Global Newspaper Coverage on the Mubahala (Prayer duel) between Alexander Dowie and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

According to the London Saturday Review, no more startling proposal has ever been made than that gravely preferred to the Indian government by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Kadian, a well known Mohammedan reformer. He proposes to submit the truth of all rival religions to a competitive examination under official control. Government is to call a public conference at which representatives of all religions are to give proof, each of his own creed, in two forms. (1) A demonstration of the sublimity of its moral teachings, (2) an outward and visible sign of its divine support by the performance within one year of some miracle transcending all human limits. Precautions are to be taken to prevent imposture and the British government is to pronounce the award.

The mirza, who claims divine inspiration, makes the challenge in complete sincerity and with such confidence in his cause that he offers to submit to crucifixion if he fails.

[The Arizona Republican, December 26, 1899—Phoenix, Arizona, USA]

The Argonaut December 1, 1902—San Francisco, California, USA The Argonaut has received, for review, from Mafti [sic—Mufti] Mohammad Sadig [sic—Sadiq], of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Gundaspur [sic—Gurdaspur], India, a pamphlet by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of the same address, who, we glean, holds the position of Chief of Quadian. The brochure is printed in English—very good English, too—and is entitled, “An Answer to Dr. Dowie’s Prediction of a General Destruction of All Muhammadans.” This work, mixed in, on the reviewer’s desk, with commonplaces by Bangs, historical novels by Indiana school-ma’ams, and dry-looking ventures in economics by pale, aspiring, young professors, strikes one as a weird and wildly strange anachronism. And that vivid impression is confirmed by persual [sic—perusal] of its pages. For Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, according to his own modest admission, has been raised by Almighty God in these latter days to redeem the world. “About a hundred thousand persons,” says Mirza, “have already been converted by me from the ways of evil. God has shown more than one hundred and fifty heavenly signs and wonders at my hands to which publication was given before their occurrence. I am the very Messiah, the promised one.” Like a good Mussulman, our Indian friend casts reflections on the divinity of the author of Christianity. “That religion,” he says, “is one that can not make its stand for a moment against the strong current of reason.” More than this, indeed, for he devotes two pages to showing, conclusively, that the Christ did not die upon the cross; that He was resuscitated by Joseph of Arimathea; that He then “thought it advisable to bid adieu to his native land and travel eastward,” spending his remaining days peacefully in the Valley of Cashmere. And to clinch his argument, the Messianic Ahmad of Quadian presents to the reader’s astonished gaze a half-tone illustration of an imposing structure, with the legend, “The Tomb of Jesus Christ. Khan Yar Street, Srinagar, Cashmere”! Having thus disposed of this question, Mirzi [sic—Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad casts over the world an omniscient eye and perceives in the West the sinister and majestic figure of a formidable adversary, a veritable anti-Christ, in the person of John Alexander Dowie, of Chicago. Also there is borne to him on the “winds that blow from heaven” rumor of Dowie’s prophecy that Muhammadans and all other persons who do not come into Zion (located in Cook County, Ill.), are to perish utterly. To this prediction, Ahmad replies. Robbed of its verbiage, his answer is: “Why should Muhammadans perish? Why should blood of thousands be shed? I am the head of a great company; you, also, have many followers. Let the question, then, who is the divine

representative on earth be decided between the two of us. Let each call on the name of his God, and let him that is answered be judged worthy.” This has a strangely familiar sound. The modern praying contest, however, differs in some respects from that ancient one between the priests of Baal and Prophet Elijah. For the invocation is not to be for fire from heaven, but (they are Ahmad’s italics) “that the prayer of God should be that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first”! Surely ‘tis a proposition, fair and most bold; and the further specifications are equally reasonable. Ahmad’s idea is that Elijah Dowie (if he assents) shall publish the prayer for Ahmad’s ill fare with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it, whereupon he, Ahmad, will do likewise. This militant prophet of Islam further points out that the chances all favor his opponent, since Dowie is ten years younger than himself. The only restriction he imposes is that death shall not occur through human hands (a crafty and suspicious provision, that), but shall be the result of “a disease, a stroke of lightning, or snake-bite.” ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished that John Alexander assent to this proposition from Mirza Ghulam. Amid dry discussions of the tariff, scraps over Alaskan boundaries, difficulties with an Isthmian canal, or what not, a praying contest between the Elijah of Cook County, with his petition in English, signed by Joneses, Johnsons, Smiths, and Browns, and the Chief of Quadian, with his document in Arabic signed by Hindbads, Sindbads, and Ali Babas, will be altogether refreshing. In fact, with Doukobor crusaders rampant in Canada, with dusky Virgin Marys persistently being discovered in the Philippines, with Friar Johns making it hot for the Russian Government, with Katherine Tingleys and Mother Eddys, a Mormon renaissance in the United States Senate, and an Anglo-Arabic praying match, the winter of 1902-3 will take on a fine, glamorous, medieval aspect. Well, it’s up to you, ‘Lige. [Publisher Note—“Lige” or “Lije” was a popular nickname given to Dr. Dowie; a shortened epithet for “Elijah.”]

[The Argonaut, December 1, 1902—San Francisco, California, USA]

Cambridge Daily News January 14, 1903—Cambridge, England, UK Mr. Smyth Piggott, of the “Ark of the Covenant,” who some months ago announced himself as the Messiah, has been quite forgotten in England. But he has a rival in India, who keeps an eye upon him. A pamphlet comes from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Qadian, Punjab, in which Mr. Pigott is accused of blasphemy. “I am the true Messiah, come to declare the glory of God upon earth,” writes Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He is also something of a sportsman. “If I die before Mr. Pigott,” he continues, “I am not the true Messiah, nor am I from God. But if Almighty God makes me a witness of Mr. Pigott’s death, which shall be brought about by the efficacy of my prayer, let the whole world bear witness that I am the true Messiah.” That, remarks a contemporary, seems fair enough, especially as the Indian demi-god is some fifteen years older than the Clapton claimant. If the challenge is accepted a curious duel to the death across half a hemisphere will be witnessed.

[Cambridge Daily News, January 14, 1903—Cambridge, England, UK]

New-York Tribune January 22, 1903—New York, New York, USA RIVAL CLAIMS TO DIVINITY. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Self-styled Messiah, Denounces Mr. Pigott, of London. Several of the city clergy and members of foreign mission boards received a communication from India yesterday which considerably mystified them. The communication was in the form of a circular letter, bearing date of November, 1902, from Qadian. Punjab, and was signed by the prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. It was headed with the words, “For Circulation in Europe and America,” and was entitled, “A Warning to a Pretender to Divinity.” It was, in part, as follows: Rev. J. H. Smith Pigott, pastor of the “Ark of the Covenant.” who lives at Cedar Lodge. Clapton, London, has recently announced himself as God. In these announcements he asserts his Godhead in the most insolent words. These irreverent and extravagant assertions are insulting even to Jesus Christ, whose name has been assumed by the impostor. My true, pure, perfect and powerful God has, therefore, commanded me to warn him of the punishment that awaits him. I, therefore, warn him through this notice that if he does not repent of this irreverent claim, he shall be soon annihilated, even in my lifetime, with sore torment proceeding from God and not from the hands of a man. It should also be borne in mind that I am the true Messiah come to declare the glory of God upon earth. I am come in the spirit and character of Jesus Christ. I am a man and with me are innumerable blessings of God, within and without, in the beginning and in the end. God has borne witness to my truth with heavenly signs shown in thousands. I have more than one hundred thousand followers who have been brought to purity of life through me. The death of Mr. Pigott within my lifetime shall be another sign of my truth. The Rev. Dr. H. D. Griswold, in the service of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, has written as follows of this East Indian Messiah: In the village of Qadian, Gurdaspur District, Punjab, there lives an old man about sixty-four years of age, venerable in appearance, magnetic in personality, and active in intellect. This is the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Mirza Sahib claims to be at once the promised Mahdi and the promised Messiah. This is against the ordinary Mahometan belief that these will be not one person, but two separate persons. The Mirza Sahib’s most important claim is that he is the promised Messiah. By this he does not mean that he is the very person of Jesus Christ reincarnated in India, for he does not accept the doctrine of transmigration. His meaning is simply this: that just as, according to the interpretation of Jesus, John the Baptist was the Elijah which was to come because he came “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” so he, the Mirza Sahib, is the Messiah which is to come, because he was come in the “spirit and power” of Christ.

[New-York Tribune, January 22, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The Leader February 28, 1903—Melbourne, Australia RIVAL PROPHETS. Mr. Smyth Pigott, of the “Ark of the Covenant,” who some months ago announced himself as the Messiah, has been quite forgotten in England. But he has a rival in India, who keeps an eye upon him. In a pamphlet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Qadian, Punjaub, accuses Mr. Pigott of blasphemy. “I am the true Messiah, come to declare the glory of God upon earth,” writes Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He is also something of a sportsman. “If I die before Mr. Pigott,” he continues, “I am not the true Messiah, nor am I from God. But if Almighty God makes me a witness of Mr. Pigott’s death, which shall be brought about by the efficacy of my prayer, let the whole world bear witness that I am the true Messiah.” That seems fair enough especially as the Indian demigod is some fifteen years older than the Clapton claimant. If the challenge is accepted a curious duel to the death across half a hemisphere will be witnessed.

[The Leader, February 28, 1903—Melbourne, Australia]

The Sunday Journal March 1, 1903—Indianapolis, Indiana, USA PIGOTT AND AHMAD. Rival Messiahs Waiting for Each Other to Die. London Truth. Many worthy people were indignant, not inexcusably, when the Rev. J. H. Smyth Pigott recently announced from his “Ark” at Clapton that he was the Messiah, returned to earth. By no one, however, has the announcement been so deeply resented as by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, chief of Qadian, Punjab. In a manifesto “printed for circulation in Europe and America,” for a copy of which I suppose I have to thank the author, M. G. A. denounces the conduct of Mr. Pigott in the most scathing terms. He warns that gentleman “that if he does not repent of this irreverent claim he shall be soon enlightened, even in my lifetime, with sore treatment proceeding from God, and not from the hands of a man.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is able to state this with some authority, inasmuch as he himself, as he goes on to explain, is “the true Messiah, come to declare the glory of God upon earth.” Signs to that effect, he says, have been shown to thousands: “I have more than 100,000 followers, who have been brought to purity of life through me. Thousands of heavenly signs which they have witnessed have worked a pure transformation in their lives. The death of Mr. Pigott within my lifetime shall be another sign of my truth. If I die before Mr. Pigott, I am not the true Messiah, nor am I from God. But if Almighty God makes me a witness of Mr. Pigott’s death, it shall be brought about by the efficacy of my prayer, and the whole world bear witness that I am the true Messiah.” The Punjab prophet goes on to mention that he is over sixty-five years of age, and believes Mr. Pigott to be at least fifteen years younger than himself. The confidence, therefore, with which he stakes his reputation upon the prior decease of the Clapton pretender, shows a sportsmanlike, as well as a prophetic, instinct. I trust that Pigott will take up the challenge and issue a counterblast against Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The two prohpets [sic] can then each pray his hardest for the early decease of the other, and the world will, I take it, wish success to them both impartially.

