The 1947-1957 Healing Revival
This great revival was the most powerful and fruitful move of God in Christian history. Participants defined it as “a signs-gifts-healing, salvation-deliverance, Holy Ghost miracle revival.” A more recent historian says it was “the most extensive public display of miraculous power in modern history.”
Despite extreme criticism and controversy, its effects were astounding. Pentecostalism was revitalised, a new wave of evangelistic initiatives circled the globe, reaping tens of thousands of new converts and the multi-facetted charismatic movement was birthed. The primary offshoot of the Healing Revival was the The Latter Rain Movement in Canada which in turn, led to the charismatic, restoration and prophetic movements which swept through the entire world.
Today the world-wide Pentecostal/charismatic community numbers over 550 million members and is the fastest growing branch of the Christian church across the nations.
We pay tribute to the pioneers who paid such a great price to return the church to its New Testament foundations.
History of Healing
The Old Testament
The Patristic Period
18th-19th Century
The Gospels
The Medieval Period
20th Century
The Acts
Reformation
21st Century
Who were these men?
The Healing Revival that exploded in 1947 thrust into positions of world-wide prominence a group of unsuspecting men. Who were these men? What credentials did they have? How did they experience such a meteoric rise to international fame and success in preaching the Gospel and healing the sick? Where did they get such power from? Were they uniquely chosen or just radically obedient?
There were between 50 and 70 full-time healing evangelists traversing America and invading foreign shores with their message of hope and deliverance from 1947 to the 70’s and beyond.
Materials are hard to find but on this site you will find histories, biographies and teachings of these champions of the faith sourced from authentic original materials.
What did they believe and teach to produce such results?
The healing evangelists subscribed to a specific set of Christian teachings which emphasised the reliability of the Bible, salvation by repentance and faith and other regular evangelical doctrines. But their unique contribution was far more Pentecostal, stressing the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for all those who were believers, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, the exercise of faith and the power of prayer and fasting.
Some proclaimed the restoration of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers according to Ephesians 4 and all subscribed to the ability to impart supernatural power through the laying on of hands – and much more.
Throughout this site you will find examples of everything they believed, taught and practiced.
What lessons can we learn from their successes and failures?
There is always much to learn from pioneers of the faith who broke through all barriers to see and experience a true move of God – how they prayed, their interior life with God, the methodology they employed and so on.
But there are warnings as well as examples. The healing evangelists pioneered a powerful means of evangelism through preaching and healing; Their appeal to the common people was extraordinary and their faith in God’s promises to save, heal and deliver were exemplary
Yet, there were sins and snares which marred their work and should be taken seriously by leaders today. Pride, independence, financial impropriety, competitiveness and doctrinal errors or extremes dogged the steps of many.
The Healing Revival 1947-1958 - An Overview
After the lean spiritual years of World War II, two major national movements revitalized the American church. One was the evangelical movement spearheaded by Billy Graham and other was the healing revival represented by William Branham and Oral Roberts and a host of other lesser-known ministries like A. A. Allen and Jack Coe. Read MoreHistorical Context
There is sufficient documentary evidence to conclude that there was a widespread and significant revival movement during the post-war period.
Gordon Lindsay's View
This balanced article first appeared in the Conference brochure of the World Pentecostal Conference held in London, England, 1952.
William Branham
Gordon Lindsay wrote, ‘The story of the life of William Branham is so out of this world and beyond the ordinary that, were there not available a host of infallible proofs which document and attest its authenticity, one might well be excused from considering it farfetched and incredible.” (Gordon Lindsay, A Man Sent From God, p9)
Thousands were converted or healed through Branham’s ministry. He reported that throughout his life he was guided by an angel who regularly communicated with him. He operated in what appears to be a genuine gift of ‘the word of knowledge’ which was gave him the power to discern people’s illnesses and thoughts. David Harrell reports of his popularity: “The power of a Branham service . . . remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the charismatic movement” (Harrell, p162). Branham’s accuracy is attested by Walter J. Hollenweger, who interpreted for him in Zurich and ‘is not aware of any case in which he was mistaken in the often detailed statements he made’ (Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p354).
Oral Roberts
Early years
Granville Oral Roberts was born in 1918, the fifth son of a minister in the Pentecostal Holiness church in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. His childhood was more balanced than many other healing evangelists although he was reared in abject poverty. At seventeen years of age he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was bedridden for more than five months. He was totally healed of this and his stuttering in July 1935 at a tent revival conducted by evangelist George W. Moncey in Ada, Oklahoma. For two years he was an apprentice under his father in evangelistic work. He was ordained by the Pentecostal Holiness church in 1936, and quickly became one of the outstanding young ministers in the denomination. Between 1941 and 1947 he served four different pastorates in small Pentecostal Holiness churches.
Oral Roberts
Early years
Granville Oral Roberts was born in 1918, the fifth son of a minister in the Pentecostal Holiness church in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. His childhood was more balanced than many other healing evangelists although he was reared in abject poverty. At seventeen years of age he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was bedridden for more than five months. He was totally healed of this and his stuttering in July 1935 at a tent revival conducted by evangelist George W. Moncey in Ada, Oklahoma. For two years he was an apprentice under his father in evangelistic work. He was ordained by the Pentecostal Holiness church in 1936, and quickly became one of the outstanding young ministers in the denomination. Between 1941 and 1947 he served four different pastorates in small Pentecostal Holiness churches.
Other Ministries
General Overview
On this page we will outline the teachings of three strains of Pentecostal theology that have emerged over the past century. They are related to the Traditional Pentecostals, the 1947-1957 Healing Movement and the Latter Rain Movement. More detailed papers can be found elsewhere on this site.
The Traditional Pentecostal Denominations
Pentecostals, like other evangelicals, have always adhered to the Bible’s divine inspiration and inerrancy—the belief that the Bible, in the original languages in which it was written, is infallible and authoritative in all matters of belief and behaviour, doctrine and practice. The early Pentecostal church was very Biblically based like their forefathers who were ‘servants of the Word,’ (Luke 1:2) If God said it, so it was and so it shall be. The Pentecostal Movement began with this proposition. Practice was a product of doctrine.
Baptism in the Spirit
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Demonology
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Ephesians 4 ministries
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Eschatology
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Faith
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Fasting
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William Branham and Team
A. A. Allen Tent Crusade
William Branham's Crusade in South Africa
Typical Crusade in Large Hall
WELCOME!
We are glad you stopped by! Our purpose is to fan your passion for more of God in your life and ministry.
We have collected and researched materials from the 1947-1957 healing revival which rocked the world and re-configured the direction of His advancing church for the next 60 years.
We have added Biblical teaching on healing and historical material which shows that the ministry of healing was always on God’s agenda and has been exercised throughout the church age.
We pray that this site will encourage your soul, inspire your faith and provoke you to seek God for a fresh anointing to demonstrate the Gospel by signs and wonders.
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