Bible quiz facts for kids

Bible Quiz, also known as Bible Bowl, is a fun competition where teams test their knowledge of the Bible. It's like a quick-recall game show, but instead of general trivia, all the questions are about the Bible. Teams use electronic buzzers, just like on TV game shows such as Jeopardy!, to be the first to answer.

Most Bible Quiz seasons run from September to July, similar to the school year. Local competitions happen monthly, leading up to big national championship tournaments. Most players are students in grades six through twelve. Some groups also have separate divisions for younger kids.

Many Bible Quiz groups use popular Bible versions like the New International Version or the King James Version. Some have switched to the English Standard Version or the New Living Translation. Besides answering questions, some competitions include a "quoting bee." Here, a player gets a Bible verse reference and must quote the verse exactly, word for word, within a short time limit.

In these competitions, teams often have up to five players. Two or three teams play in each round. Players buzz in as a question is being read. The first person to buzz in must answer. If they buzz in before the question is finished, they usually have to complete the question first, then give their answer. Many players memorize entire books or sections of the Bible for these events. Top players can often quote long passages from memory.

Bible Quiz Groups

Alliance Bible Quizzing

Christian and Missionary Alliance churches sponsor Alliance Bible Quizzing. It's a game where three teams play 20 questions. You get 20 points for a correct answer. If you answer incorrectly, you lose 10 points after question 17, or for your second personal mistake, or your third team mistake. Players sit on special benches and "jump" up when they know the answer. This sends a signal to show who jumped first. Then, they have 30 seconds to answer.

If a player answers four questions correctly, they "quiz out" and get an extra 10 bonus points if they had no errors. They can't jump anymore but stay on the bench for bonus questions. If a player answers three questions incorrectly, they "error out" and must leave the bench. If a team makes an error, the next question is a "toss-up" for the other two teams. If there's an error on a toss-up, the remaining team gets a bonus question.

Questions can be regular questions, multiple-answer questions, situation questions, or asking for chapter and verse references. You might also need to quote a Bible verse or finish one. The top quizzers from the U.S. and Canada compete in an international tournament.

Assemblies of God Bible Quiz

The Assemblies of God sponsors Teen Bible Quiz. Games have two teams of three players, plus substitutes. There are 20 questions, worth 10, 20, or 30 points based on difficulty. Players use hand-held buzzers. If you buzz in first and answer correctly within 30 seconds, you get the points. An incorrect answer means you lose half the points. If you interrupt the question, you must finish it before answering.

If a player gets five correct answers, they "quiz out" and earn a 20-point bonus. They then sit out the rest of the game. This helps other team members get a chance to play. If a player gets three incorrect answers, they are disqualified (called an "err out"). This stops players from just guessing.

The season starts in October. District playoffs are in March or April, leading to regional playoffs. The top teams from regionals go to the Teen National Finals in July. For the 2020-21 season, players studied Hebrews, I and II Peter, and Jude. Questions at the National Finals can be very hard, sometimes requiring quoting a seven-verse passage perfectly in 30 seconds.

The 2019 Teen National Finals were held in Minneapolis, Minnesota and won by a team from Lee's Summit, Missouri. The 2020 finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Middle School Quiz is for students in grades six through eight. It's played like Teen Bible Quiz but covers less Bible material. There are district and regional playoffs, but no national finals.

Experience League (or XP5 League) started in 2014 for students in grades 6-12. It has less material to study, with four matches a year covering one or two chapters. The first 12 questions are offered to one team at a time, then it becomes team-against-team. There are no playoffs.

Junior Bible Quiz is for children in grades one through six. They study a set of 576 questions and answers about the whole Bible, which stays the same each year. Teams have four players. Six correct answers lead to a "quiz out" and a 10-point bonus. There's also a Bible Seal program where kids can earn awards for answering many questions correctly.

Churches outside the Assemblies of God can also compete. In 2006, a non-Assemblies church won the Junior National Championship for the first time.

Bible Quiz Fellowship

Bible Quiz Fellowship (BQF) is an international group not tied to one specific church. It's based in St. Louis, Missouri. BQF has held a national tournament every April since 2001. BQF used the NIV Bible version until 2012-2013, when it switched to the ESV.

