Tag: Questions

Colossian Questions

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As I mentioned before, I’m currently updating the New Testament questions and answers which I run through at the beginning of every Bible study. Today I’d like to cover the questions surrounding Colossians:

58. What was Paul’s situation when writing Colossians?
The evidence seems to point to the same situation as the other captivity epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians). He is in Rome under house arrest in approximately AD 62.

59. Had Paul ever been to Colossae?
No, but he had stayed in nearby Ephesus for three years.

60. Who founded the Church at Colossae?
A Colossian native called “Epaphras” appears to have been converted through Paul’s ministry and first taken the gospel to Colossae.

61. So why did Paul write to the Colossians?
It seems Epaphras visited Paul in Rome and asked him to write to this nascent congregation to speak to the various heresies attacking the Church in Colossae.

62. What were the heresies with which the Colossians struggled?
They appear to be several, but they included issues surrounding circumcision, asceticism, the person of Christ, secret knowledge and human wisdom.

63. Who are the opponents in Colossae?
This very much depends on how one interprets the heresies described, but scholars suggest either Jews, Pagans or early Gnostics.

64. What is noticeable about the way in which Paul speaks about Jesus in this letter?
We call it “High Christology”, since Jesus is described as “the image of the invisible God”, “the firstborn of all Creation”, “in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily” etc.

65. What does Paul say about suffering in this letter?
He describes himself as “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”.

66. During the letter Paul speaks about a hidden “mystery”. What is it?
That Jesus came for us…all of us, both Jew and Gentile

67. What Sacrament does Paul speak about in this letter and in what terms does he describe it?
He speaks about baptism, describing it both in terms of circumcision and death.

1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
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Hey Jude!

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A while ago, I listed the questions and answers which I run through at the beginning of every Bible study, all of which relate to the New Testament. Since writing that series of posts, we have read through more books of the Bible: Jude, Colossians and Ephesians. It is therefore time to supplement the list of questions. Today I’d like to cover the questions surrounding Jude:

53. Who wrote Jude?
Jude, the brother of James (probably the bishop of Jerusalem) and kinsmen of Jesus.

54. When was Jude written?
Probably sometime in the 50s or 60s

55. With what other New Testament book is does Jude have a literary relationship?
Second Peter

56. What are themes of Jude?
There are two main themes:

1. Warning against false teachers
2. Exhortations to hold fast to the faith.

57. Jude gives lots of examples to drive home his points. From where does Jude draw these examples?
They come from three sources:

1. Old Testament stories
2. Stories found in non-canonicals works:

(a) The Assumption of Moses
(b) 1 Enoch and Jubilees

3. Apostolic Teaching

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be adding questions for Ephesians and Colossians too. When those are done I’ll produce a vlog entry going through all of them 🙂

1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71
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New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16

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A while ago I enumerated all the warm-up questions asked each week at the beginning of our Bible study group. Several people sent me messages asking me for the answers, but one reader, Alexandra, went ahead and sent me her own responses!

So, in case you were curious, over the next couple of days I’m going to be posting the answers to the questions, based upon Alexandra’s email…

1. In what language was the New Testament written?
(Koine) Greek

2. What is the likely exception to this?
The Gospel According to Mathew. The Early Church Fathers say that it was originally written in Aramaic and soon translated into Greek.

3. Which books appear first in the New Testament?
The four Gospels.

4. Why are these books placed first in the canon?
These books appear at the beginning of the New Testament because they contain the teaching, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and therefore hold pride of place in the New Testament.

5. Why do they appear in this order?
They are arranged in the order of composition as believed by Early Church Fathers.

6. Which Gospels are attributed to Apostles?
Matthew and John

7. With whom is Mark associated?
He was companion of Paul and later Peter. It is said that Mark’s Gospel is the preaching of Peter in Rome.

8. What is Mark’s other name?
Mark is also called John (Acts 12:12). We was the cause of some friction between Paul and Barnabas.

9. With whom is Luke associated?
He was a companion of Paul.

10. What is Luke’s profession?
Physician

11. What comes after the Gospels?
Acts of the Apostles

12. By whom is it written?
Luke, the author of the Gospel which bears his name.

13. To what genre does it belong?
“Acts” is a genre of books in the ancient world that described people’s great deeds. This book describes the history of the Early Church.

