F.F. Bosworth Recording: A Review of His Message on 'Ma...

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F.F. Bosworth Recording: A Review of His Message on 'Mass Faith" and His Unchanging Belief in Divine Healing

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Author, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer"
Copyright (c) 2020
#FFBosworth
#BosworthMatters

A 1954 audio recording of F.F. Bosworth shows his continued and unchanging belief in the availability of divine healing to all believers by simple faith in God’s word. This is a position that he held for decades, beginning with the early days of his ministry of healing. He experienced a turning point on the issue in 1920 during meetings in Lima, Ohio. The audio recording features his message, “Mass Faith,” which was delivered on July 21, 1954, in Chicago. At the time, Bosworth was 77 years of age. He’d spent a number of years working with William Branham, Gordon Lindsay, and The Voice of Healing. In his later years of ministry, he seemed even more convinced of his position on divine healing.

Copies of the audio recording are available online, on YouTube, and through the 
Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (iFPHC.org). An excerpt of the recording 
can also be found here.

“The Bible removes every bit of uncertainty from the mind of the person in need on any subject in the Bible where God’s will is revealed,” Bosworth said. “There are 3,827 promises, every one of which is a revelation of what God is eager to do beyond the power of any person to realize.” Bosworth said that he has proven many thousands of times that his message of faith in God’s word is true. He explained:

By the simple presentation of nothing but the written word, the Bible … any incurable man or woman, I say incurable from the standpoint of the human side, can by the simple presentation of the written word, be brought to the same state of certainty and assurance and freedom from fear, before anything happens, as any sinner can be brought to the same state of mind with reference of the healing of the soul. If that isn’t true, I never would preach on the subject of divine healing. Faith presupposes that the sick person has found foolproof reasons for what to expect.

Bosworth taught that divine healing is in the Atonementof Christ. He emphasized the belief that the Greek word for “saved” is “sozo,” and that it is the same word that is used for salvation for the soul and healing for the body in the New Testament. For him, it all boiled down to believing the promises of God and the provisions God has made for deliverance from sin, and from sickness and disease. The process for receiving divine healing is so true and simple, he taught, that people can be healed without the laying on of hands. They can also experience healing en masse, where thousands can be healed at one time by having simple faith in God’s promises. For him, “mass faith” can result in “mass healing.”

In addition to God’s promises, healing also involves the love of God, according to Bosworth. “The love of God is so far beyond our conception, only so far as we experience it, that it can’t be illustrated,” he said. “God is yearning to do what you want him to.” For this reason, there is no need for people to beg God for healing, he explained.

Some people say, “If I’ll just beg enough and pray earnest enough and get others to pray with me”… they think by ganging up on God, they can get him good enough to be interested. That is as far from the nature of God as you can go.

In Bosworth’s view, God’s love for humanity has not been fully understood or appreciated. “No man, no preacher ever was able to illustrate the intensity of God’s desire to do for everybody anything that’s right,” he said in his message. “The Bible tells what is right by His promises. So [we] can come to Him without entering into any uncertainty whatsoever. If God can have his way, every sick person would be healed tonight.”

Bosworth’s unwavering conviction on divine healing grew out of an experience he had following the death of his first wife, Estella. She died of tuberculosis in November 1919. In 1920, when Bosworth visited Lima, he was asked to preach on diving healing. That request became the impetus or nudge, if you will, for discovering God's will for his healing ministry. In my doctoral work on his life history, I described his experience as follows:

[Bosworth] apparently had been uncertain about the will of God to heal all believers of all sicknesses and diseases. However, after prayer and study of the Scriptures, he became convinced that it was God’s will to heal all. He came to believe that healing is a part of salvation and that it can be received in the same way that salvation for the soul is received (Perkins 1921 & 1927; Bosworth 1948). He became an apologist on the subject and insisted that divine healing was in the atoning work of Christ.

This epiphany in Lima was a significant moment for Bosworth. It shaped his theology and allowed him to become grounded in his beliefs on healing. The revelation he received became the cornerstone of his ministry and the central thrust of his preaching throughout his career. It also resulted in the publication of his classic, Christ the Healer (1924b & 1948) in which he offers instructions, and makes numerous arguments in favor of divine healing.

More than three decades following his epiphany in Lima, Bosworth’s conviction and teaching remained unchanged. He stayed the course in his theology and in his defense of divine healing. “I know what I’m talking about,” he said in the 1954 recording. “I don’t know much, but I know what I’m talking about on that subject, because we’ve taken time to find out what God’s word says.”

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Reminder: "F.F. Bosworth History" is now on Twitter. Follow @bosworth_fred

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 @bosworth_fred and @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter. #ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #BosworthMatters