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The Moody Bible Institute, founded by Evangelist D.L. Moody in 1886, was a major force in Fundamentalism from its inception in 1886 until it was captured by New Evangelicalism 70 years later.

The Bible Institute was designed to train “pastors, pastors’ assistants, city missionaries, general missionaries, Sunday School missionaries, evangelists, Bible readers,” etc. (William McLoughlin, Modern Revivalism, p. 273).

Moody’s first superintendent was Reuben Archer (R.A.) Torrey, from 1889-1908. He “became a most bitter foe of liberalism the rest of his days.” He led Moody Bible Institute in taking “a rock-solid position as the fundamental-liberal debate increased in volume” and was “a strong spokesman for Moody Bible Institute and evangelical conservatives in defending the absolute authority of the Bible and other evangelical doctrines” (James Vincent, The MBI Story). Torrey defended the infallible inspiration of Scripture in his book The Divine Origin of the Bible, which was published the year of D.L. Moody’s death (1899). Torrey refused to allow even a hint of liberalism among the teachers at MBI. When one man suggested that the school hire a teacher who was “something of a higher critic,” Torrey replied that he refused to hire a man “who is the least degree tainted.” Torrey was outspoken against liberalism. For example, he published a strong denunciation of Shailer Mathews and his heresy that the second coming of Christ is not a literal, personal coming, but “the triumph of the ideals of Jesus in human affairs.” Torrey’s denunciation was entitled An Exposure of the Foolishness, Fallacies and Falsehoods of Shailer Mathews (BIOLA Book Room, 1918). Torrey said that Mathews was fulfilling the prophecy of 2 Peter 3, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?”

James M. Gray followed Torrey as head of the Moody Bible Institute (1904-1934) and continued an outspoken denunciation of liberalism. Beginning 1907, he was editor of the Moody Bible Institute Monthly and “devoted much space in it to critiques of liberal religion and of social and political progressivism” (Joel Carpenter, Revive Us Again, p. 41). Under Gray, Moody Monthly stated that Harry Emerson Fosdick was “demonically inspired.” The Federal Council of Churches was called out by name for theological modernism and the social gospel. MBI stopped sending delegates to the Student Volunteer Missionary Convention in 1928. Gray said that Moody was in a battle for truth and righteousness and they expected “to be fought, to be spoken against, to be boycotted and picked at” (Carpenter, p. 43).

William H. Houghton followed Gray as president of Moody (1934-1947). He emphasized the infallible inspiration of Scripture and kept the school from the influence of Neo-orthodoxy which was sweeping through colleges and seminaries at the time. Houghton had a keen interest in creation science. In 1938, he brought Irwin A. Moon (1907-1986) on staff, and this was the beginning of the Moody Institute of Science (MIS) and the famous Sermons from Science videos. Houghton had a vision for spiritual revival in America. He began his administration by calling the school to a full day of prayer. And in the fall and winter of 1938-39, he preached a series of 26 messages “warning the nation of its spiritual desolation and calling on Americans to repent and turn to Christ.”

Through the 1940s, Moody Bible Institute remained openly fundamentalist, standing against theological liberalism, the social gospel, Roman Catholicism, the cults, communism, and other destructive forces of the times.

Moody was captured by the New Evangelical philosophy in the 1950s and 1960s.

Probably the last clear fundamentalist warning at Moody was given by Charles Woodbridge at Moody Founder’s Week in 1961. Though the warning was ignored by most, it was heeded by a young preacher named Rolland Starr of Massachusetts, who later pastored Cornerstone Baptist Church in Belmont. In 1998, he wrote the following reminiscence:

“When I entered the ministry 40 years ago [1958], I sensed some things did not seem altogether right in the church circles where I fellowshipped, but I could never put my finger on it. The language always seemed right and yet Bible believers (pastors, leaders, etc.) seemed to be leaning toward those who were not in the mainstream of Fundamentalism. I did notice Billy Graham’s change. However, things really came into focus in 1961 when someone paid my way to attend Moody Founder’s Week at Moody Bible Institute--once a Fundamental institution but now deeply imbedded in the Evangelical camp. Though unknown to me, even when I was there, seeds of this new philosophy were well developed at Moody. Dr. Charles Woodbridge was one of the speakers and it was announced that one afternoon he would hold a special session for pastors, evangelists, missionaries, etc. After hearing what he had to say about this new mood, I marvel that he was asked to speak there. Probably 200 or more were present. I remember it almost as if it were yesterday since it was such an eye-opener. I still remember his outline. He said there were some changes going on among the Evangelicals-Fundamentalists. First, he noted that there was a NEW MOOD among them. It was a mood of compromise and accommodation. Then, there was a NEW METHOD in evangelical circles and he particularly mentioned the new method in evangelism: ecumenical evangelism which Billy Graham had entered into some five years previously. Lastly, he warned that there would follow a NEW MESSAGE. Anyone who says that Billy Graham, and the rest of the Evangelical crowd, preaches the old-time Gospel, the one he preached 45 or 50 years ago, does not know what he is talking about. My eyes were really opened. Dr. Woodbridge had certainly turned on the light. I came home a different man. I soon lost a good many of my former friends in and out of the ministry. I was too narrow, too bigoted. I have no regrets for, though it has not always been easy, it is wonderful just to stand on God’s Holy Word. I bless God for that man who had the courage to warn God’s servants of this deviant Christianity” (Starr, The New Evangelical Experiment, 1998, p. 4).

Charles Woodbridge published his message on the new mood, the new method, and the new message in his 1969 book The New Evangelicalism. Though he didn’t name Moody Bible Institute, it was a perfect description of the school’s new philosophy.

In January 1976, Moody Monthly advertised the books of Robert Barclay, who had said, “Nowhere does the New Testament identify Jesus as God. There are attributes of God I do not see in Jesus,” and, “I am a convinced Universalist” (quoted from Rolland Starr, The New Evangelical Experiment, 1998, p. 56).

In January 1978, Moody Monthly ran an article that stated, “Though the Bible condemns homosexual practice, it does not condemn the homosexual desire.” To the contrary, Romans 1 condemns homosexual “affections” and “lust” (Ro. 1:26-27), which refer to desires.

By the 1970s, unrepentant, unconverted homosexuals were accepted as students at MBI. In December 1978, Faith At Work magazine reported, “Out of my Moody Bible Institute class, not one of the eight homosexuals I know has ever changed in spite of prayer, therapy and marriage for most. All are still homosexuals.” The one thing that will change a homosexual was not mentioned, and that is born again conversion.

In February 1978, Moody Monthly praised the Catholic “saint” Francis of Assisi, as follows: “Undoubtedly Francis is one of the most appealing individuals to go by the name of Christian since our Lord walked on the earth. ... Let us watch young Francis sallying forth out into the world as God’s knight errant, the minstrel of Jesus. ... As always when the gospel is faithfully declared, hearts were touched.” What gross ignorance and what lies! Francis of Assisi was not a Christian when measured by the Bible, and he lived under the curse of God expressed in Galatians 1 because he preached Rome’s false gospel of sacramentalism (salvation through baptism, etc.) and he venerated Mary as Queen of Heaven.

Moody has been on the cutting edge of promoting Contemporary Christian music. In Moody Monthly, Feb. 1979, music instructor David Brackley said, “We are trying to span as many musical tastes as possible ... we use a few classical numbers, but our music is mainly more contemporary gospel music.”

In 1992, John Ashbrook wrote, “I live under the broadcast umbrella of a Moody radio station, WCRF, Cleveland. When the station first went on the air we enjoyed the mixture of great Christian music with classical interludes. That has now degenerated to an amalgam of good music, contemporary Christian music, jazz and rock. Those who write critical letters to the station are informed that people of a variety of tastes listen to the station and the station seeks to satisfy all of those tastes. Christian music ought to be played to please the Lord and to create a proper taste in the hearts of listeners. Moody radio stations bear the onus of having changed the musical tastes of the Bible believing churches in their listening areas” (New Neutralism II: Exposing the Gray of Compromise, p. 96).

In the late 1980s, Moody Monthly presented a series of articles by professor Leslie Keylock titled “Evangelical Leaders You Should Know.” It was “the most astounding list of radical new evangelicals that one could conceive.” One was Fuller Seminary professor Colin Brown, a member of the wicked “Jesus Seminar” that concluded that Jesus spoke only 18 percent of the sayings attributed to Him in the Bible. According to this group of “scholars,” Jesus did not walk on the water, did not feed thousands with only a few loaves and fishes, did not prophesy of His death or resurrection or second coming, did not appear before the Jewish high priest or before Pilate, did not rise again bodily on the third day, and did not ascend to heaven. Another “evangelical” featured in Moody Monthly (Sept. 1987) was Paul Vitz, a Roman Catholic psychologist. Another was Donald Bloesch (March 1988), who said that he “welcomes the new social gospel and is encouraged by Evangelical involvement in the ecumenical movement [e.g., the World Council of Churches].” Other “evangelical leaders” featured in the Moody Monthly series were Richard John Neuhaus, who joined the Roman Catholic Church, and Vernon Grounds, who said that “it is high time for us to claim [Soren Kierkegaard] as our own” (Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1963). No warnings were given about these dangerous men.

In 1994, Moody Press published Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Divides and Unites Us, which is an unscriptural ecumenical dialogue. The book completely ignored the Bible’s command to mark and avoid doctrinal error and apostasy (e.g., Ro. 16:17; 2 Ti. 3:5; 2 Jo. 1:7-11), which is the only sure protection against the leaven of heresy. Michael Horton concluded his chapter, “What Still Keeps Us Apart?” with these words: “I do not suggest that we should give up trying to seek visible unity, nor that we refuse to dialogue with Roman Catholic laypeople and theologians, many of whom may be our brothers and sisters” (Roman Catholicism, p. 264).

