Answers to basic questions about people in the Bible and biblical history.
How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?
How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? First, we can examine what the Bible claims about itself.
Continue Reading How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?
Who was Beelzebul?
Jews of New Testament times used ‘Beelzebul’ as a name for Satan, the prince of demons.
Who was James?
There are 4 “James” in the New Testament and 2 of them are among the 12.
Who was John?
John was one of the 12 apostles, the author of the fourth gospel, three letters, and the book of Revelation.
Who was Luke?
Luke was a Gentile physician who accompanied Paul on his travels and wrote the third gospel and Acts.
Who was Mark?
John Mark was a companion of both Paul and Peter, and a cousin of Barnabas and the author of one of the four gospels.
Who was Matthew?
Matthew, also called Levi, was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ and the author of the gospel that bears his name. He was a tax collector before following Jesus.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar?
Nebuchadneeezar II was king of Babylon from 604-562 BC
Who was Paul?
Paul (Hebrew name: Saul) was an apostle of Jesus Christ and the author of most of the New Testament.
Who was Peter?
Peter (aka Simon Peter, Simon, Cephas) was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ and the author of 2 letter in the New Testament.
Who were the church fathers?
The “church fathers” are the earliest writers outside of the New Testament. Their writings are not classified as apocryphal nor are they considered authoritative. They wrote to edify their fellow Christians.
Who were the Essenes?
The Essenes are the third major “philosophical school” identified by Josephus. Little is know about them with certainty.
Who were the Judaizers?
The Judaizers claimed to believe in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah but insisted followers of Jesus cannot be saved unless they also kept the Mosaic law.
Who were the Pharisees?
The ancient historian Flavius Josephus identifies four rival religious philosophies among the Jews at the time of Jesus: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.
Who were the Sadducees?
The Sadducees were linked with the high priesthood and power. The party grew out of the aristocratic Sanhedrin.
Who were the Samaritans?
“Samaritans” can refer to either: natives of the region of Samaria or members of a Jewish sect. The Samaritans date their history to Joshua building an altar at Shechem (Joshua 24). They saw themselves as the true Jewish religion.
Who were the Zealots?
The Zealots were a revolutionary movement that arose in response to Jewish oppression by the Roman empire (but they were not the only revolutionary movement).
Top photo by Austin Mabe on Unsplash
