by Tasya MEIERHOLD [Dr.Elena G. KORDIKOVA]
Ìàéêîï XIX-XX ââ. - ðóññêèå s.l. (1905-1907, 1917-1918 Markovs' revolutions)
SECTION ONE. General information about the book of ACTS
1. There are 66 books in the Bible. Some are poetry, some are history, some are biography and some are about law. The book of Acts is an example of a book of
a) history
b) poetry
c) biography
Acts is also an example of a
a) diary
b) journal ["Luke lists over 30 places which Paul traveled to, in his journal"]
c) ship's log
2. God used over 44 men to write His Word, the Bible. Who wrote the book of Acts?
a) Paul
b) Peter
c) Luke
3 The writers of the Bible came from many different cities, economic backgrounds, and occupations. Match the name of these people in the book of Acts to their occupation or trade.
a) Peter f) 1. Saleswoman who sold purple fabric [Acts, 16:14]
b) Paul e) 2. Silversmith [Acts, 19:24]
c) Luke c) 3. Physician
d) Cornelius d) 4. Roman centurion
e) Demetrius b) 5. Tentmaker [Acts,18:3]
f) Lydia a) 6. Fisherman
4. Forty days after He rose from the dead, Jesus ascended (went up) to Heaven. The apostles and some of Jesus' other disciples were watching. His last words to them were both a command and a prophecy. He said; "You will be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in all Judea and to the ends of the earth." Not long after that, Peter preached a sermon in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit caused the foreign visitors in that city to hear the Gospel in their own language. It was a miracle. Over 3,000 people confessed that they believed in Jesus Christ as God's Son and the Savior. These people returned to their cities throughout the Roman Empire.
Later many of the Jerusalem Christians moved to various cities all around the empire. What event caused this migration?
a) Caesar had all Christians banished from Jerusalem.
b) All of the Christians decided that they would become foreign missionaries.
c) The Roman government increased its persecution of believers and they went to other cities and countries to escape. [Acts,18:1]
5. Stephen was a believer who was killed for preaching about Jesus. However he was not murdered by the Romans. It was the Jewish leaders who stoned him. Which of these things are true about Stephen, the first Christian martyr in history? (Acts 6-7)
a) He and other disciples performed miracles of healing people. [Acts, 2:43]
b) He was chosen to be one of seven deacons in the early church. [Acts, 6:5]
c) The Jews were angry at him because he wrote a ?book of the New Testament. [Acts, 7:57]
d) While Stephen was dying he cursed the Jewish leaders.
e) Paul held the cloaks of the men who were stoning Stephen.
6. Which of these statements is true about the contents of Acts?
a) The first 12 chapters are mostly about Peter, but Chapters 13-28 are mostly about Paul. [Acts, 10:5,17,18,32, 11:13]
b) The book of Acts is only about Paul's missionary journeys.
7. Which of these statements describes the first believers/early church? (Acts 2:43; Acts 4:32)
a) Peter told them that if they wanted to be part of the church they must all sell their property and bring it to the church leaders.
b) The apostles gave believers a list of church rules to obey.
c) The believers loved each other and shared what they had with each other. [Acts, 2:44,45, 4:32]
d) Peter and the Apostles chose 12 deacons to be the rulers of the believers.
e) The believers prayed and chose seven men to be deacons. The deacon's job was to serve the widows and the poor believers who needed food.
8. Some wealthy believers decided to sell their property and voluntarily gave the money to people in need. One day a couple (who said they believed in Christ) came to the gathering of the believers and said, "We have sold our property and we want to give all the money from that sale to help believers." But they had planned to lie to the believers: they had actually kept part of the money for themselves.
In chapter 5 we read that the Holy Spirit took the life of this couple. What did this teach the other believers?
a) People who lie will go straight to hell.
b) We must never lie to a priest.
c) No one can deceive God. He does not want us to be hypocrites; He wants us to be honest with Him and with other believers. [Acts, 5:4]
9. Jesus prophesied that his followers would preach about Him in Samaria. Why were his followers (who were born Jews) surprised to hear this?
a) Samaria was very far from Jerusalem.
b) Samaria's borders were closed to Jewish people.
c) Most of Jesus' followers were Jews by birth. Jews hated Samaritans and would do anything possible to avoid passing through the region of Samaria
[Testament from John, 4:9]
10. Philip an apostle, left Jerusalem to escape persecution. He went to Samaria and preached the Gospel. God gave him power to heal many people and to do miracles. One man named Simon heard about this and asked Philip to tell him how he could also have the power of God—t he Holy Spirit. Simon wanted this power so that he could charge people and become rich. Philip told him that he had an evil heart. From this situation we get the English word "simony". Read the three situations below. Circle each example of simony.
a) A religious leader tells people that they must pay money in order for Jesus to forgive their sins.
b) A religious leader uses the tithes and gifts of sincere people to build his own mansion and buy an expensive car.
c) Paul chose to work as a tentmaker rather than take money from the people he taught about Jesus.
