Hello, and welcome to episode 67 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. This is the show where we look at Christians from the last 2000 years that have made an impact for the kingdom of God. Over the last few episodes we've been building up the chain of faith that leads to Billy Graham. We've seen how the devotion and life of Sunday school teacher Edward Kimball led to the conversion of a young DL Moody. Then how Moody inspired Wilbur Chapman to go into full-time evangelism which led to Chapman giving Billy Sunday his start as an evangelist. And that's where we pick up the chain today as we take a deeper dive into the life of Billy Sunday.
Billy Sunday was born on November 19, 1862, in Ames, Iowa, to parents William, and Mary Jane. William was the son of German immigrants with the original surname Sonntag, which they later anglicized to Sunday. William was a bricklayer by trade and in August of 1682 he enlisted as a volunteer in the Iowa 23rd Volunteer Infantry for the Union Army in the American Civil War. Unfortunately, he died of pneumonia four months later when Billy was only one month old, leaving Mary Jane with three children.
The family moved in with Mary Jane's parents and Billy had a very close relationship with his grandparents. Mary Jane did remarry but her second husband abandoned the family so, when Billy was 10 years old she sent him and his brother to an orphanage because she couldn't support them. Billy credited the orphanages he lived in for giving him structure and stability. By the age of 14, he was off working on his own at the farm of former Iowa lieutenant governor John Scott. Sunday cared for animals and did odd-jobs around the farm and also had the chance to attend the local high school.
In 1880 he moved on to Marshalltown, Iowa. He joined the local fire brigade and began playing baseball for the town team. Baseball gave him his first big break. Cap Anson, a major league player who still holds a record for playing in 27 straight seasons, had an aunt in Marhsalltown who told him all about Sunday's speed and ability on the baseball field. And then Anson recommended Sunday to AG Spalding – of Spalding Sporting Goods fame – who was the president of the Chicago White Stockings of the National League (who are confusingly now known as the Chicago Cubs – not the Chicago White Sox). Spalding hired Sunday in 1883.
Sunday was a fill-in player in right field for the White Stockings. His greatest asset was his speed. In 1885 the White Stockings setup a race between Sunday and the St Luois Browns' Arlie Latham, the fastest player in the American Association. It was a 100 yard dash and Sunday won the race by about 3 yards.
Billy enjoyed the nightlife and the drinking that came with being a baseball star. His was a fast life - on and off the base paths. But everything changed for Billy in 1886, when he attended a gospel meeting at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. He was moved by the preaching of Harry Monroe, a former drunkard who had been converted at the mission. Billy gave his life to Christ and to quit drinking. He later said, "I got down on my knees and I settled it right there." He also met his future wife, Helen Thompson, or "Ma" Sunday, at the mission. She was a devout Christian who supported him in his faith and his ministry.
In 1888 Sunday was sold to the Pittsburgh Alleghanys where he got regular playing time in center field. The Alleghanys were a bad team and Sunday suffered through losing seasons in 1888 and 89. In 1890 many players left and formed a new league, the Players League, in a dispute over pay. Billy was invited to join them but felt bound by his conscience to honor his contract and stick with Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh shortly ran out of money and Billy was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies.
He left baseball in 1891 and became a full-time worker for the YMCA. He also joined the evangelistic team of J. Wilbur Chapman, the Presbyterian minister who taught him how to preach. Billy soon developed his own style of preaching, using humor, slang, gestures, and illustrations to connect with his audience. He also used music, testimonies, and personal counseling to draw people to Christ.
YMCA stands for the Young Men's Christian Association, a worldwide organization that focuses on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility but which used to be focused on reaching young men for Christ. The YMCA was founded in 1844 in London, England, by George Williams, a textile worker who was concerned about the spiritual and social condition of young men during the Industrial Revolution. He started a prayer and Bible study group with his friends, which later grew into a movement that aimed to provide a wholesome and supportive environment for young men based on Christian values.
