this created quite a stir when he told the attendees that the days of captivity had ended. Many of the people called him a blasphemer and they took him to a cliff outside the town and attempted to throw him down. Jesus moved safely through the crowd and went to Capernaum. The event is recounted in Luke 4:16-30.

Answer: Antioch

Although we cannot be certain precisely where Jesus was during his ministry, there is no mention of him visiting Antioch. There are numerous traditions that Jesus visited lands outside Palestine, but the other towns referred to here are mentioned in the Gospels.

He changed water to wine at the wedding in Cana, he visited Jericho, and we know that he attended Passover in Jerusalem. We cannot accurately account for where Jesus was or what he did between the age of twelve and thirty. There is a tradition that he traveled to India.

Answer: Bethany

Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, resided in Bethany, just a few miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was deathly ill, he mysteriously delayed a few days, but this was part of his plan to show the glory of God. Read more about this event in John 11:1-44.

Answer: All of these

All of these explanations and more have been offered by skeptics, but believers see problems with each of these. Jesus was undoubtedly dead, particularly since he received a "coup de grace" from a spear when he was on the cross. It seems unlikely that women who attended Jesus' burial would not be able to find the tomb.

The "stolen body" theory is the most common, but terrified disciples, fearing that they might suffer the same fate, would not have been likely to have stolen Jesus' body from the tomb -- it is not psychologically tenable.

Answer: Pharisees

Paul was trained as a Pharisee and he clearly states this in Philippians 3:5.

Answer: Stephen

Stephen is traditionally considered the first to die in the name of Jesus Christ. He was stoned to death; the accusers laid their coats at Saul's feet and threw the first stones at the condemned. James (the Greater) was executed by Herod Agrippa several years later. Saul had nothing to do with the deaths of either Mary Magdalene or Nathaniel. See Acts 7:57-60.

Answer: True

In the manner of many great religious leaders, beginning with Abraham and Moses, and continuing to Jesus himself, Paul went into the Arabian wilderness to meditate and clarify his thoughts about the role of Jesus Christ in the salvation history of both the Jews and all the world. It could be said that Paul made Christianity what it is.

Answer: False

Although the Romans developed crucifixion to a fine art, they did not invent the punishment. The Assyrians and Babylonians used crucifixion for executions, and the Persians adopted it and practiced it widely.

Answer: Ephesus

Silversmiths in Ephesus were angered because Paul preached against their production of silver and tin statuettes of Artemis. Their sales were declining and they complained to the local magistrate, Junius Gallio. Gallio, however, reviewed the case and released Paul.

Answer: Joel

At Pentecost, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the others went out to the public and preached in the name of Jesus Christ, proclaiming him as the Messiah. Peter's Pentecost sermon, in Acts 2:14-41, refers to the prophet Joel with regard to the outpouring of the Spirit upon the people.

Answer: Gamaliel

Gamaliel asked to address the Sanhedrin, saying that others had risen against authority, Theudas and Judas of Galilee. In the passage in Acts 5:38-39, he warned Sanhedrin members that if the actions of the apostles "were of men" that they would fail. If, on the other hand, they were doing God's work, nothing could prevail against their mission.

The apostles were released on this occasion, but whipped as a warning. Caiaphas was still presiding over the Sanhedrin; he would have never defended the apostles since it was he who brought the charges and uttered the threats against preaching in the name of Jesus.

Answer: Barnabas

Paul first encountered and became friends with Barnabas, who was related to Mary, mother of John Mark. He had no known contact initially with Mary Magdalene or Joseph of Arimathea, but he soon found himself meeting Peter and the other apostles, through an introduction from Barnabas.

Answer: Lystra

Paul healed a crippled man in Lystra, and the people were so impressed that they hailed Paul as Hermes and Barnabas as Zeus. There was a local legend that these two gods visited Lystra earlier and were housed by a poor, elderly couple. In gratitude, the two divinities transformed their hovel into a palace, and the couple was immortalized as two cypress trees near the palace. See Acts 14:2-17.

Answer: Philippi

The battle of Philippi (42 BC) was fought nearby, pitting the forces of Octavian against those of Antony, Brutus and Cassius.