BQF quizzing is a fast-paced team sport. Three teams of 5-7 people answer questions directly from Bible verses. They follow an 8-year plan that covers the entire New Testament.

Each quiz has two six-minute halves. The quizmaster asks about 40-50 questions. About 15% are quote questions, where you must quote a verse exactly. The rest are "reference-type" questions. Each correct answer is worth 20 points. Points are taken from the team score for errors. Five correct answers is a "quiz-out." Three errors is an "error-out." A "perfect quiz-out" (five right, zero wrong) earns a 10-point bonus.

Quizzing usually starts locally in August or September, ending with a national tournament in April. The national event usually has 40-45 teams and about 300 teens.

Churches of Christ Bible Bowl

Churches of Christ host many Bible Bowl competitions across the U.S. Some are national, like Lads to Leaders, and others are regional. The largest regional event is in Cookeville, Tennessee, with over 2,000 participants from more than 100 churches each year.

The Church of God General Conference

The Church of God General Conference sponsors a Bible quiz competition. Its format is similar to the Nazarene and WBQA styles.

Free Methodist Bible Quiz

The Free Methodist Church sponsors Free Methodist Bible Quiz. Players study specific Bible books each year. They jump from seat pads in team and individual competitions. Teams compete in monthly tournaments, leading to National Bible Quiz finals each year at a Free Methodist college.

There are four divisions based on experience: Young Teen Rookie, Young Teen Veteran, Senior Teen Rookie, and Senior Teen Veteran. Winners receive trophies and sometimes scholarships. The Senior Teen Veteran National team winner gets the Alpha-Omega trophy, which has the names of past winners engraved on it.

Missionary Church Bible Quiz

The Missionary Church sponsors Missionary Church Bible Quiz. Its format is similar to the Nazarene Bible Quizzing program. Teams are mostly from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Eastern Canada.

National Bible Bowl

National Bible Bowl started in 1964 and is now an independent group. Most teams come from churches linked to the Christian churches and churches of Christ, but other churches can join too. The game format is very similar to the old TV show College Bowl.

Games are fast-paced, with two teams of 3 to 6 players (4 playing at a time). The quizmaster reads "toss-up" questions worth 10 points. Questions start with a "lead-in" to guide players to the answer. Players use hand-held buzzers. They must start answering within 3 seconds of buzzing in. They don't need to wait for the question to finish; they just give the correct answer. Points are never taken away, and players are never removed for answering too many questions correctly or incorrectly.

Once a toss-up is answered correctly, that team gets a "bonus" question. Bonus questions have 4 to 8 parts and are worth 20 to 40 points. Teams can discuss the bonus questions together.

National Bible Bowl games have a time limit. A regular game is two 10-minute halves with 20 toss-up and 20 bonus questions. This makes the game fast and exciting to watch. A game can have up to 170 different questions asked in 20 minutes!

The study material covers both the Old Testament and New Testament. New questions are created every year. The competition schedule follows the school year, with local tournaments each month. In the summer, many teams go to invitational tournaments at Christian colleges. Some competitions also have "Quoting Bees." The season ends with a national championship tournament.

A program called Beginner Bible Bowl is for children in third through fifth grades. It has different rules for younger players. They use 850-1000 pre-written questions each season.

Nazarene Bible Quizzing

The Church of the Nazarene sponsors Nazarene Bible Quizzing. It's similar to Assemblies of God quizzing. Matches have 20 questions, each worth 20 points. You lose 10 points if you "error out" (three incorrect answers), or for two fouls, or for team errors after the fifth one, or any error after question 15.

Players can earn 10 bonus points if they "quiz out without error" (four correct answers with no mistakes). Bonuses are also given when a third, fourth, or fifth player on a team answers correctly, encouraging everyone to participate. Teams have four players and one substitute. Players "buzz in" by jumping up from a pad on their seat.

If a player answers incorrectly, the opposite team gets a chance to answer for a 10-point bonus. Each team has a captain who can challenge rulings. There's an 8-year cycle of Bible books studied, including Luke, John, Matthew, Acts, and various letters.

Regional competitions happen in the spring. Top teams from districts form "all-star" teams to compete at nationals. There are two national competitions, alternating each year. Nazarene Bible Quizzing has been popular for over 50 years.

