Q 01/05

Which word, from the Greek for a stage actor, did Jesus repeatedly call the scribes and Pharisees?

A) Heretics

B) Hypocrites

C) Blasphemers

D) Apostates

Answer · why

B) Hypocrites

Hypocrites began as a Greek theatre term for an actor playing a part on stage. In Matthew 23 it opens almost every charge Jesus lays against the group...

Q 02/05

In Matthew 23, Jesus said the Pharisees strain out a gnat but swallow which much larger animal?

A) An ox

B) A donkey

C) A camel

D) A lion

Answer · why

C) A camel

A camel was as forbidden to eat as the gnat under the food laws of Leviticus. The joke pictures someone filtering a drink for tiny insects while gulpi...

Q 03/05

Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to which objects that look beautiful on the outside?

A) Whitewashed tombs

B) Painted idols

C) Polished bronze mirrors

D) Marble pillars

Answer · why

A) Whitewashed tombs

Whitewashed tombs were a familiar sight: graves around Jerusalem were painted white before Passover so that pilgrims would not step on one and become ...

Q 04/05

In a parable in Luke 18, a proud Pharisee prays in the temple beside which humbler man?

A) A fisherman

B) A Roman centurion

C) A shepherd

D) A tax collector

Answer · why

D) A tax collector

A tax collector, despised for working with Rome, only begs for mercy and goes home forgiven. The Pharisee, who lists his own fasting and tithing, does...

Q 05/05

Which apostle and letter writer called himself a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees?

A) Peter

B) James

C) Paul

D) Barnabas

Answer · why

C) Paul

Paul said it to a Jerusalem council made up of both parties, and it worked: the Pharisees and Sadducees in the room began arguing with each other inst...