Bible: The New Testament

Explanation: The canon keeps 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The choice was probably fixed by Irenaeus of Lyon around 180 CE. Other so-called apocryphal gospels (Thomas, Mary, Judas, Peter) were excluded from the canon, some for theological reasons, others simply because they circulated little.

Explanation: Peter, a former fisherman from Galilee named Simon, receives from Jesus the name Cephas ("rock" in Aramaic). Catholic tradition makes him the first bishop of Rome. His presumed tomb, under St. Peter's Basilica, was archaeologically supported by excavations published in 1968.

Explanation: Pentecost falls 50 days after Easter (from Greek pentēkostē, "fiftieth"). The apostles, until then in hiding, begin to speak all the languages of the known world. For Christians, it is the symbolic birth certificate of the universal Church.

Explanation: Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus, signs 13 or 14 epistles depending on the count. Historians actually attribute only 7 to him for certain (Romans, two Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, first Thessalonians, Philemon), the others being disputed.

Explanation: John's prologue is one of the theologically densest texts of the New Testament. It identifies Jesus with the divine Logos (Word) and draws its language from Greek Stoic philosophy as much as from the Jewish tradition of the Memra.

Explanation: Matthew lists 8 ("Blessed are the poor in spirit"...). Luke offers a shorter version with 4 beatitudes and 4 mirroring "woes". Both evangelists probably draw from a lost common source that scholars call Q (from German Quelle, "source").

Explanation: Judas Iscariot hands Jesus over with a kiss in the garden of Gethsemane. The account of his death varies: Matthew says he hangs himself, the Acts of the Apostles say he dies falling into a field. The 30 pieces motif is a nod to a text from Ezekiel.

Explanation: The miracle of the 5000 (five loaves and two fish) is one of the few told by all 4 Gospels. Mark then follows with a similar second miracle for 4000 people. Scholars see it as a narrative doubling around a single oral tradition rather than two distinct events.

Explanation: The 4 evangelists are symbolized by the 4 "living creatures" of Revelation: Matthew by the winged man, Mark by the lion (referring to the roaring lion of the desert that opens his gospel), Luke by the bull, John by the eagle. An iconography established from the 4th century.

Explanation: The Revelation of John (from Greek apokalupsis, "unveiling", not "catastrophe") is traditionally attributed to John the Evangelist. Modern scholars lean rather toward a distinct author, probably a Christian prophet from Asia Minor exiled on the island of Patmos toward the end of the 1st century.