[The Sunday Journal, March 1, 1903—Indianapolis, Indiana, USA]

The Literary Digest March 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE. He is planning a crusade upon New York next October with 2,000 of his followers. DOWIE’S COMING INVASION OF NEW YORK. T HE announcement that John Alexander Dowie, the famous faith-cure apostle of Zion City, Ill., is planning a “peaceful invasion” of the city of New York next October, with a large company of his followers, is the subject of comment both serious and flippant in the metropolitan newspapers. Harper’s Weekly describes the main features of the proposed crusade in the following language: “John Alexander Dowie … is likely to prove an interesting visitor to this town. He is an organizer, and abounds in method and foresight. He has ample means to do things in a large way. His plan is to bring 2,000 (perhaps 4,000) of his followers here, and give his kind of religion a careful and comprehensive introduction to the people of Manhattan. Every family on this island is to be visited; every dwelling supplied with Dowieite tracts; every soul, so far as possible, invited to the Dowieite meetings. These meetings are to be held daily in the Madison Square Garden, which has been hired for fifteen days. Special trains have been engaged to bring the Dowie multitude here, and lodgings are being engaged for their accommodation. Dowie is rich. He is in business, and makes money. He has founded a town which has grown in less than two years from a population of 400 to 8,000. The Dowieites do not smoke nor drink nor employ doctors, and they all give a tenth of their incomes to the church. They are busy now practising the music of their crusade and studying maps of Manhattan. Dowie frankly discloses his belief that in him the prophet Elijah lives again for the third time on earth. He is a remarkable citizen, and will doubtless carry out his plans.” If Mr. Dowie “could only convert and carry off the hosts of Tammany,” observes the Brooklyn Standard Union, “he would indeed deserve to have his name handed down to posterity as the monumental reformer of the twentieth century and New York’s greatest benefactor.” The Brooklyn Eagle adds: “There will be a good deal of curiosity to watch his progress in New York, which is confessedly a hard town for new religions, altho it gives its time and its money with enthusiasm to new shows so long as they are entertaining. Fanatics who have made a stir in small

communities have often been swallowed up here, and have left us in disgust. A few years ago Schlatter, a natural healer, who had cut a wide swath in the Colorado mountains, came here, and lasted perhaps a week. Last year Sandford, the ‘Holy Ghost and Us’ leader, departed in disgust after he had baptized his first group of converts in the chilling waters of the bay. But Dowie is of different stuff.” The New York Sun says: “It is not improbable, but rather it may be assumed that the demonstration of Dowie will make something of a stir in New York, tho that he will have here even a shadow of the extraordinary success he has won at Chicago is not to be expected. New York will receive the ‘Restoration Host’ civilly, and Dowie will be sure to have crowds at his meetings in Madison Square Garden ; but this cosmopolitan community is not a promising field for the cultivation of religious novelties. Of the church-going population, two-thirds is Roman Catholic, and therefore far removed from the reach of Dowie’s influence; but there are here 636,000 people without any religious attachment, according to the statistics of the Church Federation, and among these he may hope to gain recruits.” How Mr. Dowie himself regards his campaign may be judged from the following extract from a recent editorial in his weekly organ, Leaves of Healing (Chicago) : “The amazing scale of the Excursion of Zion Restoration Host, and the fact that we have taken the Madison Square Garden Auditorium, which seats 16,000 people, and all the rooms connected therewith, has made a profound impression. “The general interest, which we have known for years that thousands in the East have felt in us and in our Mission, has found very remarkable expression in New York City……. “We know that the enemy is strong, but God is stronger. “We know that the hosts against us are numerous, but we know that all the Hosts of Heaven are with us. “The chariots are swinging low at the command of Jehovah-Sabaoth, Jehovah, God of Hosts. “We are glad that thousands will accompany us from Zion City, at the end of the many months of toil that lie before us, going forth to reap with us in God’s great Harvest Field at the time of harvest……. “The first great Requisite for success is that every good soldier shall seek Divine Purity in Spirit, Soul, and Body. “If we are to endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus the Christ, whilst upon this great work of Restoration in New York, every one must remember that for the time being all ‘Entanglements’ from the Business Affairs of this life, as far as possible, must be laid aside; for, as the Apostle Paul wrote : No Soldier on Service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life ; That he may please him who enrolled him as a Soldier. And if also a man contend in the games, He is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully. “It is of the utmost importance that every member of the Legions of Zion Restoration Host shall set aside, if it be possible, the whole of the Fifteen Days for this First Great Operation in which the Host is to engage in New York. “Like Soldiers who are also Citizens, and who lay aside the duties of life that they may go into the Camps and drill and learn how to fight

successfully, so Zion Restoration Host must prepare, and then, leaving home and friends and all, they must mobilize, as it were, rapidly into one Great Unit with One Heart and One Mind in the greatest City of this Continent. “We have many plans concerning the operations of the Host beyond this Mission in New York, and there is a desire upon the part of some for us to visit Philadelphia after the New York mission. “We do not feel it well at this time to decide between the rival claims of several large cities. “We are somewhat inclined, if it can be arranged satisfactorily, to give one or two weeks either to Boston or Philadelphia, or divide our time between them.” The fame of Zion City has reached even to Europe; and in La Revue (Paris) M. L. de Norvins gives a picture of Dowie and his religion as they appear to a Frenchman. He points out how susceptible Americans are to new religious movements, and passes in review the various religions, such as Mormonism, Christian Science, etc., that have thriven in this country. “John Alexander Dowie,” he says, “was called upon to choose between the methods of his predecessors. He would not have made the choice that he did unless he had found a hitherto unworked field and one which is assuredly the most American that could be developed.” We quote further: “With remarkable sagacity, he seized the psychological moment to appear in the United States as both the Barnum and the Pierpont Morgan of religion. It was an idea of undoubted genius to have chosen as aids to religion the great factors of American life— commerce, industry. and financial speculation, that tripod on which the whole Union rests. A commercial, industrial prophet who was a man of affairs, an organizer of enterprises paying fabulous dividends—such a one could serve the glory of God and solidify his temple in a thoroughly up-to-date Yankee style. Is it not a master-stroke of Americanism that a man who proclaims himself the direct representative of God on earth should be accepted as such not only because of his pretended Messianic qualities, but also because he is the man who understands better than any one else the fluctuation of values, as well as the heights and depths of the human soul? ….. “God has confided—such is the creed of Dowie—to a man called Dowie not only the mission of watching over the souls of the faithful, but over their money as well, their savings, and the manner in which they use them, so that the new vicar of the Most High is at once the guide of purses and of consciences. This guide is invested with autocratic powers, and like an autocrat he enjoys the splendor and the pomp and wealth of a sovereign.”—Translation made for THE LITERARY DIGEST.

John Alexander Dowie donned in the robes of Elijah the Restorer

[The Literary Digest, March 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The New York Times March 29, 1903—New York, New York, USA THE RIVAL PROPHETS. It is definitely settled that this community is to be invaded in October next by the spectacular Mr. DOWIE and several thousands of his followers. Mr. DOWIE is the founder of the City of Zion, (Illinois,) from which point he says he has projected over Chicago a purifying influence. The purpose of the invasion is to effect a similar moral regeneration here. It is timely to recall that Mr. DOWIE has proclaimed himself to be in fact the prophet ELIJAH, though his recognition in that capacity has been rather limited. Some of the Chicago newspapers habitually and familiarly refer to him as “Lije,” but it is suspected that this is mere ribaldry. Serious persons out there say he does not show the distinguishing characteristics of the fiery Tishbite. Although the general incredulity does not seem to embarrass Mr. DOWIE, still it is reasonable to suppose that on the eve of his departure for a new and more important scene of activity he must welcome any opportunity to establish his historic identity. Such an opportunity has presented itself. Mr. DOWIE (as the prophet) has foretold the destruction of all who do not believe in the divinity of his mission, and he has gone out of his way to include the distant Mohammedans in the grand cataclysm. It happens that the Far East has its own prophets and naturally they consider this attack as contrary to the ethics of the profession. To maintain their own prestige they must down the arrogant Westerner. It is an old story that when prophets fall out there is Hail Columbia to pay. One MIRZA GHULAM AHMED, a Mohammedan of Quodian [sic—Qadian], Gundaspur [sic— Gurdaspur], India, (having 100,000 followers,) has issued a challenge which would suit the indisputable Eljiah [sic—Elijah] down to the ground. Popular opinion as to the verity of Mr. DOWIE’s claim will depend a good deal on his treatment of this challenge. AHMED’s proposition is that the Western prophet and 1,000 of his people shall pray for the early death of the Mohammedan Messiah, while the latter and a similar number of gifted Moslems shall petition for the speedy deletion of Mr. DOWIE. The first of the two to die is to be proclaimed “a liar” throughout the world. A genuine Elijah would jump at such a proposal. When the chesty priests of Baal denied the prophetic supremacy of ELIJAH, he dared the whole outfit (numbering 450 experienced professionals) to a prayer test. No handicap could dash him. But one against hundreds, he even deluged with water the woodpile he had pledged himself to burn. How he reviled the perspiring priests and spurred them on with insults is a matter of record. That is the kind of prophet ELIJAH was. This incident is recalled because AHMED’s challenge is much like that of ELIJAH to the priests, and whether the founder of Zion (Illinois) is in error as to his own identity will be determined by his acceptance or rejection of this test. The Mohammedan is generous rather than fair. He waives the consideration that he is ten years the elder and he stipulates that death shall be by disease, lightning stroke, or snakebite. The normal death rate of Chicago is far below that of Quodian, and statistics show 673 deaths from snakebites in India last year and none in Cook County. Apart from the prayers the conditions favor Mr. DOWIE.

[The New York Times, March 29, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The Monroe Journal March 30, 1903—Monroe, North Carolina, USA Dowie Challenged to Pray. Chicago Special to New York Sun Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel. The challenger is Mirza Chulan [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, a buddhist of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his letter. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge.

[The Monroe Journal, March 30, 1903—Monroe, North Carolina, USA]

Lead Daily Call May 16, 1903—Lead, South Dakota, USA CHALLENGE TO DUEL OF PRAYER. Alexander Dowie has found a foe-man worthy of his steel. The Chicago prophet recently predicted that in the fullness of time his cult would spread over all the earth, and that in that time all those of the Mohammedan faith would be annihilated as being hateful in the sight of the Lord. Why Dowie chose thus to pick upon the followers of that other prophet is not recorded. But his temerity has marked him for the test. He has been challenged to fight a duel to demonstrate which is right. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the self-constituted champion of the Mohammedans. He comes from a race of Indian fakirs, and he, too, proclaims himself a Messiah. But he is not as cruel as Dowie. He does not want to annihilate a whole people to settle the issue. With merciful feeling that puts the Chicago man to shame he proposes that each enter upon a season of prayer, that upon their bended knees they shall pray each for the annihilation of the other. Who so survives, if the other shall perish, will be easily and naturally removed from the field. The other will as easily and naturally fall heir to the following of the misguided one. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is playing for big stakes, for it is common report that Dowie has a rich bank account and much real estate, the result of years of frugal labors in the vineyard as a Messiah. It is a business that has paid in Chicago. Seemingly the East Indian has the better of the argument thus far. At least, those who do not want to see the indiscriminate slaughter of all the adherents of a faith will prefer the plan of Ahmad to the prediction of Dowie. The whole thing would seem ridiculous if it were not for the terrible earnestness of the followers of both; it would be sacreligious [sic] if any one else believed that the pretensions of the rival “Messiahs” amounted to anything. Dowie, who has openly professed to have the power of withering with his curse and healing with his blessing, and who has turned the credulity of his people to good account, should not miss this opportunity to prove what he can readily do. There is the chance that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who is a simple man and wears scant raiment, may contract a severe case of rheumatism from kneeling on the bare ground; and if the disease should prove fatal what wouldn’t it be worth to Dowie as advertising!

