Q 01/05

In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, what creature is the sinner compared to, dangling over the flames?

A) A toad

B) A spider

C) A rat

D) A sparrow

Answer · why

B) A spider

A spider held over the flames is the sermon's most quoted image, and Jonathan Edwards knew the creature well: in his youth he wrote an essay on their ...

Q 02/05

By accounts of his preaching style, how did Jonathan Edwards deliver Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?

A) In a quiet voice

B) At a furious shout

C) In a chanted singsong

D) Through loud sobs

Answer · why

A) In a quiet voice

In a quiet voice, never shouting, Jonathan Edwards moved his hearers slowly from point to point towards one conclusion: they were lost without grace.

Q 03/05

Which US vice president, the third to hold the office, was a grandson of preacher Jonathan Edwards?

A) William R. King

B) Elbridge Gerry

C) Aaron Burr

D) Daniel Tompkins

Answer · why

C) Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was the son of the preacher's daughter Esther, and is remembered for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Q 04/05

Jonathan Edwards died weeks after becoming president of the College of New Jersey, later renamed what?

A) Rutgers

B) Seton Hall

C) Columbia

D) Princeton

Answer · why

D) Princeton

Princeton, then the College of New Jersey, installed him in February 1758 to replace his late son-in-law, and his grave lies in the town's cemetery.

Q 05/05

Jonathan Edwards died in 1758 from what cause, which he had accepted to set an example for others?

A) A smallpox inoculation

B) A hunger fast

C) A midwinter river baptism

D) A bloodletting cure

Answer · why

A) A smallpox inoculation

A smallpox inoculation killed him within weeks: a strong supporter of the practice, he took it to encourage others, but his health had never been robu...