Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 22
December 17, 1970
NUMBER 32, PAGE 9b

"Acute Alcoholism"

K. A. Sterling

Of the many so-called "faith healers" of this generation, few were more widely known than A. A. Allen, whose huge "healing campaigns" were conducted all over this nation (and possibly elsewhere). On June 11, 1970, he was found dead in a hotel room at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco. At first it was reported that he had died of an apparent heart attack, but subsequent investigation revealed that "acute alcoholism" was the cause of his death. The following article appeared in The Fresno Bee, Thursday, June 25, 1970:

Coroner: Evangelist Allen Died Of Acute Alcoholism San Francisco (UPI) — City Coroner Dr. Henry W. Turkel said that evangelist Asa A. Allen, found dead in a hotel room June 11, died of "acute alcoholism and fatty infiltration of the liver."

Allen, one of the country's best-known evangelists, was found in the Jack Tar Hotel while on a trip to San Francisco.

By a bizarre coincidence, a recording was being broadcast by some radio stations at the time of his death denying rumors "that I am dead."

Since then, officials at his Miracle Valley, Ariz., headquarters of his A. A. Allen Revivals, Inc., encountered other rumors among devout listeners to Allen's radio programs that he had risen from the dead.

Turkel gave his findings after a 12-day investigation. He did not elaborate.

"Asa A. Allen died of acute alcoholism and fatty infiltration of the liver," Turkel said.

Allen, 59, built his "nondenominational Christian" religious group into a multimillion dollar organization. It sponsored Allen's frequent tours around the nation, published 55 million pieces of literature annually and published the monthly "Miracle Magazine," with a circulation of 350,000. — End —

In the fall of 1969, Look Magazine published quite an article on A. A. Allen. The article was captioned: "Brother A. A. Allen on The Gospel Trail: He Feels, He Heals, And He Turns You On With God." The article was written by William Hedgepeth, Look Senior Editor, and appeared in the October 7, 1969 edition of Look. On the first page (the entire article with photographs occupies 9 full pages), is a large photograph of Allen in shirtsleeves and tie, his right arm upraised in a "Billy Sunday" type pose, and in bold face type he is quoted as saying: "I'm gonna order the Devil to get off your back, and he's gonna do it!" It appears that Allen couldn't "order" the Devil to get off of anybody's back, least-of all his own! Another quote from Allen in this article now takes on significance: "We're on the verge," he confides excitedly, "of the greatest revival the world's ever known. The blind and sick will be healed in the streets. If you use the Bible as a guide, you gotta believe these things. It's going to happen. I want to be alive when it does." But even Allen could not escape the immutable law of God. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption..." (Gal. 6:7, 8).

Lest any misunderstand, we do not exult in any of this. Rather, we feel pity. . . for this man's soul and the souls of the countless thousands of people misled through his teaching. Long ago, the apostle Peter warned: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." (II Peter 2:1-3).

Dear reader, take warning! Do not blindly follow any man, no matter how colorful, magnetic or persuasive he may be. Remember the words of the Master: "... And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matt. 15:14). Always follow the divine mandate as given by the apostle John in I John 4:1: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

— 2016 Stillman St., Selma, California 93662