[Lead Daily Call, May 16, 1903—Lead, South Dakota, USA]

The Vicksburg Herald June 16, 1903—Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA DUEL TO THE DEATH—WEAPONS SHALL BE PRAYER. CHICAGO, June 23.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadam [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come thou, O. self-styled prophet, to a duel”, says Mirza in his “defy.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined. It may be that he thinks, as the challenged party, he ought to have the choice of weapons, and will demand that vituperation be employed, the one who can call the other the most bad names to be the winner. However that may be, Elijah cannot afford to ignore the challenge. Mirza is no featherweight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over 100,000 members, rapidly growing. The teachings of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares: “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Vicksburg Herald, June 16, 1903—Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA]

Elmira Gazette June 19, 1903—Elmira, New York, USA A PROPOSED PRAYER DUEL. Mirza Ghulman [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad of Quadrian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, has challenged Dr. Dowie to a duel. The Literary Digest quotes the announcement from the Review of Religions, Gurdaspur, India. The Mohammedan claims to be the Messiah, “I am the very Messiah,” he says, “’the promised one.” He claims a following of a hundred thousand and to be making converts rapidly. He has no faith in the claims of Dowie and would compel the imposter to a test. Therefore, the challenge to a duel, a duel to the death. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad would have each side address a prayer to the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” He has no doubt of the result, “If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge,” he writes, “he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth.” Away back in the ages the duel was regarded as an appeal to God and the result held to be proof of right. In those days deadly weapons were employed instead of prayer. Decision came forthwith. But believers observed that victory usually fell to the better fighter and confidence in the interference of God in behalf of right against might declined. Mirza Ghulam Amad [sic—Ahmad] might have shown greater faith in proposing shotguns at ten paces. The protection of the righteous one would require no greater miracle than the prior extinction of the imposter in response to prayer. The peppering of both might be as true verdict as the escape of either. The Mohammedan’s challenge to a prayer duel may seem bold but it might have been bolder.

[Elmira Gazette, June 19, 1903—Elmira, New York, USA]

The Literary Digest June 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA M IRZA GHULAM AHMAD of Qadian, Punjab, India, is “the promised Messiah,” according to statements made over his own signature. He has challenged Dr. Dowie, of this country, to a duel, the weapon being prayer and each side to petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” The person who issues this challenge, according to The Review of Religions (Gurdaspur, India), is “the Promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members, “rapidly growing.” The teaching of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares in the organ already named: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie ‘s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?” John Alexander Dowie, writes the Messiah, “claims to have been sent by the son of Mary in his capacity of Godhead, that as his apostle he may draw the whole world to a belief in the despicable dogma of his divinity.” The Indian claimant proceeds: “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. That method is that, without threatening

the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. I look upon the son of Mary as a weak human being, altho I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of Universe. Which of us is right, is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth. In making this proposal, I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.” “An important discovery regarding Jesus Christ” has been made by the followers of the challenging Messiah, as we read in the Indian publication already named. This discovery is that “Jesus did not die upon the cross,” but was “taken down alive and senseless.” Subsequently the son of Mary “recovered, traveled eastward, and lived up to a good old age.” His tomb, it is also stated, is “situated in the Khan Yar Street at Srinagar, Cashmere.” Our authority opines : “The incontrovertible testimony afforded by the tomb itself, backed as it is by the unanimous oral testimony of hundreds of thousands of men, and by the written evidence of ancient documents, becomes in our opinion too strong to be resisted by the most determined of skeptics.”

[The Literary Digest, June 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

Alexandria Gazette June 24, 1903—Alexandria, Virginia, USA A CHALLENGE TO DOWIE—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a curious contest. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quidian [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come, thou, O self-styled prophet,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. He cannot afford to ignore it. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says that Mirza is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over 100,000 members, “rapidly growing.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad declares: “The proof the Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Alexandria Gazette, June 24, 1903—Alexandria, Virginia, USA]

Harrisburg Telegraph June 24, 1903—Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA DOWIE CHALLENGED TO PRAY Buddhist Asks Him to Kneel With Him and see Who is Telling the Truth Chicago, June 24.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel. The challenger is Mirza Chulam [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, a Buddhist of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come, thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his letter. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge.

[Harrisburg Telegraph, June 24, 1903—Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA]

Mattoon Daily Journal June 24, 1903—Mattoon, Illinois, USA DOWIE IS CHALLENGED East Indian Mohammedan Invites Him to a Novel Test of Faith. EACH TO SAY THE SAME PRAYER Which Calls on the Creator to Kill The Liar at Once and Instanter. Chicago, June 24.—John Alexander Dowie has been challenge[d] to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjaub, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. Perhaps, in the calm of Ben Mac Dhul, among the Michigan peaches, he is formulating a reply. Pretensions of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Perhaps he will treat the challenge with scorn, and tell Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to go and get a reputation. However that may be, Mirza is no featherweight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the Promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members, “rapidly growing.” The teaching of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Claims To Be the Messiah. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares, according to The Literary Digest: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress.”

[Mattoon Daily Journal, June 24, 1903—Mattoon, Illinois, USA]

Moline Daily Dispatch June 24, 1903 —Moline, Illinois, USA CHALLENGES DOWIE TO A TASTE OF FAITH East Indian Mohammedan Invites the Chicago Elijah to Participation in Duel to Determine the Merits of Creed. EACH TO MAKE SAME PLEA Which Calls on the Creator to Kill Instanter the Man Who Is Espousing False Creed. Chicago, June 24.—John Alexander Dowie has been challenge[d] to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjaub, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. Perhaps, in the calm of Ben Mac Dhul, among the Michigan peaches, he is formulating a reply. Pretensions of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Perhaps he will treat the challenge with scorn, and tell Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to go and get a reputation. However that may be, Mirza is no featherweight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the Promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members, “rapidly growing.” The teaching of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Claims To Be the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares, according to The Literary Digest: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress.” CALLED A “DESPICABLE DOGMA” Mirza Has No Use for the Divinity—His Challenge to Dowie John Alexander Dowie, writes the Messiah, “claims to have been sent by the son of Mary in his capacity of Godhead, that as his apostle he may draw the whole world to a belief in the despicable dogma of his divinity.” The Continued on Page Eight

CHALLENGES DOWIE TO A TASTE OF FAITH Continued from Page One. Indian claimant proceeds: “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. The method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two who is the liar may perish first. “I look upon the son of Mary as a weak human being: although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of universe. Which of us is right, is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signature of at least 1,000 men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. “If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge; he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth. In making this proposal I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.” “An important discovery regarding Jesus Christ” has been made by the followers of the challenging Messiah, according to the Indian publication already named. This discovery is that “Jesus did not die upon the cross,” but was taken down alive and senseless.” Subsequently the son of Mary “recovered, traveled eastward, and lived up to a good old age.” His tomb, it is also stated, is “situated in the Khan Yar street at Srinagar, Cashmere.” This authority opines: “The incontrovertible testimony afforded by the tomb itself, backed as it is by the unanimous oral testimony of hundreds of thousands of men, and by the written evidence of ancient documents, becomes in our opinion too strong to be resisted by the most determined of skeptics.”

[Moline Daily Dispatch, June 24, 1903—Moline, Illinois, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

Rock Island Argus June 24, 1903—Rock Island, Illinois, USA CHALLENGE DOWIE East Indian Mohammedan Invites Him to a Novel Test of Faith. EACH TO SAY THE SAME PRAYER. Which Calls on the Creator to Kill the Liar at Once and Instanter. Chicago, June 24.—John Alexander Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come thou, O selfstyled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. Perhaps, in the clam of Ben Mac Dhul, among the Michigan peaches, he is formulating a reply. Pretensions of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Perhaps he will treat the challenge with scorn, and tell Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to go and get a reputation. However that may be, Mirza is no featherweight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the Promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members, “rapidly growing.” The teachings of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity.

[Rock Island Argus, June 24, 1903—Rock Island, Illinois, USA]

The Greenville Daily News June 24, 1903—Greenville, South Carolina, USA SEND THEM BOTH TO JAIL Chincago [sic—Chicago], June 23.—Dowie’s pretentions as a prophet and a messiah have been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, of Quadian [sic— Qadian], Punjauba [sic—Punjab], India. “Come, thou O prophet to a duel,” writes Mirza. “The weapons shall be prayers. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is a liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, Mirza says: “I am the messiah. Between Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this: Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, I declare the Messiah has already appeared. I am the Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Greenville Daily News, June 24, 1903—Greenville, South Carolina, USA]

CHALLENGE DOWIE

East Indian Mohammedan Invites Him to a Novel Test of Faith.

EACH TO SAY THE SAME PRAYER

Which Calls on the Creator to Kill the Liar at Once and Instanter.

Chicago, June 24.—John Alexander Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjaub, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.”

Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. Perhaps, in the calm of Ben Mac Dhui, among the Michigan peaches, he is formulating a reply.

[The Post Express, June 24, 1903—Rochester, New York, USA]

The Washington Times June 24, 1903—Washington D.C., USA DOWIE CHALLENGED TO DUEL OF PRAYER Indian “Messiah” Jealous of the Westerner’s Prestige. CHICAGO, June 24.—Dr. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almightly [sic] that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on the Biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Washington Times, June 24, 1903—Washington D.C., USA]

DOWIE IS CHALLENGED

East Indian Mohammedan Invites Him to a Novel Test of Faith.

EACH TO SAY THE SAME PRAYER

Which Calls on the Creator to Kill the Liar at Once and Instanter.

Chicago, June 24.—John Alexander Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjaub, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it.

CALLED A “DESPICABLE DOGMA”

Mirza Has No Use for the Divinity—His Challenge to Dowie.

John Alexander Dowie, writes the Messiah, “claims to have been sent by the son of Mary in his capacity of Godhead, that as his apostle he may draw the whole world to a belief in the despicable dogma of his divinity.” The Indian claimant proceeds: “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. That method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two who is the liar may perish first.

“I look upon the son of Mary as a weak human being; although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of universe. Which of us is right, is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signature of at least 1,000 men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses.

“If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth. In making this proposal I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.”

[Warsaw Daily Times, June 24, 1903—Warsaw, Indiana, USA]

Baltimore American June 25, 1903—Baltimore, Maryland, USA DOWIE VERSUS GHULAM. There is trouble in faquirdom. Comes now the pot and challenges the kettle to a contest in blackness. In other words, comes Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quidian, Punjaub, India, defying the notorious Alexander Dowie, of Chicago, to a test of genuineness of the respective afflati that move the two. Ghulam grows orientally picturesque in wording his defi and says: “Come thou, O self-styled prophet: let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” It is up to Dowie. The puissant Ghuly claims to be the promised Messiah; that he fulfils exactly the scriptural requirements as to date, pedigree etc., and he also claims to have one hundred thousand followers “rapidly growing.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claims also that he is entrusted with the reformation of the world. Tough job, Mirz, tough job! The world has a terrific start of you. Delaware has just had a mob, New York’s prisons are filling up with millionaires, and the postal scandal isn’t half through. Besides, there’s Servia and Russia and Turkey and the rest of those outbroken sinners in your nearer vicinity. O Mirza, aren’t you “up against it good”? And, even when you should have pacified the state of Addicks, set the New York money aristocrats straight and civilized the European provinces, would not there be still Kentucky and St. Louis, to say nothing of Chicago’s automobile burglars? And then think what a task you are setting for the avenging angel in asking a quick decision as to which—Mirza Ghulam Ahmad or Alexander Dowie—is THE liar! And that when the two of them were kneeling together “on their knees in the dust of the earth,” and furnishing such a tempting target for a forked bolt of lightning! No, Mirza, you ask too much. You have placed Mr. Dowie in a position that would result undoubtedly in the death of both of you, or in your both being ignored by the Almighty, whom you presumptuously and ignorantly blaspheme. No doubt the latter course would be adopted, as there are too many sane, earnest people in the world for the Director of the Universe to waste any time on either you or Dowie. Scat, Ghulam!

