Prague, Czech Rep. [Tomas Kabr; CD EUDNews]. Zdenek Sovis is one of the winners from the first European Championship in Bible Knowledge, which took place in one of the Parliament House rooms at the Czech Republic. Zdenek is a Seventh Day Aventist from the Church in Brno, on Stredni street, where he is a Sabbath school teacher and lay preacher. There were 25 teams competing with four members in each team, from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Holland, Latvia, Switzerland, Slovakia and the Ukraine.
Each member independetly completed 70 Bible questions in 60 minutes. The questions were multiple choice, having to choose one from 5 possible answers. The teams that scored highest moved up to the afternoon finals in the Knight's hall.
In the finals each team was given a new Ecumenical Czech Translation of the Bible and a question in an envelope with a Bible text.
At the signal, the teams opened the envelope, read the text and found the verse. Each team was given a musical instrument and whoever was first, played the instrument, showed the answer and read it. If the text was answered correctly, it was then read to all participants. One point was given for each correct answer, the maximum being 7 points for 7 questions. Zdenek Sovise's winning team had 5 points, the team in second place had 1 point, and third place had 0 points.
"The finals are very intense, because it is not multiple choice and timing is important. That's when the cooperation of the whole team counts. Our prize for winning first place is a trip to Israel in September of this year," commented Zdenek Sovis, European champion in Bible knowledge.
Seven former championship winners competed: 2 in the winning team, two came in second and one in third. The championships is co-produced by the Czech Bible Society, and the purpose is to raise interest in the Book of Books, and bring the Bible to a social subconscious. In the future they are planning a World Championship in Jerusalem. There is also a very popular yearly competition in Bible knowledge.
