Q 01/05

Which fourth-century bishop of Myra, famed for secret gift-giving, inspired the legend of Santa Claus?

A) Saint Nicholas

B) Saint Valentine

C) Saint Christopher

D) Saint Sebastian

Answer · why

A) Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas is said to have dropped a sack of gold through a window on three nights so that a poor man's three daughters would each have a dowry.

Q 02/05

Which English king, once named Defender of the Faith by a pope, made himself head of the Church of England?

A) Richard III

B) Edward VI

C) Henry VIII

D) Charles I

Answer · why

C) Henry VIII

Henry VIII won the papal title in 1521 for a book defending the seven sacraments, then broke with Rome in the 1530s when the pope would not annul his ...

Q 03/05

Which German monk translated the New Testament while hiding at Wartburg Castle disguised as a knight?

A) Martin Luther

B) Philip Melanchthon

C) Johann Eck

D) Andreas Karlstadt

Answer · why

A) Martin Luther

Martin Luther lived at the castle under the name Junker Jörg for about ten months after his excommunication, and finished the translation from Greek i...

Q 04/05

Which missionary to Ireland first arrived there as a teenage slave after being seized by pirates?

A) Saint Columba

B) Saint Patrick

C) Saint Brendan

D) Saint Kevin

Answer · why

B) Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick spent six years as a herder before escaping home to Britain, then went back by choice to preach to the people who had enslaved him.

Q 05/05

Which Roman emperor blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, according to Tacitus?

A) Caligula

B) Domitian

C) Trajan

D) Nero

Answer · why

D) Nero

Nero needed someone else to carry the blame for the blaze, and the already unpopular Christians of the city were arrested and killed in the empire's f...