[Baltimore American, June 25, 1903—Baltimore, Maryland, USA]

BOSTON DAILY ADVERTIsER June 25, 1903—Boston, Massachusetts, USA Dr. Dowie, Elijah II, has received a challenge to a prayer duel by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. If Dr. Ahmad had only challenged the second Elijah to pronounce his name and address correctly, he would stand a better chance of winning with his own choice of weapons.

[BOSTON DAILY ADVERTIsER, June 25, 1903—Boston, Massachusetts, USA]

Morning Tribune June 25, 1903—Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD, of India has issued a challenge to “Eljah” [sic—Elijah] Dowie, of Chicago, couched in the following stirring language: “Come, thou, O self-styled prophet. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Up to the hour of going to press Dowie had not publicly accepted the challenge.

[Morning Tribune, June 25, 1903—Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA]

The Mansfield News June 25, 1903—Mansfield, Ohio, USA “Elijah” Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of the Quadian Punjaub [sic—Qadian Punjab], India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi”. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Mirza has the reputation of being a “hot Tommy”—in fact “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members. But it’s safe to believe that Elijah Dowie won’t come to the scratch. While professing that prayer is his long suit, Elijah has vivid recollections of his protracted petitions for rain at Zion a few months ago. After he had prayed loud and long for several weeks rain came to beat the band—everywhere except in the immediate vicinity of Zion. No, no, “Elijah” won’t enter the lists in a prayer duel to the finish, but if Mirza challenges him for a showing as to financiering ability the chief fugleman of Zion can win under heavy handicap.

[The Mansfield News, June 25, 1903—Mansfield, Ohio, USA]

Pine Bluff Daily Graphic June 25, 1903—Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA TO DEATH INDIAN PRIEST CHALLENGES DR. ALEXANDER DOWIE TO DUEL. Both to Kneel in the Dust and Petition the Almighty to Kill One That’s a Liar. Chicago, June 25.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come thou, O, self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defy.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. It may be that he thinks, as the challenged party, he ought to have the choice of weapons, and will demand that vituperation be employed, the one who can call the other the most bad names to be the winner. However that may be Elijah cannot afford to ignore the challenge. Mirza is no featherweight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies at [sic—as] the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over 100,000 members, rapidly growing. The teaching of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares: “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, June 25, 1903—Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA]

Democrat and Chronicle June 25, 1903—Rochester, New York, USA Mirza Ghulman Ahmand [sic—Ghulam Ahmad], of Quadian [sic—Qadian], India, threatens to pray Prophet Elijah Dowie to death. All Right. Such long range assassination as that is permissible. Sail right in, Mirza.

[Democrat and Chronicle, June 25, 1903—Rochester, New York, USA]

The Paducah Sun June 25, 1903—Paducah, Kentucky, USA NOVEL DUEL. DR. DOWIE CHALLENGED TO A PRAYER CONTEST Chicago, June 25—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India. Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over 100,000 members, rapidly growing. The teachings of this Messiah is that Christ was a mere mortal, a good man, without divinity. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad further declares: “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Paducah Sun, June 25, 1903—Paducah, Kentucky, USA]

The Scranton Republican June 25, 1903—Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA DOWIE CHALLENGED TO PRAYING DUEL Vituperations and Lies to Be the Additional Weapons in a Strange Contest. CHICAGO, Ill., June 24.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic— Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his ‘defi.’ “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. It may be that he thinks, as the challenged party, he ought to have the choice of weapons, and will demand that vituperation be employed, the one who can call the other the most bad names to be the winner. However that may be, Elijah cannot afford to ignore the challenge. Mirza is no feather-weight when it comes to pretensions. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah” and he has a following of over a hundred thousand members, and rapidly growing.

[The Scranton Republican, June 25, 1903—Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA]

The Bellefontaine Republican June 26, 1903—Bellefontaine, Ohio, USA Dowie Challenged To a Praying Match. Chicago, June 23.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian Punjaub [sic—Qadian Punjab], India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of [t]he earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.”

[The Bellefontaine Republican, June 26, 1903—Bellefontaine, Ohio, USA]

The Nebraska State Journal June 26, 1903—Lincoln, Nebraska, USA Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, a prophet and Messiah by his own admission, has challenged John Alexander Dowie, America’s reincarnated Elijah, to a duel unto the death. This is the language of the challenge: “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel. The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish.” Elijah Dowie is in no haste. He has taken the matter under advisement. He perhaps believes that challenged party should have right to the choice of weapons. Undoubtedly he believes himself as skillful in prayer as his dark-visaged adversary, but he may fear, and justly so, that the fellow has something up his sleeve and might take a poke at him when he had his eyes shut. Ghulam Ahmad claims a personal following of 100,000; Alexander Dowie has an army of disciples, and he soaks them for 10 per cent of their earnings every year. The fact that these men have been able to obtain the following of which they boast is an evidence of greatness which cannot be denied. Why one should care to destroy the other is a mystery. There is room on earth for both of them; and they are not the only boats along the shore by several. If it were possible for all the liars among them to be prayed out of existence, we shudder at the list of fatalities were the plan adopted a suggested by Mirza Ghulam.

[The Nebraska State Journal, June 26, 1903—Lincoln, Nebraska, USA]

The Leavenworth Times June 27, 1903—Leavenworth, Kansas, USA DOWIE QUAKES. Chicago, June 26.—Dr. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mriza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II., has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next 25 years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.

[The Leavenworth Times, June 27, 1903—Leavenworth, Kansas, USA]

Burlington Daily Free Press June 27, 1903—Burlington, Vermont, USA A Praying Duel Proposition. People in different parts of the country have been seriously discussing the efficacy of prayer in connection with the breaking of the recent drought, and there have been two sides to the question, particularly where one party was praying for rain while another party was seeking continued pleasant weather. A proposition to make a test in connection with prayer has just been put forth, however, in which there is little chance for controversy over the final result. Elijah Dowie, the religious pretender of Chicago, has just been challenged by Mirza Ghulman [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic— Punjab], India, to engage in a supplication duel to death. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” According to the code of honor Prophet Dowie as the challenged party should unquestionably have the choice of weapons, but the “Promised Messiah” has shrewdly proposed a test which the Chicago pretender cannot well afford to decline. To refuse to accept prayer as a test would be to acknowledge that he was unwilling to rest his case with the most powerful agency at his command, if his pretensions be true. On the other hand, it must be admitted that Dowie has no mean to antagonist. Mirza claims to be the “Promised Messiah,” sent for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophesies as to the time of the advent of the Messiah, and he is credited with a following of over 100,000 members, with the number rapidly growing. Dowie has not yet indicated his decision, but if he declines to accept this novel challenge the public may look for a rapid decline in Dowie stock.

[Burlington Daily Free Press, June 27,1903—Burlington, Vermont, USA]

Freie Presse fÜr Texas June 27, 1903—San Antonio, Texas, USA (English translation of the German) Sunday Contemplation We, people of the 20th century, imagined that we lived in an extraordinarily enlightened, highly cultivated, progressive age. But, if you consider what is still possible in our days—the slaughter of the Jews in Chisinau, the Belgrade slaughter festival, spiritualist hocus-pocus, Mrs. Eddy’s prayer healing, Dr. Dowie’s Elijah and Messiah humbug and things like that— then you finally come to realize that that conceit is truly mere conceit. People who—like the Sunday viewer—are firmly convinced that Eddyism and Dowieism are really nothing more than horrible humbug, than the cleverly skillful exploitation of human gullibility and stupidity on the part of ruthlessly driven—yes, brilliant!—imposters, often make the mistake of thinking that all reasonably sane and level-headed people must share the same opinion and belief, as a result of which belief they then underestimate the influence of such movements. The Sunday viewer very frankly admits that he felt this way about the Zionism of Dr Dowie (not to be mistaken with the Jewish movement establishing a new Judea in Palestine). He simply couldn’t imagine how such a terribly crude humbug such as Dowie’s—claiming the third avatar meaning the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah; the second supposedly being John the Baptist—could have possibly “pulled through” and how not the whole movement hadn’t been scoffed and laughed to death right from the beginning!Even the Dowie-fusion of religious ecstasy with a subtle sense of business and the successful profiteering through the Communist-based manufacturing of curtains and lace, should have puzzled anyone short of totally foolish. However, as mentioned, that was a delusion! Dowie does not only have a big crowd of religious followers who go through thick and thin with him, but his fame has reached parts of the world far away where he and his teachings are taken seriously. A very interesting example is being reported from east India—a country, in which as far as tradition goes back, religious mystic movements and enthusiasts of any sacrificial goose have found fertile soil. In Qadian, Punjab a messiah has apparently resurrected—his name being Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who has begrudged “our” Dowie of his laurels and who has thus formally challenged Dowie to let a judgement of God decide which of them is the true Jacob—meaning the prophet and messiah—and who the usurper and fakir is! In fact, this challenge may

be fought through Dowie’s primary weapon: prayer. In a way it is supposed to be a continuous prayer till one of the duelers—the liar among them—drops to the ground dying. We don’t know whether or not Dr Dowie will agree to this prayer-duel, however, it is a rather novel idea. By the way, novel is also how Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who seems to be a fairly self-confident gentleman, issued this “challenge.” The “Review of Religions” which was published in Gurdaspur, India, issued the same challenge and further contains information on the challenger himself. Accordingly, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is “the very messiah sent for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah.” Further, he has over a hundred thousand followers and the number is growing day by day. Jesus Christ was not the Divine according to Ghulam Ahmad. He, however, was a great prophet, a good man and a noble philanthropist. Since Ghulam Ahmad is stating all this himself, it must be true, or not? It is stated: “Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this—Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah.” “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?” Now Dowie explained that so “convincingly”! His daughter had come too close with her clothes to the alcohol lamp which she was using to drip her hair. With respect to this double sin—that is, the sin of vanity and the use of alcohol—of course the prayer-healing power of her father, Elijah the Third, failed. Dowie’s Indian rival is Mohammedan and by means of the prayer duel it shall also be decided whether the son of the Virgin Mary is the true God or Allah, the God of the Muslims. Anyway, he repudiates that the duel idea was his but he was inspired by Allah and the prophet Mohammad. It seems that he was animated to his “challenge to a duel” by the fact that Dowie had stated in one of his screeds that the downfall of the Mohammedans was close. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad embraces the opportunity to inform the world about a startling“important discovery regarding Jesus Christ” by the followers of the challenging Messiah. Accordingly, Christ did not die on the cross, but was taken down alive and senseless. Subsequently, he traveled east to India, and lived to a good old age. His tomb can still be seen on Khan Yar street at Srinagar, Cashmere. For this fact irrevocable proofs of the truth exist, as he claims, it would be foolish to nonetheless doubt it. It is odd how long it took for such irrevocable proofs of the truth to reach a breakthrough! We don’t know if Dowie will take on this students’ duel with his Indian colleague. It would be desirable to see who can stand longer, the messiah of the oldest cultivated land upon this earth or the prophet of the youngest cultivated land on this planet! The outcome of the duel will probably be similar to Heine’s portrayal of the dispute between a monk and a rabbi, where it is said in the end: “And it merely appears so that both…don’t smell good!” Source: Imran Ahmad Faizi, Obertshausen, Germany Translators: Sayyed Majid Ahmed (Muenster, Germany) and Maham Hina Anwar (Banmbek-South, Germany)

