The Healing Revival is a term used by many American Charismatics in reference to a Christian revival movement that began in June 1946 and continued through the 1950s. The Healing Revival sparked the Latter Rain movement in 1948 and the two movements were interrelated. The period of revival was a significant influence on the modern charismatic movement.
The period of revivals was described by Christian writer John Crowder as "the most extensive public display of miraculous power in modern history. " [1] Some, like critic and radio personality Hank Hanegraaff, rejected the entire healing revival as a hoax, and condemned the subsequent evangelical and charismatic movements as a cult. [2] Divine healing is a tradition and belief that became increasingly associated with Evangelical Protestantism. [3] The majority of American Christianity's fascination with divine healing played a significant role in the popularity and inter-denominational nature of the revival movement. [4]
Oral Roberts and William Branham are described by historian David Edwin Harrell as the two giants of the movement. William Branham, who died in a 1965 car accident, is widely regarded as the initiator and the pacesetter of the revival, and described by Harrell as the movement's "unlikely leader." [5] [6] Roberts emerged as the most popular figure and left the most lasting legacy, including the university bearing his name. Referring to Branham's first series of meetings in St Louis in June 1946, Krapohl & Lippy have commented: "Historians generally mark this turn in Branham’s ministry as inaugurating the modern healing revival". [7]
Branham was the source of inspiration for T. L. Osborn's worldwide crusade ministry and dozens of other smaller ministries involved in the healing revival. [8] Other major figures of the revival were Jack Coe and later A. A. Allen. Many of these ministries shared their healing testimonies in The Voice of Healing , a periodical published by Gordon Lindsay, which created cohesion for the group in its nascent years.
The Healing Revival was closely connected to the Latter Rain movement, and the two movements deeply influenced each other. In 1948, attendees at a William Branham healing campaign in western Canada were inspired by the sermon and events of the meetings to begin fasting and praying to experience similar things in their church. The fruits of their efforts started the Latter Rain movement which quickly spread internationally and attracted many of the same people participating in the Healing Revival. Joseph Mattsson-Boze was a prominent leader of the Latter Rain movement, and his magazine Herald of Faith provided publicity to both the Healing Revival and the Latter Rain movement. [9]
By the mid-1950s, dozens of ministers associated with Branham and his campaigns had launched similar healing campaigns. [10] In 1956, the healing revival reached its peak, as 49 separate evangelists held major meetings. [11]
By 1960, the number of evangelists holding national campaigns dropped to 11. [11] Several perspectives on the decline of the healing revival have been offered. Crowder suggested Branham's gradual separation from Gordon Lindsay played a major part in the decline. [12] Harrell attributed the decline to the increasing number of evangelists crowding the field and straining the financial resources of the Pentecostal denominations. [10] Weaver agreed Pentecostal churches gradually withdrew their support for the healing revival, mainly over the financial stresses put on local churches by the healing campaigns. [13] The Assemblies of God were the first to openly withdraw support from the healing revival in 1953. [13] Weaver pointed to other factors that may have helped destroy the initial ecumenism of the revival; tension between the independent evangelists and the Pentecostal churches caused by the evangelists' fund-raising methods, denominational pride, sensationalism, and doctrinal conflicts—particularly between the Oneness and Trinitarian factions within Pentecostalism. [13] Weaver also believed that "fraud and chicanary" by the revivals evangelists also played a major role in the decline. [14]
A result of these major healing ministries of the post-War era was a renewed belief and emphasis in divine healing among many Christians, and this was a part of the broader Charismatic Movement, a movement which today numbers about 308 million [15] worldwide. [16]
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.
The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). It has affected most denominations in the US, and has spread widely across the world.
William Joseph Seymour was an African-American holiness preacher who initiated the Azusa Street Revival, an influential event in the rise of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. He was the second of eight children born to emancipated slaves and raised Catholic in extreme poverty in Louisiana.
The Toronto Blessing, a term coined by British newspapers, refers to the Christian revival and associated phenomena that began in January 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church (TAV), which was renamed in 1996 to Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) and then later in 2010 renamed to Catch the Fire Toronto. It is categorized as a neo-charismatic Evangelical Christian church and is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The revival impacted charismatic Christian culture through an increase in popularity and international reach and intensified criticism and denominational disputes. Criticism primarily centered around disagreements about charismatic doctrine, the Latter Rain Movement, and whether or not the physical manifestations people experienced were in line with biblical doctrine or were actually heretical practices.
The Latter Rain, also known as the New Order or the New Order of the Latter Rain, was a post–World War II movement within Pentecostal Christianity which remains controversial. The movement saw itself as a continuation of the restorationism of early pentecostalism. The movement began with major revivals between 1948 and 1952 and became established as a large semi-organized movement by 1952. It continued into the 1960s. The movement had a profound impact on subsequent movements as its participants dispersed throughout the broader charismatic and pentecostal movements beginning in the 1960s.
William Marrion Branham was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post-World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to prelude Christ's second coming; some of his followers have been labeled a "doomsday cult". He is credited as "a principal architect of restorationist thought" for charismatics by some Christian historians, and has been called the "leading individual in the Second Wave of Pentecostalism." He made a lasting influence on televangelism and the modern charismatic movement, and his "stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement".
