It was another Scripture passage which gave initial impetus to the Wesley brothers in 1738, on Whit Sunday, when they began the Methodist movement within the Church of England. John had apparently been at a meeting when this passage came up, and when he went to tell Charles, Charles was already feeling similarly moved. What was the 'trigger text' in that instance?

The Schism ('split') of 1054 marked a divide between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches ~ principally over the significance of just one word in the Nicene Creed, the interpretation of which threatened to upset people's understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity (God as Father, Son and Spirit). An Alexandrian teacher named Arius had been proposing that ... (which of the following?) ...

The monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) first began having doubts about then-existing Catholic doctrine while preparing lectures on a Bible passage where St Paul discusses 'justification by faith': i.e. that no believer can earn their way, by however many 'good works', to salvation and eternal life ~ since these are an outright gift from Jesus, to be accepted in faith. At that time Pope Leo X was seeking to fund some works on St Peter's in Rome by selling 'indulgences', encouraging people to believe that money they handed over could buy 'pardons' not only for themselves, but for others, including already-dead relatives. In which Bible book by St Paul had such issues been raised?

Another, perhaps surprisingly 'un-minor' long-running debate has concerned Paul's principles regarding the wearing of hats during worship (at church, as most of us would now understand it). In his 1st letter to the Christian community at Corinth (situated on the isthmus, at a strategic 'crossroads' of travel routes; hence, potentially, of pivotal influence in the early church network), Paul tried to address the dispute that had already arisen. From what he wrote, what would appear to have been his recommendations?

Around the centrality of the Eucharist (communion) in Christian observance, there is a major divergence of understanding, chiefly between Catholics and Protestants, regarding the exact nature of the 'elements' which the communicant receives. At the Last Supper, speaking presumably in Aramaic (the local sister-language to Hebrew), Jesus invited His followers to consume the bread 'as [His] body' and the wine 'in remembrance, as [His] blood'. While most believers are spiritually happy, in their modern services, to consider the bread and wine as direct and potent symbols, in the context of an invited and explicit comparison, Catholic doctrine holds that during Mass these items miraculously become, to every intent, the flesh and blood of Jesus. Whatever your own stance on this pivotal matter ... by what official name is this doctrine known?

Jesus had offered His followers a prayer that we, ever since and therefore, know as The Lord's Prayer ('Our Father ... '), as a model of how ordinary everyday believers could directly address God; Protestants were keen that ordinary everyday Europeans, some 500 years ago, should be able to do what He commanded in their own native language. What was the official policy on this until the Reformation?

From within and beyond the Protestant movement came the Puritans, who (as their name suggests) urged for even simpler ~ 'purer' ~ forms of life and worship. Which of the following did the Puritans do?

The Methodists aimed to go right back to the Bible: and if you look in many of their churches now, you will notice from the layout at the front end that there is greater importance given to reading and expounding the Bible than, even, to holding Eucharists (communion services ~ though they certainly do these too). Their early followers were still seen as shirking off going to 'proper church' ... until Wesley was able to achieve an officially recognised system of licensing for their Chapels. What does the Bible meanwhile have to say about believers' obedience to 'earthly authorities'?

Even people with only a passing involvement in Christianity, might at least be willing enough to accept the Christmas story as the start of Jesus' 30-odd years amongst us on earth. Alongside the shepherds (themselves full of symbolism, which we might consider elsewhere), 'everybody knows the baby had a visit from three kings' ~ whose pilgrimage was also prophetic. Where in the Bible are the Three Kings, as such, mentioned?

Translating the Bible into other languages, for target cultures very different from those around the 'Mediterranean basin', can sometimes bring very specific challenges ~ not least if the target language is entirely oral and has no form of written script. Which, if any, of the following stylistic difficulties has NOT been known to arise in translation?