[Freie Presse fÜr Texas, June 27, 1903—San Antonio, Texas, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Pilot June 27, 1903—Boston, Massachusetts, USA John Alexander Dowie, the Scotch impostor who has built up a flourishing “New Zion” near Chicago, has found a dangerous rival in a Hindoo gentleman living in Qadian, in the Punjaub [sic—Punjab]. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, for such is his name—Ghulam being rather suggestive sends us a broadsheet with his picture and some account of his claim to be the promised Messiah. The portrait is not impressive, representing a middle-aged, heavy-featured person, bearded, and turbaned, and pigeon-toed as to his terminal facilities. He says that he has 100,000 disciples and he resents Apostle Dowie’s pretensions to a divine mission. But he is a reasonable champion and issues a challenge to Dowie. That, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. Which of us is right, is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of the truth. We have omitted some of the blasphemous terms of the challenge, which are no more so than Dowie’s, however. As the latter is able to count his dupes by thousands, we cannot afford to laugh at the credulity of the Mohammedans of the Punjaub [sic—Punjab]. Mr. Dowie is coming East to capture New York, in the Fall. We trust that Mr. Ghulam will come West to meet him. The prayer-test, if tried might dispose of both of them.

[The Pilot, June 27, 1903—Boston, Massachusetts, USA]

The Caldwell Tribune June 27, 1903—Caldwell, Idaho, USA Challenges Dowie. One Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India has fixed his jealous eyes upon our own Elijah, even Dr. Dowie of Chicago, and challenged him to a prayer test. This Mirza claims to be the very Messiah, and he has a great following in Inda [sic—India], who revere him as indeed the Savior. Jesus Christ, they say, did not die upon the cross, but was taken down alive, though senseless. Subsequently, however, they maintain “the son of Mary recovered, traveled eastward, and lived up to a good old age,” and his tomb is situated in the Khan Yar street, Srinigar [sic—Srinagar], Kashmir. They claim that Jesus was a mere man, a prophet, good, but without divinity. Mirza’s challenge to Dowie is an affirmation of his own claims, Dowie to likewise affirm his own, each to be backed by the signature of a thousand of his followers, and then the prayer is to be that “whoever is the liar may perish first.” It looks like a spar for advantage by Mirza, as he is not above half as old a man as Dowie is.—Salt Lake Tribune.

[The Caldwell Tribune, June 27, 1903—Caldwell, Idaho, USA]

CHALLENGES DOWIE.

One Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India has fixed his jealous eyes upon our own Elijah, even Dr. Dowie of Chicago, and challenged him to a prayer test. This Mirza claims to be the very Messiah, and he has a great following in India, who revere him as indeed the Savior. Jesus Christ, they say, did not die upon the cross, but was taken down alive, though senseless. Subsequently, however, they maintain “the son of Mary recovered, traveled eastward, and lived up to a good old age,” and his tomb is situated in the Khan Yar street, Srinagar, Kashmir.

They claim that Jesus was a mere man, a prophet, good, but without divinity. Mirza’s challenge to Dowie is an affirmation of his own claims, Dowie to likewise affirm his own, each to be backed by the signature of a thousand of his followers, and then the prayer is to be that “whoever is the liar may perish first.” It looks like a spar for advantage by Mirza, as he is not above half as old a man as Dowie is.—Salt Lake Tribune.

[The Deseret Evening News, June 27, 1903—Salt Lake City, Utah, USA]

The Indianapolis News June 27, 1903—Indianapolis, Indiana, USA TO A DUEL OF PRAYER. Challenge issued to Dowie by a “Messiah” in India. CHICAGO, June 27—Dr. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjab, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this: That Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Indianapolis News, June 27, 1903—Indianapolis, Indiana, USA]

The Inter Ocean June 27, 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA Ghulam Ahmad’s Challenge. The Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, Punjab, India, who proclaims himself “the promised Messiah” and claims already 100,000 followers, has been greatly stirred by the recent prediction of John Alexander Dowie that, when the Messiah appears, all Mohammedans are to perish. Therefore, he proposes a prayer duel to settle whether Dowie is really “Elijah the Restorer,” as he says, and whether Ghulam Ahmad is really “the Messiah” as he says. “Whether the God of the Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God,” writes Ghulam Ahmad in his organ, the Guardaspur [sic—Gurdaspur] Review of Religions, “may be settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve, He should choose me as his opponent and pray that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. He should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least 1,000 men affixed. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God, and publish it, with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth.” As far as known Dowie has not yet accepted Ghulam Ahmad’s challenge. In view of the pictures of the self-proclaimed Mohammedan Messiah, Dowie might properly object to its terms. Ghulam Ahmad appears to be a much younger man than Dowie. Hence, in settling the question as to which should die “first,” Ghulam Ahmad would appear to have the advantage. Therefore it would seem proper for Dowie to insist upon a change in the terms, to the purport that whichever is the liar shall die immediately. From such a prayer duel, if it had any result, something of value might be determined.

[The Inter Ocean, June 27, 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA]

The Inter Ocean June 28, 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA WILL DOWIE FIGHT THIS DUEL? Who is a liar? Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, Punjab, India, wants to know, and he believes he can get the truth out of John Alexander Dowie. The Hindoo has challenged the Zionite prophet to a duel to death and Dowie has turned up his nose at the Oriental prophet and refuses to say a word. The man of Punjab is not a joker, and he wants Elijah the Restorer to know it. He asks the Zion potentate to fight to the finish and he has named prayer as the weapon. Furthermore, Mirza, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has laid down the rules for the deadly combat, and he demands that Dowie either “shoot or give up the gun.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge. He has not said that he will not. His followers say he hasn’t time for any Punjabians, and that he has enough to do in preparing to swoop down upon wicked New York in October, when he intends to scrub the territory between the Bowery and the Bronx. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is jealous of the Illinois Messiah. He says some one [sic] is a liar and that he can prove it. And he intends doing it by prayer—a duel of prayer. He wants Dowie to stand up and pray that whoever of the pair is a liar may perish instanter. Mirza has not named his seconds nor the place of combat, but he wants a thousand men to back him up, and he is willing to give John Alexander an equally fair showing. Mirza Is Not Prosperous. Mirza is a Mohammedan, and he is by no means an ordinary prophet. He is not a banker, nor a real estate agent and a builder of cities, nor a lace maker. He hasn’t been very prosperous as a Messiah. Qadian isn’t as profitable a field for religious enterprise as Chicago, and Dowie has the Hindoo eclipsed when it comes to being a commercial Messiah. While Dowie is wearing a gorgeous purple robe and carrying a staff that reaches two feet above his bald poll, Mirza has only a cast-off overcoat, a pair of white breeches, and a bamboo cane. And in the matter of whiskers Mirza is considerably handicapped. Dowie’s chin is decorated with a snowfall that reaches to his watch chain, while the Mohammedan boasts

only a straggling black beard that hardly hides his collar button. But he sports a puffed and knotted turban that looks as religious, if it does not outshine, Dowie’s hairless pate. Dowie is long on prayer; in fact, his orisons ascend almost continually, but, according to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, they are not good prayers, and do not reach very high. Here is where Mirza expects to get the best of the captain of the Zion City baseball club. He says Dowie is a liar, and he is going to pray to the Almighty to strike down the liar. The Zionites declare this is unfair, and that Mirza would not be fighting on the square, for he would only be praying for the demise of his rival and would not be asking the Almighty to judge between them. Mirza, in his challenge, does not say he is willing to come to Zion City. He favors long-distance prayers, and believes he can undo Dowie by the wireless method as easily as if he had him at his side. The Mohammedan does not pose as a gleaner of shekels, but he does claim a large following. He tells the Chicago prophet that he has 100,000 devotees at his heels, and gives Dowie to understand he is no common exhorter. He has heard that Dowie despises the Mohammedans and he wants to know why. Mirza claims he was sent here for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations he has made on the Biblical prophecies. After this he says to the chief Zionite: “You should remember that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom you are anxiously awaiting.” This is not according to Dowie’s calculation. Mirza then goes on in this wise: “Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am the Messiah, and the Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims 100,000 souls, is making rapid progress. “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?” Would Not Shed Blood. The Indian claimant is a harmless sort of a fellow, and he doesn’t desire to shed any blood in his duel. He believes he can settle his dispute with Dowie with no more serious consequences than the death of himself or his rival. “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives, which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve,” writes the Punjab man. “That method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. I look upon the Son of Mary as a weak human being, although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of the universe. “Which of us is right is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the Son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least a

thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of the truth. In making this proposal I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.” Has a Little Side Information. Before the Oriental gets through withthe prophet of the north shore he tells him afew other interesting little things about the Savior that are not generally known outside of Punjab and the adjacent provinces. “An important discovery regarding Jesus Christ has been made by the followers. Jesus did not die upon the cross, but was taken down alive and senseless. Subsequently the Son of Mary recovered, traveled eastward, and lived to a good old age. His tomb is situated in Khan Yar Street at Srinagar, Cashmere.” Dowie probably will not accept the Indian Messiah’s challenge for some time to come. His prayers are all taken for months ahead and he is so busy getting ready for hisChristianization of Gotham that he isn’t paying any particular attention to Punjabians of any caste, be they nude pariahs or Messiahs clad in old overcoats and white breeches. Dowie Doesn’t Like Prophets. If Mirza Ghulam Ahmad takes it into his head to come to this country and beard the prophet in his own land office, he will find that Dowie hasn’t been wasting any time fooling with other Messiahs. He will find instead that Dowie has been engineering town-lot booms and directing the program of the collection takers between prayers. He will find a few stores where he can buy a new coat and a decent-looking hat, if he has the money, and he will find a hotel where he may sleep if he does not neglect the Zion City cash drawer. But Mirza will not find a warm welcome if he comes. Dowie isn’t inviting any rival prophets or Messiahs. He doesn’t want any side shows, and, what is more, he never would listen to the Easterner’s proposition, for Mirza insists upon writing the prayer. The Zionites fear there is some sort of a hidden trick in this very proposition, and they declare they know the doctor won’t have anything to do with the plan. At any rate, over in Punjab Dowie will be discredited if he does not enter the duel. But there are not many Hindoos in the Dowie flock, so, in the long run, it doesn’t make much difference. But the question is not one of what the followers think about it. It is, Who is a liar? Will Dowie fight it out?

[The Inter Ocean, June 28, 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA]

THE SUNDAY TIMES—UNION June 28, 1903—Jacksonville, Tennessee, USA One Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who dwells in northern Hindostan, challenges Alexander Dowie to a praying match, and threatens to pray him to death. He might the way he spells it, but if he spelled it with an “e” Dowie would give him six in the seven and beat him out.

