John
Alexander Dowie was born in Scotland in 1847, but spent much of his early
life in Australia. He was a fighter in the true sense, boldly battling
the sin and compromise he found all around him - even as a young
minister
in Australia.
In
later years, particularly after his move to Chicago in the United States,
he became probably the most renowned pioneer of Divine Healing worldwide,
and by the turn of the century had become known to millions around the
world.
In
his early years of outstanding success in Chicago, where the power of God
was being constantly demonstrated, and hundreds were being healed of every
affliction, it seemed as if the devil was summoning every demon from hell
to attack and somehow bring him down.
He
was arrested over 100 times on trumped-up charges, ceaselessly attacked
by the most prominent media men in the city, and he even suffered street-riots
and attempts upon his life. (-On one notable occasion, when he had been
suddenly warned by a voice from God to leave his office, he narrowly averted
being blown to pieces by a powerful bomb that had been planted there).
Eventually,
he won through, with credibility intact (in fact, greatly enhanced despite
all the controversy), and became God's most effective champion of Divine
Healing in America up to that point.
The
quotations used here are almost all taken from the book, 'John Alexander
Dowie - A life story of Trials, Tragedies and Triumphs' by Gordon Lindsay:
As
with many men of God who are being prepared for a mighty ministry, God
had used the early years of Dowie's Christian walk as a "tougheningup"
or training period. Dowie's many struggles and pitfalls, plus the
harsh
spiritual 'wilderness' and obscurity of Australia, were used to mold and
make him, bringing a great hunger and seeking after God.
As
Gordon Lindsay wrote in the Introduction to his book on Dowie, "when any
man is chosen of God to be used in an unusual manner, God permits him to
go through a training period, which sometimes includes trials and tribulations
of the most severe nature." He said that when Dowie first set foot
on American soil at the age of 41, he was almost completely unknown, but
that when the healing anointing that he had received from God was recognized,
and God's perfect timing came, John Alexander Dowie rose to international
prominence with astonishing abruptness, as one of God's great leaders of
that period.
Lindsay
wrote of the decline of Dowie that, "it was at that moment when he began
to engage in secular activities, and departed from the simplicity of his
earlier days, that his decline began."
John
Alexander Dowie is described as, "a reformer who, fighting against the
greatest of odds, single-handily challenged the apostasy of his time, and
succeeded in bringing to the attention of the Church visible, if not
to
its acceptance, the message of the Gospel of healing - a message of deliverance
for the whole man, body, soul and spirit...
Against
overwhelming opposition, a hostile press, bitterly opposed clergymen, antagonistic
city officials, unscrupulous lawyers... he fought for and maintained the
right to pray for the sick. Despite the fiercest persecution, numerous
illegal arrests - as many as one hundred in a year - he outwitted and foiled
his enemies, and succeeded in bringing to the attention of the world, the
great truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
(Pg 3-4).
And
all through this period, numerous documented, outstanding miracles of healing
were taking place under his ministry.
Please
remember how NEW all this was at the time. Today, the things that Dowie
fought for are taken for granted throughout the Christian world, but in
those days there were basically NO SUCH THINGS as
healing
ministries or healing evangelists.
Dowie
was a pioneer, an instrument of God who paved the way for what was to follow,
just like many Christian Reformers down through the ages.
"In
the days of adversity, John Alexander Dowie learned to lean heavily upon
God. When every other resource failed him, he abandoned his life to the
mercy and graciousness of God.
In
his early days in Chicago, certain people had approached Dowie with what
they claimed as a "direct revelation from God" that Dowie was, in fact,
'Elijah the Restorer', the great end-times prophet. For their trouble,
Dowie immediately rebuked them soundly and dismissed them from his presence,
warning them never to mention such things to him again.
However,
the suggestion that had been planted that day kept ringing in his ears.
"According to his own testimony, he tried to rid himself of it, but could
not. A voice seemed to say, 'Elijah must come,
and who but you is doing the work of Elijah?' Time
passed. Then one day there came flooding into his consciousness a strange
and intense conviction that he was indeed Elijah - the one spoken of by
the prophets who was to come and restore all things. The impression came
with such overwhelming
power,
that his entire personality became absorbed with it." (Pg 188).
In
June 1901, Dowie took the fateful step of publicly announcing that he was
indeed Elijah the Restorer. (A claim which was immediately challenged and
denounced by religious leaders all over the world).
By
this time, Dowie was also heavily involved with land development. Having
purchased over 6000 acres of land near Chicago, construction was already
underway on what would become 'Zion City', an entire large town to be occupied
by Dowie's followers, and to be run according to "Christian principles".
Sadly, no-one seemed to remember that the New Testament never advocates
separating ourselves from the world in this way, but rather of living IN
the world, but not being OF it.
Initially,
Zion City was a resounding success, both financially and in every other
respect. But eventually it was to lead Dowie to financial ruin, and there
can be no doubt that it contributed greatly to his overall decline.
One
of his great dreams was to build 'Zion Cities' all over the world - no
doubt part of his supposed mission of the "Restoration of all things" -
from which he and his followers would begin to exercise rulership in the
earth.
What
fateful days these were.
For
many years John's wife had been content, along with John, to live almost
in poverty, trusting God. However, it has been reported that "when prosperity
came to the Dowie family, she lost her simplicity of life: she bought gowns
in Paris and indulged in extravagances..." (Pg 200).
All
of this would have been unthinkable to them only a few years earlier. "But
with the prosperity that came to him in America, eventually the simplicity
of his life was altered. He came to the conclusion, and apparently Mrs.
Dowie abetted his proposals, that it would be to his advantage to build
a costly executive mansion in which he could entertain important personages.
This large edifice when finished was elaborately appointed with expensive
furnishings." (Pg 201-202).
In
the end, it seemed almost as though the very things that Dowie and his
wife had stood against all their lives, were the very strategies that Satan
now used against them, to destroy them. And to help the tragedy along,-
"at the crucial time of Dr. Dowie's life when he needed help so desperately,
it does not appear that his wife was a spiritual reservoir of strength
that he could fall back on." (Pg 201).
Even
when his daughter died tragically as a result of a fire in 1902, he hardly
paused to reflect on his headlong forward momentum.
The
last days of John Dowie were not particularly good. He had fought a great
fight for many years and died still believing he was Elijah, an ill and
broken man, crippled in a wheel chair. His ministry was gone, Zion City
was almost bankrupt, and he had lost everything that he once thought of
as his own.
