A) They are purely works of fiction.
B) They are a subset of ancient biography (bios).
C) They are legal documents from the first century.
D) They are epistles written to Roman authorities.

A) To provide unbiased objective journalism.
B) To create entirely fictional mythologies.
C) To provide examples for readers to emulate and promote the subject's reputation.
D) To record tax collections and financial transactions.

A) They are cautious about doing so.
B) They accept every single word as absolute literal fact without question.
C) They view them as modern scientific papers.
D) They reject them completely as having zero historical value.

A) They were discovered in 21st-century archaeological digs.
B) They were written directly by Pontius Pilate.
C) They are literary creations rather than reservoirs of oral tradition.
D) They are exact transcripts of court hearings.

A) As a miracle-worker.
B) As a wealthy Roman aristocrat.
C) As a political revolutionary leading an army.
D) As an illiterate hermit living in isolation.

A) More reliable.
B) Equally reliable in every single verse.
C) Written earlier than all other gospels.
D) Less reliable.

A) The Pauline Epistles Colloquium.
B) The Synoptic Reconstruction Project.
C) The Jerusalem Archaeological Council.
D) The John, Jesus, and History Seminar.

A) Every single manuscript contains the exact same number of words.
B) The physical size of ancient scrolls remained identical over time.
C) There are zero copying errors in any existing manuscript.
D) Texts published in the late first and second centuries did not significantly differ from 21st-century reconstructions.

A) John 3:16, altered to remove references to love.
B) Mark 1:1, altered to state Jesus was born in Rome.
C) Luke 2:1, altered to change the ruling Caesar.
D) Matthew 1:18, altered to imply the pre-existence of Jesus.

A) It can contribute authentic historical information alongside the Synoptic Gospels.
B) It was added during the Middle Ages.
C) It contradicts all historical records of the Roman Empire.
D) It was entirely plagiarized from Greek mythology.

A) Serving as a high priest in the Jerusalem temple.
B) Association with John the Baptist.
C) Traveling to Britain with Joseph of Arimathea.
D) Writing personal letters to Caesar Augustus.

A) As an anonymous historian from the 4th century.
B) As a Pharisee opposing Jesus.
C) As a skeptical Roman guard.
D) As a witness.

A) Mary Magdalene.
B) The beloved disciple.
C) James the brother of Jesus.
D) Paul the Apostle.

A) Scholars tend to reject the attribution to John the Apostle.
B) Scholars believe John the Apostle dictated it to Caesar.
C) Scholars claim it was written by multiple Roman emperors.
D) Scholars unanimously prove John the Apostle wrote every word.

A) The Synoptic Gospels.
B) The Gospel of Thomas only.
C) The Gnostic Gospels.
D) The Gospel of Judas.

A) Memory studies and form criticism.
B) Carbon dating of modern ink.
C) Astrological charting and numerology.
D) DNA analysis and forensic pathology.

A) They were preservers more than innovators.
B) They invented most stories de novo to gain political power.
C) They completely forgot everything Jesus taught within one year.
D) They refused to share their traditions with anyone outside Judea.

A) Bart Ehrman's thesis.
B) Richard Burridge's thesis.
C) James Dunn's thesis.
D) Dale Allison's thesis.

A) Memories are fractured and not exact recalls of the past.
B) Memories are genetically inherited without cultural influence.
C) Memories act like video recorders with absolute perfection.
D) Memories remain completely static across generations.

A) Translating them into Latin immediately.
B) Memorizing long lists of unconnected numbers.
C) Writing them down in secret cryptographic codes.
D) Relating them to a common story, or 'type'.

A) He emphasizes its weakness, noting its 'many sins' and how it frequently misleads people.
B) He claims memory is superior to written records in every way.
C) He believes it is infallible and perfectly preserves every detail.
D) He argues that human memory does not exist in oral cultures.

A) Searching for hidden numerical codes in the Greek alphabet.
B) Identifying patterns and finding 'recurrent attestation'.
C) Ignoring the text entirely in favor of archaeology.
D) Translating the text backward to find original Aramaic puns.

A) Democratic governance.
B) Atheistic materialism.
C) Industrial capitalism.
D) Apocalypticism.

A) He claims memory is completely non-existent in antiquity.
B) He argues that Allison's discussion on memory is too one-sided.
C) He believes Allison's view is overly optimistic and naive.
D) He rejects Allison's work entirely as unscholarly.

A) Burridge, Le Donne, Allison, and Ehrman.
B) Bond, Powell, Rodriguez, and Wright.
C) Dunn, Alan Kirk, Kenneth E. Bailey, and Robert McIver.
D) Valantasis, Bleyle, Hough, and Keith.

