A Beginning, Middle, and End Trivia Quiz

Answer: Genesis and John

Genesis opens with "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth" to establish to readers that all things were created by God at specific point in time, i.e. "the beginning". John's Gospel opens with "In the beginning, the Word was with God" to establish to believers that Christ the Son is eternal with God the Father.

This was to counter an early Christian "heresy" that Jesus was born human and then made into God.

Answer: cosmogony

Cosmogony, cosmotography, and cosmology all pertain to the cosmos; either its beginning, charting it, or studying it. Cosmetology is what a beautician or hair stylist studies (cosmetics).

Answer: the big bang

In the late 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble determined that galaxies seemed to be moving away from each other. It was therefore surmised that they must have all been closer in the past. Taken to the logical conclusion, all matter was in one point in space at some time.

The Big Bang was the moment when the expansion began. Evidence has been gathered over the years to support this theory. The unanswered questions are 1) what was it like one second before the big bang? and 2)what caused it to happen?

Answer: The birth of Jesus

For almost 1600 years, the letters BC and AD were used to designate years Before Christ (BC) and years after His birth, Anno Domini (AD, Year of Our Lord). Many people mistakenly think AD stands for After Death. The letters BC should follow the year (i.e., Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44BC), but AD should precede the year (This year is AD 2009). One of the most lasting errors in this designation convention is on the plaque on the Lunar Lander, left behind by Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon.

It says "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind".

Answer: Before the Common Era and Common Era

BCE and CE serve two purposes. One is to recognize that Christianity is not of necessity the religion of all Western Civilization and to measure time strictly by the birth is Christ is "christo-centric". Secondly, it attempts to tackle the anomaly that using BC and AD creates. Jesus was probably born in about 6 BC, or six years before he was born!

Answer: a red giant

As the sun's supply of hydrogen at its core is consumed and its fusion furnace begins to cool, the surface will begin to cool also. The relatively cooler surface temperature will cause it to slowly burn red and the lower mass at the core will allow the surface area to expand. Astronomers feel that the Sun will expand out as far as the orbit of Venus and almost to the orbit of Earth.

Answer: eschatology

The word "eschatology" comes from the Greek (of course) "eschatos" (the last) and "ology"(the study of). "Exegesis" is a critical reading of a text, usually a religious text. "Endochronology" and "terminography" are just words I made up.

Answer: the establishment of a proletarian world government and economy

Since Marx saw all history as a struggle between the working class (the proletariat) and the ruling class, the rise of the working class over the ruling class would represent the culmination of all history. Marxism has been tried in various forms in numerous countries around the world, mostly during the 20th century.

It has largely been unsuccessful as best demonstrated by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.

Answer: December 21, 2012

Through a series of calculations and interpretations, the Grand Cycle of the Mayan Calendar ends on December 21, 2012, or so I have seen on the History Channel. Of course, the world was supposed to end on numerous others dates in the past and just because a calendar ends does not mean the world ends. My desk calendar ends every year and I just go buy a new one. Maybe the Mayans had planned on doing the same thing on December 22, 2012.

Answer: the love you make

The Beatles may have been right about this. The line is from the Beatles' song "The End". It was released in 1969.