Trivia Time!

A Trivia Quiz!

Perhaps it is from all the quizzes and tests I have been creating at work lately, but I thought my readers might enjoy a multiple choice quiz for fun. The questions come from the book of Genesis. The correct answers are listed at the bottom of the quiz. Feel free to post your score in the Comments section at the end.

(1) How many different Creation stories appear in the book of Genesis?

a - 1

b - 2

c - 3

d - 0

(2) Adam and Eve's next child after Cain and Abel was named _______________?

a – Dinah

b – Sharona

c – Seth

d – Shem

(3) Following God’s command, Abraham stops just short of sacrificing his son’s life to prove his love for and obedience to God. What is this son’s name?

a – Jacob

b – Isaac

c – Ishmael

d – Sarai

(4) Isaac was tricked into giving his blessing to the wrong son. Which son received his blessing?

a – Jacob

b – Esau

c – Ishmael

(5) After Noah’s ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, Noah set a bird out to look for signs of land. What kind of bird did Noah first send out?

a – dove

b – owl

c – raven

d – pidgeon

(6) What was Noah’s profession?

a – sailor

b – carpenter

c – farmer

d – zoo keeper

(7) For what reason did the people decide to build the Tower of Babel?

a – They wanted to make a name for themselves.

b – They wanted to create a central government.

c – They wanted to learn one language.

d – They wanted to build a performance auditorium.

(8) How was Lot related to Abraham?

a – Lot was Abraham’s niece

b – Lot was Abraham’s nephew

c – Lot was Abraham’s brother

d – Lot was Abraham’s brother-in-law

(9) Who was thought to be barren, but was finally able to have children in her old age?

a – Sarah

b – Leah

c – Rebekah

d – Keturah

(10) What is the original name of the person that God renamed ISRAEL?

a – Jacob

b – Joseph

c – Reuben

d – Esau

SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWERS!

ANSWERS: Please post your score in the COMMENTS section below! Thanks!

(1) – b, (2) – c, (3) – b, (4) – b, (5) – c, (6) – c, (7) – a, (8) – b, (9) – a, (10) – a

Bits and Pieces

When it comes to my knowledge and study of the Bible, I must admit that I have been all over the place.  One of my earliest recollections of Bible study was somewhere around 8^th or 9^th grade. In our weekly religious ed class, the topic for the year was the Old Testament and Abraham. And I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I hated it!!!  I did not see any use for studying the Old Testament patriarchs.  I don’t think I learned much that year. Frankly, I was too wrapped up in my social life to apply myself to the topic at hand, even at CCD class. (My apologies to the teacher, who did her best!)

Later, as an adult with my first-born baby in tow, I attended a weekly Bible study at my church. It was a profound, spirit-filled experience. The small group of women met on Thursday mornings and it grew from around a dozen people to about 40 regular attendees. The group was open to Christians of any faith and we were respectful of differences in beliefs, concentrating instead on our shared beliefs. Words cannot express the wonderful experience of that Thursday morning group. But as my knowledge grew, so did my family and work obligations. I eventually, reluctantly, stopped participating in the group Bible study.

As time went on, I tried to study the Bible on my own. At various times I would commit to a plan and get very excited about it. I would find a new version of the Bible, or a new book on reading the Bible, and make a resolution to immerse myself in it. First I tried reading the Bible in sequential order, starting with Genesis. My plan was to read straight through to Revelation. But often by the time I got to Leviticus, I would stop, being bogged down with all the laws and regulations.  Once I even bought a Bible that was arranged to let me read the complete Bible in one year. Under that plan you read several passages from each of four different books every day. Four different years in a row I made a New Year’s Resolution to read the complete Bible from this book. And by March every year I had given up. The book has remained on my bookshelf ever since, reminding me of my failed attempts to study Holy Scripture.

I think the problem with my method of Bible self-study is that I really didn’t know how to learn what the Bible was saying. I would pray, read a random passage, ponder what it meant, and hope something was sinking in to my mind or my soul.  I never really knew if I was supposed to be getting more out of it, but I admit I often did not understand what the passage was about.  I think it is because I was not ever seeing the big picture. I only saw bits and pieces. 

