John Alexander Dowie - very briefly

The legacy of John Alexander Dowie casts an enormous shadow over the history of faith healing in modern Christendom. He was a man of enormous passion and single-minded vision that refused to allow circumstances or people to keep his goals from being achieved.

Dowie came to America in the last decade of the 19th century. After spending some time doing healing crusades throughout the country he decided to center his ministry in the Chicago area. He invaded the Midwest with the subtlety of clanging cymbals in a library. Within months of his arrival several Chicago newspapers ran negative articles labeling him a heretic and a false prophet. He seemed to view all publicity, especially controversial publicity, as good publicity.  He had people's attention.

He set up a small edifice just outside the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago that would serve as his platform for ministry to the masses attending the event. His bravado and claims that Jesus still heals the sick drew crowds that overflowed his small building.  He would often cite Acts 10:38, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with The Holy Ghost and power:who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him." The attendance at the meetings increased daily as the reports of healings spread throughout the city.

The success at the World's Fair gave Dowie the encouragement to take another bold step. He opened up several large facilities that he called "Healing Homes". These homes would house people that were ill while they were taught about healing and prayed for until they recovered. The Healing Homes were mercilessly attacked by the local media, especially the Chicago Dispatch which labeled the homes, "Lunatic Asylums".

The controversies only seemed to fuel Dowie's determination. By 1897 he began a new church based on what he believed were original apostolic principles and regularly had over 6000 people attending weekly. He declared doctors and medicines to be evil and forbid the members of his congregation from using either. Alcohol and tobacco were also prohibited. Some historians speculate that there were well over 10,000 members by 1900.

In my estimation, the years between 1896-1900 were the most fruitful years of Dowie's ministry. Thousands of people received prayer to be healed every week during those years.  Once unnecessary, crutches, braces, orthopedic shoes, canes and other corrective devices would become wall decorations commemorating the victory of Jesus.

With the turn of a new century John Alexander Dowie also seemed to turn his attention in another direction. He became continuously more concerned with building an empire rather than the Kingdom of Jesus. He purchased 6,600 acres of land along Lake Michigan and built Zion City, Illinois.  John Dowie was for a time the unchallenged overseer of a "moral utopia". Not surprisingly, no alcohol, tobacco and medicine were allowed anywhere within the city.  Pork products were also forbidden.

Zion City soon had over 6,000 residents, a factory, schools, and of course, a church facility called Zion Temple. The demand of being Zion's General Overseer seemed to have taken a toll on Dowie, specifically on his discernment.

With some encouragement from a few church leaders he came to the conclusion that he was the embodiment on the earth of the prophet Elijah. He believed he was to be the one to usher in the return of Jesus and His millenial reign. Understandably, Christian leaders began to separate themselves from Dowie and his self aggrandizement.

He said that a voice in his mind would say to him, "Elijah must come, and who but you is doing the work of Elijah?" He began to dress in what he deemed his "high priestly robe" and was now not just the overseer of a city, but God's chosen forerunner to the second coming.

Sadly, Dowie died seemingly still deluded. The city and church were at the center of several battles for control after his death. I believe that John Alexander was a forerunner. A forerunner of the healing movements that would take place over the 50 years following his passing. Many of the men involved in those movements stood on the shoulders of John Dowie. His ministry and gifts are still wonderful for us to learn from a century after the fact. It saddens me to end this story the way it ended.