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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the great irony of P's writing that favored the Aaronid priesthood?

2. Who conquered the Babylonians in 538 B.C.?

3. How were books written at the time of the Pentateuch authors?

4. In their arguments, how do Graf and others who argue for Author P during the second Temple see the Tabernacle?

5. What did Ezra claim about his copy of the Torah?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who accompanied Jeremiah into exile in Egypt and how did that affect the texts?

2. Where does Friedman place the Tabernacle at the time of the First Temple?

3. How does the work of R leave the door open for why the Bible seems to contradict itself in some places and obviously does in others?

4. How does Friedman identify as writer R, the redactor who stitched together all the various versions into one Torah?

5. What does Friedman speculate held the Jewish people together, even during the exile?

6. Why is identifying the time of writer P of significance?

7. How does Friedman react to the idea that the prophets did not know about writer P?

8. Why is the period 587-400 B.C. difficult to understand?

9. How did Cyrus the Great figure into the history of the Jewish exile?

10. How does writer P interject his ideas about miracles and the authority of the Aaronid priests?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, The Importance of Language. Your essay should center around (1) the way languages change with popular use, (2) the historical use of languages at various times during the writing of the Bible, and (3) how these linguistic changes help to identify approximate dates certain passages were written.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, The Impact of the Bible on the World. This essay covers the ideas mentioned in the last chapter of Friedman's book, WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? Points of the essay should include (1) the impact of the Bible in reckoning time in the world today, (2) the effect of the Bible on moral codes, and (3) the nations that have been founded on biblical principles.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, Why People Disagree in Certain Areas of Religion. Begin by discussing (1) the differences of opinion about centralized religion in biblical times. (2) Note examples of disagreement in modern day religion. (3) Evaluate in your opinion the importance of those differences.

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