Aimee Semple McPherson was an evangelical healer in the early 1900's. She was born in 1890 and under the circumstances of her birth she was immediately consecrated to the Salvation Army. As a child she grew up very active in the Salvation Army, and that led naturally to a life of bible study and preaching.
Her spirituality was not the staid "normal" Christianity. Instead it was evangelically oriented with music, and joyous singing, and hand clapping and so on.
During her high school years she came across the theory of evolution. It rocked her world, a world where she had fully accepted the fundamentalist christian notion of the infallibility of the Bible. In an exploration errily similar to the Intelligent Design debate going on today, she and her fundamentalist background explored science and evolution. This led her to her first taste of fame, as her studies caused her to write a letter urging "everbody" to rally and stand by the sacred old truths of the ages, those old truths being the claims written in the Bible. This in spite of the "cold-blooded reasoning of scientists". Her letter was published in newspapers around the world causing an avalanche of letters to be sent to her from around the world.
In her adult life she was married three times and divorced twice. Most of her adult life was spent in evangelical work either in support of her first husbands ministry, or in her own ministry. Yes, in the early 1900's she launched a career, as a woman, in evangelical ministry.
This book gives a very detailed accounting of Aimee's life and her rise from obscurity in the farmlands of Canada to her eventual life as a world-prominent evangelical minister based in Los Angeles.
Her healing ministry was "real" in that there are hundreds of documented healings resulting from her services. The documentation was so thorough that at one point the American Medical Association approved of her healing work. Dang!
Her life also had several controversies. To begin with there are her divorces which, in the early 1900's cannot have been a highly acceptible action. Especially for an evangelical minister. Yet, her rise in popularity was not harmed by the divorces. There were many other controversies such as a strange abduction, allegations of lovers, and the shady dealings of her third husband.
Comments
Excellent book about a most interesting life
Aimee Semple McPherson was an evangelical healer in the early 1900's. She was born in 1890 and under the circumstances of her birth she was immediately consecrated to the Salvation Army. As a child she grew up very active in the Salvation Army, and that led naturally to a life of bible study and preaching.
Her spirituality was not the staid "normal" Christianity. Instead it was evangelically oriented with music, and joyous singing, and hand clapping and so on.
During her high school years she came across the theory of evolution. It rocked her world, a world where she had fully accepted the fundamentalist christian notion of the infallibility of the Bible. In an exploration errily similar to the Intelligent Design debate going on today, she and her fundamentalist background explored science and evolution. This led her to her first taste of fame, as her studies caused her to write a letter urging "everbody" to rally and stand by the sacred old truths of the ages, those old truths being the claims written in the Bible. This in spite of the "cold-blooded reasoning of scientists". Her letter was published in newspapers around the world causing an avalanche of letters to be sent to her from around the world.
In her adult life she was married three times and divorced twice. Most of her adult life was spent in evangelical work either in support of her first husbands ministry, or in her own ministry. Yes, in the early 1900's she launched a career, as a woman, in evangelical ministry.
This book gives a very detailed accounting of Aimee's life and her rise from obscurity in the farmlands of Canada to her eventual life as a world-prominent evangelical minister based in Los Angeles.
Her healing ministry was "real" in that there are hundreds of documented healings resulting from her services. The documentation was so thorough that at one point the American Medical Association approved of her healing work. Dang!
Her life also had several controversies. To begin with there are her divorces which, in the early 1900's cannot have been a highly acceptible action. Especially for an evangelical minister. Yet, her rise in popularity was not harmed by the divorces. There were many other controversies such as a strange abduction, allegations of lovers, and the shady dealings of her third husband.
- David Herron, A guide on the road to peace of mind