[THE SUNDAY TIMES—UNION, June 28, 1903—Jacksonville, Tennessee, USA]

Worcester Sunday Spy June 28, 1903—Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Alexander Dowie has a rival in India. An Indian priest has hurled a mighty challenge at Elijah III of Zion City. He hints strongly that Dowie is a false prophet while he (the Indian) is the “real article.” “Let us put the matter to test,” the Indian says, “let us kneel together in the dust of the earth and pray that the one who lies be smitten first.” Possibly should the duel come off Dowie and the Indian may perish at the same time.

[Worcester Sunday Spy, June 28, 1903—Worcester, Massachusetts, USA]

Great Falls Daily Tribune June 29, 1903—Great Falls, Montana, USA A PRAYER DUEL The most unique contest that has been proposed for some time is a prayer duel. The challenge comes from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Punjab, Ind., and it is directed to Dr. Dowie of Chicago. He proposes that he and the doctor shall each petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first;” and they are to keep it up until the point is settled, which Mirza seems confident it will be. It appears that the Hindu claims to be the Messiah “sent for the reformation of the world,” and he has a following of 100,000 souls. In the course of his challenge he further declares: Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next 25 years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree? It appears that this Messiah teaches that Christ was a good man, but not divine. Further, that he did not die on the cross, but was taken down alive, recovered, traveled eastward and lived to a good old age. His tomb is said to be at Sinagar [sic—Srinagar], Cashmere, where it has been seen by hundreds of thousands. But that is aside from the challenge. It is up to Dowie now to show his faith in himself. Probably he won’t accept the challenge, and that will leave Mr. Mirza the undoubted right to claim the prayer championship of the world. But why is it that Dowie alone is challenged? There are others.

[Great Falls Daily Tribune, June 29, 1903—Great Falls, Montana, USA]

Savannah Morning News June 29, 1903—Savannah, Georgia, USA Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, in the Punjab, has sent a challenge to “Elijah II” Dowie, at Zion City, near Chicago. The Indian, who is a Mohammedan priest, thinks Dowie is a fraud and imposter. In order to prove it, and at the same time to prove the correctness of his own religion, he proposes that he and Dowie meet in a duel of prayer to the death. At a certain time the praying is to begin, each to his own deity, and the burden of the prayers is to be that whichever is the liar shall be stricken dead.

[Savannah Morning News, June 29, 1903—Savannah, Georgia, USA]

El Paso Herald June 30, 1903—El Paso, Texas, USA A gentleman whose cards bear the inscription “Mirza Chulam [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, Buddhist, Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India,” challenges Elijah Dowie to a praying duel, the loser to be eliminated by act of Providence. Dowie will not accept. Mirza says Dowie is a rank fake.

[El Paso Herald, June 30, 1903—El Paso, Texas, USA]

Hopkinsville Kentuckian June 30, 1903—Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of India, claims to be the “promised Messiah” and has challenged Dr. Dowie, of Illinois, to a prayer duel. Each side is to petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” The Indian Messiah claims to be “the very Messiah, the promised one.”

[Hopkinsville Kentuckian, June 30, 1903—Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA]

The Greensboro Patriot July 1, 1903—Greensboro, North Carolina, USA Modern Messiahs at War. Dr. Dowie, of Chicago, has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Hhmad [sic—Ahmad] of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II. has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am the Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Greensboro Patriot, July 1, 1903—Greensboro, North Carolina, USA]

The Montana Daily Record July 1, 1903—Helena, Montana, USA Challenge to Duel of Prayer Alexander Dowie has found a foeman worthy of his steel. The Chicago prophet recently redicted that in fullness of time his cult would spread over all the earth, and that in that time all those of the Mohammedan faith would be annihilated as being hateful in the sight of the Lord. Why Dowie chose to pick upon the followers of that other prophet is not recorded. But his temerity has marked him for the test. He has been challenged to fight a duel to demonstrate which is right. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the self-constituted champion of the Mohammedans. He comes from a race of Indian fakirs, and he, too, proclaims himself a Messiah. But he is not as cruel as Dowie. He does not want to annihilate a whole people to settle the issue. With merciful feeling that puts the Chicago man in shame he proposes that each enter upon a season of prayer, that upon their bending knees they shall pray each for the annihilation of the other. Who so survives, if the other shall perish, will be easily and naturally removed from the field. The other will as easily and naturally fall heir to the following of the misguided one, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed is playing for big stakes, For it is common report that Dowie has a rich bank account and much real estate, the results of years of frugal labor in the vineyard as a Messiah. It is a business that has paid in Chicago. Seemingly the East Indian has the better of the argument thus far. At least, those who do not want to see the indiscriminate slaughter of all the adherents of a faith will prefer the plan of Ahmad to the prediction of Dowie. The whole thing would seem ridiculous if it were not for the terrible earnestness of the followers of both. It would be sac religious if anyone else believed that the pretensions of the rival “Messiahs” amounted to anything. Dowie, who has openly professed to have the power of withering with his curse and healing with his blessing, and who has turned the credulity of his people to good account, should not miss the opportunity to prove what he can really do. There is the chance that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who is a simple man and wears scant raiment may contract a severe case of rheumatism from kneeling on the bare ground; and if the disease should prove fatal wouldn’t it be worth to Dowie as advertising!

[The Montana Daily Record, July 1, 1903—Helena, Montana, USA]

A Hindoo has challenged Elijah Dowie to a duel of prayers. Holy smoke how I would like to see it!

[The Mirror, July 2, 1903—Stillwater, Minnesota, USA]

Courier Democrat July 02, 1903—Langdon, North Dakota, USA One cannot but fear that we are going to lose our only Dowie. He has been challenged to a prayer duel, something entirely new in religious status, and the terms laid down by the challenger make it look exceedingly shaky for the Zion leader. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who desires to endeavor to pray Dowie to a standstill, in his challenge says that they shall “petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Every patriotic American who knows anything of Dowie will not fail to put his money on the Zionist. The later has not yet sent in his acceptance and it is supposed that he wants time to settle up his affairs.

[Courier Democrat, July 02, 1903—Langdon, North Dakota, USA]

Northern Wisconsin Advertiser July 2, 1903—Wabeno, Wisconsin, USA Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quandian Punjaub [sic—Qadian Punjab], India.

[Northern Wisconsin Advertiser, July 2, 1903—Wabeno, Wisconsin, USA]

Rosebud County News July 2, 1903—Forsyth, Montana, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[Rosebud County News, July 2, 1903—Forsyth, Montana, USA]

Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and the other place is too hot for him.

[The Hendricks Pioneer, July 2, 1903—Hendricks, Minnesota, USA]

WHICH IS THE LIAR?

A UNIQUE plan has been proposed by an East Indian religious leader to prove which is a liar, he or Dr. Dowie of Chicago. The Oriental, whose name is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, claims to be Messiah, and it is reported that he has about one hundred thousand followers. He proposes that both men shall pray to God, each that the other may die first. He thinks that if Dowie dies first it will prove that the “Restorer” is an impostor, but that if the Mirza himself is called hence, it will establish Dowie’s claim.

The challenge is interesting as showing the remarkable mental state of the millions in India, and it shows that there is a deep feeling among them that the coming of the Lord is near at hand.

[The Latter Day Saints Millennial Star, July 2, 1903—Liverpool, England, UK]

The Salina Herald July 2, 1903—Salina, Kansas, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction.

[The Salina Herald, July 2, 1903—Salina, Kansas, USA]

The Selden Independent July 2, 1903—Selden, Kansas, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duell [sic—duel] of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[The Selden Independent, July 2, 1903—Selden, Kansas, USA]

The Plymouth Tribune July 2, 1903—Plymouth, Indiana, USA Mohamedan Challenges Dowie. John Alexander Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mizra [sic— Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come thou, O selfstyled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge. Mirza claims that he is the promised Messiah, while Dowie claims to be Elijah, the prophet, reincarnated. It will be interesting to note how the false prophet will treat the false Messiah’s challenge.

[The Plymouth Tribune, July 2, 1903—Plymouth, Indiana, USA]

Evening Sentinel July 3, 1903—Santa Cruz, California, USA NEW WAY OF DETERMINING TRUE CREEDS FROM FALSE. One Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, who confesses to be the Messiah, has challenged “Dr.” John Alexander Dowie to a duel of prayer, each contestant to petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is a liar may perish first”. Part of the text of the challenge is worth quoting: “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. That method is, that without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. I look upon the son of Mary as a weak human being, although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of the Universe. Which of us is right is the real point at issue. If Mr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I shall address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of the truth. In making this proposal, I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptious [sic] prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish”.

[Evening Sentinel, July 3, 1903—Santa Cruz, California, USA]

Norfolk Times-Tribune July 3, 1903—Norfolk, Nebraska, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[Norfolk Times-Tribune, July 3, 1903—Norfolk, Nebraska, USA]

The Deerfield Valley Times July 3, 1903—Wilmington, Vermont, USA Lige Dowie is up against it again. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Auadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer, a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza had best talk softly for your Uncle Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he is too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[The Deerfield Valley Times, July 3, 1903—Wilmington, Vermont, USA]

Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quodian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and the other place is too hot for him.

[North Montana Review, July 4, 1903—Glasgow, Montana, USA]

Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qundian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and the other place is too hot for him.

[The Basin Progress, July 4, 1903—Basin, Montana, USA]

The Intermountain Catholic July 04, 1903—Salt Lake City, Utah, USA NOVEL BLASPHEMY. The rival prophets and fake Messiahs are getting down to business. A new light in the world of hysterical religion, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a Hindoo rival of John Alexander Dowie of Chicago and “New Zion,” Ill., has challenged the latter to call on God to curse himself if he lies, instead of praying for curses on the head of the other fellow. This is the form of the challenge: “That, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. Which of us is right, is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth.” This is very much to the point and is not a bit worse than the anathemas Dowie has been launching at his opponents for some years. It looks as if the Mohammedan, who has come from out the dark, mysterious East to enlighten the poor benighted people of the West, is better of the two. He is probably a fierce but honest fanatic while our own Dowie is an impostor pure and simple.

[The Intermountain Catholic, July 04, 1903—Salt Lake City, Utah, USA]

The Omaha Sunday Bee July 5, 1903—Omaha, Nebraska, USA Pittsburgh Dispatch: Dr. Dowie’s pretensions as a prophet and messiah have been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadina [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come thou, O selfstyled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his defi. “Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and pray the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II has not accepted the challenge. Letters and publications say that Mirza is the “promised Messiah.” He says: “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this: Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Omaha Sunday Bee, July 5, 1903—Omaha, Nebraska, USA]

The Stanberry Owl July 7, 1903—Stanberry, Missouri, USA Mr. Dowie of Chicago has been challenged to a duel of prayer by a “Messiah” in India, who suggests that they petition the Lord until he kills one of them. The Hindu Seer who visited Stanberry ought to have a hand in

[The Stanberry Owl, July 7, 1903—Stanberry, Missouri, USA]

Ellsworth Messenger July 9, 1903—Ellsworth, Kansas, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s to [sic—too] big a job for the devil to tackle.

[Ellsworth Messenger, July 9, 1903—Ellsworth, Kansas, USA]

The West Virginia Argus July 9, 1903—Kingwood, West Virginia, USA The papers tell of another duel between great men. It seems that John Alexander Dowie the owner and operator of Zion City one the many suburbs of Chicago, has been challenged to the duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Zuadin [sic— Qadian], Pun Jab [sic—Punjab] India, who claims to be the Messiah and says he will pray Dowie to death to settle the question. We hope arrangements can be made for this duel and so far as we are concerned, we are willing for it to be a duel to the death on both sides.

