People Who Wrote Hymns and Then Death Intervened Quiz

Answer: Ohio

Philip P. Bliss and his wife died De­cem­ber 29, 1876, in a deadly train wreck in Ash­ta­bu­la, Ohio. A total of ninety-two people died in the wreck when a bridge about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the train station in Ashtabula collapsed. Bliss survived the initial crash, but was killed in a vain attempt to rescue his wife after the wooden railroad cars caught fire.

The words to 'I Will Sing of My Redeemer' were found a while later in a suitcase belonging to Bliss. (Incidentally, Procter and Gamble's headquarters are in Cincinnati, Ohio.)

The night be­fore the rail­road ac­ci­dent, Bliss told the audience at Ash­ta­bu­la "I may not pass this way again" then sang a so­lo, 'I'm Go­ing Home To­mor­row'.

Bliss is credited with writing more than sixty hymns.

Bliss's house in Rome, Pennsylvania, now operates as the Philip P. Bliss Gospel Songwriters Museum. A monument to Bliss was also erected in Rome, Pa.

Here are the words to "I Will Sing of my Redeemer":

"I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Refrain:
Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

[Refrain]

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I'll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

[Refrain]

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav'nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

[Refrain]"

Answer: 1761

Samuel Davies was born November 3, 1723, in Newcastle, Delaware, and died Feb­ru­a­ry 4, 1761, in Prince­ton, New Jersey, where he is buried.

According to Nethymnal.org, Davies was named after Samuel in the Bible because he was his mother's answer to prayer for a child.

"I am a son of pray­er, like my namesake, Samuel the prophet, and my mother called me Samuel, because, she said, 'I have asked him of the Lord'," Davies is quoted as saying.

In 1759, he be­came pre­si­dent of the Coll­ege of New Jer­sey, the forerunner of Prince­ton Un­i­ver­si­ty, and served in that position to the time of his death.

Davies was active in pioneering the literacy of the colony's slave population.

Here are the words to 'Great God of Wonders':

"Great God of wonders! All Thy ways
Are matchless, Godlike and divine;
But the fair glories of Thy grace
More Godlike and unrivaled shine,
More Godlike and unrivaled shine.

Crimes of such horror to forgive,
Such guilty, daring worms to spare;
This is Thy grand prerogative,
And none shall in the honor share,
And none shall in the honor share

Angels and men, resign your claim
To pity, mercy, love and grace:
These glories crown Jehovah's Name
With an incomparable glaze
With an incomparable glaze.

In wonder lost, with trembling joy,
We take the pardon of our God:
Pardon for crimes of deepest dye,
A pardon bought with Jesus' blood,
A pardon bought with Jesus' blood.

O may this strange, this matchless grace,
This Godlike miracle of love,
Fill the whole earth with grateful praise,
And all th'angelic choirs above,
And all th'angelic choirs above.

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Or who has grace so rich and free?"

Answer: India

India is the correct answer. Earl Mountbatten was governor general of India from August 15, 1947 to June 21, 1948 and viceroy of the country from February 12, 1947 to August 15, 1947. George VI was the ruling British monarch at the time.

Reginald Heber died Ap­ril 3, 1826, in Tri­chin­o­po­ly (Tir­u­chir­ap­pal­li), Ta­mil Na­du, In­dia, of a ce­reb­ral hem­or­rhage while bath­ing.

He was born Ap­ril 21, 1783, in Ma­lpas, Che­shire, Eng­land.

Nethymnal.org reports Heber at­tend­ed Brase­nose Coll­ege, Ox­ford, where he won a num­ber of awards in Eng­lish and La­tin.

"In 1823, he be­came, some­what re­luct­ant­ly, Bi­shop of Cal­cut­ta, In­dia," the Website reports.

Most of Heber's hymns were not pub­lished un­til af­ter his death with fifty-seven of them ap­pearing in the 1827 publication 'Hymns Writ­ten and Adapt­ed to the Week­ly Church Ser­vice of the Year'.

