D.L. (Dwight Lyman) Moody 1837–1899

From 1875 until 1899 Dwight L. Moody was unquestionably the chief spokesman for the revivalist wing of the flourishing American evangelicals of his day. His central leadership role was very similar to that played by Charles Finney before the Civil War or that of Billy Graham in the era after 1950. By the early 1870s Moody was a well-known local Chicago evangelical leader, but he was unknown nationally. His rise to fame resulted from a modestly conceived evangelistic tour of Great Britain in which Moody was accompanied by his singing associate, Ira Sankey. Moody’s style on the platform was not sensational or spectacular, but more like that of a nineteenth-century businessman who won the hearts of his audiences by homely illustrations that effectively appealed to their sentiments. His message was essentially simple. It has been characterized by the “Three R’s: Ruin by sin, Redemption by Christ, and Regeneration by the Holy Ghost.” Founder of the Chicago Evangelization Society, later renamed the Moody Bible Institute. (January 22, 1886) 1894: The Bible Institute Colportage Association founded by Mr. Moody.