Friday, November 18, 2022

When Jeopardy Commits a Sin

 


What happens when the Jeopardy nerd and the Bible nerd are the same person? You have an old white guy muttering at the TV because the final clue in a key Tournament of Champions game has the incorrect answer...or question. 

Final Jeopardy "answered": Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations. I pondered and figured Romans and then wondered if they would say Hebrews. Hebrews is not attributed to the apostle Paul by the foremost scholars even though some older versions of the bible do. Only about half of the New Testament letters -- seven -- are considered Pauline and Hebrews isn't one of them. 

Sam, the contestant who looks a lot like comedian Steve Martin, was leading heading into Final Jeopardy and he wrote Romans, but was ruled incorrect. This is a grievous error which demands a retraction, if not an international tribunal. I may be going a little over the top here but I'm not alone. It turns out many Jeopardy fans are Bible nerds as well, and some are theologians. They expressed their dismay on Twitter and just about everywhere else.

Hey, the Jeopardy writers are good, but they don't get all their clues right, as we have seen over the years. They often catch their mistakes or alternate answers within the game. I doubt that any of them went to seminary, but you never know. These games tend to be recorded well in advance, so its unlikely that the tempest in a teapot responses will make a difference. That would be a sin. 

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