D. L. Moody the Evangelist

D. L. Moody was born in 1837 and died in 1899. He was the most influential Christian man in late 19th century to the extent that some would give him the title, Mr. Revivalist or greater still, Mr. Protestant. Understand that he lived at the time of great preachers and the golden age of preaching. Moody was not a pastor but an evangelist. The influence that he had during his life was through an itinerate ministry from city to city for the most part. During those years, however, his oldest son estimated that 1 million souls were saved through his preaching. In addition, he established three schools, Moody Bible Institute was one of them, a publishing business, and Christian conferences held yearly. As a layman, he inspired thousands of preachers to win souls and hold revival services. Many of us grew up in the twilight of revival meetings that churches held yearly as a method of calling the church to holiness and unbelievers to Jesus.

“At Moody’s funeral, Theodore Cuyler estimated that at times Moody spoke to 40,000 or 50,000 people a week, an estimate not at all unreasonable in view of the fact that some single services had 10-20 thousand in the audience. This evidence would seem to indicate that A.T. Pierson’s calculation that Moody brought the claims of Christ by voice and pen to the attention of 100 million people, if anything, errs on the conservative side.”[1]


[1] Stanley N. Gundry, Love them In, (Moody Press of Chicago: 1976, 1999), p. 12.