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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. What does Author P insist about the location for sacrifices?

3. What had most early scholars scholars considered that J and E had come from?

4. What does Friedman suggest is the only good news about the exile?

5. According to Friedman's theory, when does that place Author P in time?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. What was the brilliant mistake made in regard to discovering the identity of writer P?

8. During what historical time frame does Friedman place the writer P?

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

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

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, I Would (or Would Not) Like to Be a Biblical Scholar. This essay is your personal opinion about doing scholarly research into the Bible. It involves linguistics of ancient languages, knowledge of history, archeological discoveries, and long hours of research. You should express your opinion about your personal interest or lack thereof in those areas.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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