Signs and wonders refers to experiences that are perceived to be miraculous as being normative in the modern Christian experience, and is a phrase associated with groups that are a part of modern charismatic movements and Pentecostalism. This phrase is seen multiple times throughout the Bible to describe the activities of the early church, and is historically recorded as continuing, at least in practice, since the time of Christ. The phrase is primarily derived from Old and New Testament references and is now used in the Christian and mainstream press and in scholarly religious discourse to communicate a strong emphasis on recognizing perceived manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the contemporary lives of Christian believers. It also communicates a focus on the expectation that divine action would be experienced in the individual and corporate life of the modern Christian church, and a further insistence that followers actively seek the "gifts of the Spirit".
Prosperity theology is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Material and especially financial success is seen as a sign of divine favor.
The Neo-charismaticmovement is a movement within evangelical Protestant Christianity that is composed of a diverse range of independent churches and organizations that emphasize the current availability of gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and faith healing. The Neo-charismatic movement is considered to be the "third wave" of the Charismatic Christian tradition which began with Pentecostalism, and was furthered by the Charismatic movement. As a result of the growth of postdenominational and independent charismatic groups, Neo-charismatics are now believed to be more numerous than the first and second wave categories. As of 2002, some 19,000 denominations or groups, with approximately 295 million individual adherents, were identified as Neo-charismatic.
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a movement which seeks to establish a fifth branch within Christendom distinct from Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The NAR movement largely consists of churches nominally or formerly associated with Pentecostal denominations and Charismatic movements but have diverged from traditional or classical Pentecostal and Charismatic theology in that it advocates for the restoration of church governance by the lost offices of prophet and apostle, which they believe were lost in the first centuries of Christianity in favor of pastors, elders, and administrators.
James Gordon Lindsay was a revivalist preacher, author, and founder of Christ for the Nations Institute. Born in Zion, Illinois, Lindsay's parents were disciples of John Alexander Dowie, the father of healing revivalism in America. After the family moved to Portland, Oregon, the young boy was influenced by John G. Lake and converted to Pentecostalism by Charles Fox Parham. At the age of eighteen he began his ministry as a traveling evangelist, conducting meetings in Assembly of God, British Israelite churches and other Pentecostal groups. By 1940 he was organizing large convention meetings, including the 1940 Anglo-Saxon World Federation meetings in Vancouver. In 1947 he began serving as campaign manager and publicist for William Branham, with whom he established Voice of Healing magazine in 1948. Lindsay gradually took over full management of the Voice of Healing association which helped launch and popularize the ministries of Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, and dozens of other prominent evangelists. In 1971, Lindsay renamed the organization Christ For The Nations to reflect the growing missionary focus of the organization. He led the organization until his death.
The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas, who came from a variety of independent churches and networks of churches. The Assemblies of God is a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination and is the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. With a constituency of 2,928,143 in 2022, the Assemblies of God was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States.
The Pentecostal Church of New Zealand (PCNZ) was a Pentecostal denomination established in 1924 that was the first attempt at organizing the Pentecostal movement in New Zealand. After a series of splits, the church disbanded in 1952.
The Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) is a fellowship of lay businessmen. Its main purpose is to bring interest to the Christian gospel. Theologically, the organization has its roots in Pentecostalism. The headquarters is in Irvine, California.
A revivalist is a person who holds, promotes, or presides over religious revivals. A secondary definition for revivalist is a person who revives customs, institutions, or ideas. The definition has become more robust in recent decades, and has been revised and adapted by American Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians to be someone who "recognizes that God's manifest presence transforms lives and cultures." A revivalist can also include someone that either presides over, or actively pursues, a religious re-awakening or restoration to spiritual ideas, orthodoxy, religious or personal experiences, and/or communal pursuit of divine occurrences.
Orval Lee Jaggers was an American Christian minister, writer, and scholar. He was born in Dardanelle, Arkansas. He took part in the healing revival of the 1940s and 1950s and was an contributor to Voice of Healing magazine. Before the healing revival Jaggers was pastor of an Assemblies of God church. Jaggers' teaching focused on sensational topics that drew crowds to listen to him. Topics he spoke on included UFOs, space aliens, atomic bombs, and the communist threat. His teachings caused issues among his contemporary evangelists, and Gordon Lindsay and William Branham both urged him to teach on more traditional topics. Jaggers traveled widely holding campaign meetings around the United States and had both radio and television programs during the 1950s. Jaggers developed a following during the healing revival and started the World Church in Los Angeles, California in 1952 where he remained as pastor until his death.
Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer's life. It has a global presence in the Christian community. Practitioners are often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and the Neo-charismatic movement.
C. Franklin Hall was an American Christian minister and faith healer. Born in Coffeyville, Kansas to Carey F. Hall and Alice M. Hall, he was the oldest of six children. He was a prominent minister in the Healing Revival during the 1940s and 1950s, a well known author in the Pentecostal movement, and an important leader in the Latter Rain movement. His teachings on fasting were particularly influential in the Latter Rain movement. Hall founded Miracle Temple in San Diego in 1946, where he established the Fasting and Prayer Daily Revival Center. In 1956 Franklin moved his headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona, where he established the International Healing Cathedral and the Hall Deliverance Foundation. Hall did missionary work in Africa and was particularly active in Nigeria during the 1970s. Hall was a lifelong member of the Assemblies of God.
Leo Mercer was a cult leader and Christian minister. He was connected to the Healing Revival of the 1940s and 1950s and was closely associated with William Branham. Mercer was raised near South Bend, Indiana and was a member of the Catholic Church before converting to Pentecostalism around 1950. Mercer was a homosexual. His partner was Gene Goad.