1901
Despite His Reincarnation He Summoned His Host
SUSPECTED A PLOT TO KIDNAP HIM
The Modern Elijah Declared That Physicians Would Spirit Him Away and Beat Him Until He Becomes Insane — Doesn't Like Being Called a Paranoiac
Chicago, June 17 — There is a new agitation in Dowie's Zion. During his meeting at the tabernacle, Dr. Dowie, overseer, claimed that certain physicians of this city had formed a plot to kidnap him, lock him in a detention hospital and beat him on the head and back till he should lose all his reasoning powers and become really insane. He said that the kidnaping might take place after his service and called a special private meeting of the male members of Zion to take steps to help the Zion guard in protecting him. He also made threats against the physicians, saying what he would do them, as he thought they were trying to do him, unless they let him alone and stop calling him a paranoiac. With all this Dowie repeated continually his pretensions to be Elijah reincarnated, making way for the end of the world, and he incidentally laid claim to immortality until his work is accomplished.
"I have special information," shouted the general overseer to his followers, "that a law has just been juggled with special reference to me. Those doctors have fixed it so that an insanity complaint does not have to come from a relative now, but may come from any man who says he acts in public interest. Do you know what this means? It comes from the same men who are calling me a paranoiac. It means they are going to kidnap me. They will try to get me some night. They will carry me to a hospital and bind me hand and foot. Then they will beat me and torture me till they make me insane. That's what they will do, the fiends, the scoundrels! I say to Zion, 'On guard!' I want every member of Zion and every male member especially to remain after this service and plan with me how to protect ourselves from these scoundrels and thieves. The emergency is great."
—Piqua Daily Call, Piqua, OH, June 17, 1901, p. 2.
Showing posts with label Dowie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dowie. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Universal Rejoicing
1900
AN AVALANCHE OF PRAISE FOR THE DOWIE EXPOSURE
LETTERS FROM RAM'S HORN SUBSCRIBERS
First Presbyterian Church,
Forest, Ohio, March 2, 1900.
Editor Ram's Horn:
Allow me to congratulate you on your most excellent paper for March 3. I honestly believe that no better or higher service to the kingdom of Christ may be rendered just now than by the course you are taking. Please find inclosed $3.00 for 100 copies to be sent to my address. Very truly yours,
G. JAMES JONES.
1540 Lehigh Ave.,
Philadelphia, Pa., March 1, 1900.
Editor The Ram's Horn:
There has been a copy of The Ram's Horn handed me exposing Dowieism. I was so highly pleased with this work, and knowing Dowie as I do, and knowing that he is an abominable liar and impostor, with my personal experience with him, I think you are doing humanity a great service by exposing him. I therefore enclose $5.00, for the following purposes: $1.50 for one year's subscription in advance, and $3.00 for the following purposes: 30 copies of March 3 issue (mail them to my address), and the balance, or 60 copies, I will order at some other time. I hope indeed you will not unfurl the flag, but that you will make one assault after another, as I believe you are doing a great amount of good in warning the unwary and susceptible from being duped by this great religious pretender. Yours truly,
CHARLES J. HECKLER.
Fourth Baptist Church,
Chicago, March 2, 1900.
Editor The Ram's Horn:
The churches and the city should rise up and bless you for this noble work in showing the people John A. Dowie as he really is. Please send sample copies to every pastor in the city and in some way get this Dowie issue into the hands of the Christian people and the public. If you can in some way rid us from this bold-faced impostor and blackguard you will have done a life work for your fellow citizens.
Yours sincerely,
KITTREDGE WHEELER.
Louisville, Ky., Feb. 27, 1900
Editor The Ram's Horn:
I just want to thank you and commend your action in devoting issue just received to the exposure of the "Dowie" movement. I received some weeks ago a copy of his paper, and I saw, I thought, through the movement from that issue. If this letter encourages you to further tell the truth it will serve the purpose of a ten-year subscriber. Truly,
E. W. WEEDON.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 5.
AN AVALANCHE OF PRAISE FOR THE DOWIE EXPOSURE
LETTERS FROM RAM'S HORN SUBSCRIBERS
First Presbyterian Church,
Forest, Ohio, March 2, 1900.
