Some Famous Evangelists in the USA Quiz

Answer: Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan theologian and preacher in the early 1700s who became a key leader of the First Great Awakening, a massive religious revival that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. This movement had the outcome of rekindling religious fervor through impassioned, highly emotional preaching. Known for his powerful sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", Edwards emphasized the absolute sovereignty of God, the reality of human sinfulness, and the urgent need for personal spiritual rebirth.

His vivid imagery and deeply emotional style helped transform American evangelism from formal, traditional church routines into dynamic, personal conversion experiences. However, after strict disagreements over church membership requirements, his congregation voted to dismiss him from his Northampton pulpit in 1750. He subsequently moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he served as a missionary to the Housatonic Native American tribe while continuing to write foundational theological works.

Answer: George Whitefield

George Whitefield was an English-born Anglican minister who became one of the most famous figures of the First Great Awakening, a dramatic spiritual movement that united the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. First arriving in America in 1738, he was soon known as the itinerant preacher whose booming voice energized open-air revivals across the American colonies. Whitefield possessed a theatrical delivery and extraordinary vocal projection that allowed him to preach to huge crowds (often drawing up to 30,000 people).

Because traditional churches often locked him out due to his emotional style, he pioneered this open-air field preaching style across all thirteen colonies, making him a true celebrity. Beyond his preaching tours, he was one of the founders of Methodism and also established the Bethesda Orphanage in Georgia in 1740.

Answer: Charles Finney

Charles Finney was a Presbyterian minister and leader who became known as the "Father of Modern Revivalism" during the Second Great Awakening. A former lawyer who experienced a dramatic conversion during a walk in the woods in 1821, Finney applied his legal training to preaching by using direct, persuasive language and logic to compel listeners to make an immediate decision for Christ. He broke from traditional Calvinist theology by asserting that spiritual revivals were not purely miraculous acts of God, but could be purposefully produced using deliberate human methods.

Finney popularized several controversial ideas that revolutionized mass evangelism, most notably pioneering the "anxious bench" which is a designated front pew where those experiencing deep conviction could sit to be prayed for publicly and urged to convert. Beyond his revival tours across upstate New York and major northern cities, Finney strongly linked Christian salvation with social reform.

Answer: Dwight L. Moody

Dwight L. Moody was a prominent 19th-century urban revivalist who founded a famous Chicago Bible college. He was also a publisher, redefining mass evangelism for the times. Starting as a successful shoe salesman in Boston before moving to Chicago, Moody gave up his business career in 1860 to focus entirely on urban ministry. He began by establishing a mission Sunday school in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, which grew into the Illinois Street Church. He possessed a conversational and easy going preaching style that favored clear illustrations that working-class city dwellers enjoyed.

Moody introduced business efficiency, organizational techniques, and mass media aspects to his campaigns. Partnering with song leader Ira D. Sankey, he popularized gospel hymns that became central to urban revival services across the United States and Great Britain. To ensure his work outlasted his individual crusade tours, Moody founded the Chicago Bible Institute in 1886 (later renamed Moody Bible Institute) to train laypeople for Christian ministry, as well as the Bible Institute Colportage Association (later Moody Publishers) to distribute inexpensive Christian literature nationwide.

Answer: Billy Sunday

Billy Sunday was a former professional baseball player turned energetic 1920s revivalist who became one of the most influential and colorful religious figures in early 20th-century America. After playing outfield for major league teams including the Chicago White Stockings (later named the Cubs), Sunday experienced an evangelical conversion in Chicago in 1886. He eventually left baseball to pursue ministry, bringing his athletic intensity directly to the pulpit. His preaching featured extraordinary physical theatrics like leaping across the stage or smashing chairs.

Sunday introduced the logistics of constructing temporary, giant wooden "tabernacles" filled with sawdust aisles, coining the phrase "hitting the sawdust trail" for those walking forward to convert. He merged his fierce theology with social commentary, becoming a leading champion of the Temperance movement. His fiery sermons attacking alcohol were widely credited with building the public momentum that led to the passage of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition).

