John alexander dowie biography sample
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John Alexander Dowie
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by Derek Vreeland
The Pentecostal movement and Pentecostal theology has been known for a ministry of divine healing. Donald Dayton lists four cornerstones doctrines in Pentecostal theology. Among them is the doctrine of divine healing.1 (Notes, see below) The practice of divine healing did not enter into the ministry of Pentecostals by some emotional meeting under a canvas tent. Historically, it did not arrive suddenly from heaven as a “new revelation.” Rather, healing by divine agency came from a biblically based theological system. John Alexander Dowie (25 May 1847 – 9 March 1907) and others spread the doctrine of divine healing throughout the late 19th century and the beginning of the early 20th century. Although he was often known for his flamboyant style and bold presence, his message of divine healing was rooted in such a theological system. Dowie’s theology of divine healing can be expressed in a two-fold scheme: one, the continual ministry of Christ, and two, the evil of sickness.
Historically, Dowie is an important figure in the divine healing movement of the last two centuries. David Harrell, who chronicled the healing revivals in America, calls Dowie “the father of healing revivalism in America.”2 This title does not imply that Dowie was the sole originator of the
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"A.J. Christ Dowie and the Harmonial Philosophy"
A Biography of John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907)
By Kevin McDermott
JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE was born in Edinboro' Scotland on May 25, 1847 and received his religious conviction — while singing a hymn from a street pulpit in that city — at age seven. His family emigrated to Australia when he was thirteen; there he attended seminary and held a number of pastoral positions in the Congregational Church before resigning the last to become a full-time non-denominational evangelist in 1878. As a young man he experienced a healing from chronic indigestion which he attributed to divine intervention; this led to his growing activity as a faith healer and ultimately to the foundation of his International Divine Healing Association. He left for the United States in 1888, and after two years on the Pacific coast moved to Evanston, Illinois. During the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 he led healing services in a large tabernacle across the way from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. From the pages of his weekly paper, Leaves of Healing, he decried doctors, pharmacists, Freemasonry, and the consumption of pork, while championing flat-earth theory and "Anglo-Israelism" &md |