The New Testament -- Is Your Number Up? Quiz

Answer: 12

The disciples' names are listed in Matthew 10:2-4: "These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him."

Answer: 4

Jesus had four brothers as recorded in Matthew 13:55-56. Their names were James, Joseph, Simon and Judas.

Answer: At least 2

After naming his four brothers, Matthew 13:55-56 mentions Jesus' sisters in the plural format. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us?" In other words, Jesus had to have at least two sisters.
There could have been more, but going by the information available, "at least two sisters" is the correct response.

Answer: 3

In a number of different places in the New Testament, Jesus foretold his death, which he said would be followed three days later by his resurrection. The first place where such a statement appears in the New Testament is Matthew 12: 40.

Answer: 40

Acts 1:3 states: "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." Incidentally, the number forty appears in a number of different places in the Old and New Testaments.

Answer: More than 500

In 1 Corinthians 15: 1-8, Paul writes the following: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.

Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." The report that Jesus appeared to more than 500 people is seen by many Christians today as irrefutable evidence the resurrection did indeed take place.

Answer: 5

Yes, Paul was sentenced to be lashed on five different occasions. In other words, Paul received 195 lashes for his preaching. On top of this, he suffered numerous other abuses. However, he remained unstoppable and continued to preach Christ to anyone who would listen.

Answer: 3

The Unsinkable Molly Brown had nothing on Paul. At three different times during his missionary journeys, Paul was shipwrecked. Travel by ship was highly unreliable during this era, but considering the vast distances involved, Paul had no choice but to travel by sea. It would have been impractical, for example, to walk from Jerusalem to Rome.

Answer: 27

The 11th chapter of Hebrews is all about faith, with the word used over and over again. The sixth verse is a classic: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." The chapter also lists a variety of people, from Rahab the prostitute to King David, who pleased God with their faith. On top of the word "faith" appearing 27 times, the word "faithful" is used once in the chapter.

Answer: 153

Some people read significance into the number 153 and have their arguments for doing so. Others, however, see it as simply a number given by John to indicate the massiveness of the miraculous catch of fish, as they had been fishing all night without any success.