The Book of Acts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Theophilus

The Gospel of Luke is also addressed to Theophilus. It means "one who loves God", and there has been some discussion whether this means it was directed toward a general audience, anyone who loves God, or a particular individual. Some put forth the theory that Theophilus was a patron or publisher.

In any event, the address seems to show that the book of Acts was a sequel to the Gospel of Luke.

Answer: Matthias

After the Ascension and community prayer, Peter announced the need to have one replace Judas, quoting Scripture. Two men were put forward as qualified candidates, Matthias and Barsabbas. The group then prayed before casting lots, which fell to Matthias.

Answer: Shavuot

Shavuot was the fiftieth day after the Sabbath of Passover week. It is also called the Feast of Weeks. According to Deuteronomy 16:9-12, the feast was celebrated with a freewill offering in accordance to what the Lord had given them. On this particular day, people were bewildered, because the disciples were Galileans. Galileans were not known for being educated.

The Christian name for this feast is Pentecost.

Answer: Lameness

The Beautiful Gate was a nickname, not an official name. Scholars believe that the gate was probably bronze plated and given the name due to its exquisite craftsmanship. After being healed, the man went into the temple, jumping, leaping, and praising God. This caused some notice and led into a speech by Peter to the crowd.

Answer: Lied to the Holy Spirit

At this time in the early church, many were selling property to help with what was needed as recorded in Acts 4:32-37. Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple who sold a piece of property. They kept back some of the proceeds and told the apostles that it was the complete price. Peter accused them of lying to the Holy Spirit and said they were not obligated to give the money. Both were struck dead.

Answer: Gamaliel

Gamaliel was a famous Jewish teacher. Saul was his student. His reasoning in this case came from historical precedents of manly endeavors failing. He cautioned that they leave them alone and let the movement naturally dissipate rather than risk fighting against God. Therefore the apostles were released.

Answer: The Hellenists' widows were neglected.

Hellenists were Jews born in lands outside of Palestine and took many of their cultural characteristics from the Greek world. Hebrews maintained the cultural traits and customs of the Jews. When this issue was raised, the apostles suggested finding other men among the believers so they would not neglect their preaching duties. Seven were chosen, including Stephen and Philip.

Answer: Stoning

Stephen is considered the first Christian martyr. He was first mentioned as one to care for the widows in the daily distribution. He was charged with blasphemy and brought before the council, and they were enraged by his speech. While Saul is not recorded as being directly involved, he was given his first mention here as guarding the coats of the participants.

Answer: Simon

Simon was quite the celebrity in Samaria, known for his magic. Many linked him to being the power of God. When the Good News came to Samaria, many believed, including Simon. When he saw Peter and John laying hands on people, after which they received the Holy Spirit, he offered to pay them to give him this ability also. They refused and encouraged them to repent of his wicked thoughts.

Answer: Philip

The eunuch was a court official and had come to Jerusalem to worship. In Acts 8:31-38, he was puzzled by the quote, "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." Philip explained that Isaiah was talking about Jesus.

This passage can be found in Isaiah 53:7-8. At the request of the eunuch, Philip baptized him.

Answer: Me

Saul was described as "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1) as he received permission to go to Damascus. After his confrontation with Jesus on the road, he was blind. Ananias was sent to Saul so that he would see again. Saul was baptized and later had to be secretly sent out of the city. Saul based his interaction on the road as his qualification for being an apostle, since he had seen the Lord.

Answer: She was Peter's sister-in-law.

From the context of the story, Tabitha was apparently an accomplished seamstress who did a lot of works for charity. Her passing was such a sorrowful event that others asked for Peter to come. Peter is said to have prayed before asking Tabitha to rise, which she did.

Answer: Unclean animals

Cornelius was a Gentile and up to this point all the recipients of the apostles' preaching were Jewish or converts to Judaism. In the vision, God told Peter to eat what Peter believed to be unclean, and God responded, "What God has made clean, do not call common." (Acts 10:15) This opened Peter's eyes to sharing the Good News with this Gentile family. Peter used this vision in his defense for what he did to the church in the eleventh chapter.

Answer: An angel let him out.

Peter was arrested after Herod found out how popular James' execution had been. After the angel released Peter, he went to the home of John Mark's mother, Mary. The servant girl, Rhoda, was so excited she forgot to let him in. The others in the house didn't believe her and thought she saw his angel. This alluded to a belief that everyone had their own personal angel.