Editor Ram's Horn:
Allow me to congratulate you on your most excellent paper for March 3. I honestly believe that no better or higher service to the kingdom of Christ may be rendered just now than by the course you are taking. Please find inclosed $3.00 for 100 copies to be sent to my address. Very truly yours,
G. JAMES JONES.
1540 Lehigh Ave.,
Philadelphia, Pa., March 1, 1900.
Editor The Ram's Horn:
There has been a copy of The Ram's Horn handed me exposing Dowieism. I was so highly pleased with this work, and knowing Dowie as I do, and knowing that he is an abominable liar and impostor, with my personal experience with him, I think you are doing humanity a great service by exposing him. I therefore enclose $5.00, for the following purposes: $1.50 for one year's subscription in advance, and $3.00 for the following purposes: 30 copies of March 3 issue (mail them to my address), and the balance, or 60 copies, I will order at some other time. I hope indeed you will not unfurl the flag, but that you will make one assault after another, as I believe you are doing a great amount of good in warning the unwary and susceptible from being duped by this great religious pretender. Yours truly,
CHARLES J. HECKLER.
Fourth Baptist Church,
Chicago, March 2, 1900.
Editor The Ram's Horn:
The churches and the city should rise up and bless you for this noble work in showing the people John A. Dowie as he really is. Please send sample copies to every pastor in the city and in some way get this Dowie issue into the hands of the Christian people and the public. If you can in some way rid us from this bold-faced impostor and blackguard you will have done a life work for your fellow citizens.
Yours sincerely,
KITTREDGE WHEELER.
Louisville, Ky., Feb. 27, 1900
Editor The Ram's Horn:
I just want to thank you and commend your action in devoting issue just received to the exposure of the "Dowie" movement. I received some weeks ago a copy of his paper, and I saw, I thought, through the movement from that issue. If this letter encourages you to further tell the truth it will serve the purpose of a ten-year subscriber. Truly,
E. W. WEEDON.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 5.
An Afternoon With Dowie
1900
Among the great volume of mail which comes to us on the subject of the Dowie exposure, we have received the following communication, Which was written several months ago by Rev. Wm. Ashmore after he had made a personal visit to the Dowie Institute, and had published his impressions in the Journal-Messenger.
By Rev. William Ashmore
John Alexander Dowie's success in rallying a constituency and expanding himself is almost phenomenal. He has a large meeting house which seats a great crowd of people, and has also a hotel under his control, and is about starting, if he has not already started, a bank, as we are told. We have no Pauline precedents for any of these things, but then Mr. Dowie is said by his followers to be an advance on Paul. The main spoke in Mr. Dowie's wheel is the power of divine healing, which he claims he possesses in a remarkable degree and as a special gift of God. A great many cures are said to have been wrought, and the spaces on the walls of his church building are hung with crutches, and what seem to be bandages and discarded plasters, probably. They remind one of an enterprising corn-extractor at Dayton, O., who had a hundred or more corns and bunions which he had taken off the toes and feet of his customers, and was exhibiting them as an Indian brave does his scalps. It is this power of working cures which gives Mr. Dowie what influence he has with common people.
There is a deal of illusion here. That whole subject is by no means so fully ventilated as it ought to be, nor are discriminations made as they ought to be, and so people are blinded and misled. Dowie gives out that all other ministers deny the existence of special healing in answer to the prayer of faith, and that he alone advocates it, and furnishes instances of success. Many people believe his statements, and, knowing that there are well attested cases of healing that have come within the range of their own in formation, they are ready to conclude that Dowie is right and the ministers arc wrong.
But now that is not true. We all believe that God does answer the fervent prayer of his people for healing. We doubt if a minister can be found in the land who does not so believe, and who does not offer special prayer for that very purpose. There are few ministers who can not, in their own experience, point to some cases of remarkable answers to prayer of this very kind. Certainly every old minister can furnish illustrations, more or less. We offer prayers for the sick in our pulpits. We are sent for, and go and pray at their bedsides, and we have seen many cures recorded quite as remarkable as are any of the cases of Dowie, or Sweinfurth, or any other specialists of the kind. As for discarded canes and crutches and plasters and bandages, that have been thrown aside after the prayers of ordinary ministers, in the past century alone, and before Dowie ever was heard of, if they were all brought together and hung up and tacked on to the walls of Dowie's church, they would cover them so thick that there would not be a place left big enough to hold a corn plaster. Dowie's collection of trophies would dwindle into nothingness in comparison. But he makes a great parade of his, while other ministers do not, and so people think that nobody's prayers for the sick avail but Dowie's. The writer of this article holds that he himself was once brought back from the very grave's mouth, in special answer to special prayer, by brethren called in for that purpose, and quite as remarkably as any he has read of in Dowie's list; and all this in the ordinary ministry of the Word. If one wants to have more experience in divine healing, he would do well to seek out good earnest believers in prayer in his own church, and get them to pray for him, and not have to encounter the flippancy and vulgarity which we saw in John Alexander Dowie, and of which we shall speak hereafter.