Answer: Paul said that Jesus rose from the dead.

The Athenian educators were put off when Paul declared that Jesus rose from the dead. Most of them were Stoics or Epicureans, and they were not ready to accept the notion of resurrection as Paul described it. They did believe in the immortality of the soul, but they did not believe that a new deity had arisen.

Answer: Isis

One cannot help but be reminded of the Madonna and child when images of Isis and Horus are viewed. The cult of Isis was widespread in the Mediterranean world. The statues and statuettes depict Isis serenely and lovingly holding her child, Horus, on her lap, just as Mary is holding the Christ child.

Answer: Simon Magus

The encounter was with Simon Magus, a magician and charlatan, who was gaining a large following in Samaria. Peter was appalled at his proposition and declared that Simon's money could perish with him. Simon Magus is said to have imputed Messianic, Godlike powers to himself as he advanced in his nefarious career.

Theudas and Simon of Gerasa were Jewish rebels, and Honi was a wonder worker and scholar who lived in the previous century. He was called "Honi the Circle Maker"; he would draw a circle in the dust and pray for rain. According to one account, he succeeded. See Acts 8:9-24.

Answer: Eating non-kosher foods with Gentiles

Peter traveled to another city and began to socialize with Gentiles, mainly Greeks. He feasted with them and ate many foods which were non-kosher. He had more liberal views previously, leaning towards Paul's doctrine of salvation by faith without becoming a Jew first.

He reversed his position to that of the opinion of James and the other Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, and Paul criticized him severely.

Answer: It is not known

The only feasible answer is "it is not known." After his imprisonment by Herod Agrippa, a few years earlier, he "went to another place" (Acts 12:17) but this place is unnamed. It is not precisely known where Peter was during the fifteen years after the Council until his traditional appearance in Rome during the Neronian persecution.

The Acts of the Apostles is completely silent on the issue. There is any number of places where he could have gone, and there is a tradition that he was a bishop in Antioch for a number of years. Or, perhaps he traveled to Rome earlier than tradition states.

He visited Antioch at some point, as told in Galatians 2:11, but it isn't clear whether that was before or after the Council.

Answer: Herod Agrippa II

The king present at the hearing was Herod Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa. Herod Agrippa died several years earlier, as did Herod Phillip. King Aretas was a Nabataean ruler, who struggled with Herod Antipas thirty years earlier. Herod Agrippa II, hearing Paul's eloquent defense, wondered if Paul was trying to persuade him to be a Christian (Acts 26:28).

Answer: Porta San Sebastiano

Near the site of the San Sebastiano Gate (Saint Sebastian Gate) in Rome on the Appian Way there is a chapel called "Quo Vadis Domine" which commemorates the traditional site of Peter's encounter with Christ. The story is recounted in the apocryphal Acts of Peter. As the story goes, Peter was so moved by his vision that he turned around and returned to Rome to face his martyrdom.

Answer: The home of Senator Pudente

The Basilica was built on the site of the home of Senator Pudente. When Peter came to Rome, Pudente accepted Christianity and offered his home as a place of worship. Most of the executed Christians were put to death in Nero's circus, and there was no Pudente Prison nor a Pudente cattle market.

The dreaded prison at that time was the Mamertine Prison. A church might have been built at the site of Christian martyrdoms, but hardly on the site of a cattle market.

Answer: Helius

Helius managed civil affairs while Nero went on a tour in Greece. Phaon was a freedman of Nero's, and he offered refuge to Nero in his villa when Nero was fleeing Rome to avoid capture. Epaphroditis assisted Nero with his suicide, and Tigellinus was a praetorian prefect.

Answer: Beheading, on the Ostia road near Ardea

Paul, as a Roman citizen, was not mingled with the general persecution of Christians in Nero's Circus. The execution of Roman citizens was done by beheading, and they could not be flogged without due process, an issue which Paul dealt with in Philippi.

He was taken out of the city of Rome to a grove near the village of Ardea and beheaded. A church was constructed over the traditional site of Paul's burial place nearby, Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura, the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls.