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- Every library answer, free, as many as you like
- Search all six men’s writings
Christians used to talk like this.
On the unconverted
“The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire…”
Put your hardest questions to Spurgeon, Edwards, Wesley, Whitefield, Moody and Müller: hell, drink, the theatre, debt. The answers are built from their own words, every quotation checked word for word and cited, and nothing is softened. Ask about today too: abortion, the vote. Where they never faced a question, the answer reasons from what they did say, labels the conclusion as derived, and names the passages it is derived from.
3 questions free. No card needed.
In their own words
We have not edited or softened a word. Each quotation was checked word for word against the text we hold, by the same code that checks every quotation in an answer.
Spurgeon’s sermons come from a modern reprint (Chapel Library, over an earlier digitization) that corrected spelling and punctuation, capitalized pronouns for God and updated a few archaic words: his “Thou” to God often reads “You”. His card was also checked against the 1885 printing: the same words.
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On those who sell hard liquor
“But all who sell them in the common way, to any that will buy, are poisoners-general. They murder his Majesty’s subjects by wholesale, neither does their eye pity or spare. They drive them to hell, like sheep: and what is their gain? Is it not the blood of these men?”
John Wesley · The Use of Money · sermon, 1760 -
On the theatre
“…the play-houses, are they not nurseries of debauchery in the age? and the supporters and patrons of them, are encouragers and promoters of all the evil that is done by them; they are the bane of the age, and will be the destruction of those who frequent them.”
George Whitefield · The Folly and Danger of Being Not Righteous Enough · sermon, as reprinted in his Works (1772) -
On debt
“Are you in debt? then make confession of sin respecting it.”
George Müller · Narrative, remarks on the year to 9 December 1840 -
On preachers who preach doubt
“Among those who are ordained to be the preachers of the Gospel of Christ, there are many who preach not faith but doubt, and hence they are servants of the devil rather than of the Lord.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon · Israel and Britain: A Note of Warning · sermon, 7 June 1885
Every answer cites its sources and links to the full sermon, letter or journal entry, so you can read the words in context.
They were not ashamed.
More than a century ago, some of the best-known preachers in the English-speaking world said things from the pulpit that few pulpits would dare today, and crowds came to hear them. They named sin by name. They preached hell as a place. They told drinkers, theatregoers and debtors exactly where they stood, and they did not apologize for the gospel.
Ask The Preachers puts their words in front of you as they said them, unsoftened, with the source of every line. We add no modern commentary to take the edge off. You meet them as they were, and you make up your own mind.
Who you can ask
Six men, two centuries, one conviction: the Bible means what it says.
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Preached in London for 38 years, at New Park Street and then the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
What we hold: his sermons, about 3,500 of them, in a modern reprint of the printed volumes.
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Jonathan Edwards
Pastor at Northampton, Massachusetts, and a preacher of the Great Awakening.
What we hold: his sermons, treatises, notes on Scripture and letters.
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John Wesley
The Church of England clergyman who led the Methodists and preached in the open air for half a century.
What we hold: his sermons, Journal, letters and Notes on the New Testament.
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George Whitefield
Open-air preacher of the Great Awakening on both sides of the Atlantic.
What we hold: his sermons (a few as hearers took them down in shorthand), journals and letters.
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D. L. Moody
Chicago shoe salesman turned evangelist, never ordained, who preached to great crowds in America and Britain.
What we hold: his sermons and addresses as reporters took them down, and his books.
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George Müller
He cared for thousands of orphans at Bristol without asking anyone for money, and recorded in his journal how each need was met through prayer.
What we hold: his Narrative, Autobiography and addresses.
More preachers are added as their writings are prepared.
How an answer is made
Answers are composed by AI from each man’s own public-domain writings. Here is exactly what that means, and what it doesn’t.
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1 Ask.
Type your question in plain words. Ask one preacher, or several at once.
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2 He answers from his own writings.
The answer draws only on his sermons, books, journals and letters. It appears as it is written, and the passages he is drawing on are listed while he works. A quotation is shown in quotation marks only when it stands word for word in a passage of his own: what he wrote, or a sermon of his as a reporter took it down. That rules out a line he was quoting from someone else, and an objection he raised in order to knock it down. Every quotation carries its source and, where the record gives one, its date. Anything that fails the check is left out of the answer and never shown as his words.
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3 Modern questions, same root.
Where he never faced your question, the answer reasons from the principles he did state. The 19th Amendment, for example, was ratified in 1920, after every one of them had died. The answer labels the conclusion as derived and names the passages it is derived from; it never gives the conclusion as his words. Where his writings give no ground at all, it says he is silent. It does not make up a position.
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4 An independent AI review, after the answer.
After each new answer is written, a separate AI review reads it against his passages. That review is told to find fault: a quotation that isn’t his, a claim with nothing under it, or a hard word softened. Until the answer passes, it is marked “Inferred live, not verified.” Answers that pass are marked “Inferred live, since checked against his writings by an independent AI review”, and in the library “Checked against his writings by an independent AI review”.
The library.
Checked answers are kept in a library. If your question has already been answered and checked, you get that answer right away, and it costs nothing. Reading the library is free on every account, as much as you like.
Labels you may see
- Checked against his writings by an independent AI review
- Inferred live, since checked against his writings by an independent AI review
- Reviewed position
- Inferred live, not verified
- Not answered yet, queued
- Outside what he preached on
A “Reviewed position” is a library answer a person checked, before the independent AI review replaced the reviewers.
Put the same question to all six
Choose two to six preachers and ask once. Each man answers in his own column, in his own words, with his own sources. You can see where Wesley and Whitefield part ways, and where all six stand together. Follow up with all of them, or carry on with one. You can export the whole comparison, sources and all.
It costs one question for each preacher who answers live, and you see the cost before you send. An answer that comes from the library is free.
Asked Is it a sin for a Christian to drink?
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Spurgeon
“…though I am no total abstainer, I hate drunkenness as much as any man breathing…”
India’s Ills and England’s Sorrows, 1857
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Edwards
“…that Tavern-haunting and Gaming, are things that tend to Sin…”
Joseph’s Great Temptation, published 1765, after his death, from his manuscript
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Wesley
“Touch no dram. It is liquid fire. It is a sure, though slow, poison.”
letter to Mr. S., at Armagh, 1769
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Whitefield
“And if the sword has slain its thousands, drunkenness has slain its ten thousands.”
The Heinous Sin of Drunkenness, as reprinted in his Works (1772)
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Moody
Answers from his sermons and addresses.
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Müller
Reasons from the principles he stated, and says so.
Read what they actually wrote
Materials lets you search the writings themselves. Type a word or a phrase and see the passages where he speaks to it most closely, or set up to six men side by side and see what each of them wrote. Every result opens the full sermon, letter or journal entry. Searching is free and never uses a question.
Search their writings drunkenness
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George Whitefield · The Heinous Sin of Drunkenness · sermon, as reprinted in his Works (1772)
“Thirdly, What renders drunkenness more inexcusable, is, that it robs a man of his reason.”
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John Wesley · The Duty of Reproving Our Neighbour · sermon, 1787
“Such is drunkenness; which even an habitual drunkard will condemn when he is sober.”
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon · The Voice of the Cholera · sermon, 1866
“The public mind to a great extent is enlightened upon the subject of strong drink, and consequently this sin of drunkenness is more God-provoking in this country than in any other.”
Questions people ask them
Questions only. The answers are theirs to give.
- Is abortion murder?
- Should the 19th Amendment be repealed?
- Is it a sin for a Christian to drink?
- Can a Christian go to the theatre? What about the movies?
- Is hell real, and does it last forever?
- Is the Roman Catholic Church a true church?
- Is it a sin to be in debt?
- Should a Christian work on the Lord’s Day?
Ask one of them, or all six, and see where they stand.