What specially characterizes Mr. Dowie is his claiming to have a pre-eminence over all of God's praying ones, and his making of "divine healing," or miraculous healing a hobby to which all other things are made subsidiary; and we are obliged to conclude, a profitable, money-making hobby as well. However, it may be done, certain it is that there is nothing of a religious kind in Chicago which is made to pay so handsomely, in one way and another, as Dowie's "divine healing."
Mr. Dowie's love of "pre-eminence" is obvious to the most superficial observer. He is the "General Overseer" of the newly formed "Christian Catholic Church." He is the head, and will remain so. His picture appears constantly in his paper. His readers are not allowed to forget how he apears. On the day we were there he was, as usual, bidding defiance to his opponents, of whom there is an unlimited number, especially in the churches of God. Contending for his authority, he reached a climax. when he said, in a loud, defiant voice, they knew he had been specially "anointed by the Holy Ghost" for the work he was then doing; and, in almost a roar, he added: "I am God's prophet! I know I am!" This was said with none of the meekness or gentleness of Christ, and with none of the modest, even though firm, assertiveness of Peter and John and Paul, while defining themselves before their opponents; but with the swagger of a ring boxer. If his manner meant anything, it meant — as he shouted, "I am God's prophet!" and swung himself around with arm and fist like a scythe cutting a swath — "If any man disputes it, let him look out!" That fist might not have been so very dangerous, but the way it was flourished was suggestive of a bunged eye, or a bloody nose, or perhaps both. The whole procedure reminded me of Mahomet when he said: "God is God, and Mahomet is his prophet!"
Dowie is an Ishmaelite. He is against churches and ministers, one and all, savagely and without distinction. Anybody who opposes his claims comes in for vituperation. He would have it understood that he is "the great power of God," not only for Chicago, but for the nation at large, and, indeed, for the whole world! He is generating a class of harsh, unChrist-like, censorious followers, who, when they hear some one criticizing the extravagances of their leader's talk, at once begin to say — following an example set by himself — "The devil is at work." So he may be —but in whom, is another question.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 5.
Among the great volume of mail which comes to us on the subject of the Dowie exposure, we have received the following communication, Which was written several months ago by Rev. Wm. Ashmore after he had made a personal visit to the Dowie Institute, and had published his impressions in the Journal-Messenger.
By Rev. William Ashmore
John Alexander Dowie's success in rallying a constituency and expanding himself is almost phenomenal. He has a large meeting house which seats a great crowd of people, and has also a hotel under his control, and is about starting, if he has not already started, a bank, as we are told. We have no Pauline precedents for any of these things, but then Mr. Dowie is said by his followers to be an advance on Paul. The main spoke in Mr. Dowie's wheel is the power of divine healing, which he claims he possesses in a remarkable degree and as a special gift of God. A great many cures are said to have been wrought, and the spaces on the walls of his church building are hung with crutches, and what seem to be bandages and discarded plasters, probably. They remind one of an enterprising corn-extractor at Dayton, O., who had a hundred or more corns and bunions which he had taken off the toes and feet of his customers, and was exhibiting them as an Indian brave does his scalps. It is this power of working cures which gives Mr. Dowie what influence he has with common people.
There is a deal of illusion here. That whole subject is by no means so fully ventilated as it ought to be, nor are discriminations made as they ought to be, and so people are blinded and misled. Dowie gives out that all other ministers deny the existence of special healing in answer to the prayer of faith, and that he alone advocates it, and furnishes instances of success. Many people believe his statements, and, knowing that there are well attested cases of healing that have come within the range of their own in formation, they are ready to conclude that Dowie is right and the ministers arc wrong.
