Preacher: Billy Sunday and Big-Time American Evangelism

by Roger A. Bruns

In this fast-paced, captivating account of Billy Sunday's life, Roger A. Bruns masterfully unfolds the story of modern evangelism. 
 
Born in Iowa during the Civil War, Sunday rose to fame as the "fastest man in baseball" during his career with the Chicago White Stockings in the 1880s. But he turned his back on the game when he heard the call of God, first spreading his old-fashioned, fundamentalist message in Chicago's gritty saloons.
By 1896, Sunday's swashbuckling campaign was on the road. He riled and rallied audiences across the country, firing off a slew of railing diatribes in his quest to expurgate the moral rot of society, board up bars and brothels, rid the world of cigarettes and dime novels, and save faithless, sinful, and rum-soaked souls from eternal damnation.
 
In the tabernacles and tents of his traveling revival, Sunday served up a spectacle of rambunctious antics and quick-tongued invectives all grounded in his own moral and religious authority. He beseeched the "fal-da-rol" and "tommyrot" displayed by intellectuals, evolutionists, Unitarians, and left-wing radicals to build a massive religious dynasty that foreshadowed the successful careers of Jimmy Swaggart and Billy Graham.
 
A stirring orator and consummate showman, Sunday's evangelical message reached millions of Americans, even before the advent of radio and television broadcasting. With unerring verve, Bruns chronicles how Sunday bridged the gap between the tent revivals of the nineteenth century and the evangelical empires of today.
 

360 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Roger Bruns (b. 1941) is an author and the former deputy director for the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States.

Reviews

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

_Preacher_ is popular account of Sunday's life and ministry. It's well written and would serve as a great starting place for the general reader. One highlight of the book is the prologue, where Bruns revs up the prose to communicate the energy and rhythm of a Sunday sermon.

For historians, however, the book doesn't add a lot of new insight into either Sunday, specifically, or American revivalism, more generally. I would have liked to see something on the meaning or significance of Sunday and his revivals.

[Tony Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one is interested in the history of evangelism in America, this book is a must read. The only reason I did not give it more stars is that it is a little long and hard follow when speaking of all the different people and events. However, absolutely amazing read when you see a revival in 1908 or so where 850,000 people when over six weeks in Columbus, OH. Billy Sunday revolutionized evangelism with his incredible organizational skills. For example, 400,000 feet of lumber were used to build his tabernacle in NYC in 1917 when he went to “Save New York”. He had a post office and medical unit built into the facility which would seat 19,000 people. I loved this book and learned how instrumental he was in prohibition and World War One. He was good friends with Teddy Roosevelt and Williams Jennings Bryant. He was an orator of the greatest extent with passion beyond passion for people turning to Christ. Very controversial also as you can imagine as he call for a moral uprising of the times to turn people to the Lord. If you want a fun, energetic and fast paced read of history you will not be disappointed.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book if great even if you are not interested in Billy Sunday, although his life will end up being interesting to you. What is also fascinating is the depiction of America post-Civil War to around 1930.

[Gerald Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball player turned evangelist turned recruiter. Fascinating book about a larger than life person.