Downside-Up Trivia Quiz

Answer: Manger

A manger is a receptacle for livestock food. The word derives from the French "manger" to eat and the Latin "Manducare" meaning to masticate or chew. The humble manger also plays a significant role in the Nativity story. With no room in the inn, Mary and Joseph are forced to seek refuge in a stable. According to Luke 2:7, Jesus was placed in a manger.

A German connection to the manger is actually quite an amusing custom. In rural America during wedding festivities, the older, unmarried sister of the bride will often perform a dance in a pig trough. Got to love those Germanic rural traditions!

Answer: Anger

Anger is generally viewed as a negative emotional state. Psychologists generally recognize three types of anger. The first is impulsive anger, the second is deliberate anger and the third is dispositional anger. The first two forms of anger are responses and reactions to perceived offense or wrongs. Dispositional anger is related to a set of personality traits and characteristics a person might possess. King Herod seemed to have a monopoly on all three forms of this emotion.

Answer: Gran

Saint Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother (gran) of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, she is not directly named in the New Testament gospels or in the Qu'ran. Christians learn her name and the name of Joachim, her husband, from the New Testament Apocrypha written by the evangelist James. Anne is also a revered woman in the Islamic tradition. St Anne is the patron saint of housewives, grandmothers, unmarried women, women in labor, miners, cabinet makers, and horseback riders.

Answer: Ran

The bible has a number of references to people that ran fast. John was the disciple that could run faster than Peter as evidenced in John's Gospel when they raced to the tomb of Jesus. One of my other favorite athletes from the Bible is Elijah. In 1 Kings 18:46, Elijah outran a team of horses. Now that is some serious Usain Bolt swiftness.

Answer: Ra

Ra was the Egyptian sun god sometimes known as Re. He was a popular deity in the Fifth Dynasty and in various forms thereafter. The center of the sun god was Heliopolis. Identified with a local sun deity, Atum-Ra was worshipped as the first being and the creator. Ra was likely still a God of choice for many during the time Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus.

Their flight is detailed in Matthew 2:13-23. The story tells of the Magi visit and how an angry Herod murders innocent children in and around Bethlehem for fear that one day one might steal his throne.

History suggests crazy old Herod dies in 4 BC which allows the Bible's first family to return to Galilee.

Answer: Arm

Jesus must have had a strong arm because his father was a carpenter and the Gospels suggest he followed in his earthly dad's vocational sandals. The long bone in the arm is the humerus. One way to remember this bone is to consider the funny sensation one gets when something strikes the elbow.

The ulnar nerve is responsible for that tickling sensation in the funny bone which may or may not be be humorous.

Answer: Mare

A mare is usually considered a female horse over the age of three. This is distinguished from a filly that is under the age of three. In thoroughbred horse racing however, a mare is a female horse over the age of four. The term 'mare' is also used for other equine animals like mules and zebras. Though it is not wrong to call a female donkey a mare, the more accurate name is a jenny. In the Gospels, Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Answer: Cream

The official caterers of Wimbledon serve in excess of twenty tons of strawberries and 1,820 gallons of cream during the annual Wimbledon tennis championships held outside of London England. The first Wimbledon tournament was in 1877 and coincided with the strawberry harvest. A custom was born and King George V introduced strawberries and cream to his honored guests during his reign. The official Wimbledon strawberry is the Elsanta variety which is grown in Kent. Alas no mention of strawberries or cream in the Bible. However, if Jesus had ever gone to watch tennis at Wimbledon he would have loved them for sure.

Answer: Camera

Camera is not mentioned in the Bible either, but early camera technology actually did exist during the life of Jesus Christ. The Chinese philosopher, Mo Ti experimented with an early pinhole camera in the fifth century B.C. His primitive pinhole camera was able to transfer an inverted image that he was able to trace to form a picture.

In the fourth Century BC, Aristotle also suggested a similar observation in observing a partial solar eclipse through small gaps in the leafy canopy of a tree.

Answer: America

Adherents to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints hold the Book of Mormon to be an additional holy scripture. This great Mormon book traces the story of Nephi and his ancestors and their adventures in the Americas after escaping from Jerusalem 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon also talks of the ministry of Jesus Christ on the American continent and his appearance to the people after the resurrection.