Which three letters are conventionally called the Pastoral Epistles?

Romans, Galatians and Ephesians

1 and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon

1 and 2 Corinthians and Philippians

Which inscription provides the fixed point from which Paul's chronology is calculated?

The Gallio inscription from Delphi

The Erastus pavement at Corinth

The Theodotus synagogue inscription

Bible Trivia: The Letters of Paul

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Bible Trivia: The Letters of Paul — printable

Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Score: ______

1. Which letter of Paul is the longest? Easy
1. A Romans
2. B 1 Corinthians
3. C Ephesians
4. D Galatians
2. To which city did Paul write the letter containing the passage about love in chapter 13? Easy
1. A Ephesus
2. B Corinth
3. C Philippi
4. D Thessalonica
3. Which letter is addressed to a single individual about a slave named Onesimus? Easy
1. A Titus
2. B 1 Timothy
3. C 2 Timothy
4. D Philemon
4. Which three letters are conventionally called the Pastoral Epistles? Easy
1. A Romans, Galatians and Ephesians
2. B 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus
3. C 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon
4. D 1 and 2 Corinthians and Philippians
5. Which letter has no thanksgiving section, going straight from greeting to rebuke? Medium
1. A Philippians
2. B Colossians
3. C Romans
4. D Galatians
6. Which letter contains the hymn about Christ emptying himself and taking the form of a servant? Medium
1. A Ephesians
2. B 1 Thessalonians
3. C 2 Corinthians
4. D Philippians
7. Which is generally held to be the earliest surviving Christian document? Medium
1. A Mark
2. B Galatians
3. C 1 Thessalonians
4. D James
8. The words 'in Ephesus' are missing from the earliest manuscripts of which letter? Medium
1. A Colossians
2. B Ephesians
3. C Philippians
4. D Titus
9. Which letter shows a sharp shift in tone at chapter 10, leading many scholars to read it as a composite of two or more letters? Hard
1. A 2 Corinthians
2. B Romans
3. C 1 Corinthians
4. D Colossians
10. Which letter warns its readers not to be deceived by a letter purporting to come from Paul? Hard
1. A 1 Timothy
2. B Philemon
3. C 2 Thessalonians
4. D Galatians
11. Which inscription provides the fixed point from which Paul's chronology is calculated? Hard
1. A The Pilate stone from Caesarea
2. B The Gallio inscription from Delphi
3. C The Erastus pavement at Corinth
4. D The Theodotus synagogue inscription
12. Roughly a third of Ephesians has a counterpart in which other letter? Hard
1. A Romans
2. B Colossians
3. C 1 Corinthians
4. D Philippians

Answer key — teacher’s sheet

Print pages separately: hand out the worksheet, keep this one.

1. A — Romans

Romans, at sixteen chapters. It is also the most systematic, written to a congregation Paul had not founded and did not yet know, which may be why he lays out his argument so fully.
2. B — Corinth

1 Corinthians 13. In context the passage is not about romance: it sits inside an argument about spiritual gifts and how a divided congregation should behave, which is why it is followed immediately by more instruction about prophecy and tongues.
3. D — Philemon

Philemon, twenty-five verses and the only surviving private letter in the Pauline collection. It asks for Onesimus to be received as a brother without stating a principle about slavery, which is why it has been cited on both sides of that argument for centuries.
4. B — 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus

1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. They share vocabulary, concerns and a settled church structure, and are almost always assessed as a group — including in the authorship dispute, where the majority of critical scholarship treats all three as post-Pauline.
5. D — Galatians

Galatians. In a Pauline letter the missing thanksgiving is conspicuous, and it signals the tone of everything that follows — including his account of opposing Peter to his face at Antioch.
6. D — Philippians

Philippians 2. Its vocabulary and rhythm differ from the surrounding prose, and the common view is that Paul is quoting something already circulating. If so, the hymn is older than the letter carrying it, which would make it the earliest datable Christian composition we have.
7. C — 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians, written from Corinth around 50–51 CE. The date is fixed by the Delphi inscription naming Gallio as proconsul of Achaia, which dates Paul's stay in Corinth from outside the New Testament entirely.
8. B — Ephesians

Ephesians. The address is absent from P46 and from the original hands of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, and Marcion knew the letter as addressed to Laodicea. The most economical explanation is a circular letter with the destination left blank.
9. A — 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians. Chapters 1–9 speak of reconciliation achieved; chapter 10 opens open conflict. Chapters 8 and 9 also read as two separate appeals for the same collection.
10. C — 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 2:2 — inside a letter whose own authenticity is disputed. That irony is not a joke: the warning, and the later appeal to a signature as a mark of genuineness, are cited on both sides of the authorship argument.
11. B — The Gallio inscription from Delphi

The Delphi inscription, a letter of Claudius naming Gallio as proconsul of Achaia, datable to around 52 CE. It does not mention Paul; it dates a governor, and Acts places Paul before that governor. Everything else in the chronology is calculated outward from there.
12. B — Colossians

Colossians — sometimes in the same order, often with the same wording used for a different purpose. Which way the dependence runs, and whether either author is Paul, are connected questions and neither is settled.

