DS's Book of Mormon Quiz! (Jesus Christ, Latter-Day Saints, translation, church)

[DeepShadow]

Okay, I've had suggestions from several people, and I have my own preferences, so we're going to start out slow. I'm a purist when it comes to quizzes, so I'm against posting answers in public where others can peek. Likewise, I'm against spoiler spaces because it's too easy to peek and claim you knew all along. I'd like to give out some kind of prize--coins, frubals, etc.--so I'd like some way to ensure honesty.

So I've decided on the following format: I'll toss out some assorted questions here, and people can answer via PM over the next week. If people have non-answer comments, such as relating to difficulty and fairness, those are welcome here in the thread. Here goes!

1. Only four women are named in the Book of Mormon. Who are they?

2. What prophet does the Book of Mormon suggest wrote the proof texts for Romans 11:16-24?

3. What verse in the Book of Mormon has a "Joseph Smith Translation"?

4. What Old Testament verse is believed to have been paraphrased by both Lehi and William Shakespeare?

5. Where is the largest single chiasmus known to date in the Book of Mormon?

6. What book(s) of the Book of Mormon have no recorded chiasm?

7. Many LDS scholars believe Nephi was an experienced metalworker by trade. Name one of the reasons for this claim.

8. What is the shortest verse in the Book of Mormon, in terms of number of words?

[DavyCrocket2003]

"Starter test" huh... cough... Right....

[jonny]

Is this test open book?

[zombieharlot]

Aww...the title made me think Nintendo was coming out with a new education/brain game for the DS based on the Book of Mormon.

[DeepShadow]

Originally Posted by jonny

Is this test open book?

Of course! I tried to make it pretty un-cheatable, so even using the search functions on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or elsewhere shouldn't give you an advantage. It's open book, open net, phone a friend, etc.

But it closes at the end of the week. People who have already answered may update their answers by the end of the week. I take the changed answers and delete the old ones, so be sure you don't fix something that isn't broken!

[DeepShadow]

Two respondents have pointed out an error: there are six women named in the Book of Mormon. To be fair to prior respondents, I'll only require people to name any four of them.

[DeepShadow]

s2a complained on another thread that this quiz is meaningless. He may be right; I'm not trying to advance a doctrinal position here or demonstrate any kind of superiority. I just tried to find questions that can't be easily Googled, and these fit the bill.

This quiz arose out of s2a's question about whether there would be a quiz to see if people had read the Book of Mormon, so that was the original goal. Whether this quiz can actually test for that is debateable. I've had a hard time thinking of questions that would test for knowledge that can't be passed easily by a dilletante with a search engine. This is the closest I can get so far, and feedback from all of you should help me refine the next iteration of the test.

[s2a]

Originally Posted by DeepShadow

s2a complained on another thread that this quiz is meaningless. He may be right; I'm not trying to advance a doctrinal position here or demonstrate any kind of superiority. I just tried to find questions that can't be easily Googled, and these fit the bill.

This quiz arose out of s2a's question about whether there would be a quiz to see if people had read the Book of Mormon, so that was the original goal. Whether this quiz can actually test for that is debateable. I've had a hard time thinking of questions that would test for knowledge that can't be passed easily by a dilletante with a search engine. This is the closest I can get so far, and feedback from all of you should help me refine the next iteration of the test.

[edit by moderator]

2) As to whether or not some might like to consider me (moi?) some poseur and dilettante regarding the faith based beliefs of Christians in general, or Mormons in particular...I would reiterate (for the umpteenth time) that I claim neither expertise nor superior understanding of any religion. I am not a "believer" (and as any "true believer" will tell anyone that is willing to listen...without faith, obtaining TRUE "knowledge" or "understanding" is impossible), and I offer no pretense that I possess any believer's own "understanding" as may be endowed by some spiritual "revelation".

I only claim to be an informed and modestly experienced layperson in treating with both the claims and professed "truths" that self-identified Christians espouse and proclaim as "truth".

Now, I shall repost the relevant commentary, to wit:


OK. Now what?...

...and what LDS insight/understanding does this "trivia quiz" of yours serve to either promote or challenge anyone having "(actually) read the Book of Mormon" in any meaningful way?

[PS. Don't misunderstand...I enjoy playing games involving hodgepodge trivia and other useless knowledge...but I wouldn't employ irrelevant or non sequitur "facts" as any substantiation of my own philosophical perspectives.]

Shall we claim to possess relevant "knowledge" or "understanding" of Moses, if we can account of how many times Moses is quoted to have said "Lord" in the OT? Do we better appreciate the Book of Revelations by being able to cite an accurate word count (by a particular translation)?

I can readily note that the KJV (American translation) of the Bible has: 1,281 pages of written verse, with 66 books; 1,189 chapters; 31,173 verses; and 774,746 words.

Big deal.

Does either "reading the Bible", or "relating/testing" this bit of numerical trivia...reveal any "divine truths", or offer up some valued insight/"illumination" of any kind?

If I may so bold and presumptuous to suggest...that a "good" quiz challenges the test-taker to use what they have already learned (or read...either partially or in whole) in order to rationally/logically/knowledgeably deliberate/cogitate/solve a newly encountered/predicated--problem/dilemma/obstacle--to some suggested/affiliated attendant "spiritual" progress and "divine" understanding of your particular god's argument for it's own "purposed" existence (and by eventual extension, our own).

[DavyCrocket2003]

Originally Posted by DeepShadow

But it closes at the end of the week. People who have already answered may update their answers by the end of the week. I take the changed answers and delete the old ones, so be sure you don't fix something that isn't broken!

So it's the end of the week, right? So when do we find out the answers, I'm dieing to know them.