Or supposedly it is, anyway: from the BBC.
Should I think it significant that, actually, at least two of the questions are not "Bible knowledge" questions, but are "knowledge of literature that makes reference to the Bible" questions?
I missed one of those, ending up with 9/10.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
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9/10 as well. I read the whole thing as being 'knowledge of literary Bible references.'
Interesting that the score ranking lists 8-10 as 'The Truth shall set you free.' I wouldn't figure knowing Polonius referred to Jephthah was the truth Jesus was referring to.
Verification word: later. As in, later, that we don't know the Bible is not a problem because we don't understand literature. It's a problem because we don't understand the Bible!
As in, later, that we don't know the Bible is not a problem because we don't understand literature. It's a problem because we don't understand the Bible!
Very true. Although, as an English major, I can't say knowing the Bible is a very useful thing (and I'll use "knowing" loosely in my case; I'm still starting out). I also go 9/10 correct; I haven't read Steinbeck's East of Eden so I had no idea what story it drew upon.
8/10 ... guess I have some reading to do.
yes, East of Eden was the one that tripped me too - I took a guess and got it wrong.
It's a bit trendy, this position of 'bible as cultural meme' thing. Another way to neuter the power of it, of course.
I likewise tripped up on east of eden. It seemed too easy to guess Adam and Eve, so I guessed Abraham and Sarah. Sigh.
Heh, 9 out of 10 as well, and also on the "east of Eden" question, although it comes directly from Genesis 4:16, so shame on us.
No question that having familiarity with the Bible is essential to understanding the many allusions to it in literature, but is that really all it's important for, and is it by that standard that we should measure our knowledge of the Bible? On top of which, isn't it better that we have an understanding of the Bible than that we merely have knowledge of it?
In other words, what Libbie said.
I think it's a high-church Anglican thing, regarding the Bible as merely good literature....
I think, relative to the stated purpose of the quiz, that it purports to be a test, not of one's Biblical knowledge, but rather of one's knowledge of the Bible's influence on Western literature. Unfortunately in my view the place of the Bible as the bedrock upon which Western culture rests is becoming more and more eroded. Children today scarcely recognize Biblical references at all. They not only do not have "the patience of Job", they don't even know what it means or from whence it derives. I, by the way, scored a moral 10 of 10. I say "moral" because I am typing with my one remaining usable finger and I hit the wrong button although I knew the right answer.
What happened to your other fingers?
I got all 10! I got all 10! What'd I win?
Sad, isn't it, that this is what passes for "Bible knowledge" in the world?
The Squirrel
Sweet, I'm as smart as DJP! :-)
Oh, don't short-change yourself like that!
LOL My verification word is "bibleorp."
8 outta 10.
I don't think you really had to know that Polonius referred to Jepthah to get the answer right. Only that Jepthah was the one who offered up his daughter.
Alas, I grew nervous on question 10, entering with a perfect score and the chance to beat Dan (and represent my public school peeps), but East of Eden tripped me up.
Hahaha, apart from Centuri0n, I'm pretty sure most of us have not read most of those works (college English lit courses notwithstanding)—it's that we recognize what the allusions are alluding to.
Whoops, I just revealed myself as being unacculturated and unlettered. What would Carl F.H. Henry think (or Schaeffer, for that matter)?
To compensate, here's Rembrandt's painting of Belshazzar's feast. (Don't know why he painted the words vertically and not horizontally, though.)
DJP -
A series (if 2 makes a series) of bizarre accidents has left me with a cast on one hand and the other arm strapped. I mention it to justify my otherwise unaccountable missing of question 10 and also, of course, in a largely unmerited plea for sympathy.
I said Moses said "measure for measure"...9/10 and feeling silly about that one..
"...'bible as cultural meme' thing. Another way to neuter the power of it, of course."
Wow, Libbie. You're spot on.
I got 9/10, including East of Eden.
I got 10/10. Hey Dan, I guess Dr. Thomas's NTI class came in handy for something, huh?
The East of Eden one was easy for me since I'm a James Dean fan.
9 out of 10. I went against my gut. I didn't read East of Eden, but having read some of Steinbeck's works, I should have guessed Cain of Abel even if I didn't recall that Cain moved East of Eden. I also guessed on most of them based on my Biblical knowledge because I had no idea or didn't recall many of the literary/movie references.
And finally, there was the "measure" question that nearly got me. I don't know which translation they used and didn't recall the word ever being used. So I picked the verse that I thought it could have been and just happened to be right.
9 out of 10 the measure to measure one tripped me up.
ARGH!! I was pretty much sailing through the whole thing (except "measure for measure"--had to think a bit) until #10. I knew the reference for "east of Eden", but I got distracted by the picture and put Adam and Eve instead!! To think I could have beaten Dan!! Not to be...
9/10- chalk up another silly miss on measure for measure.
Got 10/10. Like Steve Wilson, being a James Dean fan helped with East of Eden. Members of Oprah's Book Club would have gotten it right also.
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