11. In a vision, Peter saw a sheet full of animals. The animals were considered "unclean" by Jews. Peter was a good Jew and had never eaten any of the animals, but a voice told him "eat". Peter woke up and was confused about what this dream meant.
Then someone came to his house and told Peter that Cornelius, a Roman centurion, wanted him to come to his house and tell him about Jesus. Peter understood that the vision was from God to teach Him that Gentiles are not unclean" to God God loves all people.
When Peter told other believers that Cornelius had believed and been
baptized, they were surprised Check all the statements that explain why the
believers were surprised that Peter had told Cornelius about Jesus.
__ Jews were very prejudiced against non-Jews (Gentiles). They thought that God did not care about Gentiles.
__ Romans thought Jews were ignorant slaves of the empire.
__ The believers had never imagined that their Messiah (Jesus) would come
for everyone in the world. [Acts, 10:45]
__ Jewish traditions said that a good Jew could not even eat with a Gentile. [Acts, 10:28]
12. Living in the city of Joppa was a woman named Tabitha who believed in Jesus. She was very important to the other believers. When she died, everyone grieved. They sent a message to Peter and asked him to come and comfort them. God gave Peter power to bring Tabitha back to life. (Acts 9:36)
Why was she so important to the believers in Joppa'?
a. She was related to Jesus' mother,
b. She was the first nun.
c. She helped the poor people and made clothes for them. [Acts, 9:39]
13. All believers are sinners who need Christ's salvation. All believers sometimes sin. The early believers had an argument. They had two different opinions about God's plan for salvation of people. What was this argument about?
a. They could not agree on what day to celebrate Easter.
b. They could not decide on who would be the pope/ patriarch.
c. They could not agree on whether it was possible for Gentiles (non-Jews) to receive salvation and become believers. [Acts, 23:8]
15. Herod wanted to be popular with the Jews who hated Jesus. So he put James the Apostle in prison. Then he had James beheaded. James was killed for his faith. He was a the martyr
16. After killing James, Herod decided to put Peter in prison and kill him, too The believers were gathered in a room praying for Peter. What happened7 (Acts 12:6)
a. Peter was killed by Herod the next morning.
b. The believers paid a prison guard to help Peter escape.
c. During the night an angel appeared and told Peter to get dressed and follow him out of the jail. Peter's chains fell off and he walked out without waking any of the guards who were sleeping near him. [Acts, 12:7]
17. King Herod was cruelly persecuting the believers. One day when Herod was speaking to a crowd, who were praising him and saying, "He is like a god." Herod was struck with a disease. He was eaten by worms and died.
Soon after Herod died, the believers decided to send out two men who would travel to many cities and preach the Gospel. These two men are called "the first missionaries". Who were they? (Acts 13:4)
a. Peter and John
b. Matthew and Mark
c. Paul and Barnabas [Acts, 12:25]
18. Put an x before all statements that are true about Paul,
a. His name was changed from Saul to Paul
b. He was born in Tarsus,
c. He was a very religious Pharisee, [Acts, 23:6]
d. He was a tentmaker by trade,
e. He traveled with Peter.
f. He was one of the 12 Apostles Jesus chose when he lived on earth, g. He did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. He put followers of Jesus in prison.
h. He was on the way to Damascus when he was blinded by a bright light and God spoke to Him. Paul became a believer in Jesus Christ, [Acts, 22:6]
i. He was a Roman citizen.
j. When the Jews did not listen to his preaching, He began to preach to the Gentiles.
19. (Acts 16) In Philippi. Paul and Silas healed a slave girl. She had been making her owners wealthy because she told fortunes and acted crazy. When she became normal, the owners were angry that they could no longer use her to make money. They complained to the authorities.
The authorities put Paul and Silas in jail. In jail the two men (sang hymns to God/complained about the injustice to the jailer) and at midnight (the jailer let them escape/an earthquake shook the jail and the chains on all prisoners were shaken loose). When the jailer saw that the doors were open he started to kill himself. Why did he do this7 (He knew that if a prisoner escaped, the Romans would kill him/ He felt guilty for jailing good men). [Acts, 16:25, 16:26, 16:27]
Paul shouted to the jailer, "Don't harm yourself. We are all here."
What did the jailer reply? (Why didn't you escape? / What must I do to be
saved?) [Acts, 16:30]
Read Acts 16:31 and write what Paul replied to the jailer's question.
They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your family.”
20. In Acts 17:10-15, Paul preached to the Bereans. What was their response? (v.11, 12)
Acts. 17:11. The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.
Acts, 17:12. Many of them believed; and many Greek women of high social standing and many Greek men also believed.
21. Acts 17:16-32.
1) What did Paul see in Athens that upset him?
Paul was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.
2) The Athenians had built an altar to the "Unknown God", what did Paul tell them about the God that they did not know?
