The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses

In this slim, electrifying volume, a Scottish evangelist makes a claim that still feels radical over a century later: love, not faith, is the greatest thing in the world. Drawing on 1 Corinthians 13, that cathedral of romantic and spiritual language, Henry Drummond argues that even the most spectacular displays of faith, the most dazzling gifts of speech and prophecy, amount to nothing without love. Introduced by the great American preacher D.L. Moody, Drummond's argument is both theological treatise and practical manual. He dissects love into its constituent virtues: patience that endures, kindness that gives without calculation, humility that seeks no glory. This is not abstract theology. It is a summons to examine how you actually live. The book pulses with Victorian evangelical energy but asks questions that have never gone stale: What is belief without compassion worth? What good is conviction without tenderness? For anyone who has ever wondered whether faith means anything without action, Drummond offers an answer that is as uncomfortable as it is beautiful. More than a century later, his central contention remains: love is the only thing that endures.