1. Exodus
   Genesis
2. Mark
   Revelation

One of the first things children learn in Sunday School is to name the first five books of the Bible. They are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are also called the Torah in Judaism.

1. Babylon
   Eden
2. Kubla Khan
   Shangri-La

At the center of the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Knowledge, from which Adam and Eve were not supposed to eat. This leads religious skeptics to ask: Why place it right there? Why not put it at the North Pole, if eating from it would condemn humans to lives of toil, painful childbirth, and so on?

1. Laban
   Lot
2. Noah
   Shadrach

Of course, it was Noah. Shadrach was the name of one of his sons, who was on the ark with him, and survived to help repopulate the Earth.

1. Bethlehem
   Bethsaida
2. Jerusalem
   Memphis

The name of this town should be familiar even to the non-religious, due to how frequently it's mentioned at Christmastime. For example, in the Christmas carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

1. Acts
   Jude
2. 3 Peter
   Revelation

This book is also called "The Revelation to St. John" or "The Revelation to John," because John of Patmos received the visions it contains. He was exiled on the Greek island for continuing to practice his faith in the face of Roman oppression.

1. James the Less
   Judas
2. Nathanael
   Thomas

The name Judas has become synonymous with "traitor." From it, we get the expression "Judas kiss," for a gesture which looks kind​ but is treacherous.

1. John
   Jude
2. Mark
   Matthew

While it's true that there are four gospels, Jude is a letter found late in the New Testament. The missing gospel, above, is that of Luke.

1. Acts
   Hebrews
2. 1 Chronicles
   Romans

The book of Acts (the name is short for "Acts of the Apostles") tells the story of how the Church grew after Christ's ascension into heaven. The famous story of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is included in Acts.

1. Abel
   Cain
2. Seth
   all of these

Eve had at least three sons. Genesis tells us that the Lord gave her Seth because she was saddened by Abel's murder and Cain's banishment.

1. carpentry
   farming
2. goat herding
   tax collecting

Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus was evidently also trained as a carpenter. He would have had to do something for work, as he did not begin his ministry until the age of 30, well into adulthood.

1. Capernaum
   Jerusalem
2. Medina
   Riyadh

Jesus was crucified on a hill called Golgotha, outside Jerusalem. Other important sites from the Passion week, like the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, are there as well.

1. the Baltic Sea
   the Black Sea
2. the Sea of Galilee
   the Red Sea

Peter, James the Greater, and John were all fishermen on the sea of Galilee who apparently knew Jesus for some time before the beginning of his ministry. Biblical scholars suggest that Jesus, trained as a carpenter, might have worked as a shipwright, putting him in contact with fishermen.

1. Adam
   Esau
2. Jacob
   Joseph

Jacob made the stew, and Esau, his older brother, sold his birthright (his privileges as oldest son) for a bowl. Esau was evidently so hungry he couldn't think straight. Imagine that -- an example, in the early pages of the Bible, of how low blood sugar causes bad decision-making.

1. Abednego
   Ham
2. Meschach
   Shadrach

The other three were Jews in Babylonia who refused to worship Babylonian gods. Ham was part of another trio: Shem, Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah in Genesis.

1. James
   John
2. Paul
   Peter

1, 2 and 3 John can be found late in the New Testament. There's a debate among scholars as to whether the letters were written by the same "John," and which "John" actually wrote them. The first one is considerably longer and more like a sermon than personal letters to church leaders, which the second two are.

1. Benjamin
   Ishmael
2. Isaac
   Meschach

Abraham first had a son with Sarah's handmaid, Hagar, because it seemed that Sarah was too old to bear a child herself. Later, God "opened Sarah's womb," and she bore Isaac. Ishmael is considered the father of the Arab nations, which is why "Ismail" is a common name in Arabic countries, but not in Israel. In Israel, the name "Yitzhak" is common, honoring Isaac.

1. Elizabeth
   Leah
2. Martha
   it was also Mary

Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist, who would "prepare the way" for Jesus. When Mary arrived at her cousin's house, Elizabeth told her that the baby in her womb had leaped for joy, recognizing the mother of Jesus.

1. James the Less
   James the Greater
2. Matthew
   Thomas

When the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples, Thomas asked to see Jesus's hands and the wound in his side before truly accepting that it was him. This is why the nickname "Doubting Thomas" has come to signify someone who doubts something he or she has been told.

1. Asshur
   Melchizidek
2. Potiphar
   Ramses

Potiphar's wife is more famous than he is (though, ironically, not named herself). She attempted to seduce Joseph, who fled, leaving his cloak in her hands, rather than betray his boss. (Or maybe he just wasn't that into her, an explanation Sunday School teachers tend not to bring up).