The YMCA's original mission was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and to help young men grow in their faith and character. The YMCA also offered educational, recreational, and social opportunities for its members, such as libraries, gyms, classes, and clubs. Over time, the YMCA's relationship with Christianity has changed and evolved - I would say deteriorated. Some few YMCAs have maintained a strong Christian identity and focus, while most have become more secular.
Sunday launched his own independent ministry in 1896 when Chapman returned to pastoral ministry. One of the first Billy Sunday campaigns, using a tent, was held in Garner, Iowa, in 1896. He gradually gained popularity and recognition as an evangelist, and by the early 20th century, he was holding large-scale revivals in major American cities. He claimed that he converted more than a million people to Christ through his ministry. He traveled across the country, holding revival meetings in tents, specially-constructed tabernacles, and stadiums.
Often the churches that invited Sunday to town would build a tabernacle to house his services. This was a common practice for evangelistic outreach and Sunday used it to good effect. These tabernacles were quickly constructed temporary buildings that could house thousands of people - the average one held 7,000. They typically had electric lighting and, when necessary, heating. There'd be row upon row of chairs and the floor would be lined with sawdust in an effort to keep excess noise down. This is where we get the phrase "hitting the sawdust trail" - as a reference to folks responding to the invitation and walking up the sawdust covered aisles. These evangelistic meetings were a real event that took months of planning and promotion to pull off. If you check out romans1015.com that I've linked in the show notes you can see some photos of these tabernacles.
Sunday preached to millions of people, from farmers to factory workers, from cowboys to college students. He spoke on topics such as sin, salvation, heaven, hell, the Bible, prayer, family, morality, and social issues. He was especially passionate about prohibition, or banning alcohol sales in the United States. He believed that alcohol was the root of many evils in society, such as poverty, crime, violence, and broken homes. He campaigned for prohibition laws and supported the Eighteenth Amendment that made prohibition national policy in 1919. He also supported women's suffrage and tighter child-labor laws.
Billy represented and defended the Fundamentalist movement, which emerged in response to the challenges of modernism and liberalism in theology and culture. He affirmed the literal interpretation of the Bible and the core doctrines of Christianity, such as the virgin birth, the atonement, and the second coming of Christ. He also opposed the theory of evolution and criticized the social gospel movement. A Fundamentalist of Sunday's time is your garden variety evangelical today. Where today's fundamentalists are withdrawn from society - even Christian society - Sunday was not. He was fully engaged.
Sunday was no stranger to controversy. He was accused of being a "money-grabber" who exploited his popularity for personal gain. He charged a hefty fee for his services and received a percentage of the collections from his revivals. He also lived in a luxurious mansion in Winona Lake, Indiana. His mansion was called a 14 room home called Mount Hood that was built in the arts-and-crafts style. You can actually visit it today as a museum.
He was involved in a political controversy when he supported the U.S. entry into World War I and denounced pacifists and socialists as traitors. He also blamed the Spanish flu pandemic on the Germans, claiming that they had spread germs as part of their propaganda. He urged his followers to buy Liberty bonds and support the war effort.
Billy Sunday was one of the most popular and controversial figures of his time. He was loved by many who admired his zeal, his sincerity, and his message. He was disliked by others who criticized his theology, his methods, and his politics. He faced opposition from skeptics, liberals, Catholics, socialists, bootleggers, and even some fellow evangelicals. But he never backed down from what he believed and what he preached.
Billy Sunday died on November 6, 1935, in Chicago. He was 72 years old. He left behind a legacy of faith and influence that shaped American Christianity and culture in the early 20th century. He also paved the way for other evangelists who followed him, such as Billy Graham. He was a giant of the faith. Thanks for listening. Until next time, God bless.
RESOURCES
Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-sunday.html
Got Questions?: https://www.gotquestions.org/Billy-Sunday.html
Romans1015: https://romans1015.com/billysunday/
Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bsunday3.html
Travis Agnew: https://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/