Giants of the Faith - A Christian History Podcast

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Merry Christmas! I'm recording this episode in December 2023 and Christmas is fast approaching. So, in honor of this festive season, today's episode will focus on the history and stories surrounding two men that have become part of our Christmas traditions in the West. One, Boniface, is most famous as the bringer of the Christmas tree. The other, Wenceslaus, for his noble act of kindness.

RESOURCES

BONIFACE SOURCES

Franciscan Media: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-boniface/

Fordham University: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/willibald-boniface.asp

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/boniface.html

Christianapostles.com: https://christianapostles.com/st-boniface/

Catholic Answers: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/st-boniface-and-the-christmas-tree

WENCESLAUS SOURCES

Franciscan Media: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-wenceslaus/

Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wenceslas-I-prince-of-Bohemia

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church: https://stwenc-ic.com/about-us/history-of-the-saint/3-history-of-st-wenceslaus

St. Wenceslaus Parish: http://www.stwenc.org/St_Wenceslaus/St-wencelsaus-story.html

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVUMG6LZGM

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This is part two of two of a look at the life of famed evangelist Billy Graham. In part one we looked at Graham's early life through his first major evangelistic campaign in Los Angeles. Today we'll look at the rest of his life. I feel like I should say that I'm not covering everything that Graham did in his life. He was a busy guy. There are plenty of biographies out there if you are interested in learning more about him.


RESOURCES

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/blog-billy-graham-and-the-florida-bible-institute/

iDisciple: https://www.idisciple.org/post/the-impact-of-one

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/billy-graham

Billygraham.org: https://billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/billy-graham/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-graham.html

My Hero: https://myhero.com/billy-graham

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/interview-billy-grahams-best-biographer/

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/reverend-billy-graham-ordinary-man-extraordinary-call/

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

Aunty Faith: https://auntyfaith.com/2020/09/01/the-biography-of-mordecai-ham-the-southern-revivalist/

Florida Backroads Travel: https://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/temple-terrace-florida.html

WUSF: https://www.wusf.org/news/2018-02-21/rev-billy-graham-found-evangelical-voice-in-temple-terrace-tampa

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/the-modesto-manifesto

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We've been following the chain of faith from Edward Kimball to DL Moody, then from Moody to Wilbur Chapman and on through Billy Sunday and Mordecai Ham until we've finally reach the man himself, William Franklin Graham. Graham needs little introduction so we'll just jump right into the story.

RESOURCES

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/blog-billy-graham-and-the-florida-bible-institute/

iDisciple: https://www.idisciple.org/post/the-impact-of-one

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/billy-graham

Billygraham.org: https://billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/billy-graham/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-graham.html

My Hero: https://myhero.com/billy-graham

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/interview-billy-grahams-best-biographer/

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/reverend-billy-graham-ordinary-man-extraordinary-call/

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

Aunty Faith: https://auntyfaith.com/2020/09/01/the-biography-of-mordecai-ham-the-southern-revivalist/

Florida Backroads Travel: https://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/temple-terrace-florida.html

WUSF: https://www.wusf.org/news/2018-02-21/rev-billy-graham-found-evangelical-voice-in-temple-terrace-tampa

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This is a bit of a bonus because I didn't intend to give today's subject the full episode treatment. But after a last-minute change of mind here we are with a short episode focusing on Mordecai Ham, the Kentuckian evangelist who will be the penultimate link in our chain of faith leading up to Billy Graham. Ham was a fundamentalist Baptist - not the kind of guy I would normally want to feature. He was, perhaps, anti-Semitic, certainly racist, anti-Catholic, and prone to all of the worst leanings you can imagine of an IFB leader. But he played a part in this chain of faith so here we are. I present to you this biography of Ham not because of who he was but more because of the impact he had.

RESOURCES

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

SBC Evangelist: https://www.sbcevangelist.org/mordecai-ham/

Garland Landmark Society: https://www.garlandhistorical.org/online-resources/46-articles/satellite-business/100-revivalist-s-fiery-preaching-recalled

Truth in History (these guys are nuts): http://truthinhistory.org/the-need-of-the-anglo-israel-truth.html

Sword of the Lord (nuts, as well): https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094255/http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/HamMordecai.htm

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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.

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/

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In today's episode we're continuing the faith march toward Billy Graham. We started this journey by profiling the travelling salesman Edward Kimball, then the world renowned evangelist DL Moody. Today it's the lesser-known John Wilbur Chapman, a Presbyterian evangelist and pastor who was one of the most influential leaders of the revival movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

RESOURCES

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bchapman4.html

Canton Baptist Temple: https://christianhof.org/chapman/

Leben: https://leben.us/j-wilbur-chapman-hymnwriter-and-evangelist/

American Profile: https://americanprofile.com/articles/wilbur-chapman-evangelist/

Ancient-Modern Study Bible: https://www.christianbook.com/nkjv-comfort-ancient-modern-cloth-board/9780785215974/pd/215977?event=ESRCG

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In today's episode we're continuing the faith march toward Billy Graham. In the last episode we looked at Edward Kimball, the humble Sunday School teacher who led DL Moody to the Lord, and today we're focused on Moody himself. Moody was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Bible Institute, the Moody Church, and several other ministries that still impact millions of people today. 

RESOURCES

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/dwight-l-moody-biography/

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biomoody4.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/life-and-times-of-moody

Moody Bible Institute: https://www.moody.edu/about/our-bold-legacy/d-l-moody/

Curiosmith: https://curiosmith.com/pages/bible-institute-colportage-association

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Over the next five episodes we're going to be tracing the chain of faith from a little-known Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, to the most impactful Christian evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham. I hope you enjoy.


RESOURCES

New Life Christian Fellowship: https://www.newlife-ct.org/the-newlife-blog/post/who-is-edward-kimball

Travis Agnew: https://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/

Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kimball_(teacher)

Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/article/121082799/noted-helper-of-churches-is-dead-edward/

Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/article/120476386/a-modern-moses-edward-kimball-detailed/

Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=NCpWAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22edward+kimball%22+moody&pg=PA284#v=onepage&q=%22edward%20kimball%22%20moody&f=false

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Today we're going to the Dark Continent to talk about Jove Ejovi Aganbi, a Nigerian pastor, evangelist and educator who played a key role in the growth of Christianity in his country. As is sometimes the case with this podcast I have to warn you that I will struggle with some pronunciations here. I did reach out to an Urhobo group on Facebook for help with pronunciations but as of recording time I have not heard back from them. So if I mangle words badly, forgive me.

RESOURCES

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/aganbi-jove/

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/ejovi-oboberhie/

Walking in Love Ministries of MKP, Inc..: https://walkinginloveministries.org/8-early-eku-history/

SIM International: https://www.sim.org/

Pew Research: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/04/19/sub-saharan-africa-will-be-home-to-growing-shares-of-the-worlds-christians-and-muslims/

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Hello and welcome to Giants of the Faith, the podcast where we explore some of the great figures in Christian history. This is episode 62. I'm your host, Robert Daniels, and today we're going way back to look at the life of Clement of Alexandria, one of the first Christian philosophers and teachers of the church. As with many early fathers, details of Clement's life are scarce but I will do the best I can with what we have.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/clement-of-alexandria.html

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/egypt/clement-of-alex/

Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/Clement-of-Alexandria.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/clement-of-alexandria-rich-person

Early Christian Writings: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/