But now that is not true. We all believe that God does answer the fervent prayer of his people for healing. We doubt if a minister can be found in the land who does not so believe, and who does not offer special prayer for that very purpose. There are few ministers who can not, in their own experience, point to some cases of remarkable answers to prayer of this very kind. Certainly every old minister can furnish illustrations, more or less. We offer prayers for the sick in our pulpits. We are sent for, and go and pray at their bedsides, and we have seen many cures recorded quite as remarkable as are any of the cases of Dowie, or Sweinfurth, or any other specialists of the kind. As for discarded canes and crutches and plasters and bandages, that have been thrown aside after the prayers of ordinary ministers, in the past century alone, and before Dowie ever was heard of, if they were all brought together and hung up and tacked on to the walls of Dowie's church, they would cover them so thick that there would not be a place left big enough to hold a corn plaster. Dowie's collection of trophies would dwindle into nothingness in comparison. But he makes a great parade of his, while other ministers do not, and so people think that nobody's prayers for the sick avail but Dowie's. The writer of this article holds that he himself was once brought back from the very grave's mouth, in special answer to special prayer, by brethren called in for that purpose, and quite as remarkably as any he has read of in Dowie's list; and all this in the ordinary ministry of the Word. If one wants to have more experience in divine healing, he would do well to seek out good earnest believers in prayer in his own church, and get them to pray for him, and not have to encounter the flippancy and vulgarity which we saw in John Alexander Dowie, and of which we shall speak hereafter.
What specially characterizes Mr. Dowie is his claiming to have a pre-eminence over all of God's praying ones, and his making of "divine healing," or miraculous healing a hobby to which all other things are made subsidiary; and we are obliged to conclude, a profitable, money-making hobby as well. However, it may be done, certain it is that there is nothing of a religious kind in Chicago which is made to pay so handsomely, in one way and another, as Dowie's "divine healing."
Mr. Dowie's love of "pre-eminence" is obvious to the most superficial observer. He is the "General Overseer" of the newly formed "Christian Catholic Church." He is the head, and will remain so. His picture appears constantly in his paper. His readers are not allowed to forget how he apears. On the day we were there he was, as usual, bidding defiance to his opponents, of whom there is an unlimited number, especially in the churches of God. Contending for his authority, he reached a climax. when he said, in a loud, defiant voice, they knew he had been specially "anointed by the Holy Ghost" for the work he was then doing; and, in almost a roar, he added: "I am God's prophet! I know I am!" This was said with none of the meekness or gentleness of Christ, and with none of the modest, even though firm, assertiveness of Peter and John and Paul, while defining themselves before their opponents; but with the swagger of a ring boxer. If his manner meant anything, it meant — as he shouted, "I am God's prophet!" and swung himself around with arm and fist like a scythe cutting a swath — "If any man disputes it, let him look out!" That fist might not have been so very dangerous, but the way it was flourished was suggestive of a bunged eye, or a bloody nose, or perhaps both. The whole procedure reminded me of Mahomet when he said: "God is God, and Mahomet is his prophet!"
Dowie is an Ishmaelite. He is against churches and ministers, one and all, savagely and without distinction. Anybody who opposes his claims comes in for vituperation. He would have it understood that he is "the great power of God," not only for Chicago, but for the nation at large, and, indeed, for the whole world! He is generating a class of harsh, unChrist-like, censorious followers, who, when they hear some one criticizing the extravagances of their leader's talk, at once begin to say — following an example set by himself — "The devil is at work." So he may be —but in whom, is another question.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 5.
John Alexander Dowie — Not Messenger of God
1900
From all Christendom come the heartiest expressions of praise and gratitude that the person and works of that monumental impostor, John Alex. Dowie, have been laid open to the light of day as was done so effectually in The Ram's Horn March 3d. We have been surprised and a little amused to have kind but cautious friends approach us and ask in trepidation whether we felt safe in unmasking such a dangerous character. They had heard of his violent temper and its awful discharges of vituperation against those who incur his displeasure. They had heard also of his supposed demoniac mesmeric power to wither or restore those upon whom he is pleased to work with his depraved power. But truth does not fear the basilisk eye of a conjurer.
