A Thirst For Souls: The Life of Evangelist Percy B. Crawford (1902-1960)

by Dan D. Crawford

Overview

A philosopher son comes to grips with his evangelist father's life and ministry, and his passion for winning lost souls. The author situates Percy Crawford within the fundamentalist movement he encountered in 1923, when he came to Los Angeles to get a college education, and instead got converted at Reuben Torrey's Church of the Open Door. The book identifies Crawford's main contributions to fundamentalism at a critical time in its history —the 1930s and '40s— when it was languishing and marginalized in American life. Crawford was one of the "young men on fire" who effectively used the new medium of radio (and later television) as vehicles for spreading the gospel. His direct and hard-hitting preaching style, together with a high-quality musical program assembled by his wife and life-long partner in evangelism, Ruth, helped to remake the public image of fundamentalism and rekindle the spirit of revivalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575911403
Publisher:	University Press Copublishing Division
Publication date:	08/01/2010
Pages:	363
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dan D. Crawford is senior lecturer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Department of Philosophy and Department of Classics and Religious Studies.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

1 Introduction 15

2 Conversion in Los Angeles 23

3 The Roots of Fundamentalism 33

4 Reuben Torrey's Bible Institute 48

5 UCLA: "Atheism Was Rampant" 62

6 Training at Wheaton 70

7 A Westminster Man 79

8 Early Ministry in Philadelphia 96

9 The Presbyterians 121

10 Pinebrook Bible Conference: A Mountaintop Experience 130

11 Radio: The Young People's Church of the Air 166

12 The King's College: Wheaton of the East 187

13 The Fundamentals of His Faith 209

14 U.S. Tours and Mass Evangelism 227

15 The Move to Television: Youth on the March 237

16 The King's College: The Briarcliff Years 271

17 A Christian Broadcasting Network 287

18 A Life Fulfilled 305

Notes 315

Bibliography 348

Acknowledgments 355

Index 357