Church History and Acts Quiz

Selected Passages from Acts of the Apostles

The book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus and continues the narrative of Jesus' teachings and actions after his ascension to heaven.
Jesus appears to his disciples over a period of forty days and speaks to them about the kingdom of God.
Jesus commands his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit promised by the Father.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples, enabling them to speak in different languages, and a crowd of Jews from different nations hears them proclaiming the wonders of God.
Peter addresses the crowd and preaches about Jesus as the Messiah, who was crucified but resurrected by God, and urges them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.
About 3,000 people are baptized and added to the number of believers that day.
Stephen, a follower of Jesus, is stoned to death by the members of the Sanhedrin, including Saul (later known as Paul), who approves of his killing.
A great persecution breaks out against the church in Jerusalem, and Saul seeks to destroy it, but he is converted to Christianity by a vision of Jesus on his way to Damascus and is baptized by Ananias.
Saul begins to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, causing amazement among the Jews in Damascus.
A dispute arises among the believers over whether Gentiles need to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses to be saved, but the apostles and elders, after much discussion, decide that Gentiles are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and they send a letter to the Gentile believers instructing them to abstain from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, and the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
The letter is delivered to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia by Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, who are leaders among the believers.
The book of Acts continues to narrate the spread of Christianity through the missionary journeys of Paul and his associates, and the establishment of churches in various places, despite opposition and persecution from both Jews and Gentiles.Key Moments in the History of the Church
Pentecost marks the birth of the Church, when the Holy Spirit was sent to sanctify it forever.
The Acts of the Apostles offer the first account of the Spirit's activity in the Church, which empowered the first Christians to fulfill their mission.
St. Paul did the most to solve the problem of acculturation and adaptation at the dawn of Christianity by stressing the universal scope of salvation and adapting the Gospel to new circumstances without losing its essential truth.
The Church convened a Council in Jerusalem in 49 AD, where participants adopted Paul's missionary principle.
The Church faced threats of disintegration internally and externally in the three centuries after the death of the last apostle.
The Church created a system of authority based on bishop, canon, and creed to hold the far-flung Church together and maintain its unity.
The Roman state posed an even greater threat to the Church, with nine major pogroms against Christians ensuing in the following centuries.
Constantine had a vision of Christ during a battle with Maxentius in 312 and became an advocate of Christianity upon winning the battle.
In 313, Constantine met with the emperor of the eastern half of the empire at Milan, and they agreed on a policy of complete religious tolerance.
Under Constantine, Christianity became the favored religion, and the Church came out of the catacombs and entered the palaces of power.
The Church faced controversy when insisting that Gentile converts be compelled to accept circumcision and Jewish Law, threatening to destroy the unity of the Church.
St. Paul's experience of the risen Christ led him to see that the Gospel transcended cultural limits, backing the Church's present mission effort to bring all peoples the Good News of Christ.