Bible Literacy Quiz: How Well do You Know the World Around You‏

/Standard Newswire/ -- Bible Literacy Project, publisher of the acclaimed public school Bible
textbook "The Bible and Its Influence," has released a new Bible Literacy Quiz to demonstrate how widespread Biblical references are in our culture. This fall, the textbook is being taught in 337 schools in 43 states, including more than 50 in Texas.

"In national surveys, both high school English teachers and English professors at leading
universities said almost unanimously that students must know the Bible to understand English literature. Our research also found that students need basic biblical literacy to even understand the daily newspaper -- much less to study history, music, art and culture," said Chuck Stetson, Chairman of the Board of the Bible Literacy Project.

The importance of academic study of the Bible was recently underscored by USA Today contributor William R. Mattox's August 17 column, "Teach the Bible? Of Course." The column quoted Barbara Newman, Northwestern University professor of English, Religion and Classics, who said, "Students who want to do serious study of Western civilization need to know the Bible. They need to know the Bible, even if they do not believe the Bible." In February, the United Kingdom's Poet Laureate, atheist Andrew Motion, joined the call for public school education
about the Bible, saying he had struggled to teach Milton's "Paradise Lost" to undergraduates because they had no concept of the fall of man.

Below is an eight-question quiz. How do you fare in understanding the world around you? For more questions, visit http://quiz.bibleliteracy.org.

1. On the evening before he was assassinated, Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words: "I've been
to the mountaintop....And I've looked over. And I've
seen the Promised Land." To what place does the
Promised Land refer?

A. Atlanta, Georgia.

B. Washington, D.C.

C. The "new world," or North America.

D. A land flowing with milk and honey.



2. A sign at the gas pump gives payment
instructions: "Insert first-born child here." To what
Biblical story is this an allusion?

A. Plagues inflicted on the Pharaoh of Egypt.

B. The crucifixion of Jesus.

C. The stoning of St. Paul.

D. Eli's instructions when Hannah dedicated her son
to the Lord.



3. Erik Brady called basketball star Marcus Vick
a "Prodigal son" ("USA Today," 9/19/05). Why might
someone be called a prodigal son?

A. He is extremely bright and brings honor to his
father.

B. He did something regrettable and brought shame
to the family.

C. He hosted a big family gathering, celebrating victory
over evil or over a formidable opponent.

D. He parted the Red Sea.



4. A national nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that
provides hot, nutritious meals is named Loaves and
Fishes. The name is a reference to ...

A. Psalm 23, "Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies."
B. The Lord's Supper, a traditional meal of "broken"
bread, wine, and fish.

C. The meal the Good Samaritan offered to the victim
of hoodlums.

D. Five loaves and two fish that fed 5,000 people.



5. Which law giver is sculpted on the peak of the
eastern entrance of the U.S. Supreme Court Building?


A. Jesus.

B. Abraham.

C. Moses.

D. George Washington.



6."U.S. News & World Report" reported: "King
Solomon had it easy.... he never would have dreamed
of the complexities that face modern family court
judges, or the rise in the number of stepparents,
unrelated guardians, unmarried couples, gay parents,
and surrogate moms..." (1/17/00, page 46). What
famous dispute is the magazine article referencing?


A. Dividing the land of the Medes and Persians.

B. Sibling quibbling of twins Jacob and Esau over their
father's inheritance.

C. Two mothers disagreeing about a newborn.

D. Dividing the Jewish Kingdom into Israel and Judah.



7. The bronze monument outside the United Nations
Building, New York City, is titled "Let Us Beat Swords
into Plowshares." This is an allusion to ...

A. Words of the prophet Isaiah.

B. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

C. Jesus' parable of the mustard seed.

D. Jesus' parable of the seed sown (1) near the path,
(2) on rocky soil, (3) among thistles, and (4) on good
soil.



8. To what does the title of John Steinbeck's "Grapes
of Wrath" allude?

A. Fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.

B. God's judgment (wrath) on those who follow the
ways of the devil.

C. Years of famine which prompted the Israelites to
migrate to Egypt where they were enslaved by
Pharaoh.

D. The new (at the time) breakfast sensation named
Froot Loops.



Answer Key: 1:D, 2:A, 3:B, 4:D, 5:C, 6:C, 7:A, 8:B.



Bible Literacy Project is a division of Essentials in Education, an educational publisher. Its web sites are

www.bibleliteracy.org (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102697998978&s=13633&e=001FrGMa0_To9QiTX0cZ4ArUWatf8ZMH1NrZn9NRkXO3sLeXubrOm_FFMzZ1gR
Totnb3BntwZF9a06CTjzJqvcgSN_af6lOW3jpRWYZrP2LTOYBU2chu27VXg==) and
www.essentialsineducation.org (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102697998978&s=13633&e=001FrGMa0_To9TGPPKlH1-7iw3XMkxBk5RsPKdpOikDSVaRG2HgpxY5KJxCqAxFeRkOIzIy
lAPTCtkdogcbAYp3Fd8OX5s2g795dEYtyw6Qz974SWQH0wwXaEmmegy9U875).

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