The Greatest Thing in the World, by Henry Drummond, is a sermon on Love and Christian
living. It was first published in 1874. Drummond was a Scottish Evangelist and Biologist. He
lived for 45 years from 1851 to1897. He was a lecturer on natural science at the Free Church
College in Glasgow, which was a more free-thinking, evangelical group that broke away from
the Church of Scotland in 1843. Drummond believed in theistic evolution which looks at the
science of general evolution and how it relates to religious beliefs. Drummond traveled to Africa
and Australia where he studied these concepts before writing this book.
This book is one of Drummond’s lectures in which he analyzes I Corinthians, Chapter 13, in the
Holy Bible. This chapter is the apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in which he singles out
Love as being the most ‘supreme good’ in all the world. Apostle Paul was one of the most
influential early leaders in the Christian church and author of 13 books in the Bible. It is ironic
that Paul in considered one of the most important people in biblical history besides Jesus, or
Muhammad, yet earlier in his life he was known for his persecution of Christians. Paul
proclaims Love is the most essential and the greatest thing in the world. It is even more
powerful than hope or faith.
Drummond’s book is a treatise about Love because he more fully defines the 9 components that
are listed in Chapter 13 of I Corinthians. They are patience, generosity, good temper, kindness,
courtesy, guilelessness (thinking no evil), humility, unselfishness, and sincerity. This book is
short at about only about 50 pages and it does not break any new ground. However, Drummond
does a good job laying out the importance of love, its source, and the characteristics of a loving
person. It is worth the short time it takes to read it. It is a good resource for those who are less
likely to read long and complex studies on biblical concepts. This book is one that can be read
over and over through the years and challenges the reader to be a kinder and better person to
the world.
I like how the “Introductory” statement at the beginning of the book by D.L. Moody is like a visual
travel back in time for me. The words give a clear picture of a Sunday evening in 1884 in a
country house in England where a group of friends are staying together. They were sitting
around the fire and the guests wanted Mr. Moody to explain a portion of the Bible. Mr. Moody
was tired after all the services that day and told his guests to ask Henry Drummond to explain it
instead. They had to urge and plead and finally Drummond gave his lecture “The Greatest Thing
in the World is Love”. Mr. Moody was astonished and said he had never heard anything so
wonderful. After that he required students at all his schools to read the book each year. I like
how there was an honest desire in this era to understand the scriptures, at a time when the
churches were often corrupt and heavily influenced by the wealthy.
This book was required reading for me as part of the U.S. Congressional Award class I am in. It
is definitely worth the read and I would give it a 10 out of 10. From antiquity until now, the same
question is still out there, “What is the supreme good in the world?” Whether the reader is
Christian or not, it is a good reminder we should all be more understanding, nicer, kinder, and
more loving to each other because world needs it.