A) They altered them randomly at every storytelling session.
B) They treated such traditions very carefully with concern for careful and ordered transmission.
C) They treated them as worthless and destroyed written records.
D) They banned anyone from speaking about historical figures.

A) They tend to be story-telling communities whose stories acquire a fairly fixed form down to precise phraseology.
B) They encourage individual storytellers to invent new plot twists at will.
C) They rely exclusively on written tax receipts for historical memory.
D) They instantly forget stories the moment the speaker stops talking.

A) Valantasis, Bleyle, and Hough.
B) Dunn, Le Donne, Allison, and Bockmuehl.
C) Chilton, Evans, Wright, and Keener.
D) Burridge, Powell, Charlesworth, and Aune.

A) By comparing it to a government census.
B) By comparing it to a legal contract signed in blood.
C) By comparing it to the birthday party game 'telephone'.
D) By comparing it to a photocopying machine.

A) The idea that Pontius Pilate was a real historical governor.
B) The idea that we can get back to an objective historical reality wholly separate from the disciples' memories.
C) The idea that Jesus ever spoke Aramaic in Galilee.
D) The idea that the Gospels were written in the Greek language.

A) He was the one who could create these memories, both true or not.
B) He never existed even as a memory in early Christianity.
C) He personally wrote all four canonical gospels on stone tablets.
D) He left behind an autobiography in a cave in Qumran.

A) Mark says he performed no miracles, while Luke says he healed everyone.
B) Mark says he was welcomed as king, while Luke says he was ignored.
C) Mark says he arrived by boat, while Luke says he arrived on a donkey.
D) Mark argues he was rejected for being an artisan, while Luke portrays him as literate and his refusal to heal caused dismissal.

A) Yes, because Luke deliberately invented stories to deceive readers.
B) No, because different eyewitnesses would have perceived and remembered differently.
C) Yes, because Luke never read the Gospel of Mark.
D) No, because Luke possessed a direct audio recording of the event.

A) Translate the Gospels into hieroglyphics.
B) Discard the Gospels as completely useless religious tracts.
C) Understand the Gospels.
D) Rewrite the Gospels into modern novels.

A) That all historical Jesus research has been banned by governments.
B) The publication of academic books continues apace so much so that no one can keep up and we are overwhelmed.
C) That absolutely no one is writing books about the historical Jesus anymore.
D) That no new manuscripts have been discovered in caves.

A) As completely fictional until proven historical by archaeology.
B) As reliable until proven otherwise.
C) As secret codes meant only for elite philosophers.
D) As political propaganda with zero factual basis.

A) Secret Roman census logs and tax exemption certificates.
B) Direct written letters from Jesus to the Roman Senate.
C) Uncovered statues of Jesus in Galilee and Jerusalem.
D) Eyewitness presence, careful community transmission, and preservation of difficult sayings.

A) Chris Keith, Dale Allison, and Rafael Rodriguez.
B) Bart Ehrman, Valantasis, and Bleyle.
C) Markus Bockmuehl, James H. Charlesworth, and David Aune.
D) Richard Burridge, James Dunn, and Anthony Le Donne.

A) Rafael Rodriguez.
B) Bruce Chilton.
C) Robert H. Stein.
D) N.T. Wright.

A) Strict chronological timelines of all Roman emperors.
B) Botanical classifications of plants in Judea.
C) Mathematical proofs and geometric theorems.
D) Serious life narratives focusing on one central person, anecdotes, and deeds.

A) Medical textbooks for treating ancient diseases.
B) Propaganda and preaching meant to convince that Jesus was a miracle-working holy man.
C) Cookbooks detailing traditional Jewish dietary laws.
D) Legal contracts for land ownership in Galilee.

A) The Middle Ages after the fall of Rome.
B) The second half of the first century.
C) The pre-Mosaic period of ancient patriarchs.
D) The fourth century during the reign of Constantine.

A) The political policies of Herod Antipas.
B) Aspects of Jesus himself.
C) The architectural designs of the Jerusalem temple.
D) The agricultural techniques of Roman farmers.

A) It demonstrated that John was an eyewitness account by Caesar.
B) It led scholars to remove John from the biblical canon.
C) It proved that John was written before the Gospel of Mark.
D) It is seen as having more reliability than previously thought.

A) Signatures of the Roman pontiff.
B) Hidden maps leading to buried treasure.
C) Complete textual chaos with no recognizable words.
D) A 'macrolevel stability'.

A) Merge them into a single uncritical narrative.
B) Attempt to distinguish them.
C) Delete all words spoken by Jesus.
D) Attribute every verse exclusively to Paul.

A) Bethany and Ephraim.
B) Athens and Sparta.
C) Babylon and Nineveh.
D) Alexandria and Carthage.

