Christianity Today has listed their fiftieth anniversary list of the most influential preachers of the last fifty years.
Any surprises?
There are two women listed: Jill Briscoe and Anne Graham-Lotz (Just curious ... is retaining the "Graham" an attempt to draw from her father's well of recognition? After all, he did say she might be the best preacher in the family).
There are some familiar names and then some I am not familiar with.
(For those wondering, I asked them not to consider me for the list.)
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2 comments:
The key word there is "influential," not best. And yes, I am surprised that Robert Schuller is not mentioned, not even in the honorable mention! This is shocking since Hybles, Warren and others name him as a big influence on them. Not that I endorse anyone Schuller—far from it—but he has had a huge influence on the mega-church/church growth movement. His book, Your Church Has Real Possibilities, is probably the first church growth book every published.
The best preacher, IMO, by far on that list is Haddon Robinson, followed distantly by Tony Evans, Chuck Swindoll, then I guess MacArthur though I like him more as a leader than a preacher. MacArthur is an excellent speaker, but he does too much cross-referencing and not enough applicaiton, IMO.
The worst preacher, IMO, of the ones I've heard—W. A. Criswell. Though his content was better than Hybels, Warren, and others on the list, it was still poor and his delivery borderd on disastrous.
Brian, I was surprised by Criswell, though I have never heard him. I heard he wasn't that great of a speaker, but a lot of people attended there.
I have only heard probably 4 or 5 of them. Of those, the best speakers were probably Swindoll and Piper. Swindoll is probably a better speaker, but I generally like Piper a little better. However, I don't listen to either very much.
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