Last words of the faithful
D. L. Moody
Died 22 December 1899 · Northfield, Massachusetts
Dwight L. Moody, the American evangelist, died at Northfield on 22 December 1899. His son William recorded that on his last morning Moody woke and spoke of earth receding and heaven opening before him, and called the day his coronation day.
The last words
The story behind them
He sold shoes in Chicago before he preached to anyone. He had almost no formal education and never took ordination, and he ended up preaching to crowds on both sides of the Atlantic and founding schools that outlived him by more than a century.
On the morning of 22 December 1899 his family were in the room. His son William wrote down what happened: Moody woke from a sleep and began to speak about what he was seeing. Earth was receding, heaven was opening. He said it plainly, the way a man reports the weather.
Not a farewell. A description of something he said he could see.
Then, according to the account, he called it his coronation day and said he had been looking forward to it. He is said to have spoken about seeing the faces of two of his children who had died before him. The wording differs a little between editions of the biography, which is exactly what you would expect of sentences taken down by hand at a bedside, and it is given here with that caveat rather than smoothed into one authorised version.
What they died for, you can meet
None of these people died for an idea. They died holding onto a Person, convinced that death was not the end because he had already walked out of a tomb. The Living Bread is a quiet place to meet that same Jesus, read the Gospels for yourself, and ask your honest questions.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What were D. L. Moody's last words?
- His son William recorded that Moody said earth was receding and heaven opening before him, and called it his coronation day, adding that he had been looking forward to it. The wording varies slightly between editions of the biography.
- Who was D. L. Moody?
- Dwight Lyman Moody was an American evangelist and publisher, formerly a shoe salesman in Chicago, who preached to large audiences in the United States and Britain and founded schools and a Bible institute that still carry his name. He died on 22 December 1899.
- Was Moody ordained?
- No. He never took ordination and had little formal education.