A) Nathaniel.
B) Julius Caesar.
C) Pontius Pilate.
D) Herod the Great.

A) Capernaum.
B) Nazareth.
C) Bethsaida.
D) Jerusalem.

A) Whether he was a fictional literary invention of the 3rd century.
B) Whether he wrote in Latin or Greek.
C) Whether he ever actually lived in Palestine.
D) Whether he is presented as the author or an authority behind the gospel.

A) They agree that memory was entirely useless and inaccurate.
B) They show that computers were used to generate the texts.
C) They have reached different conclusions using memory studies and form criticism.
D) They prove that no oral tradition ever existed.

A) Only authors who deny the existence of Jesus.
B) Various scholars opposing more skeptical viewpoints.
C) Exclusively 18th-century deist philosophers.
D) Roman census officials.

A) A scholarly trend advocating for the reliability of memory and oral gospel traditions.
B) A trend toward proving the gospels were written in the Middle Ages.
C) An abandonment of all historical research on antiquity.
D) A movement to eliminate the Gospel of John from study.

A) Destroy all previous accounts of Jesus' life.
B) Invent entirely new religions to overthrow the Roman Empire.
C) Translate Greek philosophy into Hebrew poetry.
D) Transmit, retell, explain, interpret, elaborate, but not create de novo.

A) Secret cryptographic manuscripts buried in Egypt.
B) Official Roman court transcripts.
C) Visions experienced centuries after Jesus died.
D) The eyes and ears of those who went about with him, as remembered from the beginning.

A) As a translator of the Gospel of John.
B) As a skeptic who discovered manuscript variants in Matthew.
C) As a reviewer explaining Anthony Le Donne's thesis and historiography.
D) As an archaeologist excavating Bethsaida.

A) He claims typology proves the gospels are pure fiction.
B) He rejects typology entirely as a modern invention.
C) He uses typology to date the gospels to the 4th century.
D) He supports a conservative view on typology.

A) A stable tradition resulting in little invention in the Gospels.
B) Complete uncertainty about who Jesus was.
C) The total corruption of oral traditions.
D) Massive theological fabrications by the early Church.

A) He believes every word of the gospels is a deliberate lie.
B) He classifies them as Graeco-Roman epic poetry.
C) He argues they were written as satirical plays.
D) He does not read the gospels as fiction.

A) Allison's rejection of eyewitness accounts.
B) Allison's view on the birthday party game 'telephone'.
C) Allison's skepticism regarding oral tradition.
D) The method that came from Allison's work.

A) They are beholden to memory's successes.
B) They rely exclusively on written archives for every action.
C) They forget everything that happened five minutes prior.
D) They prove that human memory is always completely fraudulent.

A) Terminology used in athletic competitions.
B) Terminology applied to theatrical plays.
C) Terminology used for collecting Roman taxes.
D) Terminology showing concern for careful and ordered transmission as 'holy word'.

A) Permission to tell stories in public spaces.
B) The ability to speak more than one language.
C) No license to invent or adapt at will.
D) Access to written notes.

A) Professional scribes paid by the emperor.
B) The entire community in an informal but effective process.
C) A single appointed government censor.
D) Roman soldiers stationed in the village.

A) Greek philosophers living in Athens.
B) Wandering prophets and teachers like Paul the Apostle.
C) High priests in the Jerusalem temple.
D) Roman senators visiting Galilee.

A) A single scribe copying a manuscript in a quiet monastery.
B) Ten children sitting in a solitary living room on one afternoon.
C) 2,500 miles across, thousands of participants from different backgrounds, concerns, and contexts.
D) Two disciples talking privately in an upper room.

A) Concerns about the possibility of reconstructing a historical Jesus from the Gospel texts.
B) Unanimous agreement among all scholars on every verse.
C) Certainty that every historical detail can be perfectly mapped.
D) The discovery of audio recordings from the first century.

A) Roman police reports.
B) The memories of the first disciples—not Jesus himself, but the remembered Jesus.
C) Fabrications invented during the fourth century.
D) Direct autobiographical notes written by Jesus.

A) They can contradict one another and are not always historically accurate.
B) They automatically correct all scribal errors.
C) They remain completely uniform across all cultures.
D) They always match with mathematical perfection.

A) He is a proven myth with no basis in memory.
B) He is completely proven by modern DNA testing.
C) He is ultimately unattainable, but can be hypothesized based on early Christian interpretations.
D) He is fully documented in Roman tax rolls.

A) Its methods and aim, viewing the two models as methodologically and epistemologically incompatible.
B) Its reliance on the Gospel of John.
C) Its rejection of ancient biography.
D) Its use of the Greek language.