Pathfinder Bible Achievement, Seventh-day Adventist

Pathfinder Bible Achievement is for members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Teams study one book or part of the Bible from the New King James Version. There are 90 questions in the event, and the Bible material changes every year.

There are four levels of competition: District, Conference, Union, and Division. If a team gets first place at one level, they can move on to the next. A team gets first place if their score is within 10% of the top score. This competition is for Pathfinders in 5th through 10th grades.

United Pentecostal Church Bible Quizzing

United Pentecostal Church International sponsors Bible quizzing across North America and other countries. Its game format is similar to Assemblies of God Bible quizzing. The quiz year runs from January to June for state competitions, and through July and August for national competitions.

Young people memorize 170-520 verses verbatim, depending on their age group (4-8, 9-12, or 13-18 years old). Monthly state tournaments are held. In a quiz, two teams of three players face each other with buzzers. The first to buzz in answers. If they interrupt, they must finish the question before answering within 30 seconds.

A quiz has 20 questions for intermediate teams (grades 7-9), with 10, 20, or 30 points. Juniors have 15 questions. The national tournament is called the North American Bible Quizzing Tournament (NABQT) and changes location each year.

Wesleyan Bible Bowl

The Wesleyan Church sponsors Wesleyan Bible Bowl. It is also similar to College Bowl, but games start with a written quiz.

World Bible Quiz Association

The World Bible Quiz Association (WBQA) is an independent group that supports quizzing across different churches. Its game format is most similar to Nazarene, Free Methodist, and Alliance quizzing. Many teams come from these groups. WBQA has an eight-year cycle of Bible material studied each season.

WBQA quizzing involves three teams in a quiz, with four players per team. A quiz has 20 questions, each worth 20 points. If a team answers incorrectly, they sit out the next question, which is for the other two teams. If one of those teams also answers incorrectly, the remaining team gets a "free question" worth 10 points.

A player is removed from the quiz if they answer four questions correctly or three questions incorrectly. If a player answers four questions correctly without any errors, they get an extra 10 points and a "quiz-out without error." If three different players on the same team answer correctly, that team gets a 10-point bonus. A fourth correct answer from another team member earns another bonus.

In WBQA quizzing, questions must only use words from the Bible verse they are based on, plus a question word (who, what, where, etc.) and sometimes a form of "to be" (is, was). This is similar to Bible Quiz Fellowship questions.

WBQA works with many local leagues in the Great Lakes region, like Michigan Bible Quizzing and Ohio Bible Quizzing Association. WBQA used to hold "World finals" tournaments until 2010. Now, the "World finals" tournament is held annually in the Chicago area in early April, and any team can register. Other big tournaments include the Great Lakes Regional Tournament in November and the All-Timers tournament in January, open to all ages.

National Bible Bee

The National Bible Bee is an independent group that encourages people to learn the Bible. Players study Bible questions and memorize specific passages from approved English Bible versions.

Piedmont Quizzing Association

The Piedmont Quizzing Association is based in Greenville, South Carolina. It includes about 20 church teams of two to seven players from the Southeast. Teens in grades 6 through 12 participate. The main season is from August to January, with a tournament in February.

Each month, teams play two 20-question quizzes against another team. All questions come from the King James Bible and are worth 20 points. Players jump from a pad on their chair to buzz in. If they answer correctly, their team gets 20 points. If they answer incorrectly, the other team gets a chance to answer. After a team's 5th error or Question 15, 10 points are also taken off for incorrect answers.

A player can "quiz out forwards" by answering five questions correctly, or "quiz out backwards" by answering four questions incorrectly. In both cases, the player leaves the game, and a substitute can take their place. Players earn 10 points for their team if they "quiz out (forwards) without error." The team with the most points wins the quiz.

In the media

Bible Quiz is a documentary film by Nicole Teeny. It tells the story of an Assemblies of God teen Bible Quizzer trying to win the 2008 National Bible Quiz Championship. The film won an award at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival.

Bible Bowl was a Christian game show in the United States. It featured two teams, the Bible Boys and the Gospel Girls. The show appeared on religious TV channels in the 1970s and 1980s.