Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody audio

I had a free download of this and have listed to over 17 hours narrated by Jonathan Marosz. It has been a real eye-opener for me although I thought I knew a bit about Moody. The author, Lyle W. Dorsett, is an affectionate recorder of the Moody phenomena but not without attempting to measure the man and his work.

I had no real idea of the way that the Moody years have shaped what became the consensus of evangelicalism for the whole of the 20th century. Moody's son commented that Moody's single ambition was 'to proclaim the good news of the gospel through multiplied agencies'. It was the 'multiplied agencies' that I had missed. He stamped his personality and pattern on the whole evangelical world, for good or ill. Evangelistic agencies, YMCAs, Bible colleges, schools, missionary outreaches, international travel were all part of the multiplied agencies. There can be no doubt that he brought millions of individuals face to face with their need for a personal encounter with Christ. How successful those encounters were cannot be measured. His fund raising abilities were legendary and he used what have now become stock in trade methods of mail hits and newspaper publicity. He never appealed for his own financial needs but never hesitated to use his powers and influence to raise huge sums of money for evangelistic campaigns and agencies.

Moody comes through as a man with a genuine gift for loyal friendship and a large heart. His fame gave him access to wide ranges of society and his burden was always to point them to their need for Christ. His energies were also legendary, as was his ability to conscript others into his campaigns.

Dorsett has a final chapter called 'a retrospect' in which he attempts to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Moody as a man and as a model. I have listened to this chapter 4 times. It is challenging, humbling and disturbing but perhaps an honest account of any man would be the same.

I leave this account feeling I have met Moody and warmed to him in a way that has surprised me although my apprehensions of his methodologies have been confirmed. This is a valuable account of a man whose life and manner continue to impact the world of evangelicalism. I give this a solid 4 stars out of 5.

Publisher: Moody Publishers (October 1997) 491 pages.
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802451942
ISBN-13: 978-0802451941