A) It proves that Jesus never spoke a single recorded word.
B) It does not mean scholars cannot research the Historical Jesus, but rather should seek to understand the Gospels.
C) It means all study of the New Testament must be immediately abandoned.
D) It requires scholars to treat every text as absolute fiction.

A) It has merged entirely with archaeology.
B) It has been banned by academic institutions worldwide.
C) It has flourished.
D) It has completely stagnated with zero new publications.

A) Focus on one central person, anecdotes, and accounts of deeds and death.
B) Extensive poetry and epic mythologies.
C) Legal statutes and civic codes.
D) Detailed financial ledgers and tax tables.

A) As modern scientific research papers.
B) As serious life narratives.
C) As political satire pamphlets.
D) As accounting manuals.

A) The gospels.
B) Egyptian papyri.
C) Roman tax records.
D) Greek philosophical treatises.

A) It has been overthrown.
B) It remains universally accepted by all modern researchers.
C) It has been adopted into civil law.
D) It has been reinforced by new archaeological discoveries.

A) That they did not significantly differ from 21st-century reconstructions.
B) That they were written in Latin rather than Greek.
C) That they were authored by Roman emperors.
D) That they contained no historical material whatsoever.

A) Mark Allan Powell observing primitive material in John.
B) Bart Ehrman observing fluid oral traditions.
C) Chris Keith observing Luke's account in the synagogue.
D) Dale Allison observing the weakness of human memory.

A) Working as a carpenter in Athens.
B) Conflicts with religious authorities.
C) Writing letters to the seven churches.
D) Traveling to Rome to meet Caesar.

A) Refusal to associate with common people.
B) Desire to start a violent military rebellion.
C) Emphasis on love and a high self-conception.
D) insistence on strict adherence to Roman law.

A) Formal legal contracts.
B) Complex algebraic equations.
C) Homeric epic meter.
D) Usage of aphoristic formulations.

A) He claims they never existed in antiquity.
B) He believes they were written in the Middle Ages.
C) He supports a conservative view.
D) He rejects them as complete fabrications.

A) Their endeavors to identify authentic sayings of Jesus.
B) Their translation of Aramaic into English.
C) Their ability to read ancient Greek manuscripts.
D) Their use of archaeological tools in Galilee.

A) Then the Gospels must have been written in the 4th century.
B) Then Paul must have written every New Testament book.
C) Then our sources almost certainly cannot have preserved any of the particulars.
D) Then Jesus never existed as a human being.

A) Bart Ehrman.
B) Dale Allison.
C) Chris Keith.
D) Craig S. Keener.

A) Secret codes known only to priests.
B) A fairly fixed form down to precise phraseology.
C) Written scrolls stored in public libraries.
D) Portraits of the storytellers.

A) As it was engraved on stone monuments in Jerusalem.
B) As it was preserved by a single family line.
C) As it was translated directly from Latin into Hebrew.
D) As it was transmitted across the Roman Empire.

A) They show that the texts were copied without error.
B) They are not always historically accurate.
C) They prove that Jesus was a Roman citizen.
D) They demonstrate that the authors never lived in Palestine.

A) They should be treated as reliable until proven otherwise.
B) They should be rejected as pure fiction until proven by science.
C) They are entirely dependent on Gnostic texts.
D) They hold zero value for understanding the historical Jesus.

A) To document financial investments of Roman merchants.
B) To include substantial historical material while providing examples to emulate.
C) To map out geographical routes across the Mediterranean.
D) To record purely fictional fairy tales for entertainment.

A) They ban them from historical research entirely.
B) They rely on them blindly without any questioning.
C) They treat them as infallible scientific textbooks.
D) They are cautious.

A) All of them are direct transcripts of Jesus' speeches.
B) Every single one was written by Paul the Apostle.
C) None of them have any relation to early Christianity.
D) Many are literary creations rather than reservoirs of oral tradition.

A) As being completely fabricated in the Middle Ages.
B) As a translation of a Latin play.
C) As having zero historical value.
D) As having more reliability than previously thought.

A) Photographic illustrations.
B) Numerous variants and changes.
C) Printed book bindings.
D) Complete modern English translations.

A) The physical age of the parchment paper.
B) The original ideas of Jesus from those of later authors.
C) The number of chapters in Mark versus John.
D) The Greek grammar from the Latin grammar.

A) The theory that John was written before Mark.
B) The overall reliability of the canonical Gospel accounts.
C) The complete fabrication of the Synoptic gospels.
D) The idea that Jesus never visited Bethany.

A) Pontius Pilate.
B) Paul the Apostle.
C) Jesus.
D) John the Baptist.

A) εὐαγγέλιον
B) χριστός
C) ἀπόστολος
D) σύνοψις

A) Divine biography
B) Good news
C) Holy messenger
D) Sacred history