CHRISTIANITY'S CONTROVERSIAL WORD
By Ted Schroder,
November 10, 2013
When "evangelism" is mentioned there are immediate reactions according to our associations. For some it is positive because it reminds them of Billy Graham. For many others it conjures up images of television evangelists shouting into microphones. Sinclair Lewis researched and wrote about evangelists in his 1927 novel, Elmer Gantry which was made into a movie in 1960 starring Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons. It is a satirical novel based on the ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson who founded the International Church of the Four Square Gospel and built the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. She was the most celebrated evangelist and faith healer of the 1920's and 30's. Sinclair Lewis portrayed Elmer Gantry as a hypocrite and a fraud. Lewis's book was banned in Boston and he was called "Satan's Cohort" by evangelist Billy Sunday. It was the number one fiction bestseller in 1927.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
By Ted Schroder,
November 10, 2013
When "evangelism" is mentioned there are immediate reactions according to our associations. For some it is positive because it reminds them of Billy Graham. For many others it conjures up images of television evangelists shouting into microphones. Sinclair Lewis researched and wrote about evangelists in his 1927 novel, Elmer Gantry which was made into a movie in 1960 starring Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons. It is a satirical novel based on the ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson who founded the International Church of the Four Square Gospel and built the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. She was the most celebrated evangelist and faith healer of the 1920's and 30's. Sinclair Lewis portrayed Elmer Gantry as a hypocrite and a fraud. Lewis's book was banned in Boston and he was called "Satan's Cohort" by evangelist Billy Sunday. It was the number one fiction bestseller in 1927.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
