Question 1

True or false: Knox died peacefully in bed, surrounded by his family, at age 67.

Accepted Answer

False. Though he died in bed in 1572, he had no surviving children nearby, and his final days were marked by illness and prayer.

Question 2

True or false: Knox wrote the first complete English translation of the Bible.

Accepted Answer

False. Knox never translated the whole Bible; that was done earlier by William Tyndale and others. Knox authored theological works and history.

Question 3

True or false: John Knox personally crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, as a Protestant monarch.

Accepted Answer

False. Mary was a devout Catholic and never crowned by Knox. He famously debated and clashed with her over religious policy.

Question 4

True or false: John Knox once served as a galley slave after being captured by French forces.

Accepted Answer

True. Knox was captured in 1547 and spent 19 months chained to an oar, which hardened his resolve against Catholic rule.

Question 5

True or false: John Knox was a Catholic priest before converting to Protestantism.

Accepted Answer

True. He was ordained as a Catholic priest around 1536, but by the 1540s he embraced Reformed theology and became a key Protestant leader.

Question 6

True or false: John Knox was exiled to Switzerland for advocating a married clergy.

Accepted Answer

False. He fled to Geneva and Frankfurt due to political and religious persecution in England, not specifically for advocating clerical marriage.

Question 7

True or false: Knox helped write the Scots Confession, a foundational document of the Scottish Reformation.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1560, Knox and five other ministers drafted the Scots Confession, which became the creed of the reformed Church of Scotland.

Question 8

True or false: Knox's 'First Blast of the Trumpet' argued that ruling women were against God's law.

Accepted Answer

True. Published in 1558, his pamphlet attacked female monarchs, targeting Mary Tudor. It later embarrassed him under Elizabeth I.

John Knox Trivia Questions