Dr. Spiros Zodhiates
A life marked by courageous faith and a commitment to making God’s Word known.
From a humble birth to unbelieving Greek parents, Spiros Zodhiates became one of the leading theologians of the 20th Century and a recognized expert of the Greek NT. He wrote nearly 300 books and articles, including the best-selling Hebrew/Greek Key Word Study Bible and many other Bible study tools that will long outlive him. When WP switched to elder government in 1988, he was one of the original elders and served for many years as the elder over missions.
While the family lived in Egypt, Spiros’ older brother Argos was recruited by his teacher to heckle a Christian Bible study. But the words of the Gospel pricked his heart, and Argos gave his life to Christ. When his mother found out, she locked him out of the house and told him to go live with “those heretics.” When she opened her door the next morning, mother Zodhiates found her son on his knees, having spent the night praying for her. Her heart broke and she realized that her son’s faith was real. Argos led his mother and younger brother, Spiros, to Christ.
As a young believer, Spiros’ outspoken faith resulted in him being thrown out of school and branded a heretic. In tears he returned home, fearing he’d lost his only chance to be educated. His mother called a believing friend over who showed him Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Even as a young fourth grader, God was molding his courageous faith. God used this difficult circumstance to open a door for Spiros to learn English and eventually he was allowed back into school. In ninth grade, Spiros preached his first sermon and many of his classmates attended. Afterward, they showed their displeasure by pelting him with dirt-filled eggplants.
The next day, having heard of his preaching, his teacher began to ridicule the faith and when Spiros answered from the Word of God, the teacher had him expelled for a week. With time on his hands, Zodhiates began reading a Greek newspaper from cover to cover.
Quickened by the Spirit of God, he recognized that with all the news the paper contained, the greatest news in the world was not in there. He prayed simply that God would allow him to dedicate his life to putting the good news of Christ in newspaprs.
Again, God caused even his expulsion to work for good. Throughout his school years Spiros endured persecution but gave unwavering testimony of Christ until his graduation.
In the 1940s Dr. Z came across a Christian magazine aimed at Greeks. Fascinated with this creative witnessing method, Zodhiates decided to write an article. Through this contact, Spiros was invited to America in 1946 to join what would become AMG International, and he would spend the rest of his life expanding its impact far beyond Greece.
Media always featured prominently in Dr. Z’s strategies because of its ability to expose the masses. Over the years, millions of people around the world have picked up the morning newspaper and read a gospel message there thanks to Spiros.
As people contacted AMG for more information, follow-up Bible studies have led to growing believers and churches planted in some of the most gospel needy places on the globe. At its peak, over 20,000 Bible studies per month were mailed out in Pakistan alone.
One gospel article in a Thailand newspaper had over 10,000 responses. As a result of an evangelistic article in India, the follow-up requests were so overwhelming, the local post office had to shut down. At one point, over half the churches in Turkey could trace their roots to AMG media evangelism.
As times have changed, newspaper evangelism gave way to gospel presentations on the internet and social media. Strategies have changed, but the concept remains the same: position the gospel to meet people where they are.
In 1951, his radio program, New Testament Light, began on one station in rural Pennsylvania, and in its heyday was heard across the United States and Canada. As his career progressed, Zodhiates became a recognized authority on the Greek New Testament.
In 1975, he launched Pulpit Helps Magazine, a monthly publication for pastors with over 200,000 pastors subscribing. New Testament Light became a nation-wide television show during the 1980s and 1990s with friend and disciple Wayne Barber.
Christianity Today did an article on his 50th anniversary at AMG where they lovingly called him a “missions maverick” and “Missions’ Wild Olive Branch” because of his unconventional but effective mission strategies.
From the Zodhiates International New Testament Studies Center in Athens, Greece, to the Berita Hiddup Seminary in Indonesia, to the Bugongi College of Nursing in Uganda, to St. Luke’s Hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, Dr. Z’s visionary ideas have left an indelible mark on the World Missions landscape.
One of his ideas just came to fruition last year when AMG International headquarters moved again to property adjacent to Woodland Park Baptist Church, a place he loved so much and impacted so greatly.
The ministry of AMG is involved in pastor training, leprosy clinics, childcare centers, and evangelistic and relief endeavors in some 40 countries, and includes AMG Publishers, a division that publishes Bibles and Christian books and publications around the world. AMG ministry headquarters have been in Chattanooga since 1978. Spiros stepped down as president of AMG at 74, but continued to study, write, and speak until he died in 2009 at the age of 87.
For several years, he and I taught a lunch time study teaching Greek to pastors in the area. His job was to say something profound about a particular Greek word, and then my job was to say “Oh really? I didn’t know that!” - Eddie Rasnake
