Evangelist
🇺🇸R.A. Torrey
1856–1928 · American · Evangelist, Theologian & First Superintendent of Moody Bible Institute
“The whole secret of abundant, holy, and fruitful Christian life is the filling of the Holy Spirit.”
Biography
Reuben Archer Torrey was born on January 28, 1856, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He graduated from Yale University in 1875 and Yale Divinity School in 1878, then studied in Germany at Leipzig and Erlangen. A period of agnosticism and heavy drinking in his early life gave way to a thoroughgoing evangelical conversion. D.L. Moody personally recruited Torrey to lead his Chicago Evangelization Society, which became Moody Bible Institute, where he served as its first superintendent from 1889 to 1908. A meticulous scholar and systematic thinker, Torrey brought intellectual rigor to popular evangelism. He traveled the world with musician Charles Alexander from 1902 to 1906 in campaigns across Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom, preaching to enormous crowds. The Melbourne meetings alone drew over 8,000 nightly. Back in America, his campaigns in major cities continued to produce widespread revival. He also served as dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) from 1912 to 1924. A committed defender of biblical inerrancy, he edited the landmark series 'The Fundamentals' (1910–1915), which gave the fundamentalist movement its name. He died on October 26, 1928, in Asheville, North Carolina.
Key Works
Torrey's edited series 'The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth' (1910–1915), twelve volumes distributed free to pastors and missionaries worldwide, defined conservative Protestant orthodoxy for a generation and gave the fundamentalist movement its name. His books 'How to Pray,' 'The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit,' 'How to Obtain Fullness of Power,' and 'The Baptism with the Holy Spirit' became enduring classics of evangelical devotion and theology. He led the first Moody Bible Institute correspondence school, pioneering distance theological education. His world tour campaigns of 1902–06 are credited with contributing to revivals in Australia, India, and Korea.
Legacy
R.A. Torrey bridged the worlds of academic theology and popular revivalism more effectively than almost any of his contemporaries. 'The Fundamentals' he edited helped crystallize orthodox Protestant doctrine in an era of rapid theological liberalism. His writings on the Holy Spirit have profoundly shaped Pentecostal and charismatic spirituality even while remaining within a cessationist framework. BIOLA University and Talbot School of Theology, which he helped found, continue to train Christian scholars and workers. His world campaigns contributed directly to the great Korean Revival of 1907.