It is true that Dowie has been driven into a corner by the startling arraignment which was heaped against him in this paper. In an agony of rage at seeing his commercial plans for a material Zion balked at the outset by this timely, or untimely, exposure, he struggles against his impending doom. For nearly five hours last Sunday he stood and fought like an imprisoned rat with his back to the wall and poured out impotent invective against The Ram's Horn and those who contributed to help us unveil the Dowie delusion. On previous occasions he had drained the vials of his hate against such men as Doctors Henson, Hillis, and the like, and even the saintly Moody had scarcely escaped his poisoned spear. But now his quiver of hate is empty; the vial of his wrath is dry. What he says now come as the dregs from a cankered heart or the sickly fumes from a burst cannon. He has neither power to kill nor make alive, to build nor to destroy. He will go to his own place. But we pity the charmed victims who are still chained by his spell. It is a comfort to know, however, that there will be few hereafter who need come under his dextrous touch unadvised or unwarned. People in every corner of the globe now know that John A. Dowie is NOT a Messenger sent from God.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 4.
From all Christendom come the heartiest expressions of praise and gratitude that the person and works of that monumental impostor, John Alex. Dowie, have been laid open to the light of day as was done so effectually in The Ram's Horn March 3d. We have been surprised and a little amused to have kind but cautious friends approach us and ask in trepidation whether we felt safe in unmasking such a dangerous character. They had heard of his violent temper and its awful discharges of vituperation against those who incur his displeasure. They had heard also of his supposed demoniac mesmeric power to wither or restore those upon whom he is pleased to work with his depraved power. But truth does not fear the basilisk eye of a conjurer.
It is true that Dowie has been driven into a corner by the startling arraignment which was heaped against him in this paper. In an agony of rage at seeing his commercial plans for a material Zion balked at the outset by this timely, or untimely, exposure, he struggles against his impending doom. For nearly five hours last Sunday he stood and fought like an imprisoned rat with his back to the wall and poured out impotent invective against The Ram's Horn and those who contributed to help us unveil the Dowie delusion. On previous occasions he had drained the vials of his hate against such men as Doctors Henson, Hillis, and the like, and even the saintly Moody had scarcely escaped his poisoned spear. But now his quiver of hate is empty; the vial of his wrath is dry. What he says now come as the dregs from a cankered heart or the sickly fumes from a burst cannon. He has neither power to kill nor make alive, to build nor to destroy. He will go to his own place. But we pity the charmed victims who are still chained by his spell. It is a comfort to know, however, that there will be few hereafter who need come under his dextrous touch unadvised or unwarned. People in every corner of the globe now know that John A. Dowie is NOT a Messenger sent from God.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 4.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Dowie Swears If He Had His Rights
Illinois, 1906
Then He Would Not Be a Bankrupt as His Enemies Allege
Chicago, May 16. — Attorneys for Dowie today filed an answer in the federal court in the receivership proceedings brought against Dowie some time ago. In his answer Dowie denied that he is insolvent, if all his property was restored to him.
Judge Landis, before whom the arguments were made, entered an order directing the attorneys to leave the matter alone, saying he would settle it himself.
Riots broke out again in Zion City yesterday, following disorder which attended Dowie's effort to address his followers in Shiloh Tabernacle Sunday. Crowds numbering hundreds gathered on Shiloh boulevard, near the general store in the afternoon, and engaged in a furious argument over the respective merits of their leaders, and the questions at issue in the struggle of "Doctor" Dowie and Overseer Veliva for supremacy.
One Dowieite was handled roughly by the mob and serious consequences were only averted by the arrival of the Zion police in answer to a riot call.
James Slater, a negro adherent of the "First Apostle," was escorted to safety by the officers, after being mobbed for his sturdy defense of Dowie. The crowd assembled again after the departure of the police, and another riot call was sent in, which brought out all the reserves of the station, led by Police Captain Walker himself. The mob was forced off the street corners and ordered to disperse.
FEAR FURTHER TROUBLE
The police are apprehensive of further trouble and have called in all their patrolmen from outlying points for possible emergency duty. Slater is said to have started the trouble by exploiting the virtues of Dowie to a crowd near the general store. He was interrupted by loud cries of:
"Dowie has all of my money."
"Dowie is a robber."
"Why doesn't he pay his debts?"
