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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. Why did writer P not include sacrificial animals in his account of Noah's ark?

2. To whom does Deuteronomy give jurisdiction in legal matters?

3. What does Friedman classify as a brilliant mistake?

4. What does Friedman speculate held the exiled Jews together?

5. Who allows the Jews to return to their home country?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did the various versions of the Torah evolve into the one we have today?

3. Why does Friedman finally identify Jeremiah as the author of Deuteronomy?

4. Why was a fix necessary for the text of Deuteronomy?

5. Describe the great irony of the P version of the Torah.

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

7. How was responsibility for the eventual exile of the people defined in the later text?

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

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

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

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, How Friedman's Book Changed My Ideas About the Bible. First, (1) explain your mind set about the Bible before reading Friedman's book, then (2) discuss the great lengths scholars such as Friedman have gone to in discovering the existence of various writers, and finally, (3) discuss whether the evidence presented seems plausible to you and whether it altered your interpretation of the Bible in any way.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, Comparing Biblical Research with Secular Research. (1) Discuss the criteria for all good research. (2) Mention archeological research practices and conclusions. (3) Delve into research on evolution of species. Conclude with a comparison of biblical research to all these other schools of thought and conjecture.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, Why Ezra Could Not Leave Out Certain Passages from the Torah. First (1) define how Ezra had a bias toward the Aaronid priesthood, (2) how he was confronted with writers who disagreed with the centralized location for sacrifices, and (3) then explain how popular familiarity of Bible stories prevented him from simply tossing out writings of those he disagreed with.

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