Create free accountPricing
Start free. Pay only if you want more live questions. Monthly plans only, with no annual contract.
Standard $20.02/month
$19 + $1.02 card processing
- 40 live questions every month
- Ask one preacher, or several side by side
- Every library answer, and search, free as always
Create a free account, then choose Standard on your account page.
Create free accountPlus $46.99/month
$45 + $1.99 card processing
- 100 live questions every month
- For study groups, teachers and serious research
- Every library answer, and search, free as always
Create a free account, then choose Plus on your account page.
Create free accountQuestion packs: they never expire
- 20 questions $12.67 $12 + $0.67 card processing
- 50 questions $28.12 $27 + $1.12 card processing
- 100 questions $51.80 $50 + $1.80 card processing
Any account can buy them, including a free one. A live question comes from your plan’s questions for the month first, then from your packs, then from your free questions.
Prices show the total you pay: the list price plus card processing, which is Stripe's standard fee on a US card payment, added so the list price reaches us. It is the same whatever way you pay.
A live question is one fresh answer from one preacher. Library answers never count. Searching never counts. No metered billing, so no surprise invoice. Cancel any time. Prices in US dollars.
Straight answers
Is this AI?
Yes. The answers are composed by AI working from each man’s own public-domain writings. We say so here and in the Terms, and every answer carries a label that says how far it has been checked. The quotations are his words as the edition we hold prints them, checked word for word against it. The prose that connects them is the machine’s reading of what he wrote, in his manner; where it reaches a conclusion he never stated, the answer labels it as derived. It is not him and it is not advice. It is his record, put to your question.
Are the quotes real?
Yes. A quotation is shown only when the server finds it word for word in a single passage of his own, and every one carries its source and, where the record gives one, its date. Every answer links to the full sermon, letter or journal entry, so you can read it in context. The texts come from public-domain editions of their sermons, books, journals and letters. Spurgeon’s sermons come from a modern reprint of the printed volumes (Chapel Library, over an earlier digitization) that corrected spelling and punctuation, capitalized pronouns for God and updated a few archaic words: his “Thou” to God often reads “You”. Moody’s sermons, and a few of Whitefield’s, survive only as reporters took them down, and are quoted as the reporters printed them.
What if he never spoke to my question?
Then the answer says so. Where he addressed the thing itself, you get his words. Where he addressed the nearest thing in his own day, the answer tells you it is reasoning from that. Where he never faced it at all, the answer reasons from principles he stated, labels the conclusion as derived, and names the passages it is derived from. Where his writings give no ground, it says he is silent instead of inventing a view.
Do you tone them down?
No. Their words are shown as the edition we hold prints them: nothing softened, nothing removed, no modern commentary added. Every new answer is checked for added hedges, apologies and weakened claims. You get the real thing, as hard as they said it.
Can I cancel?
Any time, from your account page. Plans are monthly only. When you cancel, your plan runs to the end of the month you have paid for and is not renewed. Auto top-up, if you turned it on, is separate: when you ask with no questions left it buys a 50-question pack ($27 + $1.12 card processing = $28.12), up to the monthly limit you set, until you turn it off on your account page. Question packs you have bought never expire.
What does it cost?
Nothing to start: 3 live questions free, and every library answer free. After that, Standard is $19 + $1.02 card processing = $20.02/month for 40 live questions and Plus is $45 + $1.99 card processing = $46.99/month for 100. Question packs never expire: 20 questions for $12 + $0.67 card processing = $12.67, 50 for $27 + $1.12 card processing = $28.12 or 100 for $50 + $1.80 card processing = $51.80. Card processing is Stripe’s standard fee on a US card payment, added so the list price reaches us. It is the same whatever way you pay. Asking several preachers at once costs one question per preacher who answers live. Searching their writings is free.
Who runs it?
Ask The Preachers is built and run by Faithful Development. For questions, corrections, or a quotation you think is wrong, write to support@askthepreachers.com.
Hear it from them.
Three questions are free. Ask the hardest one you have.