Please research your answers and use different sources including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and purely secular scholarly sources when finding your answers. Use resources such as encyclopedias, historical books, historians, and dictionaries. Please, consider this an exercise. Write out your answers as you go along so you can look at them at the end. All I ask is that you are honest and open-minded in your answers; it may make most sense if you complete the questions in the order they are asked:
Where did the Bible come from?
When was it codified?
What books were first listed as belonging in the Christian canon?
How has the canon changed over time in various groups?
What is the Septuagint?
Was the Septuagint in use at the time of Christ?
Did Christ or his disciples quote from the Septuagint?
What is the difference between the Protestant and Catholic Bible?
Does the Septuagint coincide with the Protestant Old Testament or the Catholic Old Testament?
When did the Council of Jamnia take place, who were its members, and what did it do?
Why do the Catholics retain books that the Protestants removed?
How do you know that the book of Jude should be in the Bible, but that the Apocalypse of Saint Peter should not be included? Does the Bible its self tell us which one should be included or excluded?
Did any of the apostles specify which books should be in the New Testament and Old Testament? If not, who decided what books are in the Bible?
What books were included in the first edition of the King James Bible?
Before the Books of the Bible were canonized, how was the Gospel spread?
Before the printing press was invented some one-thousand and five hundred years after Christ, how was the Gospel spread?
How was is/was the gospel spread to those who are/were illiterate, how can they learn the truth if they can’t read the Bible?
Does one need to be able to read to know the truth?
How do the answers to these questions apply to the concept of "sola scriptura," or the "Bible alone" as the rule of faith?
What does 2 Peter 3:16 warn against?
2 Peter 1:20-21 says Scripture is not of ___ ____________ _____________?
What does the word "profitable" mean?
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, what does the word "profitable" mean?
Does "profitable" mean "is sufficient" in any dictionary?
Was there a New Testament canon at the time Paul wrote that verse?
If not, then what Scripture was he referring to?
What do 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 1 Corinthians 11:2 say about Tradition?
When did this Tradition stop being in effect?
What did Jesus mean when He told his followers to heed those who sat on the Chair of Moses in Matthew 23:2-3?
What does that say about Jesus' expectations for his followers to obey earthly authority?
What does 1 Timothy 3:15 indicate is the rule of all truth?
What do you believe is the pillar of all truth, and why?
Is the Bible plainly referred to as sole rule of all truth or faith anywhere in scripture?
The man to whom Jesus is speaking in Matthew 16:18-19: what was his name before those verses?
What was his name after those verses?
What does that name mean?
What language did Jesus speak?
What is the name given to this man in Jesus' original language?
What does that word mean?
What other people in the Bible were given name changes?
What did name changes signify in Hebrew life?
What metaphoric object does Jesus give the man in Matthew 16:18-19?
What does this symbolize?
What did they symbolize in Isaiah 22?
What are "binding and loosing"?
If Christ is a High Priest, and we are members of His royal priesthood, what are the offerings of each?
Where all Israelites members of the Royal Priesthood in the Old Testament too? (Hint: Exodus 19:6)
Did the fact that all the Israelites were members of the royal priesthood negate the ordained Levite priesthood?
Did the New Testament Church have bishops, elders (presbyteros, priests), and deacons or was it non-hierarchical?
What is the rebellion of Korah mentioned in Jude 1:11? (hint: see Numbers 16)
What does it mean that Jesus is a "High Priest after the order of Melchizedek"?
In John 6:52-58, what is the meaning of the word "is"?
In I Corinthians 11:23-30, why does Paul say some people become sick -- and what does that indicate to you?
Since Messiah has come, where today are the incense and "pure offering" offered up as predicted in Malachi 1:10-11?
Does your faith community believe that the bread and wine of communion are the actual body and blood of Christ, or just a symbol?
Does scripture ever say that the body and blood are only symbols?
What is the root word of the word "priest"?
What is the root word of the word "presbyter"?
How does Paul refer to himself in 1 Corinthians 4:14-15?