1. Abraham
   Joseph
2. Jesus
   Peter

To be clear, Abraham isn't called this in either the Hebrew or the Christian Bible, because the third faith, Islam, did not exist yet. But in Genesis, Abraham is called to be the father of the Jewish people, and Judaism gave rise to Christianity, while Islam sees itself as the extension and culmination of both those faiths.

1. an apple
   a breadfruit
2. a pomegranate
   none of these

Biblical scholars are generally united in suggesting that the tree and the fruit were a metaphor, not literal. (Really, the talking snake in the story should have tipped everyone off to that). The idea that it's a sin to gain knowledge and put oneself on an equal footing with God/the gods is a very old idea, also reflected in the stories of the Tower of Babel, Prometheus, and Pandora's Box.

1. historic
   Pauline
2. synoptic
   triad

"Synoptic" comes from the Greek word "synopsis," meaning "seeing together or as combined." These three gospels create a fairly unified view of Jesus's life, whereas John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," has a distinctive viewpoint of his own.

1. James the Greater
   Judas
2. Paul
   Thomas

The other three were disciples who followed Jesus during his time on Earth. Paul, then called Saul, was a man who had been persecuting the early Christians until he had a vision on the road to Damascus and was converted.

1. "Amen"
   "faith"
2. "God"
   "people"

"Amen" is the Hebrew word for "so be it." It commonly ends prayers, and so it's fitting that it's the final word in the Bible.

1. the gospels
   Genesis
2. the letters of Paul
   Revelation

The Great Commission is Jesus' sending out of his followers to make disciples of all nations. The most detailed account is in Matthew Chapter 28.

1. Ishmael
   Laban
2. Melchizidek
   Lot

Jacob fell in love with Rachel, Laban's younger daughter. But Laban wanted Leah to be married first, so he disguised her and fooled Jacob into marrying her. After seven years of more labor for his father-in-law, Jacob was allowed to marry Rachel.

1. Joppa
   Gath
2. Sidon
   Tarshish

Where "Tarshish" was isn't exactly known; possibly it was part of modern-day Spain. The point is, Jonah thought, incorrectly, that he could hide from God there.

1. Job
   Esther
2. Numbers
   Obadiah

The book of Esther is what some academics might call "problematic." The book does not mention God, and Esther hides her Jewish identity to become the wife of a pagan king, then uses her beauty and wiles to have an enemy hanged. However, that enemy, Haman, wanted to have Esther's cousin Mordecai hanged, so he did have it coming. It should also be noted the Esther did reveal her ethnic identity in the end.

1. Asher
   Dan
2. Jesse
   Simeon

The twelve tribes of Israel take their names from the sons of Jacob (not counting his most famous son, Joseph). Jesse was the father of David, the shepherd who would become king.

1. Ezekiel
   Hosea
2. Jonah
   Joel

Hosea dutifully took a prostitute as his wife, and then took her back, publicly, after she left him. Sidenote: His wife's name was "Gomer," which is considered a masculine name in modern times.

1. Hannah
   Miriam
2. Sarah
   Zipporah

Hannah was the mother of the great prophet Samuel, early in Israel's history as a nation. She prayed for a child at the Temple at Shiloh, and her prayer was answered. So she sang the verses which are very like Mary's in the gospel of Luke.

1. Abraham
   Jonathan
2. Samuel
   Adam

Samuel was the great prophet and priest of Israel early in Saul's reign. When troubled, Saul went to a witch in order to gain counsel from Samuel's spirit. Samuel apparently does appear at the witch's command and speaks to Saul, one of a number of "paranormal" incidents in the Old Testament.

1. Bethlehem
   Mt. Sinai
2. the Valley of Elah
   the Valley of Megiddo

This is one of the Bible's best-loved stories. David, the youngest of his father's sons and a shepherd, agrees to do what none of the men of Saul's army will: fight the giant Goliath. He finds he can't even walk in the armor that Saul gives him, so takes it off and goes out unprotected, with only his slingshot and stones ... and kills the giant.

1. Jeremiah
   Jonah
2. Micah
   Obadiah

Obadiah is only 21 verses long. It predicts the fall of a heathen nation, Edom.

1. 3 John
   Jude
2. Revelation
   Titus

The third letter of John is only 15 verses long. It alludes to infighting in a church, indicting "Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first." More information about Diotrephes, or the "Gaius" to whom the letter was written, has not survived.