Answer: Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson was a Pentecostal pioneer who founded the Foursquare Church and used radio, theater, and a grand temple in Los Angeles to become one of the most celebrated and innovative media personalities of the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Canada, "Sister Aimee" began her ministry as an tent revivalist, traveling across the United States in a decorated Oldsmobile she called the "Gospel Car". Recognizing the power of modern entertainment and technology, she settled in Southern California and built Angelus Temple in 1923. This was a 5,300 seat church that hosted dramatic sermons using Hollywood-style sets, costumes, elaborate pageantry, and even full orchestras.

McPherson was a trailblazer in broadcasting, becoming one of the first women to hold a federal radio license and founding one of the nation's earliest Christian radio stations (KFSG) to reach millions outside her temple walls. She formalized her teachings by founding the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which grew into a global denomination. Beyond her media savvy and charismatic services, McPherson established extensive social welfare programs during the Great Depression, opening soup kitchens and relief centers at Angelus Temple that fed and clothed over one million people regardless of race or religious affiliation.

Answer: Billy Graham

Billy Graham was a famous 20th-century called "America's Pastor" who hosted massive international crusades and advised U.S. presidents, becoming one of the most influential and widely heard Christian evangelists in modern history. Born on a dairy farm in North Carolina, Graham experienced a personal spiritual conversion at age 16 during a revival meeting. He rose to national prominence during his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade, a scheduled three-week campaign that extended to eight weeks due to overflowing crowds and intense national media coverage, launching him into the public eye as a major spiritual voice.

Graham, in his evangelism, used satellite broadcasts, radio shows, syndicated columns, and feature films through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Over six decades, he preached in person to nearly 215 million people in over 185 countries and territories, while reaching hundreds of millions more through television. Known for his simple and direct message, Graham insisted on integrated seating at his Southern crusades well before the civil rights movement gained full momentum, refusing to preach to segregated audiences. His spiritual counsel was sought by twelve consecutive U.S. presidents, from Harry Truman to Barack Obama, cementing his legacy as a unifying cultural and religious icon.

Answer: Oral Roberts

Oral Roberts was a charismatic faith healing pioneer who built a major televangelism ministry and university in Oklahoma. Raised in poverty as the son of an Oklahoma preacher, Roberts contracted tuberculosis at age 17 and experienced a dramatic recovery during a healing service, an event that shaped his life's mission. In 1947, he established the Healing Waters ministry, traveling the country with a massive canvas tent that sat thousands, where he laying hands on the sick and preached message centered on physical healing and divine prosperity.

Roberts was instrumental in taking Pentecostalism to national television audiences. In 1954, he began filming his crusade services for broadcast, allowing millions of viewers at home to experience faith healing services firsthand. He popularized the concept of "Seed-Faith" which is the teaching that financial giving to ministry serves as an investment that God will multiply back to the donor. In 1963, he founded Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, establishing a premier charismatic Christian institution dedicated to educating the a person in mind, body, and spirit.

Answer: Jerry Falwell

Jerry Falwell was a Southern Baptist pastor who founded the Moral Majority and Liberty University, merging conservative politics with evangelism. Starting in 1956 as the founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, Falwell quickly expanded his outreach by launching "The Old-Time Gospel Hour", a nationally syndicated radio and television broadcast. In 1971, he established Lynchburg Baptist College (later Liberty University), which grew into a major Christian university aimed at providing higher education grounded in an evangelical worldview.

In 1979, Falwell co-founded the Moral Majority, an organization created to mobilize conservative evangelical voters across the United States. The Moral Majority supported Ronald Reagan in the presidential election of 1980 and was credited with part of his landslide victory over Jimmy Carter. By encouraging pastors and churchgoers to engage directly in campaigns, lobbying, and grassroots political activism, Falwell helped reshape American electoral politics.

Answer: Luis Palau

Luis Palau was an Argentine-American evangelist widely known for his massive festival-style revivals and global outreach. Born in Argentina, Palau came to faith as a youth, began preaching on street corners, and moved to the United States in 1960 for theological studies. Early in his career, he interned for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and served as Graham's Spanish-language translator, eventually launching his own independent ministry with Graham's encouragement and support.

Palau revolutionized modern international evangelism by shifting away from traditional stadium crusades toward outdoor, family-friendly festivals featuring Christian music, action sports (including skateboarding and motocross), and community involvement to reach younger, secular audiences. Over his six decades of ministry, he preached in person to millions of people across more than 80 countries, including major campaigns throughout Latin America, Europe, and Asia, while reaching millions more through extensive radio broadcasts, books, and digital media.