Here are the words to 'Holy, Holy, Holy':

"Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!"

Answer: True

Two lakes in the United States are named after Sidney Clopton Lanier, the "poet laureate of Georgia". One body of water is Lake Lanier, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The lake was formed when a dam was constructed on the Chattahoochee River, a river that was the subject of one of Lanier's poems. The second body of water is Lake Lanier in Tryon, North Carolina.

Lanier was born Feb­ru­a­ry 3, 1842, in Ma­con, Georg­ia and died Sep­tem­ber 7, 1881, in Lynn, North Car­o­li­na. He is buried at Green Mount Cem­e­te­ry, in Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land.

Lanier wrote the hymn 'Into the Woods' in 1880, but it would be twenty-five years later before it was published, appearing in the the Meth­od­ist Hymn­al in 1905.

Here are the words 'Into the Woods':

"Into the woods my Master went,
Clean forspent, forspent,
Into the woods my Master came,
Forspent with love and shame.
But the olives they were not blind to Him.
The little grey leaves were kind to Him,
The thorn tree had a mind to Him,
When into the woods He came.

Out of the woods my Master came
And he was well content;
Out of the woods my Master came,
Content with death and shame.
When death and shame would woo Him last,
From under the trees they drew Him last,
'Twas on a tree they slew Him-last
When out of the woods He came."

Answer: The Second Anglo-Boer War erupts in South Africa.

Out of the four events listed, the Second Anglo-Boer War did not take place in 1872. It erupted in South Africa on October 11, 1899, and lasted until May 31, 1902. (The First Anglo-Boer War lasted from December 16, 1880, until March 23, 1881.

Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane was born June 18, 1830, in Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land and died Feb­ru­a­ry 19, 1869, in Bridg­end House, near Mel­rose, Rox­burgh­shire, Scot­land. She is buried at St. Cuth­bert's, Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land.

She was the third daugh­ter of An­drew Cle­phane, sher­iff of Fife and Kin­ross. Nethymnal.org reports she spent most of her mon­ey on char­it­a­ble caus­es, and was known lo­cal­ly as 'The Sun­beam'.

Her hymn, 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus' and 'The Ninety and Nine', appeared post­hu­mous­ly in 1872 in a Scottish Presbyterian magazine.

Here are the words to 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus':

"Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.

O safe and happy shelter, O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven's love and Heaven's justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch that wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Savior's cross to me, a ladder up to heaven.

There lies beneath its shadow but on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave that gapes both deep and wide
And there between us stands the cross two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way from that eternal grave.

Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess;
The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross."

Here are the words to Clephane's second hymn, 'The Ninety and Nine':

"There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd's care.
Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?"
But the Shepherd made answer: 'This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep'.

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

'Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain's track?'
'They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back'.
'Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?'
'They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.'

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
'Rejoice! I have found My sheep!'
And the angels echoed around the throne,
'Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own'!"

Answer: Massachusetts

Massachusetts is home to the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. (Other big league sporting teams in Boston include the New England Patriots of the National Football League, the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association.)

Henry Ware Jr. was born Ap­ril 21, 1794, in Hingham, Mass­a­chu­setts and died Sep­tem­ber 25, in 1843, nearby Framingham. He is buried at Mount Au­burn Cem­e­te­ry, Cam­bridge, Mass­a­chu­setts.

Ware was the son of a Un­i­tar­i­an min­is­ter and at­tend­ed Har­vard University.

According to Wikipedia, Ware was an "influential Unitarian theologian" and he served as a member of the faculty of Harvard Divinity School. On top of this, he was the first president of the Harvard Musical Association.

Ware was a mentor of Ralph Waldo Emerson when Emerson studied for the ministry in the 1820s.

He wrote at least fifteen hymns.

Here are the words to 'Happy is the Home When God is There':

"Happy the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast;
When one their wish, and one their prayer,
And one their heav'nly rest.

Happy the home where Jesus' Name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early speak His fame,
And parents hold Him dear.

Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise each day does rise;
Where parents love the sacred Word
And all its wisdom prize.

Lord, let us in our homes agree
This blessed peace to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign."

Answer: Wright Brothers make historic flight in North Carolina

The historic flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright took place December 17, 1903, four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The three other events -- Otto von Bismark becoming chancellor of Germany, British Columbia becoming a Canadian province and Henry Stanley finding Dr. David Livingstone in Africa -- all took place in 1871.

Henry Alford was born Oc­to­ber 7, 1810, in Blooms­bu­ry, Mid­dle­sex, Eng­land, and died Jan­u­ary 12, 1871, in Can­ter­bu­ry, Kent, Eng­land, where he is buried. For his own ep­i­taph, he wrote: "The inn of a pil­grim tra­vel­ing to Je­ru­sa­lem."

Nethymnal.org states the hymn 'Forward! Be Our Watchword' was writ­ten for the Tenth Fes­ti­val of the Pa­ro­ch­ial Choirs of the Can­ter­bu­ry Di­o­ces­an Un­ion, held in Canter­bury Cathed­ral, Eng­land.

Here are the words to 'Forward be our Watchword':

"Forward! be our watchword, steps and voices joined;
Seek the things before us, not a look behind;
Burns the fiery pillar at our army's head;
Who shall dream of shrinking, by our Captain led?
Forward through the desert, through the toil and fight;
Jordan flows before us; Zion beams with light.

Forward! When in childhood buds the infant mind;
All through youth and manhood not a thought behind;
Speed through realms of nature, climb the steps of grace;
Faint not, till in glory, gleams our Father's face.
Forward, all the lifetime, climb from height to height,
Till the head be hoary, till the eve be light.

Forward! flock of Jesus, salt of all the earth,
Till each yearning purpose spring to glorious birth:
Sick, they ask for healing; blind, they grope for day;
Pour upon the nations wisdom's loving ray.
Forward, out of error, leave behind the night;
Forward through the darkness, forward into light!

Glories upon glories hath our God prepared,
By the souls that love Him one day to be shared;
Eye hath not beheld them, ear hath never heard;
Nor of these hath uttered thought or speech a word;
Forward, marching eastward, where the heaven is bright,
Till the veil be lifted, till our faith be sight.

Far o'er yon horizon rise the city towers
Where our God abideth; that fair home is ours:
Flash the streets with jasper, shine the gates with gold;
Flows the gladdening river shedding joys untold.
Thither, onward, thither, in the Spirit's might;
Pilgrims to your country, forward into light!

Into God's high temple, onward as we press,
Beauty spreads around us, born of holiness;
Arch, and vault, and carving, lights of varied tone,
Softened words and holy, prayer and praise alone.
Every thought upraising to our city bright,
Where the tribes assemble round the throne of light.

Naught that city needeth of these aisles of stone;
Where the Godhead dwelleth, temple there is none;
All the saints that ever in these courts have stood,
Are but babes, and feeding on the children's food.
On through sign and token, stars amidst the night,
Forward through the darkness, forward into light.

To th'eternal Father loudest anthems raise;
To the Son and Spirit echo songs of praise;
To the Lord of glory, blessed Three in One,
Be by men and angels endless honor done.
Weak are earthly praises, dull the songs of night:
Forward into triumph, forward into light!"

Answer: Paul

Out of the four names from the New Testament, Paul is only one who was imprisoned because of his beliefs, according to Scripture. It's possible Aquila was imprisoned as he was a worker in the early church; however, there is no account in Scripture of him being incarcerated. According to Scripture, Jesus healed Bartimaeus of his blindness (Mark 10:36-52) and Zacchaeus was a diminutive man who was the chief tax collector of Jerrichio (Luke 19:2).

Although Theodulph of Orleans was born into a wealthy noble family in Italy in 760, he devoted his life to serving Christ and in 781 Char­le­magne ap­point­ed him Bi­shop of Or­leans, France.

