Billy Graham Trivia: What Was the First Book Billy Graham Wrote?

By   •   April 23, 2019

Bily Graham reading

Q: What was the first book Billy Graham wrote?

A: Peace With God

After hearing Billy Graham preach at a 1952 Crusade in Dallas, Clement Alexander, an editor from a publishing company called Doubleday, thought Mr. Graham’s messages should be turned into a book.

Peace with God bookThough Mr. Graham did not consider himself a writer, he took the editor’s advice and began to work on his first book for the better part of a year. When it came time to complete the first draft, it took him 10 days to dictate the words into an ediphone.

“It was one of the times in my life when I sensed the direction of God in an extraordinary way,” Mr. Graham said. “I wrote it out of a burning conviction that a book presenting the Gospel in a simple but comprehensive way was what people who had little or no religious background needed.”

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, was one of his greatest helpers while he wrote the book. She gave him ideas, illustrations and stories to include.

The final draft was in the publisher’s hands by August 1953, and by late October, Peace With God was published and became an immediate bestseller.

Peace With God has been translated into fifty languages and millions of copies have been distributed around the world. Billy Graham wrote a total of 33 books, many of which have become bestsellers. But the name of his first book continues to be a central part of the ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Every day, thousands of people visit PeaceWithGod.net, where the Gospel is presented in a clear way. To date, more than 13 million people have indicated making a decision for Christ through the site, which is the central part of BGEA’s Internet Evangelism ministry.