Sample Test

Intro. to the New Testament

Spring 1996: Albright College

I. Time Line [3/18]

II. Group Identifications [3/18]

For the duration of this question, imagine yourself to be Joe or Debby Am ha'aretz, a poor potter in Jerusalem. Business has been slow because of the high inflation rate combined with the burdens of taxation placed upon you by the Roman government. Yet rather than become depressed by your situation, you decide to sharpen your wits by listening to pieces of conversation carried out by passers-by and, on the basis of the statements, identifying the Jewish group to which each pedestrian belongs. You decide to limit your choice to the three main divisions: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.

________ "All those other groups think they know Torah, but ask any person off the street and nine times out of ten, you'll hear that WE are the ones who understand it."

III. Identify the Gospels from which five of the following six quotes come. (All quotes come from your assigned reading. Possibilities are: 1 Maccabees, Gospel of Mark, 4 Ezra, Daniel 12, Proto-gospel of James, Testimonium Flavianum) [3/18]

_________ About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly.

IV. Multiple Guess [3/18]

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls are probably the work of a sect of Jewish ascetics called

V. Identify [4/20]

Vespasian

VI. Respond to ONE of the following essay questions. You should use the back of the page for more space (21).

What is textual criticism? What contribution has the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls made to the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible?

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Last Modified March 8, 1996
by Alan Humm
humma@albsun2.alb.edu