The negro became frightened and ran. He was overtaken by the mob and in turn rescued by the police,
DOWIE CHARGES CONTEMPT
Dowie took personal charge of seeking punishment of persons who caused disorder at his meeting Sunday. He instructed his attorney, Emil C. Witten, to draw Judge Wright's attention to the fact that the terms of the court order issued at the first hearing of the injunction proceedings against Veliva, to the effect that the "First Apostle's" meetings should not he interfered with had been grossly violated. He also ordered his counsellors to announce that all negotiations for the appointment of a triumvirate were off, and that the court proceedings should proceed.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, May 15, 1906, p. 1.
Then He Would Not Be a Bankrupt as His Enemies Allege
Chicago, May 16. — Attorneys for Dowie today filed an answer in the federal court in the receivership proceedings brought against Dowie some time ago. In his answer Dowie denied that he is insolvent, if all his property was restored to him.
Judge Landis, before whom the arguments were made, entered an order directing the attorneys to leave the matter alone, saying he would settle it himself.
Riots broke out again in Zion City yesterday, following disorder which attended Dowie's effort to address his followers in Shiloh Tabernacle Sunday. Crowds numbering hundreds gathered on Shiloh boulevard, near the general store in the afternoon, and engaged in a furious argument over the respective merits of their leaders, and the questions at issue in the struggle of "Doctor" Dowie and Overseer Veliva for supremacy.
One Dowieite was handled roughly by the mob and serious consequences were only averted by the arrival of the Zion police in answer to a riot call.
James Slater, a negro adherent of the "First Apostle," was escorted to safety by the officers, after being mobbed for his sturdy defense of Dowie. The crowd assembled again after the departure of the police, and another riot call was sent in, which brought out all the reserves of the station, led by Police Captain Walker himself. The mob was forced off the street corners and ordered to disperse.
FEAR FURTHER TROUBLE
The police are apprehensive of further trouble and have called in all their patrolmen from outlying points for possible emergency duty. Slater is said to have started the trouble by exploiting the virtues of Dowie to a crowd near the general store. He was interrupted by loud cries of:
"Dowie has all of my money."
"Dowie is a robber."
"Why doesn't he pay his debts?"
The negro became frightened and ran. He was overtaken by the mob and in turn rescued by the police,
DOWIE CHARGES CONTEMPT
Dowie took personal charge of seeking punishment of persons who caused disorder at his meeting Sunday. He instructed his attorney, Emil C. Witten, to draw Judge Wright's attention to the fact that the terms of the court order issued at the first hearing of the injunction proceedings against Veliva, to the effect that the "First Apostle's" meetings should not he interfered with had been grossly violated. He also ordered his counsellors to announce that all negotiations for the appointment of a triumvirate were off, and that the court proceedings should proceed.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, May 15, 1906, p. 1.
The Deadbeat Prophet
Illinois, 1906
Yes, why does not John Alexander Dowie, "First Apostle," pay his debts? That question was bandied forth and back in Zion Sunday and it broke up a meeting arranged by Dowie. Police were called in, but they could do little more than keep the faithful and deluded from strangling each other.
It is a pity that it could not have been answered for Dowie that his debts have been paid. It appears that in these days it is necessary for a man to pay his bills if he lays any claim to being an apostle. The one who will not pay may overlay himself with a coating of seeming sanctity and saintliness and apostleship, but his competitors for the favor of the faithful are likely to get him in a corner at any time and call him a deadbeat The opponents of a professedly pious man are inclined at times to get raggedly familiar with him if he does not and will not pay his bills.
The lesson to be learned from all this is that if you expect to play the role of apostle with success here on earth it has become necessary for you to keep the finances straight. Certainly the time will come when a prophet who does not pay his bills will find himself without honor at home.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, May 14, 1906, p. 4.
Yes, why does not John Alexander Dowie, "First Apostle," pay his debts? That question was bandied forth and back in Zion Sunday and it broke up a meeting arranged by Dowie. Police were called in, but they could do little more than keep the faithful and deluded from strangling each other.
It is a pity that it could not have been answered for Dowie that his debts have been paid. It appears that in these days it is necessary for a man to pay his bills if he lays any claim to being an apostle. The one who will not pay may overlay himself with a coating of seeming sanctity and saintliness and apostleship, but his competitors for the favor of the faithful are likely to get him in a corner at any time and call him a deadbeat The opponents of a professedly pious man are inclined at times to get raggedly familiar with him if he does not and will not pay his bills.