When Charlemagne died, Lou­is the Pi­ous sus­pect­ed The­o­dulph of se­cret loy­al­ty to po­li­ti­cal lead­ers in It­a­ly, the coun­try of his birth.

As a result, Theodulph was tossed into prison and basically forgotten about.

"His pre­di­ca­ment is re­mi­nis­cent of Paul's in­car­cer­a­tion in Rome," Nethymnal.org reports. "Like Paul, The­o­dulph's faith sus­tained him in­side cold stone walls."

While imprisoned, he wrote the hymn 'All Glo­ry, Laud and Hon­or'. Shortly afterwards, Theodulph died in prison. In 1851, John M. Neal translated the hymn from Latin into English.

Here are the words to 'All Glory, Laud and Honor':

"Refrain:
All glory, laud and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To Whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's Name comest,
The King and Blessèd One.

[Refrain]

The company of angels
Are praising Thee on High,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.

[Refrain]

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems
Before Thee we present.

[Refrain]

To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.

[Refrain]

Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.

[Refrain]"

Answer: World

The missing word is 'World'. Although Maltbie Davenport Babcock wrote at least nine hymns, he didn't hear any of them sung. After his death in Naples in 1901, Babcock's wife made arrangements to have nine hymns he had written published. The most popular one was 'This is My Father's World' and it is still heard today in churches around the world.

Babcock died of brucellosis. Brucellosis is also known as Bang's disease, Crimean fever, Gibraltar fever, Malta fever, Maltese fever, Mediterranean fever, rock fever, and undulant fever. Brucellosis is highly contagious, often caused by drinking unpasteurized milk or eating undercooked meat from infected animals.

Babcock was born Au­gust 3, 1858, in Syr­a­cuse, New York and was a talented athlete and musician.

"Tall, broad shoul­dered, and mus­cu­lar, he was pre­s­ident of the base­ball team, an ex­pert pitch­er, and a good swim­mer," Nethymnal.org states. "He played sev­er­al mu­si­cal in­stru­ments, di­rect­ed the school or­ches­tra, and played the or­gan and com­posed for it. "He might have become a pro­fes­sion­al mu­si­cian had he not chos­en the min­is­try."

Here the words to the famous hymn, 'This is My Father's World':

"This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world: He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav'n be one.

This is my Father's world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, 'The Lord is in this place.'
This is my Father's world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came-a pledge of deathless love.

This is my Father's world, should my heart be ever sad?
The Lord is King -- let the heavens ring. God reigns-let the earth be glad.
This is my Father's world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.
No place but is holy ground.

This is my Father's world. I walk a desert lone.
In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known.
This is my Father's world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate'er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home."

Answer: Mexican-American War comes to an end

Out of the four news events listed, the only one that took place in 1847 was the end of the Mexican-American War. The war was fought from the spring of 1846 to the fall of 1847 with a decisive victory by the U.S.

Incidentally, Queen Victoria died in London in 1901 while California became the 31st state in 1850. Meanwhile, William Booth and his wife Catherine founded the Salvation Army in London's East End in 1865. (Originally, the organization was called the East London Christian Mission.)

Henry Francis Lyte was born June 1, 1793, in Ed­nam, Scot­land. He was orphaned at an early age and at­tend­ed Trin­i­ty Coll­ege in Dub­lin, Ire­land. After graduation, Lyte served as pastor at a number of churches in Ire­land and Eng­land.

Lyte wrote the hymn 'Abide With Me' as he was dying of tuberculosis.

Just after he finished writing the words, he preached his final sermon and left for Italy the next day to regain his health. Lyte, however, never made it to Italy. He died in Nice, France, three weeks after writing his famous hymn.

'Abide With Me' was sung at the wed­ding of King George VI, at the wed­ding of his daugh­ter, the fu­ture Queen Eliz­a­beth II, and at the funeral of Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1997.

Here are the words to 'Abide With Me':

"Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea-
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me."