Test Your Bible Power

Mapping the Book of Acts

Jesus told his followers, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The Book of Acts tells how these words were fulfilled. Test your knowledge of these important cities where the disciples served as witnesses. Questions are in order of increasing difficulty.

1. Paul was on his way to this city to arrest the followers of Christ when Jesus spoke to him and struck him blind.

2. Paul and Silas, imprisoned in this city, were praying and singing hymns when an earthquake shook the jail to its foundations.

3. Paul, a prisoner, was on his way to this city to stand trial when he was shipwrecked.

4. In this idol-filled city, Paul tried to persuade a group of philosophers in the Areopagus on Mars Hill.

5. The apostles chose Stephen as one of the church's first deacons in this city; he also became the church's first martyr here.

6. The Ethiopian eunuch was traveling on the road from Jerusalem to this city when Philip shared the gospel with him, then baptized him.

7. The gospel was preached to Gentiles in this important city after God told a centurion named Cornelius to send for Peter.

8. Followers of Jesus were first called "Christians" in this city.

Answers to Test Your Bible Power

1. Damascus (Acts 9:1-8). Damascus, 150 miles from Jerusalem, was an important trade hub. Paul had orders from the high priest to arrest Jewish Christians who had fled there. Jesus himself appeared to Paul and stopped his plans.

2. Philippi (Acts 16:9-40). Paul went to Philippi, a province of Macedonia, after having a vision in which a Macedonian man begged him to come. Philippi was founded by Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Home to retired Roman soldiers, the city had no synagogue; Paul went to the Gangites River on the Sabbath to pray, where he met Lydia.

3. Rome (Acts 27, 28). Rome, the empire's capital, was the world's greatest city during New Testament times. Paul, a Roman citizen by birth, spent two years there under house arrest before being tried. According to tradition, Paul was executed in Rome in a. d. 68.

4. Athens (Acts 17:16-34). The capital of modern Greece, Athens was the home of the temple of the goddess Athena, as well as the center for Epicurean and Stoic philosophy. The Court of the Areopagus judged matters of religion and morals. One of its members, Dionysius, later became a believer.

5. Jerusalem (Acts 6:3-5; 7:54-60). David made Jerusalem his capital c. 1000 b. c. Jesus and his disciples, like all Jewish men, celebrated the festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles at the Temple. The city was Christianity's headquarters until the persecution following Stephen's death caused believers to flee.

6. Gaza (Acts 8:26). Philip explained Isaiah's prophesies of Christ to this important Ethiopian official somewhere along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, a journey of about 50 miles.

7. Caesarea (Acts 10). Caesarea was the Roman army's headquarters in Judea. Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile, was praying at the Jewish hour of prayer when an angel spoke to him. His conversion fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 56:6-7.

8. Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). Antioch was the empire's third largest city after Rome and Alexandria. In Antioch, Jewish Christians founded the first largely Gentile church. Christian means "belonging to Christ."

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