Every question, with the answer and the reason

The interactive module above runs in a sandbox of its own, which means its text is not part of this page. So here is the whole thing in full: all 12 questions, the options as they appear, the answer, and why that answer and not the one beside it. Nothing is held back to make you play first.

Easy

These turn on something stated outright in the text. If you have read the book, you have met the answer.

Which letter of Paul is the longest?
- Romans — correct
- 1 Corinthians
- Ephesians
- Galatians
Answer: Romans
Romans, at sixteen chapters. It is also the most systematic, written to a congregation Paul had not founded and did not yet know, which may be why he lays out his argument so fully.
To which city did Paul write the letter containing the passage about love in chapter 13?
- Ephesus
- Corinth — correct
- Philippi
- Thessalonica
Answer: Corinth
1 Corinthians 13. In context the passage is not about romance: it sits inside an argument about spiritual gifts and how a divided congregation should behave, which is why it is followed immediately by more instruction about prophecy and tongues.
Which letter is addressed to a single individual about a slave named Onesimus?
- Titus
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Philemon — correct
Answer: Philemon
Philemon, twenty-five verses and the only surviving private letter in the Pauline collection. It asks for Onesimus to be received as a brother without stating a principle about slavery, which is why it has been cited on both sides of that argument for centuries.
Which three letters are conventionally called the Pastoral Epistles?
- Romans, Galatians and Ephesians
- 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus — correct
- 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon
- 1 and 2 Corinthians and Philippians
Answer: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus
1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. They share vocabulary, concerns and a settled church structure, and are almost always assessed as a group — including in the authorship dispute, where the majority of critical scholarship treats all three as post-Pauline.

Medium

These need a detail held in place — a name, a sequence, a number that only means something next to another number.

Which letter has no thanksgiving section, going straight from greeting to rebuke?
- Philippians
- Colossians
- Romans
- Galatians — correct
Answer: Galatians
Galatians. In a Pauline letter the missing thanksgiving is conspicuous, and it signals the tone of everything that follows — including his account of opposing Peter to his face at Antioch.
Which letter contains the hymn about Christ emptying himself and taking the form of a servant?
- Ephesians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Corinthians
- Philippians — correct
Answer: Philippians
Philippians 2. Its vocabulary and rhythm differ from the surrounding prose, and the common view is that Paul is quoting something already circulating. If so, the hymn is older than the letter carrying it, which would make it the earliest datable Christian composition we have.
Which is generally held to be the earliest surviving Christian document?
- Mark
- Galatians
- 1 Thessalonians — correct
- James
Answer: 1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians, written from Corinth around 50–51 CE. The date is fixed by the Delphi inscription naming Gallio as proconsul of Achaia, which dates Paul's stay in Corinth from outside the New Testament entirely.
The words 'in Ephesus' are missing from the earliest manuscripts of which letter?
- Colossians
- Ephesians — correct
- Philippians
- Titus
Answer: Ephesians
Ephesians. The address is absent from P46 and from the original hands of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, and Marcion knew the letter as addressed to Laodicea. The most economical explanation is a circular letter with the destination left blank.

Hard

These turn on what the evidence actually supports, which is not always what the story is remembered as saying.

Which letter shows a sharp shift in tone at chapter 10, leading many scholars to read it as a composite of two or more letters?
- 2 Corinthians — correct
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- Colossians
Answer: 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians. Chapters 1–9 speak of reconciliation achieved; chapter 10 opens open conflict. Chapters 8 and 9 also read as two separate appeals for the same collection.
Which letter warns its readers not to be deceived by a letter purporting to come from Paul?
- 1 Timothy
- Philemon
- 2 Thessalonians — correct
- Galatians
Answer: 2 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians 2:2 — inside a letter whose own authenticity is disputed. That irony is not a joke: the warning, and the later appeal to a signature as a mark of genuineness, are cited on both sides of the authorship argument.
Which inscription provides the fixed point from which Paul's chronology is calculated?
- The Pilate stone from Caesarea
- The Gallio inscription from Delphi — correct
- The Erastus pavement at Corinth
- The Theodotus synagogue inscription
Answer: The Gallio inscription from Delphi
The Delphi inscription, a letter of Claudius naming Gallio as proconsul of Achaia, datable to around 52 CE. It does not mention Paul; it dates a governor, and Acts places Paul before that governor. Everything else in the chronology is calculated outward from there.
Roughly a third of Ephesians has a counterpart in which other letter?
- Romans
- Colossians — correct
- 1 Corinthians
- Philippians
Answer: Colossians
Colossians — sometimes in the same order, often with the same wording used for a different purpose. Which way the dependence runs, and whether either author is Paul, are connected questions and neither is settled.

What this quiz draws on

Books in play: 1 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Corinthians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, Colossians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philemon, Philippians, Romans, Titus. Each of those leads to what the book contains, who has been proposed as its author, and how it is dated.

Themes: Authorship, The early church.

Answers here are drawn from the biblical text and, where an external record bears on the question, from the artefact or publication that carries it. How this site reads a text and how this site is written set out the rules, so you can check the reasoning rather than take the answer on trust.