Bread and Bibles: D.L. Moody's Evangelism and Social Action

by Gregg Quiggle

When I was at work in the City Relief Society, before the fire, I used to go to a poor sinner with the Bible in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other. –D. L. Moody Dwight Lyman Moody was a preacher, pastor, and visionary whose impact is still felt around the world. He was a servant to poor and immigrant communities, an evangelist who traveled the globe, and a champion of Christian education—Moody founded Moody Publishers and he started three schools, including Moody Bible Institute, which has trained more missionaries than any other single institution in the United States. Dr. Gregg Quiggle explores the life and legacy of a man who helped shape American evangelicalism. Taking a focused and in-depth look at the social vision and missionary work—triumphs and failures—of D. L. Moody, Quiggle tells the story of a man whose impact continues to this day.  

272 pages, Paperback

Published May 7, 2024

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an accurate, concise, and inspiring book about the evangelist. It provides an outline of his life, highlights his many achievements, especially concerning social engagement, and notes his faults. Best of all, the writing is easy to follow yet still historically accurate!

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This unique study of D. L. Moody's life combines biographical elements with a focus on specific themes from his ministry. Gregg Quiggle explores how this well-known nineteenth-century pastor and evangelist served others throughout his ministry, both in terms of evangelizing and addressing material needs. Quiggle explains that even though many people view Moody's ministry as a turning point in evangelicalism where people began to focus on evangelism alone to the exclusion of responding to social issues, Moody's actual life and ministry reflect shared priorities. 

The early chapters in this book focus on Moody's life story, and his conversion and development as an evangelist and global Christian leader. Later chapters jump around to different parts of his life while focusing on particular topics and themes. These chapters cover his theological beliefs, his vision for social change, and the triumphs and failures of his own and his organizations' charitable works and advocacy for various issues. The author takes a realistic, nuanced view that does not lionize or disgrace Moody, but which holds competing realities in tension.

One section addresses how Moody compromised on his beliefs of racial equality in the years after the Civil War, in order to accommodate Southern whites who resisted integrated gatherings when Moody came to speak. Quiggle provides thoughtful context for Moody's compromises and others' various responses to them at the time, and he addresses Moody's failure in this area in a direct and balanced way that conveys lessons for responding to other racial injustices and tensions today.

Although I appreciated this book overall, I occasionally found it a bit dry and difficult to follow. It switches back and forth between time periods in a way that may be confusing for some readers at times, and there are lots of different references to other historical figures and people in Moody's orbit. I had a hard time keeping some of them straight, and sometimes gave up on remembering the earlier context for who someone was, since these side players would disappear for long stretches of time and then come up again.

Bread and Bibles: D.L. Moody's Evangelism and Social Action is a thought-provoking, well-balanced book that will appeal to people who are interested in biographies of preachers and missionaries, and to people who want to better understand the history of evangelicalism in America. This well-researched book will be great for scholars studying similar topics, while also being accessible for other readers who want to learn more about Moody's ministry or this time in American church history.

I received a free copy from the publisher, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Elizabeth Dailing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Gregg Quiggle's, "Bread and Bibles" is so timely and instructive for the American church. Quiggle explores the life, ministry, and theological underpinnings of D.L. Moody with fresh eyes and an instructive approach. The story is so thorough, tracking Mr. Moody's life and legacy from childhood through the early days of caring for impoverished children in his Chicago Sunday Schools, to the heights of his revival days. Dr. Quiggle lays out the basic commitments that shaped Mr. Moody's ministry and they are commitments that provide a clear directive for evangelical Christians in the modern age. This text is particularly refreshing in highlighting the lessons Christians may glean from not only Moody's ministry successes, but also his failures. Dr. Quiggle provides instruction on an important question facing Christians who study church history. How do we grapple with the sins of the "mighty men and women of the faith?" Dr. Quiggle offers an approach, based in the revelation of Scripture itself. Scripture does not lionize the humans in the Biblical narrative without also revealing the sinfulness of those who walked with God. Only Jesus is the exemplar of the Christian faith. His is the normative Christian life. Dr. Quiggle reminds the reader of this crucial point, that two things can be true, that a believer can seek God's heart and still fall. He draws the reader back to the Biblical text, citing 1 Corinthians 10:12, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall" as a crucial encouragement toward humility. Dr. Quiggle concludes "Bread and Bibles" with six lessons one can take from Mr. Moody's life and those alone are worth the read.

[Lee Nienhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. In fact, I read with a pen in my hand as there is so much to chew on.