The Early Church & Acts Quiz

Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

A sound like a rushing mighty wind, and tongues of fire resting on each person

Answer

A dove descending from heaven and a voice from the clouds

Answer

An earthquake and bright light filling the room

Answer

Angels appearing and announcing the Spirit's arrival

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

3,000

Answer

500

Answer

1,000

Answer

5,000

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

Standing trial before the Sanhedrin and delivering a long speech summarising Israel's history, ending with accusing the council of killing the Messiah

Answer

Preaching in the synagogue

Answer

Healing a lame man at the temple gate

Answer

Baptising new converts in the Jordan River

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

Saul of Tarsus

Answer

The high priest Caiaphas

Answer

Herod Antipas

Answer

Pontius Pilate

Question 5

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

Accepted Answer

The Beautiful Gate; over 40 years

Answer

The Golden Gate; 20 years

Answer

The Sheep Gate; 38 years

Answer

The East Gate; from birth — his exact age is unknown

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

They sold property and kept back part of the proceeds while lying to the apostles that they had given it all

Answer

They denied Jesus before the Sanhedrin

Answer

They led a faction that taught false doctrine about the resurrection

Answer

They refused to share food with the widows in the daily distribution

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 53 — He was led like a sheep to the slaughter

Answer

Psalm 22 — My God, my God, why have you forsaken me

Answer

Daniel 7 — one like a son of man coming on the clouds

Answer

Micah 5 — out of Bethlehem shall come a ruler

Question 8

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

Accepted Answer

A Roman centurion

Answer

A tax collector

Answer

A synagogue leader

Answer

A merchant from Caesarea

Question 9

The church at Antioch is significant in Acts because:

Accepted Answer

It was the first place where followers of Jesus were called Christians, and the sending church for Paul's missionary journeys

Answer

It was the first church founded outside of Jerusalem

Answer

It was led by James the brother of Jesus throughout the New Testament period

Answer

It was where the Jerusalem Council decreed Gentiles need not be circumcised

Question 10

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

Accepted Answer

An angel struck him on the side, woke him, and led him past guards through gates that opened by themselves

Answer

A sympathetic prison guard who had become a believer

Answer

An earthquake broke the chains and opened the gates

Answer

He was released on orders from Herod after the execution of James

Question 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?

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

All Gentile believers must be circumcised as a sign of the covenant

Answer

Gentiles were required to keep only the Mosaic food laws, not circumcision

Answer

Each local church could decide its own policy on Gentile requirements

Question 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?

Accepted Answer

A Greek poet, as Paul was familiar with their own writings

Answer

Moses from Deuteronomy

Answer

Isaiah, from one of the Servant Songs

Answer

He was quoting Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount

Question 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?

Accepted Answer

Bringing a Gentile into the temple, defiling the holy place

Answer

Preaching resurrection from the dead

Answer

Claiming to be the King of the Jews

Answer

Organising a revolt against Roman taxation

Question 14

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

Accepted Answer

Welcoming all who came to him and proclaiming the kingdom of God with all boldness

Answer

Writing letters to all the churches he had founded

Answer

Awaiting trial with nothing to do

Answer

Making tents to support himself and the believers in Rome

Question 15

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

Accepted Answer

The distribution of food to widows was being neglected — specifically Greek-speaking Jewish widows were being overlooked

Answer

The teaching of false doctrine that was spreading in the church

Answer

Not enough people were available to baptise the growing number of new converts

Answer

Disputes between Jewish and Gentile believers over the Sabbath observance

Question 16

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

Accepted Answer

Paul caused him to become temporarily blind

Answer

He was struck dead by the Holy Spirit

Answer

He was immediately converted and became a believer

Answer

He was driven out of the city by the crowd

Question 17

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

Accepted Answer

A dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira

Answer

A fisherwoman from the Sea of Galilee region

Answer

A widow of a Roman soldier who had converted to Judaism

Answer

A synagogue leader in Philippi

Question 18

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

Accepted Answer

They received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true

Answer

They welcomed Paul without any opposition

Answer

They gave generously to support Paul's missionary journey

Answer

They had the most educated synagogue scholars in all of Greece

Question 19

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

Accepted Answer

A silversmith named Demetrius who feared loss of business

Answer

The city's Jewish leaders who had opposed Paul throughout his stay

Answer

The Roman governor who was worried about civil unrest

Answer

A group of converted magicians who burned their books and now opposed their former trade

Question 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?

Accepted Answer

In Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth

Answer

From Israel to Egypt to Rome to the ends of the earth

Answer

From Jerusalem to Athens to Rome

Answer

Throughout Israel first, then to the nations after the second coming