Q.1
Which of these Books is NOT among the seven in the modern standard Apocrypha?
  • Judith
  • The Wisdom of Solomon
  • 2 books of the Maccabees
  • Zephaniah
Q.2
Extracts from the story of Tobit (and his son Tobias) are read on appropriate occasions in various traditions, for the light they shed on spiritual issues. Only ONE of these is NOT significantly touched upon during the narrative as a whole: which ONE?
  • The intercessory power of angels (i.e. their effective intervention in human affairs through prayer)
  • Respect for one's parents ('filial piety')
  • The supernatural powers of river fish
  • Purity in marriage
Q.3
You may happen to be (or know) someone, perhaps of the 'Judaeo-Christian' tradition, by the name of Judith. Anyone since named after the Judith of the Apocrypha may, we assume, have been intended by her parents to stand up feistily for what is right ~ and what harm can there be in that? Well ... which of the following (once again) is the only ONE that Judith did NOT do, according to her Book?
  • She did not 'just withdraw meekly' from public life after she became a widow
  • She stood up for her faith and nation even when the menfolk had given up hope
  • She diligently 'befriended' the enemy chief and managed to get him so drunk that he believed she was going to seduce him; then, once in private, she cut off his head
  • She married a prince and lived happily ever after
Q.4
There seems to be considerable debate about the authorship of 'The Wisdom of Solomon', though it is broadly and proverbially* accepted that one of Solomon's first key acts was to pray for wisdom (rather than, say, unlimited wealth or military success). What was Solomon's single most significant 'day job'? *Solomon is also credited with writing the (Book of) Proverbs in the canonical Old Testament.
  • He was a prophet
  • He was third King of the united monarchy of (Biblical) Israel
  • He was a poet (as in the also-canonical 'Song of Solomon': an allegorical love-poem about the metaphorical intimacy of God with His chosen people)
  • He masterminded the building of the Second Temple
Q.5
The Apocrypha contains at least one other Wisdom book of its own: which of these is it?
  • 1 & 2 Maccabees (taken together)
  • Sirach, a.k.a. Ecclesiasticus
  • Esdras
  • Baruch
Q.6
Baruch (himself, whose name is given to another apocryphal book) served as scribe and personal assistant to which important Old Testament prophet?
  • Isaiah
  • Jeremiah
  • Hezekiah
  • Ezekiel
Q.7
The name 'Maccabees' may strike as strange and even slightly quaint, but the people whose story is told in these two Books were certainly feisty souls. Which of the following is NOT broadly true of their story?
  • It took place in the 2nd century BCE
  • They rebelled against an oppressive enemy who had not only conquered them, but mocked and forbidden their religious practices (rather as with Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar ... whom you might also like to investigate)
  • The Maccabees' restoration of the Temple is honoured each year in the Jewish festival of Purim
  • The five brothers' collective name is related to a word for 'hammer', and the tune that some of us would probably recognise as 'See the conquering hero comes' (set by Handel) was originally the triumphal march from an oratorio (i.e. sacred opera, more-or-less; like 'Messiah', which Handel also wrote) in honour of Judas Maccabeus' victory
Q.8
Allowing for the fact that some of the apocryphal material belongs within already-canonical Books of the Old Testament, leaving seven freestanding Books to constitute the Apocrypha itself ... how many Books would you expect to find, altogether, within a Catholic Bible?
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
Q.9
The apocryphal material all dates from the 'interTestamental' period, i.e. its historical context lies between the Old Testament (with its histories and prophecies) and the dawn of the Gospel. Even non-Catholic authorities concede that this material is of value and interest, though not necessarily strong enough in various ways to form a direct basis for doctrine &/or worship. Which of the following best summarises such wider opinion?
  • The Orthodox Churches (which parted company with western Christianity in the Great Schism of AD 1054) refer to the deuterocanonical Books as 'anagignoskomena' ('worthy of reading')
  • Martin Luther, the original Protestant and mover-&-shaker of the Reformation ~ approximately half as far back, in the early 16th century ~ called the apocryphal material 'useful and good to read'
  • Both the above are true
  • Neither of the above is a genuine quotation
Q.10
There is one other core Biblical text, shared within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, for which the Catholic Bible divides the chapters differently ~ while ending up with the same total number. Which Book is this?
  • The Psalms
  • Genesis
  • Isaiah
  • Deuteronomy
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