Paul tell them about a raising from death. [Acts, 17:32]
Acts, 17:24-32.
24. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in man-made temples.
25. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it, is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.
26. From one man he created all races of mankind and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live.
27. He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us;
28. as someone has said, 'In him we live and move and exist.' It is as some of your poets have said,
'We too are his children.'
29. Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by the art and skill of man.
30. God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn way from their evil ways.
31. For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!"
32. When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again."
23. In Ephesus there was a great temple to the pagan goddess Diana (Artemis). The Ephesians earned their money by making and selling souvenirs and statues (idols) of Diana to tourists. When Paul preached in Ephesus, several people believed on Jesus Christ. What did they do when they believed on Jesus Christ?
a. They tried to force the unbelievers to pray to God.
b. They shouted "everyone must burn their witchcraft books!"
c. They burned their idols and turned away from astrology, and fortune-telling. They did this because they believed that Jesus Christ, not stars or fate, were in charge of their life and future. [Acts, 19:19]
SECTION 2 People and Places on Paul's Three Missionary Journeys
1) We know that Paul traveled to over 30 cities because Luke lists these places in his journal and tells about people they met and events that happened. Luke often mentions that they traveled throughout a certain "region", so they may have been in smaller villages that for some reason he did not mention. Which of these modern-day countries does the Bible tell us that Paul and Luke visited?
__Greece __ Turkey __ Israel __ Italy __ Crete __ Cyprus __ Syria __ England __ Russia __ Egypt Malta [=Melit, =Milet] [Acts, 27-28],
2) Match the person that the missionaries met on their travels with the description.
1. Lydia
2. Aquiki and Priscilla
3. Demetrius
4. A jailer in the city of Philippi
5. Timothy
6. Publius
7. Governor Festus, Governor Felix, King Agrippa
_7_ God told Paul, "Do not fear your enemies; you will speak of me before rulers." These are three of the rulers in Palestine (Israel today) that Paul got to preach to on his way to Rome.
_1_ A businesswoman who sold her purple cloth to wealthy people. Paul met
her near a river in Philippi where she and other women had come to pray. She believed in Jesus Christ and asked to be baptized.
_3_ A silversmith who led the Ephesians in a riot against the believers because they had burned their own idols and books of witchcraft
_2_ A husband and wife who were believers. They were tentmakers. Paul stayed with them in one city and helped them make tents.
_6_ The leader of people on the island of Malta. The natives thought Paul was evil. However, when a snake bit Paul's hand and Paul did not die, they were willing to listen to Paul tell about Jesus Christ. Some believed.
_4_ This man's job was to make sure no Roman prisoners escaped from jail. When an earthquake broke the prison doors and chains on the prisoners he started to commit suicide because he thought the prisoners were gone.
_5_ This young man's mother and grandmother had taught him about God. He became a believer and traveled with Paul.
(Paul met other people. They are mentioned by name in his letters.)
SECTION THREE.
ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOOK OF ACTS
1. Who was the first believer to preach a sermon after Jesus went back to Heaven? (Acts 2:14)
Peter was the first believer to preach a sermon after Jesus went back to Heaven: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means”
2 Who did Saul watch while he was stoned (to kill by throwing heavy stones)?
(Acts 7:58 to 8:1)
Saul watch Stephen while he was stoned.
3. What city was Saul going to when he saw a light blinded him and he heard a voice speaking to him? (Acts 9:1-3)
Damascus
4. Who baptized Saul? (Acts 9:17)
Ananias was baptized by Saul.
5. Where was Saul born? (Acts 9:11)
Paul was born a _Tarsus_ citizen.
Paul was a Roman citizen.
He was raised in the Jewish faith.
6. Saul's name was changed to Paul.
7. Who wrote the book of Acts? Luke.
8. Who was the first believer to travel to Samaria in order to preach about Jesus Christ? (Acts 8:5)
Philip was the first believer to travel to Samaria in order to preach about Jesus Christ.
9. True or False. The first deacons were chosen to help feed the widows.
10. What is a Gentile?
Gentile - (bibl.) a non-Jew according to the Jews of 1st century.
11. What is simony?
Simony - a phenomenon when someone tries to get money from religious work.
12. The book of Acts speaks about two groups of Jews who existed when this book was written.
The first group of Jews described in Acts did not believe that Jesus was God's Son. They persecuted Jews who did believe on Jesus. The second group of Jews described in Acts did believe that Jesus was God's Son their Messiah.
Which of these two groups were called "Christian" by their persecutors?
The second group of Jews described in Acts did believe that Jesus was God's Son their Messiah.
When Stephen was martyred, which group of Jews did Saul/Paul belong to?
Saul belonged to the first group of Jews described in Acts: he did not believe that Jesus was God's Son, and he persecuted Jews who did believe on Jesus.
Complete this exam and return it to Charles no later than May 20. CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION will be given on Sunday, May 27.
Golitsina, Elisabeth Mikhaylovna (~1880-1920)