14. What is the first main message of the Acts of the Apostles?
The Church continues the mission of Jesus.

15. What is the second main point of the Acts of the Apostles?
The unity of the mission of Paul and Peter. There are numerous parallels between the acts and deeds of these two apostles.

16. Between what years do the events described in Acts of the Apostles take place?
Probably between about AD 30 and AD 60

I’ll post the next set of answers after lunch…

1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
All Questions

The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16 first appeared on RestlessPilrim.net

New Testament Warm-ups

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Bible Question Mark

I am part of a Bible Study currently working through the Gospel of Matthew. The group has been meeting for over a year now and we’ve worked our way through several books of the New Testament.

When we come together, before we begin looking at the book in question, we have a bit of a question-and-answer session. The goal of these questions is to have a clear understanding as to the structure of the New Testament.

Over the months that we’ve been meeting, the number of  questions have increased. I thought it would be encouraging for everyone to see how many questions concerning the New Testament they can now answer. It turns out that, not only can they recite the books of the New Testament in order, but that they can answer over fifty questions about it:

1. In what language was the New Testament written?
2. What is the likely exception to this?
3. Which books appear first in the New Testament?
4. Why are these books placed first in the canon?
5. Why do they appear in this order?
6. Which Gospels are attributed to Apostles?
7. With whom is Mark associated?
8. What is Mark’s other name?
9. With whom is Luke associated?
10. What is Luke’s profession?
11. What comes after the Gospels?
12. By whom is it written?
13. To what genre does it belong?
14. What is the first main message of the Acts of the Apostles?
15. What is the second main point of the Acts of the Apostles?
16. Between what years do the events described in Acts of the Apostles take place?
17. What appears after Acts?
18. Why are these epistles placed in this order?
19. What are the names of the cities/communities?
20. From where did Paul write the epistle to the Philippians?
21. What city was he probably in at the time?
22. Why did Paul write that letter?
23. Who probably delivered this letter for Paul?
24. What are the main themes of that letter?
25. What Christian hymn does Paul quote in the letter in Chapter 2?
26. What is the main theme behind the letters to the Thessalonians?
27. What claim-to-fame do the Thessalonian letter have?
28. What appears after Thessalonians?
29. Who was Timothy?
30. What background information do you know about Timothy?
31. Who was Titus?
32. Who was Philemon?
33. Where did Philemon most likely live?
34. What is the context of the letter?
35. What was the name of Philemon’s slave?
36. What is the meaning of the slave’s name?
37. What does Paul ask of Philemon?
38. What appears after Philemon?
39. Why does Hebrews appear here?
40. What literary genre is Hebrews?
41. What is the main theme of the book?
42. What did St. Thomas Aquinas think about the authorship of this epistle?
43. What appears after Hebrews? What category of books do we call these?
44. Who most likely wrote James’ epistle?
45. How would you summarize James’ epistle?
46. What documents appear next?
47. What documents appear after that?
48. After that?
49. What is the final book of the Bible?
50. What is its literary genre?
51. What are the two main senses of Scripture according to the Catechism?
52. What are the three types of spiritual senses?

I wasn’t taught this stuff in school. In fact, I remember that when I was teaching Confirmation it came as a surprise to many of the students that there was an Old Testament and a New Testament. Why isn’t this stuff taught in Catholic schools?!

UPDATE: The answers have now been posted:

Answers 1-16 | Answers 17-27 | Answers 27-42 | Answers 43-52

The article New Testament Warm-Ups first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

Catholics Come Home: Part 4

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Yesterday I began giving my suggestions as to what can be done to encourage those who have left the Catholic Church to return home. Today I would like to pick this back up again…

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5. Don’t be a Ninja Catholic
The ninjas of Japan were known for their stealth, their ability to go unnoticed. In fact, there were many legends circulated that they could even make themselves invisible. Don’t imitate ninjas in this regard!

What do I mean by this? Don’t be ashamed to be identified as Catholic. It may be as simple as praying before meals, wearing a cross or talking with your friends about parish life.

“Let your light so shine before men…” – Matthew 5:16

 How will someone ask you about your faith if they don’t even know you’re a Christian?!

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