Lesson 3

Question 1

The process of comparing and studying biblical manuscripts to reconstruct the wording of the originals is called _____________

Answer 1

Textual Criticism

Question 2

The ___________ is the closed list of books that Christians view as uniquely authoritative and inspired.

Answer 2

Canon

Question 3

In 1947, an important collection of Jewish documents was discovered that contained many Old Testament books. These books are called _______________

Answer 3

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Question 4

The first person to use Greek word kanṓn to refer to Christianity’s restricted list of inspired books was ___________

Answer 4

Athanasius

Question 5

When a scribe mistakenly writes a single vowel rather than a diphthong while listening to a dictation, an Error of _________ has occurred.

Answer 5

Hearing

Question 6

____________ mentions three categories of books in his day –the universally confessed, the debated, and the spurious.

Answer 6

Eusebius

Question 7

One of the most significant, extant Hebrew manuscripts is _____________

Answer 7

The Aleppo Codex

Question 8

The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were written between ____________

Answer 8

1400 and 400 B.C.

Question 9

The bible was originally written in ____________

Answer 9

Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic

Question 10

The New Testament writers ____________ cite the Apocyrpha as Scripture

Answer 10

Never

Question 11

True or False. Though we have thousands of ancient copies, only 15 autographs remain.

Answer 11

F

Question 12

True or False. The first church council to use the Greek word kanon to refer to Christianity’s restricted list of inspired books was the Synod of Laodicea (A.D. 363)

Answer 12

T

Question 13

True or False. There are many text variants in the New Testament that are highly debated because they could radically alter important Christian doctrines.

Answer 13

F

Question 14

True or False. Orthodox Jews, Samaritans, and Sadduccees completely agreed on which books should be in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Answer 14

F

Question 15

True or False. Jewish rabbis and early Christian scribes usually exercised great precision in the copying of biblical texts.

Answer 15

T

Question 16

True or False. The threefold Jewish canon is referred to as the Law, Prophets, and Writings.

Answer 16

T

Question 17

True or False. The Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed that the Hebrew books of the Bible were meticulously and faithfully copied.

Answer 17

T

Question 18

True or False. It is impossible that church liturgy influenced some textual additions or wording changes in the biblical manuscripts.

Answer 18

F

Question 19

True or False. There are currently about 25,000 known New Testament manuscripts.

Answer 19

F

Question 20

True or False. If a previously undiscovered letter of Paul’s was discovered it should be added to the Protestant canon.

Answer 20

F

Question 21

The original copies of ancient documents are called _______________

Answer 21

Autographs

Question 22

According to Walter Kaiser, “There was a ________________ recognition of certain books [of the Old Testament} by readers and listeners who were contemporaries with the writers.”

Answer 22

Progressive

Question 23

Significant variants are often listed in what section of most modern Bible translations?

Answer 23

Footnotes

Question 24

List the three characteristics of New Testament documents the early church insisted on before the documents were accepted as canonical.

Answer 24

Apostolic, Catholic, Orthodox

Question 25

List three biblical text families. (Note: There are four listed in the book.)

Answer 25

Western, Alexandrian, Byzantine, Caesarean

Question 26

The Apocryphal books are also referred to (by Catholics) as the ________________

Answer 26

Deuterocanonicals

Question 27

The abbreviation “DSS” (in the footnotes of Bibles) stands for:

Answer 27

Dead Sea Scroll

Question 28

The abbreviation “MT” (in the footnotes of Bibles) stands for:

Answer 28

Masoretic Text

Question 29

The abbreviation “LXX” (in the footnotes of Bibles) stands for:

Answer 29

Septuagint

Question 30

List two categories of unintentional, scribal errors

Answer 30

Sight, Hearing, Writing, Judgement

Question 31

Essay Question: Discuss the key points of the Old and New Testament textual criticism if you were explaining it to a non-seminary educated church member.

Answer 31

Students should include substantive discussion of the following key terms and concepts: Original languages, autographs, Precision of Jewish and Christian scribes, Dead Sea Scrolls, NT text families, number of NT text families, number of NT manuscripts, and types of scribal errors.

Question 32

Essay Question: Discuss the key points related to the formation of the Protestant canon (including the exclusion of the Apocrypha).

Answer 32

Student should include substantive discussion of the following key terms and concepts: kanon, The Protestant conception of authoratative writings, progressive recognition, Apostolic, Catholic, Orthodox, NT references to Scripture, Athanasius, Eusebius, the Apocrypha, and some explanation of why Protestants reject the Apocrypha.