D. L. Moody was an influential American evangelist and publisher who lived from 1837 to 1899. He founded the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies, the Mount Hermon School for Boys, and the Moody Bible Institute. Through his preaching and publishing, Moody helped spark the late 19th century evangelical movement in America.
Dwight Lyman Moody was born on February 5, 1837 in Northfield, Massachusetts. His father died when he was 4 years old, so he had to start working to help support his family at an early age. As a teenager, Moody moved to Boston and worked in his uncle’s shoe store. It was there that he was first exposed to the vigorous evangelical Christian culture that permeated Boston in the mid-19th century.
In 1855, at age 18, Moody moved to Chicago. He joined Plymouth Congregational Church and became an active member. He also continued to work in the shoe business, opening his own shoe store in 1858. The next year, he began to devote his spare time to YMCA work and local Sunday school teaching. He experienced conversion around this time, realizing his need for a savior and deciding to follow Christ. Moody’s passion for preaching first emerged during the 1860 meeting of the Congregational City Mission Society when he spontaneously made an impromptu speech that enthralled the audience.
During the Civil War, Moody ventured into battle zones to minister to Union troops. Meanwhile, he also started a Sunday school class for urban youth that quickly ballooned to over 1,500 members. After the war ended, Moody decided to pursue evangelism full-time. With tunes by hymn composer Ira Sankey, Moody held large urban evangelistic campaigns across the Northeast and Midwest. Thousands converted to Christianity at these revivals.
In 1870, Moody made his first trip to Britain. He drew enormous crowds during his tour of British cities, helping stimulate the growing evangelical movement there. Upon returning home, he continued to hold revivals while also founding multiple schools and organizations for future evangelists. The Chicago Avenue Church he attended hired him as pastor and built a new building to hold the large crowds he consistently attracted. His Northfield Conferences attracted thousands each summer.
In 1881, Moody visited Britain once again with Sankey, performing at prestigious venues like the Royal Albert Hall in London. This tour popularized gospel songs in Great Britain. By now, Moody had become internationally famous. His blend of hearty humor, potent storytelling, zeal for volunteering, and passon for the Bible resonated deeply with common people on both sides of the Atlantic.
Moody founded two schools toward the end of his career: Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879, and the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1881. The former aimed to provide an affordable yet high-caliber education for rural girls. The latter sought to prepare boys for college or the seminary. After Moody’s death, the two schools merged and eventually relocated, growing into today’s Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts.
Moody’s most lasting legacy was the Moody Bible Institute, founded in Chicago in 1886. It started as the Chicago Evangelization Society, aimed at training preachers and other Bible teachers. After Moody’s death in 1899, it was renamed Moody Bible Institute in his honor. It remains one of the leading Bible institutes in America over 120 years later.
Through his decades of preaching, Moody came to be known as “the apostle of applying Scripture.” His passion was to make the Bible accessible and applicable to everyday people. Moody showed how biblical truths connected with practical life in ways that deeply resonated with common folk. He preferred simple, vivid language, illustrations, and stories rather than complex theology.
Unlike some evangelists and Bible teachers, Moody largely avoided controversies over doctrinal squabbles or denominational differences. He focused on the core essentials of Christian teaching and steered clear of secondary issues. His nondenominational gatherings featured songs, testimonies, and Bible teaching for all Protestants, not just a specific subgroup.
Moody did encounter occasional conflicts, however, including a public dispute with his mentor Charles Finney. He also rejected the charismatic Azusa Street Revival of the early Pentecostal movement. Moody saw some of their practices as unbiblical fanaticism. He remained grounded in more traditional Protestant theology, albeit with his own unique folksy presentation.
At the peak of Moody’s success, some supporters encouraged him to run for president. But he consistently refused, believing he could never be as effective in political office as he was in his Bible teaching ministry. Despite fame, Moody lived a simple life. He plowed most of his substantial profits back into his evangelistic work.
Moody’s preaching contained many recurring themes:
- All have sinned and need salvation
- Christ died on the cross to provide atonement for sin
- Those who repent of their sins and believe in Christ are born again
- The Bible contains the words of life
- Faithful assimilation of Scripture changes hearts and lives
- Obedience to Christ’s commands leads to reward
- Service to others, especially the poor and marginalized, is a Christian duty
- Followers of Christ are empowered to overcome sin
- Prayer allows communication with God
- Heaven awaits those sanctified in Christ
Moody’s speaking style radiated energy and passion. Stories, jokes, and magnetism made his sermons captivating as well as convicting. He preferred an informal, conversational manner in contrast to formal oratory. Moody aimed straight at the heart, not the head. Emotional impact motivated audiences far more than complex theology. His zeal for bringing the lost to salvation shone through. As one admirer put it, Moody preached “love, light, and life.”
In terms of ministry philosophy, Moody emphasized several key principles:
- Focus on the masses: Moody aimed his revival meetings at the working classes.
- Cooperation: He recruited local churches to continue the work after his revivals left town.
- Simplicity: His preaching used simple language and easily grasped ideas.
- Bible primacy: God’s Word lay at the heart of everything Moody taught.
- Holiness: His sermons continually called hearers to sanctification.
- Urgency: Moody stressed the immediacy of salvation, conversion, and righteous living.
- Practicality: He applied the Bible to concrete life situations.
- Engagement: Moody favored personal involvement in outreach.
- Empowerment: His methods equipped ordinary people for ministry.
- Ecumenicity: He transcended 19th century Protestant divisions in the name of evangelism.
Moody’s incredible drive stemmed from his firm belief in future judgment. His conviction about the reality of hell motivated him to brandish the gospel at all costs. Moody saw himself as rescuing the damned from infernal destruction. This sense of urgency empowered his efforts.
D. L. Moody died on December 22, 1899 in his childhood hometown of Northfield, Massachusetts. Though he experienced heart troubles late in life, Moody worked vigorously until the end. Estimates indicate he preached to over 100 million people during his extensive career. Upon his sudden death, tributes poured in from across the globe.
Moody’s legacy lived on through the schools he founded and the thousands of lives he touched. Both as an evangelist and a Bible teacher, Moody made a profound impact during a transitional time in American religion. His tireless zeal inspired countless Christians. More than a century later, Moody’s name still conjures images of passion, conversion, and dedication to Scripture.
So in summary, D. L. Moody was a pivotal figure in 19th century American evangelicalism. Though lacking formal education, he was a masterful communicator who vividly portrayed the Bible’s central themes in an accessible manner. Moody relentlessly pursued his calling as an itinerant preacher, entrepreneurial educator, and religious publisher. His dramatic revival campaigns, numerous schools, Bible conferences, and other endeavors helped transform the Protestant landscape. Both profoundly biblical and readily understandable, Moody’s powerful messages touched the hearts of common people on multiple continents. He exemplified zeal for spreading the gospel and calling believers to righteous living through faith in Christ.
