The Early Church & Acts Quiz

1. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples. What visible signs accompanied His coming?

1. A dove descending from heaven and a voice from the clouds
2. A sound like a rushing mighty wind, and tongues of fire resting on each person
3. An earthquake and bright light filling the room
4. Angels appearing and announcing the Spirit's arrival

2. How many people were added to the church on the day of Pentecost after Peter's sermon?

1. 1,000
2. 3,000
3. 5,000
4. 500

3. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. What was he doing immediately before he was stoned?

1. Baptising new converts in the Jordan River
2. Healing a lame man at the temple gate
3. Preaching in the synagogue
4. Standing trial before the Sanhedrin and delivering a long speech summarising Israel's history, ending with accusing the council of killing the Messiah

4. Who held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen and approved of his execution?

1. Herod Antipas
2. Pontius Pilate
3. Saul of Tarsus
4. The high priest Caiaphas

5. Peter healed a man at the temple gate. What was the name of the gate, and how long had the man been lame?

1. The Beautiful Gate; over 40 years
2. The East Gate; from birth — his exact age is unknown
3. The Golden Gate; 20 years
4. The Sheep Gate; 38 years

6. Ananias and Sapphira died in the early church. What sin caused their deaths?

1. They denied Jesus before the Sanhedrin
2. They led a faction that taught false doctrine about the resurrection
3. They refused to share food with the widows in the daily distribution
4. They sold property and kept back part of the proceeds while lying to the apostles that they had given it all

7. Philip the evangelist explained the meaning of Scripture to an Ethiopian official. What passage was the Ethiopian reading?

1. Daniel 7 — one like a son of man coming on the clouds
2. Isaiah 53 — He was led like a sheep to the slaughter
3. Micah 5 — out of Bethlehem shall come a ruler
4. Psalm 22 — My God, my God, why have you forsaken me

8. Cornelius was the first Gentile to be baptised in the church after Peter received a vision. What was Cornelius's occupation?

1. A merchant from Caesarea
2. A Roman centurion
3. A synagogue leader
4. A tax collector

9. The church at Antioch is significant in Acts because:

1. It was led by James the brother of Jesus throughout the New Testament period
2. It was the first church founded outside of Jerusalem
3. It was the first place where followers of Jesus were called Christians, and the sending church for Paul's missionary journeys
4. It was where the Jerusalem Council decreed Gentiles need not be circumcised

10. Peter was miraculously freed from prison. Who let him out?

1. A sympathetic prison guard who had become a believer
2. An angel struck him on the side, woke him, and led him past guards through gates that opened by themselves
3. An earthquake broke the chains and opened the gates
4. He was released on orders from Herod after the execution of James

11. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) met to decide whether Gentile believers needed to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses. What was the decision?

1. All Gentile believers must be circumcised as a sign of the covenant
2. Each local church could decide its own policy on Gentile requirements
3. Gentiles did not need to be circumcised; they should only abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from strangled animals, and from sexual immorality
4. Gentiles were required to keep only the Mosaic food laws, not circumcision

12. In Athens, Paul preached on a hill called Mars Hill (the Areopagus). Athens was famous for its many gods. Paul said: 'For in him we live and move and have our being' — whose words was he quoting?

1. A Greek poet, as Paul was familiar with their own writings
2. He was quoting Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount
3. Isaiah, from one of the Servant Songs
4. Moses from Deuteronomy

13. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem at the end of his third journey and was arrested, the Roman tribune rescued him from a mob. What charge did the Jews bring against Paul?

1. Bringing a Gentile into the temple, defiling the holy place
2. Claiming to be the King of the Jews
3. Organising a revolt against Roman taxation
4. Preaching resurrection from the dead

14. Acts ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome. What does Luke record Paul doing during this time?

1. Awaiting trial with nothing to do
2. Making tents to support himself and the believers in Rome
3. Welcoming all who came to him and proclaiming the kingdom of God with all boldness
4. Writing letters to all the churches he had founded

15. The seven deacons appointed in Acts 6 were chosen to handle what practical problem?

1. Disputes between Jewish and Gentile believers over the Sabbath observance
2. Not enough people were available to baptise the growing number of new converts
3. The distribution of food to widows was being neglected — specifically Greek-speaking Jewish widows were being overlooked
4. The teaching of false doctrine that was spreading in the church

16. What happened to the magician Bar-Jesus (Elymas) who tried to turn the proconsul Sergius Paulus away from faith on Cyprus?

1. He was driven out of the city by the crowd
2. He was immediately converted and became a believer
3. He was struck dead by the Holy Spirit
4. Paul caused him to become temporarily blind

17. Lydia was Paul's first European convert. What was her occupation?

1. A dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira
2. A fisherwoman from the Sea of Galilee region
3. A synagogue leader in Philippi
4. A widow of a Roman soldier who had converted to Judaism

18. The Bereans are praised in Acts 17 as being more noble than the Thessalonians. Why?

1. They gave generously to support Paul's missionary journey
2. They had the most educated synagogue scholars in all of Greece
3. They received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true
4. They welcomed Paul without any opposition

19. In Ephesus, Paul's ministry was so effective that craftsmen who made silver shrines of Artemis started a riot. Who led the riot?

1. A group of converted magicians who burned their books and now opposed their former trade
2. A silversmith named Demetrius who feared loss of business
3. The city's Jewish leaders who had opposed Paul throughout his stay
4. The Roman governor who was worried about civil unrest

20. At the beginning of Acts, Jesus gives a summary of the book's geographical scope before ascending to heaven. What is the pattern of witness He describes?

1. From Israel to Egypt to Rome to the ends of the earth
2. From Jerusalem to Athens to Rome
3. In Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth
4. Throughout Israel first, then to the nations after the second coming