"Fake-Healer" To Be Investigated
That there are millions of sincere and honest people in denominational churches is hardly open to question. Even among the clergy of those human churches it is not inconceivable that many fine and sincere men are honestly mistaken; like Saul of Tarsus they are living "in all good conscience," and verily think they are serving God.
We find it impossible to extend such an appraisal, however, to that multitude of "healers" who go about over the country making their sensational claims of "miraculous healings," wrought by God through their agency. These men cannot but know they are fakes, their claims are sordid lies; and their oily tones and unctuous fronts are but a fraud to deceive the ignorant and gullible. They prey upon the suffering of the afflicted; living in opulence off the tears and agony of the broken lives and broker bodies they attract to them.
One of the most sensational of these "faith-healers (truly fake-healers) is a man named .J. Charles Jessup He has held "healing" campaigns all over the nation, and is recognized as perhaps the leading exponent of the "faith-healing" racket. This is the man with whom Brother Roy E. Cogdill had a debate nearly two years ago in central Kentucky. We think the following news story appearing a few weeks ago in the Louisville Courier Journal is of special interest:
Federal Grand Jury Urgesprobe Of Evangelist
Bowling Green, Ky., May 21. — A federal grand jury today recommended an investigation into the activities of evangelist J. Charles Jessup, who conducted a six-week tent meeting here in the fall of 1952.
The recommendation was contained in a special written report the grand jury submitted to Federal Judge Mac Swinford.
Judge Swinford received the report without comment and ordered it turned over to the deputy clerk. It was signed by James E. Wilson, foreman, and Ches Johnson, deputy foreman.
Would Ask F.B.I. Aid
The report recommended that District Attorney Leonard Walker ask the aid of the F.B.I., "the collector of internal revenue, and all other federal agencies that might be concerned."
During his stay here Jessup held meetings at a park he rented. He preached and conducted "faith-healing" sessions.
(J. Charles Jessup conducted revival services almost nightly at the old Strand Theater on Chestnut Street in Louisville during the first three weeks of January. In addition, he conducted "faith-healing" services on Sunday, January 3, January 10, and January 17.)
While the newspaper account does not list the particular matter on which Jessup is to be "investigated," It is commonly reported in Louisville that the charges are of a serious moral nature, involving the sort of conduct Paul describes in Romans 1:27 as being practiced by the lowest and lewdest of men. That the grand jury recommended investigation by the collector of internal revenue would also suggest the possibility of financial dishonesty in income tax evasions.
Why mention a sordid thing of this nature? Simply to show that false teaching and false living go hand in hand. No man knows better than J. Charles Jessup that he has NOT performed the great miracles he claims. He has deliberately, willfully, and repeatedly lied to great throngs of people. When a man will do that, it is not to be wondered at that other phases of his moral life are in harmony with such spiritual putrefaction. He has decayed and become corrupt and unclean in character and life. No man can knowingly and persistently teach falsehood and practice deception without destroying his own moral fiber.
Brother Cogdill's tract (Miraculous Divine Healing) which we published last fall has enjoyed a phenomenal sale. This tract contains the speech he made in refutation of Jessup's false teaching on the subject. One of the biggest audiences ever assembled for a religious service in Kentucky heard Cogdill's masterful speech. Many churches have been using the tract with phenomenal success to counteract the claims of the "fake-healers" in their communities. It is twenty-five cents per copy, $17.50 per one hundred copies. It gives the Bible teaching on the subject of "miracles," and a clear expose of present day false claims of miraculous cures.
— F.Y.T.