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| Donald Gee (1891-1966) |
In his excellent book, The Healer-Prophet William Marrion
Branham: A Study of the Prophetic in American Pentecostalism (Mercer University
Press, 2000), Dr. C. Douglas Weaver shared an unfavorable comment about F.F.Bosworth that was attributed to Donald Gee. The comment appeared as a footnote in Chapter Three,
which is titled, “Branham and the Healing Revival, 1947-1955.” It followed
Weaver’s description of William Branham’s evangelistic campaigns in South
Africa in 1952. The campaign was considered a major success by Bosworth and
others, including Gordon Lindsay. Weaver cited Joseph D. Mattsson-Boze who called
the South Africa meetings “the greatest outpouring of the Holy Ghost that that
country has ever seen.”
In the footnote to that comment, Weaver wrote: "Donald
Gee cited a report of F.F. Bosworth about the South Africa campaign to point
out the tendency of deliverance evangelists to exaggerate their claims for the
sake of propaganda." Weaver’s source for the claim of exaggeration is Gee’s
book, Wind and Flame (Heath Press, Ltd., 1967). Gee was a noted author,
prolific writer, respected pastor and conference speaker. He helped to
establish the Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland in 1924. He wrote
well-reasoned articles about Pentecost and the divine healing movement. Generally
astute and balanced in his judgment, Gee did not shy away from presenting constructive
criticism when and where he felt it was due.
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“It has to be confessed that in
a few regrettable cases commercialism vitiated the testimony.” -- Donald Gee
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In Gee’s view, the most prominent evangelistic healing
campaigns of the 1950s were held by American revivalists whose ministries were “accompanied
by a flood of propaganda, especially as they reached out beyond the United
States.” Gee, who was sometimes direct and scholarly in his critiques, believed there was
a place for mass evangelistic campaigns and divine healing. He voiced concern,
however, about some of the practices of the healing evangelists. “It has to be confessed that in a few regrettable cases
commercialism vitiated the testimony,” he asserted. “The tragic volume of
human physical suffering tempts exploitation by those who claim power to heal.”
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| Image taken from Amazon.com |
While he conceded some of the preachers “brought undoubted blessing to multitudes,” he also believed some of them made exaggerated claims about miracles and the success of their respective ministries. His comments about Bosworth are presented in the excerpt that follows.
Excerpt from Wind and Flame
As typical of these campaigns, I
have before me some extracts from the diary of F.F. Bosworth, published in the
Herald of Faith, relative to meetings in South Africa which he visited with
William Branham and Earn Baxter. He wrote – “At the hotel in Durban this
morning there was just one subject – the wonderful meetings on Sunday … The
meetings in the race course cannot be described. Some estimated the crowd in my
meeting at 10.30 a.m. to be from 80,000 to 100,000 … Last night’s meeting was
the most wonderful service Brother Branham ever had. Thousands were in tears.
The love of God seemed to fill the atmosphere of the entire race track. It
melted all hearts to tears. I saw Indian mothers holding their babies and
weeping with their hearts melted to love and worship … Seeing this multitude
during three short showers with no shelter over them, and hearing them sing
like angels, melted Brother Branham. The love and worship were beyond anything
that can be described.
“Miracles were wrought as
Brother Branham pointed them out in all directions. And then came the committal
and mass prayer when Brother Branham rose to the greatest height of his life as
in a moment, when he reached his last word, it seemed as if heaven fell on the
people and God healed thousands all at the same time. Those with club feet,
others paralyzed, some that had never walked from birth, that were closest to
the platform climbed the steps to show the audience what God had done for them.
A sea of people in all directions stood to give their hearts to Christ,
Thousands of Indians and natives among them. Many times the 3,000 converted on
the Day of Pentecost responded to Brother Baxter’s appeal to accept Christ”.
Donald Gee’s assessment
Admittedly these are the words
of enthusiasm, but they were not written for publication, but for a relative in
the U.S.A. Such crowds, and such ministry, produces many resultant problems
before those professing conversion begin to become disciples and are shepherded
into assemblies of God’s people. Many never go further than the excitement of
the campaign, but at any rate a mass of raw spiritual material is gathered for
pastoral care and teaching. The more regular and less spectacular aspects of
the Movement provide greater permanent results. But all have had their place.
Gee was a man of deliberate thought. He was known for being
lucid and quite persuasive in his commentary. However, his perspective on this
topic seems lacking. A key reason is that he made a claim by implication without
providing any hard evidence. Yes, he presented excerpts from Bosworth's letter
(which was published as a report), but he did not explain why he questioned
Bosworth’s report or why he situated his report in a section of the book that
highlighted concerns about healing evangelists. Without evidence, one is left
to see Gee's claim or assertion as merely an opinion and not a statement of
fact.
To be fair, however, Gee did not actually say that
Bosworth made exaggerated claims. Instead, he used Bosworth's letter to address
the challenge of discipleship when seeking to help new converts in mass
evangelistic meetings. Since he cited the letter in the very section where he
wrote about "propaganda" and "commercialism" in healing
ministries, it is not surprising that his depiction of Bosworth is viewed in a
negative light.
In the section in question, which is titled, “The Problem
and Power of Propaganda,” Gee began his argument by presenting his concerns
about the ministry practices of healing revivalists. He immediately followed
that material with Bosworth’s letter using the following words: “As typical of
these campaigns, I have before me some extracts from the diary of F.F.
Bosworth.” That line, in my view, placed Bosworth in the company of people who erred
in some way, the people that Gee had just criticized.
Some readers, understandably, might also derive the idea
of "exaggeration" from Gee's statement at the end of Bosworth’s letter:
"Admittedly these are the words of enthusiasm." That line may have
been a statement of truth, but in my opinion, it also implies an element of
doubt about Bosworth’s claims.
Gee’s overall assessment of Bosworth’s report may have been
accurate and on point. However, his argument is weakened by a lack of pertinent
information that could be found in answers to the following questions:
Did he check the numbers mentioned in Bosworth report?
Was he present in the meetings? Did he acquire images of the meetings or reports
that contradict Bosworth's letter? Did he seek to verify Bosworth's numbers by
checking with reliable sources in South Africa? Did he ask Bosworth about the
accuracy of his numbers and claims?
Unfortunately, the answer to each of those questions is
probably “No.” While Gee’s concern about discipleship and mass campaigns is
laudable, reports (by implication or otherwise) of Bosworth making exaggerated claims,
at least in Wind and Flame, seem to be without merit.
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Note: My
book, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind Christ the Healer, can be purchased here with
a 25% discount. Use the discount code: bosworth25.
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For more information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here. Questions about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow this blog or @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter.
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