Who was D. L. Moody?
Dwight Lyman Moody, also known as D. L. Moody, was a well-known evangelist in the 19th century who revolutionized evangelism in the United States. D. L. Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1837 to Edwin and Betsey Holton Moody. Edwin died in 1841, leaving Betsey to raise nine children under the age of 13…
Who was Charles Parham?
Charles Fox Parham (1873–1929) was an American preacher and evangelist and one of the central figures in the emergence of American Pentecostalism. It was Parham who first claimed that speaking in tongues was the inevitable evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He is often referred to as the “Father of Modern-day Pentecostalism.” Charles…
Who was Lewis Sperry Chafer?
Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871—1952) was the primary founder of the Dallas Theological Seminary (1924; then Evangelical Theological College), an institution widely considered the academic front-runner of dispensationalist theology. Besides serving as the college’s first president and principal theologian, Chafer was a musician, evangelist, and frequent Bible conference speaker. Although he wrote many popular books on…
Who was Pat Robertson?
Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson (1930—2023) was a Christian broadcasting pioneer, best-selling author, minister, educator, political commentator, businessman, and philanthropist. He founded numerous organizations, including the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), and Operation Blessing. Pat’s signature program was The 700 Club, a Christian news, ministry, and…
Who are the Hutterites, and what do they believe?
The Hutterites, or Hutterian Brethren, are a communal, pacifist Christian sect who live mainly in Southern Canada and the Northern United States. There are approximately 49,000 Hutterites (as of 2011), living in 483 colonies (as of 2004). Since coming to the New World from the Ukraine in the 1870s, the Hutterites have sustained themselves mainly…
Who was Annie Armstrong?
Annie Walker Armstrong (1850—1938) was an American educator and lay leader in the women’s missionary movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A groundbreaking visionary, Annie created the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), an auxiliary arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). She was also instrumental in establishing the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which…
Who was Fanny J. Crosby?
Born on March 24, 1820, in New York, Frances (Fanny) Jane Crosby was a teacher, poet, lyricist, and hymn writer. She is best remembered today as the author of about 9,000 Christian hymns. In her infancy, Fanny became ill and was seen by an unqualified doctor who gave her a faulty treatment that ended up…
Who was William Barclay?
William Barclay (1907—1978) was a New Testament scholar and Church of Scotland minister best remembered for his radio and television broadcasts and writings produced and published as the Daily Study Bible. Barclay’s primary interest was communicating the history, theology, and language of the New Testament in a comprehensible and relevant way to ordinary people of…
Who was Ravi Zacharias?
Ravi Zacharias was an influential speaker, writer, and evangelist. Born in India, Zacharias considered himself an atheist until a suicide attempt at age 17. While in the hospital, he encountered the gospel of John and became a Christian. Over a period of nearly fifty years, he travelled and spoke worldwide in defense of the Christian…
Who was Corrie ten Boom?
Cornelia Arnolda Johanna “Corrie” ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker and part of the Dutch resistance during World War II. For her role in sheltering Jews in her home, Corrie ten Boom was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück, a women’s concentration camp in northern Germany. Corrie survived the Holocaust and went on to become a…