LEWIS UNIVERSITY
SPRING 2021
New Testament
Historical-Critical Method TEST
I. Classification
List and describe the seven sub-species of the historical-critical method:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
II. True/False
Circle one correct answer:
- Textual criticism seeks to establish the Greek text in the absence of autographs. T/F
- “Variants” are errors sometimes intentionally altering the meaning of the texts. T/F
-
Papyri are manuscripts made from the papyrus plant growing in abundance on the
banks of the Nile River. T/F -
Dating to circa 125 C.E., the earliest papyrus of the NT is P52. It is a very small fragment
of the Gospel of John. T/F - Uncials are smaller cursive characters. T/F
- Vellum is animal hide that has been processed for writing. T/F
-
The oldest complete New Testament is an uncial manuscript known as Codex Sinaiticus
named for its discovery in the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai in
Egypt. T/F -
Lectionaries are church manuals containing a variety of scriptural citations appointed
for worship on a given day/occasion. T/F
-
Not including late antique citations, scholars have at their disposal for study
approximately 200,000 hand-copied Greek manuscripts of various parts of the NT
dating from between the second century and sixteenth centuries. T/F -
Fivehundredvariantsareidentifiabletodayinourfivethousandmanuscriptwitnesses
to the NT. T/F -
Source criticism analyzes for signs of written sources from which texts were composed.
T/F -
ThedocumentaryhypothesisproposesthatthefirstfivebooksofHebrewBibleorthe
Pentateuch (i.e., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) represent a
mixture of four originally independent written sources. T/F
III. Multiple Choice
Circle one correct answer
1. If Matthew, Mark and Luke are placed in parallel columns next to one another they can be
easily compared. Such a comparison is commonly known as:
a. Synopsis
b. Gospels
c. Apocalypse
d. Documentary Hypothesis
2. The “Synoptic Problem” is defined as:
a. The problem of the relationship between Matthew, Mark, and Luke
b. The problem of the Gospel of John
c. The dilemma faced by scholars attempting to defend the existence of Q
d. An attempt to determine the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians
3. Markan Priority is:
a. Belief that, of the Synoptic Gospels, Luke was written first
b. Hypothesis that Mark was written first and used as a source by both Matthew and
Luke.
c. Assumption that Mark should be the first gospel in the canon
d. Claim that Mark’s was the longest gospel
4. How do scholars explain parallel material in Matthew and Luke not found in Mark?
a. Special Materials or Sondergut
b. Markan Priority
c. Q
d. None of the above
5. Q is readily identifiable in a synopsis by scanning for parallel passages in:
a. John and Matthew
b. Matthew and Luke not in Mark
c. Scanning passages in a synopsis will not help one identify Q
d. Mark and Luke not in Matthew
6. Q contains mostly:
a. Miracles
b. Sayings
c. Material shared with the Gospel of Thomas
d. Texts discovered at Nag Hammadi
7. The simplest and most widely held solution to the Synoptic Problem is known as the:
a. Two-Source Hypothesis
b. Two-Gospel Hypothesis
c. Two-Synopsis Hypothesis
d. Griesbach Hypothesis
8. Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism that:
a. Classifies units of scripture according to short, memorable fragments and attempts
to trace each form to its historical context in a phase of oral transmission
b. Martin Dibelius, Rudolf Bultmann, and others applied with much success to the NT
Gospels
c. Is founded on the presumption that early Christians circulated oral traditions often
thought to have preceded known written ones.
d. All of the above
9. Sitz im Leben refers to:
a. Socio-religious context or “setting in life” of a given form
b. Worship of Jesus as Lord
c. Use of the word LORD for Yahweh
d. Salvation in the Christian context
10. On an analogy with a pearl necklace, if the short memorizable units of text or “forms” are the
pearls, then redaction is:
a. Pearl polishing liquid
b. String
c. Commentary
d. Editing
e. Tiffany’s
11. Redaction criticism allows us to see how the authors of Matthew and Luke:
a. Modified Mark, Q, and other unspecified written and oral materials available to them.
b. Edited the Gospel of John
c. Influenced second-century non-canonical Christian writers
d. Wrote lectionaries
12. Rhetorical criticism identifies what in NT texts:
a. Ancient rhetorical forms and figures
b. Principles of grammar
c. Loan-words from Aramaic
d. None of the above
IV. Analysis
Answer both of the following two questions in a paragraph or more each.
1. List and describe two archaeological discoveries during the twentieth century of
particular importance to the study of early Christianity.
2. Give an example and discuss the work of a scholar who has customized the social-
scientific approach in their use of the historical-critical method today.
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