1862-1935
Evangelist

The Best-Known Evangelist in America.

Decline.

Scandals.

Problems with Prohibition.

Left on the Sidelines.

Sunday's sermons had long been criticized by the refined, who accused him of vulgarity and crudeness. A former baseball player, Sunday did not hide that he was poorly educated. His dramatic, flamboyant sermons were given in the language of his audience. He believed that too many ministers spoke in language their listeners could not understand and so the Word failed to be heard. If volume and slang were enough, Sunday was the answer. But he was no longer the answer for many. His strident, simplistic approach, his focus on alcohol and fast living, his alliance with the Fundamentalists, and his opposition to Alfred E. Smith all made him seem out of date at best, if not reactionary. For urban sophisticates in and out of the church, Billy...