Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-01-20
BILLY SUNDAY
Close up Of Famous Evangelist Now
Preaching In SpartaDbBrg.
BEGAN PREACHING ON SMALL SALARY
Very Light Eater and Aseribes Good
Health to Regular Habits-Earnest-
ness and Simplicity Two Factors in
His Success

! Health to Regular Habits-Earnest-
ness and Simplicity Two Factors in
His Success.
Sixty million persons, or more than
/ five times as many as have heard any
other speaker since the beginning OF
time, have heard the Rev. Billy sun
day, who tomorrow completes the first
week of the Spartanburg revival
writes a staff correspondent of the
Greenville News. lat ... o..
Sixty million is a conservative es-
innate as to the number who have
heard him preach the doctrine of I'M
| mortal life through repentance and
faith in Jesus Christ The total of
sixty million is arrived at by figuring
that an average of 5000 have attended
each of Mr.. Sundays meetings; that
he has been holding two meetings each
day for about S6 weeks Of the year
and that he has been preaching for
over 26 years. This system gives what
is considered to be a very conserva-
tive estimate as more than 10000 per-
sons instead of 5000, attended the
meetings held in New York and other
large cities of the nation.
What is the greatest factor in the
success of the man? What is it that
has drawn thousands to him as COM
pared to the hundreds who have heard
the Apostle Paul, Demosthenes, Will
liam Jennings Bryan or Theodore
Roosevelt. '
From the standpoint of a newspa-
perman, who has heard every sermon
delivered in Spartanburg and has been
so close as to almost be stepped on at
times, there are two things which
stand out above all others. Without
being presumptuous enough to at
tempt a criticism OF any minister, par
ticularly OF ole the 'calibre OF Mr.. Sun
day, it seems there are two factors
which above all others contribute to
Mr.. Sundays success.
Earnestness and simplicity; SIM
plicity, and earnestness.
Those qualities. from this corre-
spondent's viewpoint, have been the
things which more than others have
caused Mr.. Sunday to enjoy the rep
utation of being the greatest evan
gelist since the Apostle Paul.
To state either one first Is rather
misleading for both are harmonious
iy Blended in every sermon the evan
geist delivers. That he Is earnest
in his sermons is shown by the fact
that he is PROSTATE at the close Of
every service. A natural athlete, the
evangelist is completely exhausted at
the close of each service, so utterly
and completely has he thrown him
self physically and mentally, into the
work. .r =. .... '.
l Simplicity Apparent.
Ard yet his simplicity is just as
apparent as is his earnestness.
child of twelve years could readily
understand the doctrine, Mr. Sunday
breaches. There are no isms or
'ologies to confound or perplex. and
place the individual in doubt. There
is no road to Heaven other than that
Of repentance and belief, the evange-
list eternally states.
There is no road to hell other than
the opposite Of repentance and belief.
Believe thou on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved" is
the shortest and most concise defini-
ton of the way to go to Heaven, Mr..
Sunday stated in sermon here this
week. Time and time again he has
repeated that all of the plan of saliva
tlor is but an enlargement Of that.
What of the evangelist's antics?
What of his standing on one foot and
cutting acrobatic stunts? What OF
his standing on the pulpit and a chair
at the same time? What of his keep
ing up baseball-like tactics on the
pulpit? What of his collection of
Jokes and anecdotes, many of which
the average minister would not tell
outside Of the pulpit for fear he would
be considered rough.
Mr.. Sunday best answers those
questions himself.
Il am preaching for God, and not
for you If | could draw more per-
sons to Jesus by standing on my head
than | now do, | would practice that
that for long time"
To Win Souls.
That in a nutshell explains Mr.. Sun
! DAYS attitude. He is preaching, as
he states and as is so evident to the
majority at least of those who have
heard him, not to win praise from his
feliowmen but to win souls for Jesus.
Could any ambition be more laud-
able? Could any follower of the resur-
rected CHI ist strive to do more?
Consider the early life of Mr.. sun
day. He was left an orphan. His
father was killed while fighting in the
Federal army and the little orphan had