Moody Bible Institute is fully engaged in the ecumenical movement. MBI President Joseph Stowell (1987-2005) was a speaker at several Promise Keepers conferences, including the one in Phoenix in February 2003. There, Raleigh Washington, PK executive vice president of global ministries, said, “It doesn’t matter if you are a Baptist, Methodist or Catholic. Our goal is to have men, regardless of divisions, regardless of distinctives, to come together as one...” Stowell agreed, saying, “If you are a person who celebrates Jesus, you must celebrate diversity in the body of Christ” (Foundation magazine, Mar-Apr. 2003).

In 2002, Moody Bible Institute professor Dwight Perry recommended the false gospel of Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow Coalition (Calvary Contender, March 1, 2002). In 1969, Jackson, speaking at the Harlem Cultural Festival, said, “I want us to bow our heads in prayer. It does not really matter who your God is, whether you call him Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Elohiym, or Yahway” (“Summer of Soul” documentary).

In December 2011, Moody Press published Prayers for Today: A Yearlong Journey of Contemplative Prayer by Kurt Bjorklund. It is based on the writings of Catholic mystics such as Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Mother Teresa (a universalist), Meister Eckhart (a New Age panentheist), theological modernist Harry Fosdick, and other heretics. The contemplative prayer mysticism, which is largely borrowed from the dark pit of Rome’s monasticism, has swept through evangelicalism like wildfire. We have documented this in the report “Evangelicals Turning to Catholic Contemplative Spirituality” at www.wayoflife.org.

In 2013, under the presidency of Paul Nyquist (2009-2018), Moody lifted its 100-year ban on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling for staff and faculty. MBI professor Michael Vanlaningham celebrated the lifting of the ban by buying a six-pack of alcoholic drinks, though he “felt a little naughty” (“Moody Bible Institute relaxes rules,” Chicago Tribune, Sep. 29, 2013). Vanlaningham says he draws the line at drunkenness, but a drinker is always in danger of drunkenness, since “wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Pr. 20:1). Alcohol is one of the most destructive influences in modern society, and if ever there were a time to avoid it, it is today.

Under Nyquist, there were allegations of professors who do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible and who support humanistic causes like pro-abortionist Planned Parenthood (“Moody Bible Institute Facing Controversy,” The Christian Post, Jan. 6, 2018).

Nyquist co-authored Post-Church Christian with his son Carson. The two were interviewed on Moody radio on Aug. 17, 2013, and expressed their support for environmentalism and a non-judgmental position toward homosexuals. Carson approvingly quoted a pro-homosexual blogger who attended a “gay pride rally” in Chicago with some friends and wore t-shirts stating, “I’m sorry that Christians judge you”; “I’m sorry the way churches have treated you”; “I used to be a bible-banging homophobe, sorry.” The blogger said, “I hugged a man in his underwear. I think Jesus would have too.” Don Boys commented, “No, Jesus would have told him to get saved and put on some clothes. The man would have clothed himself as did the demoniac of Gadara. When people get right, they get dressed. The further away from God, the less clothing” (“President of Moody and Son Soft on Homosexuality,” Aug. 31, 2013, Common Sense for Today). Carson Nyquist said that homosexuals should be accepted by churches and he did not mention repentance. Carson expressed pride for his tattoo and said that most of his friends had tattoos. MBI President Paul Nyquist said, “I am fine with that.”

Nyquist resigned in 2018 and was replaced in 2019 by Mark Jobe, who is “a cool president with a youth pastor vibe” (“Moody Bible Institute inaugurates new president,” RNS, Apr. 9, 2019). Jobe was formerly pastor of the contemporary, multi-campus New Life Community Church in Chicago.

There is evidence that some teachers at Moody today do not believe in the absolute infallibility of the Bible. In December 2017, professor Richard Weber provided evidence to the MBI trustees that two of his colleagues at Moody “professed a postmodern view of truth.” He said that support for the 1978 Chicago Statement has eroded at Moody. He says that the old Moody statement on the divine inspiration of Scripture is not sufficient. “When it comes to inerrancy, if you don’t define it, and you don’t define all your terms, it’s just not going to be meaningful. In this current climate of postmodern understandings of truth, it’s so hard to pin them down on anything. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall” (“Whistleblower Asks: Is Moody Bible Institute Downplaying Its Own Middle Names?” The Stream, Jan. 30, 2018).

Moody Radio host Julie Roys also raised an alarm after interviewing over a dozen MBI faculty members, staff, trustees, and graduates. She says, “Many link a shift in Moody’s theology to this issue of biblical inerrancy. ... They’re essentially redefining inerrancy, though in a deceptive way. Nobody admits they’re redefining it. They’re just doing it” (Ibid.).

Roys was fired, and Weber was among a dozen faculty members who lost his job in 2018, though the school will not admit that their outspoken criticism had anything to do with this.