[The West Virginia Argus, July 9, 1903—Kingwood, West Virginia, USA]

Jackson Evening News July 10, 1903—Jackson, Mississippi, USA THE MOTION IS SECONDED. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, of the Punjaub, challenges Dowie, the Chicago prophet to a due[l] to the death, the weapons to be prayer, each pray[s] till one dies. Good!

[Jackson Evening News, July 10, 1903—Jackson, Mississippi, USA]

The Tiller and Toiler July 10, 1903—Larned, Kansas, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven would’t [sic—wouldn’t] have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle

[The Tiller and Toiler, July 10, 1903—Larned, Kansas, USA]

Lawrence Daily Journal July 11, 1903—Lawrence, Kansas, USA FOR A DUEL OF PRAYER Odd Challenge Sent to Dr. Dowie by a “Messiah” In India. Dr. J.A. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, says a Chicago special to the New York World. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this— Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[Lawrence Daily Journal, July 11, 1903—Lawrence, Kansas, USA]

The Topeka Daily Capital July 11, 1903—Topeka, Kansas, USA HERE’S A NEW ONE. “Prophet” Dowie Has Been Chal lenged to a Prayer Combat. Dr. Dowie’s pretensions as a prophet and Messiah have been challenged to a prayer duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Aham [sic— Ahmad] of Quadina [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic— Punjab], India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Miraz [sic—Mirza] in his defi. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and pray the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II. has not accepted the challenge. Letters and publications say that Mirza is the “promised Messiah.” He says: “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this: Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”—Chicago Correspondence Pittsburg Dispatch.

[The Topeka Daily Capital, July 11, 1903—Topeka, Kansas, USA]

Oakland Tribune July 14, 1903 —Oakland, California, USA Mirza Ghulam Ahmed [sic] of the Punjaub [sic] challenges Dowie, the Chicago prophet, to a duel to the death, the weapons to be prayer, each to pray till one dies. Good!—Houston Chronicle.

[Oakland Tribune, July 14, 1903—Oakland, California, USA]

Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette July 15, 1903—Exeter, England, UK Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Punjab, India, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has challenged Dowie, of Chicago, to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to petition the Almighty that, “whoever of us two is the liar may perish first.” The challenge has not been accepted up to the present.

[Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette, July 15, 1903—Exeter, England, UK]

Cherokee Harmonizer July 16, 1903—Centre, Alabama, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Puadian [sic], Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[Cherokee Harmonizer, July 16, 1903—Centre, Alabama, USA]

The Citizen July 16, 1903—Berea, Kentucky, USA Dr. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mizra [sic—Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad of Quadina [sic—Qadian], Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India. “Come thou, O selfstyled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his defi. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and pray the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II. has not accepted the challenge. Letters and publications say that Mirza is the “promised Messiah.”

[The Citizen, July 16, 1903—Berea, Kentucky, USA]

The Billings Gazette July 17, 1903—Billings, Montana, USA FOR A DUEL PRAYER. Odd Challenge Sent to Dr. Dowie by a “Messiah” in India Dr. J. A. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic], Punjab, India, says a Chicago special to the New York World. “Come, thou, O self styled prophet to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah II. Has not accepted the challenge. Mirza says he is “the promised Messiah” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies.” “I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this— Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah. I will pray him to death to settle the question.”

[The Billings Gazette, July 17, 1903—Billings, Montana, USA]

Dr. Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian, Punjaub, India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his defi. “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and pray the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. Perhaps, in the calm of Ben MacDhui, among the Michigan peaches, he is formulating a reply.

[The Hudson Independent, July 17, 1903—Hudson, Ohio, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Saint Paul globe July 19, 1903—St. Paul, Minnesota, USA WILL DOWIE FIGHT STRANGE DUEL WITH PRAYER AS WEAPON Who is a liar? Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, Punjab, India, wants to know, and he believes he can get the truth out of John Alexander Dowie. The Hindoo has challenged the Zionite prophet to a duel to death and Dowie has turned up his nose at the Orential prophet and refuses to say a word. The man of Punjab is not a joker, and he wants Elijah the Restorer to know it. He asks the Zion potentate to fight to the finish and he has named prayer as the weapon. Furthermore, Mirza, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has laid down the rules for the deadly combat, and he demands that Dowie either “shoot or give up the gun.” Dowie has not accepted the challenge. He has not said that he will not. His followers say he hasn’t time for any Punjabians, and that he has enough to do in preparing to swoop down upon wicked New York in October, when he intends to scrub the territory between the Bowery and the Bronx. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is jealous of the Illinois Messiah. He says someone is a liar and that he can prove it. And he intends doing it by prayer—a duel of prayer. He wants Dowie to stand up and pray that whoever of the pair is a liar may perish instanter. Mirza has not named his seconds nor the place of combat, but he wants a thousand men to back him up, and he is willing to give John Alexander an equally fair showing. Mirza Is Not Prosperous. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is jealous of by no means an ordinary prophet. He is not a banker, nor a real estate agent and a builder of cities, nor a lace maker. He hasn’t been very prosperous as a Messiah. Qadian isn’t as profitable a field for religious enterprise as Chicago, and Dowie has the Hindoo eclipsed when it comes to being a commercial Messiah. While Dowie is wearing a gorgeous purple robe and carrying a staff that reaches two feet above his bald poll, Mirza has only a cast-off overcoat, a pair of white breeches, and a bamboo cane. And in the matter of whiskers Mirza is considerably handicapped. Dowie’s chin is decorated with a snowfall that reaches to his watch chain, while the Mohammedan boasts only a straggling black beard that hardly hides his collar button. But he sports a puffed and

knotted turban that looks as religious, if it does not outshine, Dowie’s hairless pate. Dowie is long on prayer; in fact, his orisons ascend almost continually, but, according to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, they are not good prayers, and do not reach very high. Here is where Mirza expects to get the best of the captain of the Zion City baseball club. He says Dowie is a liar, and he is going to pray to the Almighty to strike down the liar. The Zionites declare this is unfair, and that Mirza would not be fighting on the square, for he would only be praying for the demise of his rival and would not be asking the Almighty to judge between them. Mirza, in his challenge, does not say he is willing to come to Zion City. He favors long-distance prayers, and believes he can undo Dowie by the wireless method as easily as if he had him at his side. This Mohammedan does not pose as a gleaner of shekels, but he does claim a large following. He tells the Chicago prophet that he has 100,000 devotees at his heels, and gives Dowie to understand he is no common exhorter. He has heard that Dowie despises the Mohammedans and he wants to know why. Mirza claims he was sent here for the reformation of the world exactly at the time fixed by calculations he has made on the Biblical prophecies. After this he says to the chief Zionite: “You should remember that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom you are anxiously awaiting.” This is not according to Dowie’s calculation. Mirza then goes on in this wise: “Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am the Messiah, and the Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims 100,000 souls, is making rapid progress. “The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?” Would Not Shed Blood. The Indian claimant is a harmless sort of fellow, and he doesn’t desire to shed any blood in his duel. He believes he can settle his dispute with Dowie with no more serious consequences than the death of himself or his rival. “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives, which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve,” writes the Punjab man. “That method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. I look upon the Son of Mary as a weak human being, although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of the universe. “Which of us is right is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the Son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least a thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty

God and publish it with signatures of the same number of witnesses. “If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of the truth. In making this proposal I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.” Has a Little Side Information. Before the Oriental gets through with the prophet of the north shore he tells him afew other interesting little things about the Savior that are not generally known outside of Punjab and the adjacent provinces. “An important discovery regarding Jesus Christ has been made by the followers. Jesus did not die upon the cross, but was taken down alive and senseless. Subsequently the Son of Mary recovered, traveled eastward, and lived to a good old age. His tomb is situated in Khan Yar street at Srinagar, Cashmere.” Dowie probably will not accept the Indian Messiah’s challenge for some time to come. His prayers are all taken for months ahead and he is so busy getting ready for hisChristianization of Gotham that he isn’t paying any particular attention to Punjabians of any caste, be they nude pariahs or Messiahs clad in old overcoats and white breeches. Dowie Doesn’t Like Prophets. If Mirza Ghulam Ahmad takes it into his head to come to this country and beard the prophet in his own land office, he will find that Dowie hasn’t been wasting any time fooling with other Messiahs. He will find instead that Dowie has been engineering town lot booms and directing the programme of the collection takers between prayers. He will find a few stores where he can buy a new coat and a decent-looking hat, if he has the money, and he will find a hotel where he may sleep if he does not neglect the Zion City cash drawer. But Mirza will not find a warm welcome if he comes. Dowie isn’t inviting any rival prophets or Messiahs. He doesn’t want any side shows, and, what is more, he never would listen to the Easterner’s proposition, for Mirza insists upon writing the prayer. The Zionites fear there is some sort of a hidden trick in this very proposition, and they declare they know the doctor won’t have anything to do with the plan. At any rate, over in Punjab, Dowie will be discredited if he does not enter the duel. But there are not many Hindoos in the Dowie flock, so, in the long run, it doesn’t make much difference. But the question is not one of what the followers think about it. It is, who is a liar? Will Dowie fight it out?

Dowie delivers a sermon before thousands of congregants in the Zion Tabernacle on July 17, 1904.

[The Saint Paul globe, July 19, 1903—St. Paul, Minnesota, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Nome Nugget August 1, 1903—Nome, Alaska, USA CREED CHALLENGES CREED. One Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian, Punjab, India, who professes to be the Messiah, has challenged “Dr.” John Alexander Dowie to a duel of prayer, each contestant to petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” Part of the text of the challenge is worth quoting: “Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be be [sic] settled without the loss of millions of lives which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. That method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first. I look upon the son of Mary as a weak human being, although I recognize him as a prophet of God, while Dr. Dowie takes him for the Lord of the Universe. Which of us is right is the real point at issue. If Dr. Dowie is certain of the divinity of the son of Mary, he should publish the proposed prayer with the signatures of at least one thousand men affixed to it. Upon receiving it, I should address the same prayer to Almighty God and publish it with the signatures of the same number of witnesses. If Dr. Dowie has the courage to accept this challenge, he will thereby open a way for all other Christians to the acceptance of truth. In making this proposal, I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.” The commendable points of this method of determining the true religion will occur at once to every practical person. Instead of being obliged in the pursuit of truth to study the hundreds of jarring sects and creeds, people will be enabled by the process of elimination, outlined in the Indian Messiah’s challenge, to sit down quietly and give their faith to the religion whose representative survives. The result will be definite and decisive and will make easy what is at present a very difficult matter to determine. Nor is the test without scriptural

precedent, for it resembles the trial in which the priests of Baal engaged with the Prophet But what if both contestants are liars? Will they both will be struck dead? Or, in accordance with the rule of equity that a plaintiff must come into court with clean hands, will the divine intelligence decline to take any notice of the issue presented? That, probably, will be the judgment. Seriously, the cases of both Dowie and his challenger are worth some study as examples of how easy it is to draw followers to a new religion. Dowie’s extraordinary settlement near Chicago has long been the wonder of sane men. He has made himself exceedingly wealthy, and in spite of common sense, many thousands of persons believe all he tells them. His own daughter died, but still his disciples accept for truth his pretensions to being a divine healer. The other champion, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is said to have over 100,000 followers who believe that he is the Messiah. This Indian alleges that Jesus did not die upon the cross, but was taken down alive and senseless, subsequently recovered, traveled eastward, and lived to a good old age. The tomb in which Christ was buried, according to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is situated in the Khan Yar street, at Srinagar, Cashmere, where it may be seen by all who doubt the story.

