Quote:
Originally Posted by Praxeas
Where are these specialized "ministries" in the bible? I never see "healing campaigns" in the bible. They went out and preached the gospel. Do they talk about "my ministry" in the bible?
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I think this hits the nail squarely on the head. The "Healing Evangelists" of the 40's and 50's emphasized HEALING. Salvation, it seems, was a "secondary issue". They used healing to draw people to the meetings. Advertisments boldly declared "The Blind See!". "The Lame Walk!". While altar calls were given and souls were saved in these meetings, the "thrust" (and the drawing card) was HEALING and deliverance. Oneness preachers of the day emphasized SALVATION (
Acts 2:28), and didn't place alot of emphasis on healing.
Doctrinal unity was also instumental in allowing these healing evangelists to hold big "union meetings"- they weren't as divided over doctrine as Oneness preachers were, and remain to this day. In fact- doctrine was downplayed in these meeting- while, Oneness preachers have always keep Doctrine on the front burner. And, in addition, Oneness preachers were more loyal to the respective organizations. When the Assemblies of God made moves to "reign in" Bro. A.A. Allen, Bother Jack Coe and others, they simply left those organizations and formed independent ministries and/or organizations. This allowed them the freedom to make claims of successes that could only be described as "questionable". The oneness preachers stayed within their organizations out of loyalty or perhaps, they simply didn't have anywhere else to go. An independent Oneness ministry had no chance of growth, so the ministers worked within the framework of their respective organizations. Unity was never high on the agenda of Oneness groups. I just wonder how many Jesus Name organizations were in existence in the 40's and 50's. The competition among these groups must have been high and this kept them from being able to work together. No Oneness ministry could achieve any notoriety because Oneness groups simply could not, or would not, work together. Bro. Branham, the closet thing to a Oneness preacher "on the sawdust trail", could only do so by becoming "semi-oneness" and "semi-trinitarian". He was known to have said several times, that he stood between the two and tried to reach out to both. This commendable action put him in the precarious position of being rejected by both groups. And this is what led to his desperate attempt to regain a "following" by adopting doctrines that only furthered his isolation.
There were Oneness preachers on the "sawdust trail" then, but because they found it necessary to work within their respective organizations, and were constrained to do so, they were never able to reach the level of renown as men like Allen, Coe, Roberts and Osborn. These men had the financial resources to reach the masses and used any and every available means to do so...including television. Television was never an option among Oneness preachers. I'd say the use of radio to broadcast the Gospel was denounced by many in those early days.
The brother referred to the Healing Movement as "the last great revival in America". I disagree. I believe there is one more move of God to sweep across America and around the world.
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