ABSTRACT Living in Bible Times: F.F. Bosworth and the Pentecostal Pursuit of the Supernatural Christopher J. Richmann, Ph.D. Chairperson: C. Douglas Weaver, Ph.D. This study examines American pentecostalism using the healing evangelist F.F. Bosworth as an interpretive lens. Bosworth’s formative experiences, long-running success, and influence on pentecostal culture situate him as a representative leader. Yet his resistance to majority doctrine and lack of durable denominational ties challenges traditional definitions of pentecostalism, driving to the conclusion that pentecostal identity lies in the pursuit of the supernatural inherited from the nineteenth-century holiness movement rather than in doctrinal markers or connections to the Azusa Street revival. Bosworth’s life story structures the dissertation, providing the most comprehensive biography of Bosworth to date. Experiences with Methodist revivalism, divine healing, and spirit-baptism reveal Bosworth as a typical pentecostal leader-in-the- making. Like numerous influential pentecostals, Bosworth had no significant connections to the Azusa Street revival. His early ministry and facilitation of a crucial revival in Dallas in 1912 established him as a leader in the young pentecostal movement, and his work with the Assemblies of God placed him in the mainstream who sought organizational stability for pentecostalism. In 1918, Bosworth publically rejected the tongues evidence doctrine, forcing his departure from the Assemblies of God. But his subsequent fame as a healing evangelist and the impact of his Christ the Healer (1924) demonstrate that he continued to represent and shape the supernaturalist impulse of pentecostalism. And while Bosworth’s British- Israel teaching was widely disparaged by full gospel believers, this teaching was embraced by many influential early pentecostals. In his last decade, Bosworth became a major contributor to the post-World War II healing revival, shaping a new generation of independently-minded pentecostals in the same pursuit of the supernatural that had animated his entire career. Bosworth’s thought centered on the continuity of God’s activity, which helps explain his positions on tongues, divine healing, and biblical prophecy. While Bosworth popularized much of the thought of E.W. Kenyon, Bosworth also came to many of the same positions independently. As a unique living link between the late-nineteenth century divine healing movement and the postwar healing revival, as a leader who valued independence, and as an evangelist who focused on healing, Bosworth embodied the ethos of popular American pentecostalism. Living in Bible Times: F.F. Bosworth and the Pentecostal Pursuit of the Supernatural by Christopher J. Richmann, M.A. A Dissertation Approved by the Department of Religion W.H. Bellinger, Jr., Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee C. Douglas Weaver, Ph.D., Chairperson William L. Pitts, Jr., Ph.D. Barry G. Hankins, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2015 J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2015 by Christopher J. Richmann All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Preface ................................................................................................................................ ix Chapter One: The Gospel of the Supernatural .....................................................................1 The Holiness Movement ..........................................................................................1 Supernaturalism in the Holiness Movement ..........................................................13 Sanctification and Manifestations ..............................................................18 Premillennialism ........................................................................................20 Divine Healing ...........................................................................................26 Emergence of Pentecostalism and the Holiness Retreat ........................................45 Chapter Two: A Pentecostal Leader-in-the-Making ..........................................................55 Childhood, Conversion, and Healing .....................................................................59 The City of God .....................................................................................................70 Pentecost in Zion....................................................................................................84 From Dowieites to Pentecostals .............................................................................92 Dowieite Pentecostalism: Pentecostal Identity and Origins ................................105 Chapter Three: Emboldened and Empowered to Preach, 1907-1913 ..............................110 Early Itinerancy, 1907-1910 ................................................................................113 Dallas, Texas: Bosworth the Rising Star .............................................................125 Stone Church Revival: Bosworth the Revered Leader ........................................148 Bosworth’s Early Theology of Healing ...................................................152 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................155 Chapter Four: Organizations and Orthodoxy, 1914-1918 ...............................................157 Formation of the of the Assemblies of God .........................................................159 Dallas and Beyond: Bosworth as Pastor, Evangelist, and Denominational Statesman .............................................................................................................163 The Tongues Evidence Controversy ....................................................................174 Bosworth’s Early Ambivalence ...............................................................175 Context: Early Pentecostal Fluidity on the Tongues Evidence Teaching ...................................................................................................178 Bosworth’s Critique and Pentecostal Responses .....................................196 Why the Tongues Evidence Doctrine Triumphed ...................................209 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................219 Chapter Five: The Healing Evangelist, 1919-1932 ..........................................................222 Loss and Change, 1919-1920 ...............................................................................223 Mounting Success, 1921-1924 .............................................................................229 Responding to Critics and Encouraging Supporters: Christ the Healer ..............236 The Opposition.........................................................................................237 Response from the Bosworth Camp ........................................................246 The Question of R.A. Torrey ...................................................................248 Impact of Christ the Healer .....................................................................250 New Phase: Independent Evangelism, 1924-1932...............................................255 Methods, Means, and Message: Bosworth as a Healing Revivalist ....................260 Balancing a Double Gospel .....................................................................264 The Culture of Divine Healing ................................................................266 “My Physician Sent Me Here to Be Healed” .......................................... 269 Non-Fundamentalist Critique of Modernism ...........................................273 The Full Gospel and the Problem of Categorization ...........................................276 Bosworth and Pentecostalism in the 1920s ..............................................276 Bosworth and the Christian and Missionary Alliance .............................280 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................283 Chapter Six: The Lost Years, 1933-1947 ........................................................................285 Meetings, Radio, and Print, 1933-1940 ...............................................................286 The Distant Past and the Uncertain Future: Bosworth and British-Israelism ...................................................................................................289 The British-Israel History and Message ..................................................289 Bosworth’s Involvement ..........................................................................295 Pentecostalism and British-Israelism .......................................................304 Opposition to British-Israelism ................................................................313 Winding Down?, 1940-1947 ................................................................................324 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................325 Chapter Seven: The Voice of Healing Years, 1948-1958 ................................................326 A Fresh Anointing