A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Jack Charleson, Elder, Bridlewood Presbyterian Church, Agincourt, Bank Manager, Chairman, Mission Ontario.
Do the Conversions Last? Robert O. Ferm with Caroline M. Whiting. Minneapolis, Minnesota: World Wide Publications, 1988.
Since the times of the early church the credibility of conversions to the Christian faith have been viewed with skepticism by many people. We can recall that when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost some made fun of the new Christians and suggested they had had too much wine. At that time, Peter came to the defence of the “converts” and outlined clearly that this was simply a fulfilment of what had been prophesied by Joel. As we have progressed into the twentieth century the skepticism surrounding new Christians has continued and, unfortunately, it has even spread into the church.
It is timely that this publication has been written. The church continues to be under fire from the media and as Christians it is important that we have a good understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit within our midst. Over the years of the ministry of Billy Graham there have been many who have insisted “converts” from his meetings may be genuine but in most cases were influenced by the emotion of the meeting. Dr. Graham requested that Mr. Ferm conduct a study of people who had been converted during various crusades and this publication is the result of more than 15,000 responses to questionnaires and/or unsolicited letters describing experiences during and following a Billy Graham crusade.
Undoubtedly there will be some who express concern that this book is written by an individual who has been associated with Dr. Graham for over thirty years. It could be described as an “inside job,” but the statistics presented clearly indicate that the majority of enquiries made at Billy Graham crusades are of a genuine nature and have a lasting impact on the life of the individual. In the introduction to the book Mr. Ferm states, “Our Creator has fashioned us human beings in such a way that we we are capable of, and indeed made for, the experience of conversion.” However, he goes on to state later in the book that “just as physical maturity takes time, requiring adequate nourishment, exercise, and rest, so spiritual growth requires its own kind of nourishment – or malnutrition will set in!” We who are members of the local church have an important role to play in the growth of new Christians referred to our congregations by organizations such as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
There are some people who may not be attracted to this type of book which has an abundance of statistical data included to support the text. As one who has been involved with statistics for over twenty years I found this book to be of considerable interest and high credibility. If you have doubts regarding the genuineness of conversions at mass evangelism meetings then the task of dealing with statistical data to support the claims is clearly worthwhile.