James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.

• James 1:1

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

• 1 Peter 1:1-2

The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

• 2 John 1:1-3

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

• Jude 1:1-2

The Scriptures above are from Epistles not written by the Apostle Paul, so that the answers to the questions are not given away, but this quiz begs for a few hints.

This may be one of my most difficult quizzes.  Some may call it trivial, but Paul had his purpose, led by the Holy Spirit.  I do not think this trivial at all.  I think we can learn from it.

Why might it be difficult?  The entire quiz is about the way Paul starts and finishes each of his letters.  You know, that stuff you gloss over so that you can get to the meat of what Paul is wanting to say.

But why did they not chop those things out nearly two thousand years ago?  Is that not just filler?  After all, we write “Dear Sir” and “Sincerely yours” out of courtesy and habit.  But Paul varied his opening rarely, and his closing often, probably based on what he had to say in between.

When I use “qualifier” in the questions, I mean the word Paul identifies himself with.  It is used to provide the audience, in most cases, with the authority in which Paul speaks.  So, why change that qualifier on occasion?  You might need a deep dive into the letter itself to figure that out.  And maybe the reason God put this idea on my heart is to encourage you to read the letters and determine why Paul chose that qualifier for that audience, or what blessings he chooses to use at the end of each letter.

At the end of each letter, Paul uses words of encouragement and blessings.  I use the word “blessings” in the questions.  In alphabetical order, these words are: faith, grace, love, mercy, and peace.

The questions all come from Paul’s letters in the New Testament, from Romans through Philemon.  The Bible Reference section is largely not applicable since the question regards the recipient, but a few questions lend themselves to examples.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Paul identifies himself with a qualifier (servant, apostle, prisoner) in his opening statement in every letter except the letter(s) to one city.  Which city?
2	Paul identifies himself as a prisoner in more than one letter, but which single letter is that part of his opening verse?
3	Paul identifies himself with one qualifier (when he does), but in what letter does he identify himself as both servant and apostle?
4	What qualifier does Paul use most often?
5	Paul greets the people with grace and peace in every letter, but to one recipient he adds an extra word.  Who is that recipient, and a bonus for what extra word?
6	Paul gives final blessings and greetings of peace, grace, faith, love, and mercy within the last few verses of each letter.  What is the only one of these blessings given in every letter?
7	Paul starts every letter with grace and peace, but when both of these blessings are used at the end, what is peculiar about the blessing?
8	What is one of the three letters that ends with love as part of the blessings?  Bonus for all three.
9	What is the only letter that mentions mercy in the blessings?
10	Paul mentions greeting one another, or in one case all God’s people, with a holy kiss four times.  In what cities?

I have had many conversations regarding the “holy kiss.”

The kiss is mentioned in a platonic greeting a few times in Scripture.  David and Jonathan part company with a kiss when David runs from Saul.  This is not an indication of improper sexual attraction; it is a symbol of friendship.

Kissing is still used in many cultures around the world.  In Beth Moore’s devotional Voices of the Faithful, one of the devotions is about a missionary who discusses a variety of cultures. One kiss to the right and then a kiss to the left and then a third kiss back to the right.  You have to be careful because some cultures reverse that, have restrictions on age groups, or restrictions once you are married, etc.  She got confused and went the wrong direction when she met an old friend in an airport, and they planted a kiss on the lips.  They each recoiled in horror.  Then realizing that it was a mistake due to confusion, they both doubled over laughing.

But, this is a hint for the question 10 answer.  All the four uses by Paul of a holy kiss are cities on one particular continent.  Since the devotion from the Beth Moore book speaks of different greetings and a variety of restrictions depending upon the culture, could the holy kiss be dependent on the continent of origin for that culture?

Since this blessing by Paul is restricted, we can assume that Paul did not greet everyone in every church with a holy kiss.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Paul identifies himself with a qualifier (servant, apostle, prisoner) in his opening statement in every letter except the letter(s) to one city.  Which city?	N/A
2	Paul identifies himself as a prisoner in more than one letter, but which single letter is that part of his opening verse?	N/A
3	Paul identifies himself with one qualifier (when he does), but in what letter does he identify himself as both servant and apostle?	N/A
4	What qualifier does Paul use most often?	1 Corinthians 1:1 as an example
5	Paul greets the people with grace and peace in every letter, but to one recipient he adds an extra word.  Who is that recipient, and a bonus for what extra word?	N/A
6	Paul gives final blessings and greetings of peace, grace, faith, love, and mercy within the last few verses of each letter.  What is the only one of these blessings given in every letter?	Colossians 4:18; Titus 3:15 as examples
7	Paul starts every letter with grace and peace, but when both of these blessings are used at the end, what is peculiar about the blessing?	Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 as examples
8	What is one of the three letters that ends with love as part of the blessings?  Bonus for all three.	N/A
9	What is the only letter that mentions mercy in the blessings?	N/A
10	Paul mentions greeting one another, or in one case all God’s people, with a holy kiss four times.  In what cities?	N/A

