This Christian music trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and spans centuries and genres: the stories behind Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art and Silent Night; Handel's Messiah; gospel queen Mahalia Jackson and Kirk Franklin; the Jesus music of Larry Norman and Keith Green; Petra and Stryper; Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patty and Steven Curtis Chapman; DC Talk and TobyMac; Third Day, Casting Crowns, MercyMe and Switchfoot; Skillet and Newsboys; the worship wave of Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Elevation Worship and Lauren Daigle — plus the Dove Awards, K-LOVE and the biggest crossover hits. Early questions suit anyone who has been to a church youth group or a Christmas service; later ones reward CCM devotees who know who has the most Dove Awards and which song broke the record for weeks at No. 1. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing. No lyrics are quoted.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the words to 'Amazing Grace', published in 1779?
John Newton
He was a former slave-ship sailor turned clergyman at Olney; Cowper co-wrote the Olney Hymns collection with him.
Q 02'How Great Thou Art' began as a poem in which language?
Swedish
Carl Boberg wrote 'O Store Gud' in 1885; George Beverly Shea made it famous at Billy Graham crusades.
Q 03Which instrument accompanied the first performance of 'Silent Night' on Christmas Eve 1818?
Guitar
Franz Xaver Gruber set Joseph Mohr's words in Oberndorf, possibly because flooding had damaged the church organ.
Q 04In which city was Handel's Messiah first performed in 1742?
Dublin
Charles Jennens compiled the text from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter.
Q 05Which gospel singer's 1947 recording 'Move On Up a Little Higher' sold two million copies?
Mahalia Jackson
She later sang at the 1963 March on Washington and holds a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Q 06Which Larry Norman album of 1969 is often called the first full-blown Christian LP of its kind?
Upon This Rock
Capitol released it; Norman is regarded as the father of Christian rock.
Q 07What was early contemporary Christian pop of the 1960s and 70s initially called?
Jesus music
It grew out of the 1960s Jesus movement revival.
Q 08The band Petra, formed in 1972, took its name from the Greek word for what?
Rock
For years it was regarded as the world's most popular Christian rock band.
Q 09Why is Stryper spelled with a 'y'?
To avoid resembling the word 'stripper'
The name came from rehearsing in a garage with striped walls; the yellow-and-black band went platinum with To Hell with the Devil.
Q 10Which Christian singer, who died in a 1982 plane crash, gave his records away for voluntary donations?
Keith Green
He and his wife Melody founded Last Days Ministries.
Q 11Which singer is known as 'The Queen of Christian Pop'?
Amy Grant
She had the first Christian album to go platinum and later married Vince Gill.
Q 12Which Amy Grant album topped the Christian chart for 32 weeks and produced the No. 1 pop hit 'Baby Baby'?
Heart in Motion
It sold five million US copies and spun off three more Hot 100 top-tens.
Q 13Which Michael W. Smith single reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991?
Place in This World
He got his start as a keyboardist for the CCM group Higher Ground and has won 45 Dove Awards.
Q 21What is the best-selling Christian song of all time and the most-played in Christian radio history?
I Can Only Imagine
Bart Millard wrote it about his father's death; a 2018 film told the story.
Q 22In which Texas town did MercyMe settle and serve at a Baptist church before their breakthrough?
Greenville
Their debut Almost There went triple platinum on the strength of one crossover single.
Q 23Which Christian rock band was founded in Marietta, Georgia, in 1991 by Mac Powell and Mark Lee?
Third Day
They were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
Q 14Whose national-anthem performance at the 1986 Statue of Liberty rededication brought her national fame?
Sandi Patty
She had already been singing backup for the Bill Gaither Trio.
Q 15Which artist holds the record for the most Dove Awards, with 59?
Steven Curtis Chapman
His seven Artist of the Year Doves are also a record; he grew up in Paducah, Kentucky.
Q 16Where did DC Talk form in 1987?
Liberty University in Virginia
Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait and Kevin Max met there in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Q 17What was DC Talk's 1995 album, whose title track became a Christian rock anthem?
Jesus Freak
The album's title track was its lead radio single, released August 1, 1995.
Q 18What is the name of TobyMac's road band?
Diverse City
He was the third Christian artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with Eye on It.
Q 19How many Grammy Awards has gospel star Kirk Franklin won?
Twenty
Variety calls the Fort Worth native the 'Reigning King of Urban Gospel'.
Q 20What was the name of Kirk Franklin's first choir, which debuted on record in 1993?
The Family
It featured 15 to 17 neighbourhood friends and associates.
Q 24Casting Crowns' frontman Mark Hall formed the band in 1999 while working as what?
A youth pastor
Several members still minister at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia.
Q 25Where does the band name Switchfoot come from?
A surfing term
The San Diego band broke through with 'Meant to Live' and 'Dare You to Move' from The Beautiful Letdown.
Q 26In which city was Skillet formed in 1996?
Memphis
Husband and wife John and Korey Cooper lead the band; 'Monster' is certified 6x Platinum.
Q 27In which Australian town were the Newsboys formed in 1985?
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Peter Furler founded them; they later starred in the God's Not Dead films.
Q 28Which Hillsong Worship song became their biggest US success, reaching platinum?
What a Beautiful Name
Fifteen of the Sydney collective's songs have made the Billboard charts.
Q 29In which Australian city was Hillsong Church founded in 1983?
Sydney
Brian and Bobbie Houston started services in a school hall in Baulkham Hills.
Q 30Which worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas, wrote 'How Great Is Our God'?
Chris Tomlin
He studied psychology at Texas A&M before music took over.