The lesson to be learned from all this is that if you expect to play the role of apostle with success here on earth it has become necessary for you to keep the finances straight. Certainly the time will come when a prophet who does not pay his bills will find himself without honor at home.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, May 14, 1906, p. 4.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
"Dr." Dowie — Tells Miserable Sinners To Get Up Early
1902
Shouts Wisdom to Waukegan Followers — Makes Some Extraordinary Remarks in a Sermon
Waukegan, Ill., June 9. — John Alexander Dowie preached Sunday to the faithful in Zion City. It was the most remarkable address he has yet delivered. He said:
"May the Lord have mercy on you miserable sinners who want more than eight hours sleep. Men, you miserable sinners, get up early and give your wives a cup of milk while they are in bed. Women, if you have miserable, lazy husbands report them to me and I will give them hall Columbia. I will try a horn, and if that does not work I will yell fire. I will teach you all to get up early and work. There is another thing: You will have to stop this roving about nights. Ten o'clock is late enough for anybody to be out. Those found in the streets after that will be sent to the city prison."
—The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, June 9, 1902, p. 1.
Shouts Wisdom to Waukegan Followers — Makes Some Extraordinary Remarks in a Sermon
Waukegan, Ill., June 9. — John Alexander Dowie preached Sunday to the faithful in Zion City. It was the most remarkable address he has yet delivered. He said:
"May the Lord have mercy on you miserable sinners who want more than eight hours sleep. Men, you miserable sinners, get up early and give your wives a cup of milk while they are in bed. Women, if you have miserable, lazy husbands report them to me and I will give them hall Columbia. I will try a horn, and if that does not work I will yell fire. I will teach you all to get up early and work. There is another thing: You will have to stop this roving about nights. Ten o'clock is late enough for anybody to be out. Those found in the streets after that will be sent to the city prison."
—The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, June 9, 1902, p. 1.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Self-Styled Elijah III is Weak From Illness
1905
Chicago, Dec. 4. — That Dr. John Alexander Dowie has not recovered entirely from the effects of the stroke of paralysis which he suffered last September, was evidenced yesterday during his sermon in the Shiloh tabernacle in Zion City. He scarcely had begun his remarks, standing in the center of the platform, when he grew weak and for a moment was unable to continue. Assuring his followers that he was not ill, he drew a chair to the front of the platform and continued his address while sitting.
His voice did not show its old time power and he spoke in low tones. He referred to the persecution of Jews and said that he would dismiss any Zionite whom he heard speak slightingly of Jews. Dowie concluded his address, which lasted twenty-five minutes, stating that, while he felt weak and unwell, he believed he would live many years. His final remark produced a feeling or sorrow among his followers. He said:
"I shall be your leader here, or, if not here, I will be in the hereafter."
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1905
Talk on Modern Miracles
The gospel meetings at the West Jefferson street Church of Christ have met with such success that they are to be continued every night during this week. Mr. Allen's subject tonight will be "Modern Miracle-Working Exposed." Miss Helen Gill will sing.
—Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Dec. 4, 1905
Chicago, Dec. 4. — That Dr. John Alexander Dowie has not recovered entirely from the effects of the stroke of paralysis which he suffered last September, was evidenced yesterday during his sermon in the Shiloh tabernacle in Zion City. He scarcely had begun his remarks, standing in the center of the platform, when he grew weak and for a moment was unable to continue. Assuring his followers that he was not ill, he drew a chair to the front of the platform and continued his address while sitting.
His voice did not show its old time power and he spoke in low tones. He referred to the persecution of Jews and said that he would dismiss any Zionite whom he heard speak slightingly of Jews. Dowie concluded his address, which lasted twenty-five minutes, stating that, while he felt weak and unwell, he believed he would live many years. His final remark produced a feeling or sorrow among his followers. He said:
"I shall be your leader here, or, if not here, I will be in the hereafter."
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1905
Talk on Modern Miracles
The gospel meetings at the West Jefferson street Church of Christ have met with such success that they are to be continued every night during this week. Mr. Allen's subject tonight will be "Modern Miracle-Working Exposed." Miss Helen Gill will sing.
—Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Dec. 4, 1905
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