Any assessment of twentieth-century American Christianity will have to include an evaluation of Billy Graham's life and ministry. While other biographies tell the story of Graham's rise to fame, Lewis Drummond's The Evangelist (Word, 2001) assesses whether Graham's ministry is "a genuine historical phenomenon that finds itself in the mainstream of evangelicalism."

In effect, Drummond answers this question by testing Graham against 12 essential doctrines and beliefs of evangelicalism. I found nary a fault or deficiency in the book's evaluation of Graham's beliefs, methods, or impact. Graham clearly passes the test.

Drummond favorably quotes Reverend Maurice Wood, member of Britain's House of Lords, who puts Billy "in line with the Wesleys and Saint Augustine" and extols him as "the most spiritually productive servant of God in our time."

We must admit that it simply might not be possible for those of us who admire Billy Graham to evaluate him objectively. It would have been interesting for ...