In what way do the Apostles treat new Christians according to 1 Thessalonians 2:11?
How does Paul refer to Isaac in Romans 9:10?
How does John address his audience in 1 John 2:13?
What does I Peter 3:18-21 say baptism does?
Whom does Acts 2:38-39 say that baptism is for?
Whom does it indicate the promise of baptism is for?
What does Colossians 2:11-12 compare baptism with?
When were people circumcised to enter into the Old Covenant (i.e., at what age)?
Did or did not Paul baptize entire households?
Do households generally include children and infants?
In John 3:1-7, it says we are to be baptized in the Spirit and _______?
In Whose name are we to be baptized according to Matthew 28:19?
Do you believe something different about Baptism than what these verses teach?
If so, why?
How did the earliest Christians (while the apostles were still alive) baptize according to the non-canonical writings of the earliest Christians (example: The Didache)?
According to Acts 8:14-17 and Acts 19:5-6, what did Peter, Paul and John do in addition to baptizing?
Do you believe that what they did is unimportant?
If so, why?
What do Proverbs 28:13 and 1 John 1:9 say we should do with our sins?
What authority was given to the twelve who were with Jesus in the Upper Room in John 20:21-23?
What power was given specifically to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:19?
What sort of ministry is described in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20?
Does your faith community practice the sacrament of reconciliation, and if so, how?
Do you believe something different than what these verses teach?
If so, why?
How does James 5:14 describe how the elders (presbyters, priests) dealt with the sick?
What did they use to help the sick?
Does the faith community you're involved with do this? If not, why not?
What does Matthew 19:6 say about marriages that are put together by God?
Does scripture indicate that a validly married man and wife may re-marry if they get a divorce?
Does scripture allow for divorce?
Does scripture authorize remarriage, except in the case of death of a spouse?
Does your faith community teach something different?
If so, why?
Mark 12:26-27 says that God is the God of what three people?
What does it say about these three people (i.e., what condition are they in)?
Is God the God of Abraham?
Is God the God of the dead?
How can he be both the God of Abraham but not the God of the dead but the living?
What does Revelation 6:9-10 say about what the "souls of them that were slain" are doing?
Where are those souls?
What does Hebrews 12:1 say we are surrounded by?
Who are they?
What does this say about those who die in Christ?
Does your faith community teach something different?
If so, why?
What woman in Scripture gave birth to the man who was to rule all nations?
Where does Revelation 12 say this woman is?
What does the word "magnify" mean?
In Luke 1:46-49, what does "magnify" mean?
Who is the "Queen in Gold" of Psalm 45:10-17?
In what ways does this Psalm make Luke 1:48 clear?
If Christ is the New Adam (Romans 5:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 15:45), who is the New Eve?
Who are the only two people in the Old Testament to have been without original sin from their first moments?
What three things did the Ark of the Covenant have within it (hint: see Hebrews 9:4)?
What did Mary carry within her and in what ways are the contents of the Ark similar?
Compare Luke 1:39-56 and 2 Samuel 6:2-16: in what ways are the Ark of the Covenant and Mary similar?
What is the Jewish "Mourner's Kaddish" (or "Quaddish") and why is it prayed?
What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 3:13-15?
What does Revelation 21:27 say about the unclean?
If you were to die right now, today, would you be clean enough to stand before Almighty God?
For whom was Paul praying in 2 Timothy 1:16-18 and what was his condition at that time?
What does James 2:24 say about how we are justified?
What kind of faith is mentioned in Galatians 5:6?
Whom does Jesus say will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 7:21?
What does Ephesians 2:8-9 say about the possibility of saving ourselves through works?
What does that verse say we are saved by?
Does your faith community teach either salvation by faith alone or by works alone?
If so, why?
What does Hebrews 3:12-14 indicate about the possibility of departing from God?
Under what conditions does it say we can be "partakers of Christ"?
In what way does Philippians 2:12 say we should approach salvation?
Do you approach salvation in this way?
If not, why not?
Revelation 17:15-18 speaks of a whore which is "that great city." What is this city according to Revelation 11:8?