Answer: Barnabas

In chapter thirteen, Barnabas and Saul were set aside by the church at Antioch to to go on a mission journey. Back in chapter eleven it was mentioned that Antioch was also the place where members of the new church were called Christians. Barnabas was mentioned as the disciple who brought Saul to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-27).

The apostles had been afraid of Saul due to his previous actions against the church. Later he was instrumental in finding Saul in Tarsus and bringing him to Antioch for a full year. (Acts 11:25-26)

Answer: Hermes

Saul was now going by the name Paul. The name Saul had a Jewish background, and Paul was a Hellenistic name. As Paul was now entering into a Gentile-focused ministry, this may be why he was now referred to as Paul. At Lystra, Paul was used by God to heal a crippled man, and the people instantly jumped to the conclusion that he and Barnabas were gods.

Some speculate that Barnabas was a larger man as he was taken for Zeus. Paul, on the other hand, probably was mistaken for Hermes as he did most of the speaking.

Hermes was considered the messenger of the gods. Paul and Barnabas protested that they too were only men.

Answer: Circumcision

This was a turning point for the early church. The earliest members of the church were Jews or converts to Judaism. Circumcision was a requirement. However, more and more Gentiles were believing in the Gospel, and some were teaching that circumcision was a requirement for salvation. Paul and Barnabas were outspoken opponents of this teaching.

The final conclusion of the council was that they should not put needless barriers upon the Gentiles for coming to faith.

Answer: Macedonia

Paul was now traveling with Silas after a dispute with Barnabas. They were also joined by Timothy, who would later be a recipient of two of Paul's epistles. Acts records that the Holy Spirit kept them from entering into Asia. Paul's dream of a Macedonian pleading for help led the mission team into Europe.

His dream took place at Troas, an important port city that fed into Macedonia. Macedonia was the homeland of Alexander the Great's ancestors and was at this time a Roman province.

Answer: The city was full of idols.

Paul's persecution of the church prior to his conversion show him to be a man who had little tolerance of things that led people away from the truth. Athens had once been the center of wisdom and philosophy. So Paul used the Areopagus to preach the Gospel.

He utilized the altar "to an unknown god" as an opening. The altar had been erected by cautious Greeks who were afraid of offending any god, even those they might not have known. Paul's speech in Athens is recorded in Acts 17:22-31.

Answer: Silversmith

Ephesus was the home of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Demetrius' trade was dependent on the worship of Artemis as he crafted silver shrines to her. The Christian church taught people to follow only one God and therefore threatened his job. Working with other tradesmen, he created a riot with Artemis as their rallying cry.

Afterwards, Paul continued on to Macedonia.

Answer: At the temple

Paul was accused of teaching against the laws of Moses and bringing Greeks into holy places of the temple, which was forbidden. Acts never recorded whether the charge of bringing Greeks in were true or not. A riot occurred and Paul was saved by the Roman occupation soldiers. Paul was given the opportunity to witness to the crowd all that had happened to him, but the crowd still was against him.

Answer: His nephew

The conspiracy was to request that Paul appear before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, for more information. However, before Paul could arrive, the group would be ambushed. Paul redirected his nephew to tell the commander what he had heard. The commander put together a force of over four hundred men to transfer Paul to Caesarea where Felix, the governor, was.

This whole episode can be found in the twenty-third chapter.

Answer: He appealed to Caesar.

Paul's Roman citizenship was one of the major explanations why he was more or less protected by the Roman army. He appeared before many local authorities before appealing to have his case heard by Caesar, a right of any Roman citizen. If he were found innocent, this would have granted Christianity official recognition. One authority, Agrippa, stated, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." (Acts 26:32)

Answer: Malta

Paul was put on a boat to sail to Rome, but the sea was not kind. They landed at a port on Crete, but the majority of people on board did not want to winter there. Paul warned them that continuing on would be hazardous to their lives and cargo. After landing on Malta, the centurion spared Paul's life when some wanted to kill the prisoners to prevent them from escaping.

Answer: Rome

Paul was allowed to await his trial under house arrest in Rome. There were already Christians living in Rome who visited him. He even preached to those who had not heard the Good News. The Book of Acts ends in Chapter 28, with Paul completing two years of life in Rome. Some scholars speculate that the purpose of the book was to provide a defense for Paul's upcoming trial.