Today we spoke with author and historian Kevin Belmonte about his biography on the life of D.L. Moody. Kevin told us about Moody's continuing relevance for today.
1) What will readers discover in your bio that might be different from other D.L. Moody biographies?
My book, for a new generation of readers, was written in the tradition of books by David McCullough, whose work has influenced so many, including me. To pen word pictures that evoke a vivid sense of place, moment, and character—these were guiding thoughts that shaped my book. I also wanted to help people coming to Moody for the first time—whether seekers, or people in the family of faith—to be drawn into his story. And so, for example, the Preface of the book features tributes Moody received from three presidents: William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. I hadn’t known about those tributes before, and I think they do a lot to capture the reader’s interest early on.
Sources that are now online were a gift. I read through many articles about Moody in The New York Times, the Times of London, and other places where he was described by famous contemporaries. I could follow his life and work in real time, and measure his impact as a thought-leader and influencer whose work as a preacher, educator and philanthropist was shaped profoundly by faith.
Since Moody was such a fine communicator, I also wanted to bring in his thoughts and words as much as I could—to let readers hear something of his voice. He had a marvelous sense of humor, a teachable heart, hard-won wisdom (through constant study), and a great gift for casting a memorable line.
He had a marvelous sense of humor, teachable heart, and a great gift for casting a memorable line.
2) I wonder if modern evangelicals understand the full impact of Moody's ministry, how many institutions he founded that they benefit from.
When writing a biography of Billy Graham I discovered that Dr. Graham made a special visit in April 1950 to D.L. Moody’s grave in Northfield, Massachusetts. That left a deep impression. This reflected Dr. Graham’s desire to pay tribute to Moody, whose life and ministry he deeply admired. Moody was a spiritual role model for Dr. Graham, and we need only consider the scope and impact of Dr. Graham’s ministry to get a sense of how telling Moody’s influence has been.
During his great mission to Great Britain in the 1870s, Moody gratefully worked alongside Christians of many different denominations. He would also preach anywhere—whether it was The Hippodrome in New York (the site of Madison Square Garden now), or a music hall or theatre—like Carnegie Hall—provided he could proclaim the gospel freely. This emphasis on “mere Christianity,” and the willingness to think outside the box in terms of preaching venues—these were things about Moody’s work that shaped Dr. Graham’s ministry. And we know from history how the ministries of both men reached millions for Christ.
Moody and his brother-in-law founded a publishing company, the Fleming H. Revell Company. In this way, Moody’s legacy reaches to our own time, through classics like Francis Schaeffer’s How Should We Then Live" Because Moody and Fleming Revell took up this call, Dr. Schaeffer’s book found its best publishing home—that’s a telling instance of visionary thinking.
Famously, Moody founded four schools, the Chicago Bible Institute (now Moody Bible Institute), the Northfield Seminary (for young women), the Mount Hermon School (for young men), and The Northfield Bible Training School. They gave disadvantaged young people a top shelf academic education, or sound vocational training. By the time of his death in 1899, some 5,000 young people had come through these schools. Consider the ripple effect of this for these young people, their descendants, or the alumni of these schools up to the present. When one considers all these things, God’s work through D.L. Moody had an immense, pervasive, and long lasting influence.
3) What's interesting about Moody is how the gritty, urban city centers, such as Chicago, were where his ministry grew and thrived. Why is this?
Moody went to Chicago as a young man of nineteen, bent on making his fortune. Despite his lack of formal education, he was a gifted young businessman, and lodged in the same boarding house where many future titans of commerce and industry once lived, men like Marshall Field. Moody was well on his way to making his goal of $100,000, a sum well in excess of 1 million dollars today.
He was a Christian when he came to Chicago, and wanted to volunteer for mission work, to teach a Sunday School class. He was told that if he could “get up a class,” that is, bring in students all on his own, he could be their teacher. That led him to a Chicago slum called “Little Hell,” and to the founding of one of America’s great inner city mission schools. Around 2,000 young people attended.
Moody never forgot the poverty he’d known as a boy, or what it was like to be fatherless. He saw himself in these young people, and did all he could to help them, giving food, clothing, coal and firewood—paid for from his own savings. All in all, it was an unlikely, but deeply important training ground for him in terms of ministry.
4) Moody was not a theologian or even a college graduate. How was he able to rise to such influence in the Church?
Moody once said “I know perfectly well that, wherever I go and preach, there are many better preachers known and heard than I am; all that I can say about it is that the Lord uses me.”
As for Moody’s integrity and character, nothing says more about them than the fact that although he owned one of the most lucrative copyrights of the late 1800s, the famous Moody/Sankey Hymn Books—and the royalties from this amounted to millions in today’s dollars—he refused to touch a penny of it personally. He created an independent, three-person Board of Trustees, and asked them to donate these royalties to educational, charitable, and philanthropic causes.
God’s work through D.L. Moody had an immense, pervasive, and long lasting influence.
5) If there is a message contemporary evangelicals might learn from D.L. Moody, what would that be?
It’s hard to summarize it all, but much of the answer lies in what’s shared above. Beyond that, several key words and phrases, rich with implication, stand out.
Consecration—a deep sense of commitment to God—reflective of Moody’s life of prayer, and careful study of the Word. He had a teachable heart, reflective of seeking wise role models, learning from mistakes, and humility. Living a life shaped by stewardship, a grateful return for all that God has bestowed; and a willingness as well to believe that God can do great things, if we will let Him guide our steps, and seek His wisdom. Last of all, leaders, or aspiring leaders, should be students of history. In 1950, Billy Graham looked to what God did in and through D.L. Moody. He became a student of Moody’s legacy, and sought to build upon that. That’s deeply instructive.
