Moving in the Apostolic

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Moving in the Apostolic

An Apostolic Reformer In 1896, John Alexander Dowie, the founder of the Christian Catholic Church, preached a sermon from his headquarters in Chicago entitled "The Ministry of an Apostle—Is It For Today?" Dowie skillfully demonstrated that those who maintained that there were only twelve apostles could not account for the apostles Matthias, Paul, James (the brother of Jesus), Barnabas, Apollos and others who are called apostles in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. You see, most of the Church of Dowie's day did not believe that the ministry of the apostle continued beyond the deaths of the Twelve who were with Jesus and, of course, the apostle Paul. Dowie maintained that the ministry of the apostle was a perpetual one, set in the Church by God, until the return of Christ. Amazingly, many in the Church today hold a position similar to that of the Church in Dowie's day. Dowie maintained that God's order is first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. This was indeed a radical message against the religious tradition of his day. And though many did not like his message, it was nonetheless scriptural and true. Dowie preached a message of the restoration of the apostle to the Church that was ahead of its time. In addition to his preaching, John Alexander Dowie's ministry was apostolic. He was also a reformer in that he preached a strong message against the apostasy of the Church during his time. An important forerunner of the modern Pentecostal movement, Dowie brought to the Church a message of healing and deliverance that had been obscured for hundreds of years. Dowie was bitterly opposed by much of the clergy, who called him a fraud for practicing divine healing. He was also opposed by the press and the city of Chicago, which arrested him more than 100 times in 1895 in an attempt to stop his ministry of divine healing. However, the more he was fought, the more successful his ministry became. Hundreds were healed, and thousands came to hear his preaching. He was able to fill up the second largest auditorium in Chicago.