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Quiz about Faiths of the Founding Fathers
Quiz about Faiths of the Founding Fathers

Faiths of the Founding Fathers Quiz


Name these five U.S. founding fathers based on the clues provided.

A multiple-choice quiz by skylarb. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
skylarb
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
113,635
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
5
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
3 / 5
Plays
1057
- -
Question 1 of 5
1. He was first educated as a Presbyterian and had a Calvinist family background, but he said he had "ever let others enjoy their religious sentiments." He believed that "God governs in the affairs of men" and that without divine aid, the founding fathers would succeed "no better than the builders of Babel." Hint


Question 2 of 5
2. He was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Hint


Question 3 of 5
3. He was reared as an Anglican but claimed that he "never told [his] own religion, nor scrutinized that of another." He was considered a Deist. His beliefs, he said, resulted from "a life of inquiry and reflection, and are very different from the Anti-Christian system attributed to me . . . To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself." Hint


Question 4 of 5
4. Disturbed by wide spread atheism in France, he founded the "Theophilanthropy" movement, which emphasized that God exists and that the soul is immortal. In America, however, he considered dogmatism, and not atheism, to be the primary opponent of religion.
Hint


Question 5 of 5
5. He was unique not only in being one of the most radical revolutionaries, but also in being one of the rare non-ecumenical ones. He denounced Catholicism as the "idolatry of Christians" and said that nothing could rival "the barefaced falsehood of the Quakers." Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. He was first educated as a Presbyterian and had a Calvinist family background, but he said he had "ever let others enjoy their religious sentiments." He believed that "God governs in the affairs of men" and that without divine aid, the founding fathers would succeed "no better than the builders of Babel."

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Franklin even wrote his own version of the Lord's Prayer, presuming to improve upon it. The above quotation from Benjamin Franklin and all other quotations in this quiz come from "In God We Trust," a book edited by Norman Cousins and published by Harper and Brothers.
2. He was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Answer: John Witherspoon

Edwards was not a founding father but was a very important part of America's Great Awakening. Witherspoon made a point of ecumenicalism, saying, "I do not wish you to oppose anybody's religion, but everybody's wickedness. Perhaps there are fewer sure marks of the reality of religion than when a man feels more joined in spirit to a true holy person of a different denomination than to an irregular liver of his own."
3. He was reared as an Anglican but claimed that he "never told [his] own religion, nor scrutinized that of another." He was considered a Deist. His beliefs, he said, resulted from "a life of inquiry and reflection, and are very different from the Anti-Christian system attributed to me . . . To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself."

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson made his own version of the New Testament, cutting out the miraculous passages and leaving only the teachings of Christ.
4. Disturbed by wide spread atheism in France, he founded the "Theophilanthropy" movement, which emphasized that God exists and that the soul is immortal. In America, however, he considered dogmatism, and not atheism, to be the primary opponent of religion.

Answer: Thomas Paine

This author of "Common Sense" disagreed with Christianity, making a point in his pamphlets that he regarded the idea of divine revelation to be untenable. However, he was a firm believer in the existence of a God.
5. He was unique not only in being one of the most radical revolutionaries, but also in being one of the rare non-ecumenical ones. He denounced Catholicism as the "idolatry of Christians" and said that nothing could rival "the barefaced falsehood of the Quakers."

Answer: Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was a cousin of John Adams, but John was considerably more ecumenical. Indeed, John Adams said, "Ask me not, then, whether I am Catholic or Protestant, Calvinist or Arminian. As far as they are Christians, I wish to be fellow disciples with them all."
Source: Author skylarb

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
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