Chapter 9: The Life of Jesus and Its Aftermath

Test Bank

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 01

1. Discuss the criteria scholars use to test the authenticity of a Gospel tradition. What is the logic behind each? Choose one or two examples from the Gospels and apply the criteria to them.

Title: Chapter 09 Question 02

2. Many scholars believe that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet. Explain what they mean by this, what evidence they use to argue for it, and how persuasive you find it to be.

Title: Chapter 09 Question 03

3. How did the earliest Christians understand Jesus’ resurrection? How did this event confirm their apocalyptic worldview?

Title: Chapter 09 Question 04

4. Who do the Gospels portray as having discovered the empty tomb. How does this relate to Paul’s testimony about the evidence of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians? Why does it matter?

Title: Chapter 09 Question 01

1. The only Jewish author to mention Jesus within 100 years of his life is _____.

a. Josephus

b. Pliny

c. Plutarch

d. Apollonius

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 02

2. The first New Testament Gospel was written approximately _____ years after Jesus’ death.

a. five

b. fifteen

c. twenty-five

d. forty

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 03

3. Which of the following is not a criterion used by scholars to authenticate traditions about Jesus?

a. independent attestation

b. the criterion of dissimilarity

c. the criterion of similarity

d. contextual credibility

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 04

4. The criterion of dissimilarity says that a tradition is more likely historically reliable if _____.

a. it agrees with Jesus’ teachings

b. it agrees with proto-orthodox theology

c. it disagrees with the author’s theology

d. it is not found in another source

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 05

5. Which of the following traditions does not pass the criterion of contextual credibility?

a. Jesus’ baptism

b. Jesus’ death

c. Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus: “you must be born again”

d. Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 06

6. Which of the following best summarizes Jesus’ impact on wider society in his own day?

a. practically none

b. brief fame before death

c. regional impact but not much outside Judea

d. similar to the Beatles

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 07

7. Which of the following people/groups was not apocalyptically minded?

a. John the Baptist

b. Sadducees

c. Jesus

d. Paul

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 08

8. Which is not a problem historians face when studying Jesus?

a. Earliest sources are from many years after his life.

b. highly biased sources

c. no pagan witnesses

d. only one eyewitness source

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 09

9. Jesus provides the continuity of apocalyptic belief between which of the following?

a. John the Baptist and the early church

b. Tacitus and the church

c. Paul and the church

d. There is no continuity of apocalyptic belief.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 10

10. Jesus began his ministry _____.

a. by preaching in the temple

b. by being baptized by John

c. by arguing with the Pharisees

d. by joining the Essene community

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 11

11. Jesus identified most closely with _____.

a. the Sadducees

b. the Essenes

c. John the Baptist

d. the Fourth Philosophy

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 12

12. All of the following are indications of Jesus’ apocalyptic actions except _____.

a. his crucifixion

b. the Temple incident

c. calling twelve disciples

d. his baptism

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 13

13. Which of the following is not true about Cynics?

a. They were philosophers.

b. They rarely bathed.

c. They generally enjoyed the finer things of life.

d. The word literally means “dog”.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 14

14. All of the following were groups that associated with Jesus except _____.

a. Zealots

b. women

c. tax collectors

d. sinners

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 15

15. All of the following are associated with Jesus’ apocalyptic thought except _____.

a. the coming kingdom of God

b. the coming judgment brought by the Son of Man

c. the reversal of fortunes

d. righteous people would be taken up alive into heaven

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 16

16. According to the Gospels, people believed that Jesus’ ability to work miracles reflected all of the following except _____.

a. he was empowered by Beelzebul

b. he was empowered by God

c. he was like other prophets

d. he would die

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 17

17. Jesus was tried before all of the following except _____.

a. the Sanhedrin

b. Pontius Pilate

c. Caiaphas

d. Tiberius

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 18

18. Historically speaking, it is probable that Jesus came to Jerusalem at the end of his life to _____.

a. die for the sins of the world

b. bring his message to the Temple

c. celebrate Yom Kippur

d. be raised from the dead

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 19

19. The Romans convicted Jesus because _____.

a. he blasphemed by claiming to be God

b. he claimed to be king

c. he was not Roman

d. he broke the Jewish law

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 20

20. Historically speaking, who was responsible for Jesus’ death?

a. Sadducees

b. Pharisees

c. Herod

d. Pontius Pilate

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 21

21. Death by crucifixion was saved for _____.

a. the prestigious members of society

b. the lowest members of society

c. rulers

d. Christians

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 22

22. According to all of the New Testament Gospels, who discovered the empty tomb?

a. the Jews

b. Peter

c. women

d. Paul

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 23

23. In contrast to most Jews’ expectations, Christians came to believe that the messiah was _____.

a. a powerful king

b. a priestly figure

c. an innocent suffering man

d. Elijah

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 24

24. The passages referred to as the “Songs of the Suffering Servant” appear in what book?_____.

a. the Psalms

b. the Gospels

c. Ezekiel

d. Isaiah

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 25

25. The idea of the “Son of Man” first appears in _____.

a. Paul

b. the Gospels

c. Daniel

d. Psalms

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 26

26. Jews expected the Son of Man to be _____.

a. Jesus

b. a cosmic judge

c. God

d. King David

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 27

27. Which of the following likely helped Christians understand Jesus’ suffering as vicarious?

a. Jewish martyrs

b. Elijah

c. King David

d. Revelation

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 28

28. Which of the following women is not named by a Gospel as being among those at Jesus’ empty tomb?

a. Martha

b. Joanna

c. Mary Magdalene

d. Salome

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 29

29. For apocalyptic Jews, which of the following was not typically associated with the end of the age?

a. the resurrection of the dead

b. the kingdom of God

c. the arrival of the Son of Man

d. the death of the messiah

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 09 Question 30

30. Christians used Psalms of _____ to show that Jesus was the messiah.

a. Triumph

b. Lament

c. Victory

d. Coronation