My guess is that many people share this problem. Some churches encourage people to memorize independent Scripture verses. Or they instruct you to pray and study on just one random verse and listen to what it speaks to you. While both of these methods offer value, with this method we can miss the big picture of what is happening in the story.

In my CBSM classes we are studying the Bible more in-depth, spread over four years. We are able to go slower and address it in more detail, because in the bits-and-pieces method you can miss a lot. For example, unless you read all of Genesis in sequence you may miss how God speaks to several people from different generations, all in an effort to bring man into a redemption partnership with Him for us all. From Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, God seeks out those men who become the patriarchs of our faith. And collectively, they work with God to build the foundation of our calling to become a holy people. Now that’s what I want to learn about: studying the Bible to make sure my time here is spent answering God’s personal call to me. After all, we only get one time on this Earth, with no guaranteed number of years. And I have to ask, how am I spending my life? 

 Something to think about, eh? 

I believe!

For your enjoyment and appreciation today, visit the link below for a look at God's magnificence.

MAGNIFICENT

And let's remember to thank and praise God for it all!

Don't suffer fools gladly.

The Catholic faith recognizes feast days to celebrate the lives of the various Saints of the Catholic church. Today, Sept. 30, is the feast day of St. Jerome.  He was a monk, priest, hermit, mystic, and Doctor of the Church. St. Jerome also was a multi-lingual Scripture scholar who labored over a long period of time to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew language at the request of the Pope. His final product came to be known as The Vulgate. Jerome was well-studied and highly respected. St. Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.”

Catholics also believe that just as you might ask a friend to pray for you, we can also ask those who have already left this life to pray for us. In the Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Part 4, Article 3, Topic 2683 GUIDES FOR PRAYER: “The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, shar in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise Him, and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth . . . We can and should ask them to intercede for us and the whole world.”

The Catechism, Topic 956, also explains the Catholic belief of Intercessory prayer: “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness  . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.”

By all accounts, St. Jerome was not one to “suffer fools gladly.” He was profoundly intolerant of anything but the truth. And he loved the Bible greatly.

So in following another Catholic tradition, I shall seek the aid of St. Jerome to pray for me as I continue on my study of the Bible. I will try to keep his example in mind to always seek the truth. I will enlist his prayers to be joined with mine as I seek the wisdom required to understand the message God wants me to hear through the Scriptures. St. Jerome, please pray for me!

I didn't know that!

Sometimes I choose these writings along a theme, but I expect I will have lots of AHA! Moments, when I learn something new from my Bible study class. Here is something I learned along the way in Bible class this week:

The person of Melchizedek was introduced for the first time in the Bible in Gen. 14:18-20. In this passage he is listed as the “king of Salem” and “Priest of God Most High.” He comes to bless Abram after Abram leads his people to defeat the king who had kidnapped his nephew. With his nephew freed, Abram is welcomed back. But it seems that there is some mystery surrounding Melchizedek.

Later, King David mentions him in Psalm 110:4. Melchizedek is noted in this passage: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

In the New Testament book of Hebrews 7: 1 – 3, Melchizedek is referred to as “. . .  King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,” . . . “He is first, by translation, of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.  He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” 

So, who is this Melchizedek?  There are a few different theories on this: some support that he is a man, another that he is God.

1- Some say he is Noah’s favored son, Shem. This is based on two logical arguments. (a) Whoever is powerful and revered enough to bless Abram would have to be a very significant person, indeed. And (b) Shem would still be alive in that day, according to the ages and genealogy accounts given.

2- Some say that he is just exactly what the Bible says: a king of Salem and a holy Priest.

3- Another theory is the Christophany theory. In this theory, Melchizedek is actually the pre-incarnation of Jesus; the eternal, preexistent Word who later became Jesus. He mirrors Jesus in that he brought bread and wine in his welcome to Abram back from his victorious battle. His name translates to King of righteousness. Some believe that he pre-figures Christ. The statment of him having no parents and no lineage at all encourage this thinking of his being ever-present and timeless.

