Question 1

True or false: Jonathan Edwards was primarily known as a fiery preacher of the Great Awakening.

Accepted Answer

True. Edwards was a key figure in the Great Awakening, famous for his hellfire sermons like 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.'

Question 2

True or false: Edwards lived his entire life in his birthplace of East Windsor, Connecticut.

Accepted Answer

False. He lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and later New Jersey, where he died as president of Princeton.

Question 3

True or false: Edwards was a grandfather to the famous vice president Aaron Burr.

Accepted Answer

True. Edwards’ daughter Esther married Aaron Burr Sr., and their son was Aaron Burr Jr., the third U.S. vice president.

Question 4

True or false: Jonathan Edwards was the first president of Harvard University.

Accepted Answer

False. Edwards was president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), not Harvard. He died shortly after taking that post.

Question 5

True or false: Edwards' most famous sermon was delivered in a large cathedral in Boston.

Accepted Answer

False. His famous 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' was preached in a small church in Enfield, Connecticut, not a grand cathedral.

Question 6

True or false: Jonathan Edwards wrote extensively on the beauty of spiders and their webs.

Accepted Answer

True. As a teenager, Edwards wrote a detailed essay on spider behavior, admiring their silk and flight—a surprising early scientific interest.

Question 7

True or false: Jonathan Edwards was a strict Calvinist who rejected all forms of religious emotion.

Accepted Answer

False. While Calvinist, Edwards actually defended religious emotions and revivals in his writings, like 'A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.'

Question 8

True or false: Edwards died from a smallpox inoculation, which was experimental at the time.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1758, after becoming president of Princeton, Edwards died from a smallpox inoculation—a risky procedure then, but he supported it scientifically.

Jonathan Edwards Trivia Questions