Where was Christ crucified?
How did the Jewish historian, Josephus, describe the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in A.D. 70?
Why does Jesus say He came according to John 12:25-27?
What is the nature of the Kingdom according to John 18:36?
How long has this been the nature of the Kingdom according to Matthew 25:34?
What do those three verses say to those who might believe Jesus came (and will come again) to set up an earthly kingdom?
What are the Talmud and Kabbalah?
What does the Talmud say about Jesus Christ and Mary?
How is modern Judaism different from the religion of the Old Testament?
What objects are described in 1 Kings 6:29?
What about in Ezekiel 41:17-19?
What does this mean in light of Exodus 20:4?
Did the religion of the Old Testament have a sense of sacred time, sacred space, and sacred objects?
Is there anything in the New Testament that indicates the concept of consecrated things/places/times has changed?
What media does God use to effect miracles in:
Joshua 3:15; 1 Samuel 4-6; and 2 Samuel 11-1? |
______________ |
Numbers 21:9? |
______________ |
2nd Kings 13:21? |
______________ |
Mark 5:25? |
______________ |
Acts 5:15? |
______________ |
Acts 19:12? |
______________ |
What does "firstborn" mean (hint: see Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:14-15, Numbers 18:15)?
What is "Easter" called in Latin?
In Italy, France and Spain?
What is it called in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark?
What do Byzantine Catholics call it?
What is the common root word for all these names?
What does that root word indicate about the origins of the holy day known in English speaking countries as "Easter"?
Everyone wants to be part of a "New Testament-style Church" -- but few are the people who read what the earliest Christians wrote! If worshipping and believing like the Apostles did are, indeed, what you want, then why haven't you read thoroughly Sacred Scripture, the Didache (the first century "Teachings of the Twelve Apostles"), Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, John Chrysostom, Augustine (all of him, not just the parts that, pulled out of context, seem to support various modern positions!), Hippolytus, etc. Even Origen and Tertullian give witness to what the early Christians believed... How can you know what the earliest Church was like if you don't look?
What is holding you back?
If you read these early Christians' writings, ask yourself: what Church today is like the Church they described?
What Church today teaches Bible-based answers to the questions above?
When was the opinion first formed and who had taught me what I think I know about the Catholic Church?
Is what I was taught true? How do I know?
Have I looked at what the Catholic Church has to say about itself, using official resources such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church and papal encyclicals?
Could my opinion of the Catholic Church possibly be based on bias, bigotry, bad history, propaganda from the secular media, or the bad priests who get publicity (i.e., the sick, and sickening, pedophile priests or those certain heretical modernist priests the secular media love to give press to)?
Is it fair to judge doctrine by such things?
Were the Jews and their priests sinners?
Where they still the people and Church of God in the OT, even when they sinned?
Is any group with human beings in it free from sin and scandal?
If I am wrong about the Catholic Church, what does that mean?
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Here are some common myths about the Catholic Church:
Wrong! |
Because Catholics reject the tradition of "sola fide" ("faith alone"), they think they can work their way into Heaven and believe they are saved by works |
Wrong! |
Catholics think the pope does not sin |
Wrong! |
Catholics re-crucify Christ at their Masses (or at least think they do) |
Wrong! |
Catholics think Mary is part of the Godhead and is to be worshipped |
Wrong! |
Catholics worship statues |
Wrong! |
Catholics think they can't pray to God directly but have to go through saints |
Wrong! |
Catholics conjure the dead |
Wrong! |
Catholics believe people can be saved after they die |
Wrong! |
The Catholic Church teaches that one who isn't formally a Catholic is damned to Hell |
Wrong! |
The Catholic Church wasn't around until the time of Constantine, a pagan who controlled the Church. |
If you believe any of the above myths, I implore you to research. For doctrinal questions, ask the Church what it teaches; it's the only fair thing to do. For historical questions, look at balanced and objectivescholarly research from a variety of sources (including Catholic ones).
Borrowed from:
http://www.fisheaters.com/challenge.html, with a few modifications.