Scholars disagree with one another, but I find the Christophany theory to be very intriguing.  You can read lots of  varying opinions by doing a Google search on Melchizedek. Go ahead, it can’t hurt to study up so that you can form your own opinion. 

Who knew?

Was there a Palistrophe on the ark?

One of the 5 keys to help us interpret the Bible is to be aware of the different literary styles in the many writings there. Some parts of the Bible are narratives (stories), some are poetry, some are historical accounts, some letters, etc. Knowing what we are reading can be a big aid to our understanding.

Additionally, being able to recognize various writing techniques can also help us gain understanding. Yesterday I discussed idioms. Today’s topic is the chiasmus or palistrophe.

A chiasmus (ki- az’ mus) is a writing or speaking technique wherein a topic is arranged so that two elements are discussed first in one order, then in the exact opposite order. For example:

“I entered the room and turned on the light. Then I turned off the light and left the room.”

This is a chiasmus.  There are only two pairs, told forwards and then again backwards.  This can be recognized in a code: ABBA.

When there are more than two on each side, then the name of the technique is different. Palistrophe (sounds similar to “apostrophe”). There is no limit to how many individual components can be included, as long as they re repeated in reverse order on the other side.

An example of a palistrophe is in the story of the flood: There are up to 15 different elements on both sides leading up to and away from the central line “God remembered Noah.” Read Genesis 6:10 through 9:19. See if you can recognize them all. (They are included at the end here, in case you don’t have your Bible handy.)

The reason the Bible makes use of these types of techniques is two-fold. First, it draws attention to a central passage. One can easily see the importance of the middle verse “God Remembered Noah” in this palistrophe.

Secondly, we must recall that the Bible stories weren’t written down at first. Instead, they were passed down orally, from generation to generation. The palistrophe technique served as a memory aid, a nmemonic.  (Imagine learning the alphabet forward and then backwards. Same kind of aid.)

Here, then is the palistrophe in the flood story:

A  Noah (6:10a) [P]

B    Shem, Ham, and Japeth (6:10b) [P]

C      ark to be built (6:14-16) [P]

D        flood announced (6:17) [P]

E          covenant with Noah (6:18-20) [P]

F            food in the ark (6:21) [P]

G              command to enter ark (7:1-3) [J]

H                7 days waiting for flood (7:4-5) [J]

I                  7 days waiting for flood (7:7-10) [J]

J                    entry into ark (7:11-15) [P/J]

K                      Yahweh shut Noah in (7:16) [J]

L                        40 days flood (7:17a) [P]

M                          waters increase (7:17b-18) [J/P]

N                            mountains covered (7:19-20) [P]

O                              150 days water prevailed (7:21-24) [P/J/P]

P                                GOD REMEMBERED NOAH (8:1) [P]

o                              150 days water abated (8:3) [P]

n                            mountain tops visible (8:4-5) [P]

m                          waters abate (8:5) [P]

l                        40 days (end of) (8:6a) [J]

k                      Noah opens windows of ark (8:6b) [J]

j                    raven and dove leave ark (8:7-9) [J]

i                  7 days waiting for waters to subside (8:10-11) [J]

h                7 days waiting for waters to subside (8:12-13) [J/P/J]

g              command to leave the ark (8:15-17, or 22) [P, or P/J]

f            food outside ark (9:1-4) [P]

e          covenant with all flesh (9:8-10) [P]

d        no flood in future (9:11-17) [P]

c      ark (9:18a) [J]

b    Shem, Ham and Japeth (9:19b) [J]

a  Noah (9:19) [J]


So now you know a little more about the Holy Bible!

More on the idiom.

I got word from a friend who did some research on this passage on Noah and his nakedness. She sent word to me which that confirms that Biblical scholars disagree on the meaning of this passage. But I shared with her something that I failed to post earlier. No matter what happened between Ham and Noah, Ham had over-stepped his bounds in his efforts to pridefully advance himself beyond his rightful place. This was his sin and for this he was punished.