The answer to question six is important.  Why would Paul always consider that one blessing?  All the blessings are good blessings, but to my count six of the letters end with only this blessing.  Since there are thirteen Pauline letters, that is significant that barely half contain an extra blessing.  While the one always used is important to all, the other blessing(s) is even more important.  Again, as in the introduction, that added blessing is usually there due to what Paul had to say to that audience.

And if you are comparing audiences, note that in Colossians, Paul says the letter will also be read to the church at Laodicea.  And obvious, it was read to many churches as these thirteen letters are part of the canon of Scripture.

But what should we learn from this?

I was taught that the first sentence of a paragraph introduces that paragraph, and the last sentence summarizes the paragraph.  Please, do not check my work.  I do not do that.  But when we write an email to someone, we are usually a friend enough to not need a qualifier.  “Listen to me.  I know the topic to which I speak!”  We usually do not need that.  But greeting with grace and peace is a great starting point.

And then at the end, bringing back a theme from what was written might be a great summary.  Did you talk about faith, grace, love, mercy, peace, hope?  Hmmm. If none of those, should you possibly need a rewrite?  But ending with something other than “Blessings” – my favorite, or “Yours truly”, we could summarize our topic, or one of the topics, by mentioning grace, love, hope, etc.

You know, we can write a letter as if we really care…

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Paul identifies himself with a qualifier (servant, apostle, prisoner) in his opening statement in every letter except the letter(s) to one city.  Which city?	N/A	Thessalonica, instead writing “Paul, Silas, and Timothy”
2	Paul identifies himself as a prisoner in more than one letter, but which single letter is that part of his opening verse?	N/A	Philemon, identifying himself in a lowly state so that Philemon will show mercy to Onesimus.
3	Paul identifies himself with one qualifier (when he does), but in what letter does he identify himself as both servant and apostle?	N/A	Titus
4	What qualifier does Paul use most often?	1 Corinthians 1:1 as an example	Apostle, with eight uses while servant is used three times
5	Paul greets the people with grace and peace in every letter, but to one recipient he adds an extra word.  Who is that recipient, and a bonus for what extra word?	N/A	Timothy, greeting him with Grace, mercy, and peace in each of his letters to Timothy.
6	Paul gives final blessings and greetings of peace, grace, faith, love, and mercy within the last few verses of each letter.  What is the only one of these blessings given in every letter?	Colossians 4:18; Titus 3:15 as examples	Grace
7	Paul starts every letter with grace and peace, but when both of these blessings are used at the end, what is peculiar about the blessing?	Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 as examples	The order is reversed: peace mentioned prior to grace.  In every case in seven of the letters.
8	What is one of the three letters that ends with love as part of the blessings?  Bonus for all three.	N/A	1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Ephesians
9	What is the only letter that mentions mercy in the blessings?	N/A	Galatians 6:16
10	Paul mentions greeting one another, or in one case all God’s people, with a holy kiss four times.  In what cities?	N/A	Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26 Note: all European cities

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is the URC (United Reformed Churches) Psalmody (churches from the USA, Canada, and the Netherlands providing organ music and singing of hymns) singing It is Good to Sing Thy Praises.

Here is the ODE singing We Have Come into His House.  ODE represents their first names: Omarie Battick, Dean Hutton, Duane Wright, Eban Hutton.

Here are the St. Michaels Singers singing May the Grace of Christ, Our Savior.  This benediction style hymn has been sung to numerous tunes.  After listening to three or four, I never found the tune with which I was familiar.

Here is Westminster Choir College of Rider University singing The Lord Bless You and Keep You.

I looked in vain for the benediction response my wife and I sang that was a long time favorite in a church decades ago.  It was an Irish Blessing:  May the road rise to meet you.  May the wind be always at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face.  And the rain fall soft upon your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.  Whether I remember the words properly after so many decades or not, that is a good way to end.

But one more thought, I had been getting into a rut, choosing a word and then choosing verses with that word as the theme. But lately, I have been doing a lot of praying, desperation prayers, sometimes for days. “Oh, Lord, what should I do for the next quiz? The tank is running dry.” If you have writer’s block, that is a great prayer, but do not expect an immediate answer. And God tends to deliver at the last minute, but always on time. But a few of the recent quizzes have warped the mold a bit, maybe not quite broken. At least, I enjoyed writing them.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.