[The Nome Nugget, August 1, 1903—Nome, Alaska, USA]

The Greenville Advocate August 5, 1903—Greenville, Alabama, USA Lige Dowie is up against it now. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic], Punjab, India, who claims to be the Messiah, has challenged him to a duel of prayer a la mort. The dusky “Messiah” says: “Whoever of us is a liar may perish first.” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had better talk softly, for Lige is in no immediate danger of extinction. Heaven wouldn’t have him and he’s too big a job for the devil to tackle.

[The Greenville Advocate, August 5, 1903—Greenville, Alabama, USA]

Durango Semi-Weekly Herald August 06, 1903—Durango, Colorado, USA A NOVEL DUEL PROPOSITION Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, who claims to be the “Promised Messiah,” challenges Dr. Dowie to a duel of prayer. His proposition is that each side pray to the Almighty, “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.”

[Durango Semi-Weekly Herald, August 06, 1903—Durango, Colorado, USA]

The Evening Mail August 22, 1903—Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian] Punjab, India, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has challenged Dowie of Chicago to a duel of prayer, in which each one is to petition the Almighty “that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.”

[The Evening Mail, August 22, 1903—Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]

The Halifax Herald August 25, 1903—Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Quadian [sic— Qadian] Punjab, India, who claims to be the promised Messiah had challenged Dowie of Chicago to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.”

[The Halifax Herald, August 25, 1903—Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]

The Manchester Guardian September 8, 1903—London, England, UK It seems a pity that all religious difficulties cannot be amicably settled on the lines suggested. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed [sic—Ahmad], of the Punjaub [sic—Punjab]. This gentleman, who claims to be the Messiah, has sent a formal challenge to the famous Dr. Dowie, of Chicago, as the “Amrita Bazar Patrika,” inviting him to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to pray that “whoever of us two is the liar may perish first.” So far the challenge has not been accepted.

[The Manchester Guardian, September 8, 1903—London, England, UK]

The Colonist September 24, 1903—Nelson, New Zealand Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has challenged Dowie, of Chicago, to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to petition the Almighty that “whoever of us two is the liar may perish first.” The challenge has not been accepted up to the present.

This the mansion that Dowie built for himself in Zion City. Dowie envisioned an economically selfsufficient city and built a large lace factory as one of the means to that end. This is the Elijah Hospice built in 1902. It served as a hotel for construction workers and guests, and took 500 workers two months to construct this massive three-story building, which was the largest wooden structure in the State of Illinois.

[The Colonist, September 24, 1903—Nelson, New Zealand]

Free Thought Magazine October 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA —Duel of Prayer.—Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, of Punjab, India, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has challenged Dowie, of Chicago, to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to petition the Almighty that “whoever of us two is the liar may perish first.” The challenge has not been accepted up to the present.

[Free Thought Magazine, October 1903—Chicago, Illinois, USA]

The San Francisco Examiner October 4, 1903—San Francisco, California, USA ONE MODERN MESSIAH CHALLENGES HIS RIVALS CLAIMS TO DIVINITY London Deities Carry On Warfare Through Press Agents, and In Proposed Contest the One Who Dies First Loses. (Special by cable to New York and by leased wire, the longest in the world.) LONDON, October 3.—A sort of competition in divinity has been in progress here for some time, and the contending Messiahs are exploiting there several theologies by means of circulars. These Messiahs are modern in every sense and do not neglect the arts of the press agent. Apparently neither has worked any miracles as yet, but one of them has issued a challenge to the other to enter into a sort of long-distance competition. The circular issued by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, one of the competing dieties [sic], explains the situation, and begins: The Rev. J. H. Smyth Pigott, pastor of the “Ark of the Covenant,” who lives at the Cedar Lodge, Clapton, London, has recently announced himself as God. This announcement is contained in two church handbills, entitled “The Ark,” issued by Mr. Pigottt on the 7thand 14th of September, 1902, and sent to us by his private secretary. In these announcements he asserts his Godhead in the most insolent words. He does not only utter the blasphemy of calling himself the very “Lord Jesus” who suffered and died before, but with excessive arrogance and presumptuousness styles himself as “the Lord of the whole earth,” “the Lord from Heaven,” “the Judge of all men,” and “alive for evermore “ These irreverent and extravagant assertions are insulting even to Jesus Christ, whose name has been assumed by the impostor. The jealousy of God has come into motion on account of the insult offered to His sacred name and to His messengers by the haughty assertion of a man who calls himself God and the Lord of earth and heaven, and my true, pure, perfect and powerful God has therefore commanded me to warn him of the punishment that awaits him. So far as human beings are concerned, I now refrain from warning them of their evil fate because they have seen

many such warnings clearly fulfilled and because I have made a solemn promise to that effect, but Mr. Pigott reveals himself to his congregation as God and not as a man. A letter containing these boastful and blasphemous claims has also reached the secretary of our office from Mr. Pigott’s private secretary. The person to whom this warning is given is not a man, but a pretender to Divinity who claims an Everlasting Life and Lordship of the earth and heavens. I therefore warn him through this notice that if he does not repent of this irreverent claim he shall be soon annihilated, even in my lifetime, with sore torment proceeding from God and not from the hands of a man. This warning of punishment is from the God who is the God of earth and heavens. His jealousy shall consume the pretender so that none may again defile the earth with such false and arrogant claims. It should also be borne in mind that I am the true Messiah come to declare the glory of God upon earth. I am come in the spirit and character of Jesus Christ. I am a man and with me are innumerable blessings of God, within and without,in the beginning and in the end. God has borne witness to my truth with heavenly signs shown in thousands. I have more than a hundred thousand followers who have been brought to purity of life through me. Thousands of heavenly signs whichthey have witnessed have worked a pure transformation in their lives. The death of Mr. Pigott within my lifetime shall be another sign of my truth. If I die before Mr. Pigott I am not the true Messiah nor am I from God. But if Almighty God makes me a witness of Mr. Pigott’s death which shall be brought about by the efficacy of my prayer, let the whole world bear witness that I am the true Messiah and that I come from God. We are both under the control of a higher power and that powerful God shall bring the false Messiah to destruction within the lifetime of the true one. I am over sixty-five years of age and Mr. Pigott is, I believe, at least fifteen years younger than myself. In giving this warning I do not publish any prophecy about the death of a Mohammedan, a Christian or a Hindu, for Mr. Pigott does not belong to any one of these religious systems. Nay he claims to be the very God, the Lord of Earth and Heaven. The death of this God shall, no doubt, be a wonderful thing and more wonderful still his burial in dust. How soon shall his everlasting life end! May God, the perfect, powerful, living and supporting God soon show this sign to the world. Amen. THE PROPHET, MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD. The chief objection to this formula for the discovery of God by a process of elimination is that it leaves the world in suspense waiting for somebody to die, while in the meantime theologies are all awry.

[The San Francisco Examiner, October 4, 1903—San Francisco, California, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Spokane Press October 10, 1903—Spokane, Washington, USA INDIA’S MESSIAH AND HIS CHALLENGE TO DR. DOWIE. CALCUTTA, Oct. 10.—Misza [sic—Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad of Qudian [sic—Qadian], Panjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie of Zion Ill., U.S.A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mohomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Therein lies the fact that Dr. Dowie is behind the times, because he has not fixed the date of the Messiah’s appearance for some time in the next 25 years! Therefore Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is wroth with Dr. Dowie and would fight him a duel with prayers as the weapon. He sent the challenge som[e] time ago, that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in The Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next 25 years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has alreadyappeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed

hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?” In the same issue of the Review is announced “an important discovery regarding Jesus Christ.” This “discovery” is that “Jesus did not die upon the cross,” but was “taken down alive and senseless.” Subsequently the son of Mary “recovered, traveled eastward, and lived up to a good old age.” His tomb, it is also stated, is “situated in the Khan Yar street at Srinagar, Cashmere.” Says the Review: “The incontrovertible testimony afforded by the tomb itself, backed as it is by the unanimous oral testimony of hundreds of thousands of men and by the written evidence of ancient documents, becomes in our opinion too strong to be resisted by the most determined of skeptics.”

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian The Promised Messiah & Mahdi as

[The Spokane Press, October 10, 1903—Spokane, Washington, USA]

The New York Times October 17, 1903—New York, New York, USA DOWIE AND HIS HOST MASS IN THE GARDEN Four Thousand Followers of “Elijah III.” Ready for Crusade WEEPS FOR HIS PROSPERITY ! “Prophet” of Zion Is Hopeful of Future Troubles, However—Wife Is Robbed of $1,500 Brooch —Army Goes Hungry— He Stops at the Plaza. John Alexander Dowie, claiming the title of “Elijah the Restorer,” founder and general overseer of the Christian Catholic Church of Zion, with followers all over the world, and professing to have been commanded by Jehovah to redeem New York, arrived here yesterday on his mission with more than 3,000 of his followers from Zion City, on the shores of Lake Michigan. During twenty-one days this army of restoration enthusiasts will labor unceasingly from dawn until midnight in song, in prayer, in exhortation, in great public meetings, and in house-to-house visitations, expounding the doctrines of the leader of the host, and promising not only salvation but divine healing on earth. Beneath the banner of this army the men and women and child members will proclaim “the everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom of God; repentance, salvation, healing, and holy living; baptism by triune emersion, obedience, the Eleven Commandments, and the law of love; Christian union and co-operation in church, home, business, and State; the

downfall of all forms of apostasy,secrecy, and tyranny; the restoration of all things,” according to Elijah III. To the many dwellers in this city will go by platoons, by squads, by twos, and singly the crusaders, day by day, until in every palace and hovel, flat and tenement, on every street some member of every family will have received the message. The visitation to New York is the supreme effort in the life of Dowie, who within ten years has, from being an obscure street preacher in Chicago, built up a city of 10,000 inhabitants, has amassed a fortune for himself, and incidentally has drawn around him a following over whom he has practically absolute control. His plans for the movement on New York have been maturing for months. No detail has been omitted. He gave the command for his follower to join in the crusade in metropolis, and they left firesides, offices, shops, and children and came willingly and at their own expense. Almost the entire population of Zion City is here now—overseers, elders, evangelists, deacons and deaconesses, and about 3,000 “messenger,” including a choir of 500 voices, a band of 60 pieces, a fife and drum corps of 30 members, and the Zion Guard, about 800 strong. They bring twenty tons of tracts. This host from Zion City arrived throughout the forenoon yesterday on eight special trains. With the last of these trains arriving at the Grand Central Station at 9 o’clock was a palatial private car, the property of the President of the Nickel Plate Railway. In it came Dowie, “Elijah III.” “Elijah the Restorer,” the former street preacher, surrounded by all the luxuries of a millionaire, attesting the material posperity [sic] of his church and the soundness of his business judgment. With his wife, his son, and daughter and son-in-law, Dowie drove in carriages to a luxurious suite of apartments specially reserved for them in the Plaza Hotel and breakfasted, while almost simultaneously from every railroad terminal his humbler followers poured into the city, crowding every street car and filling the streets in groups of pedestrians on their way to the general rendezvous of the restoration host at Madison Square Garden. IN THE AMPHITHEATRE. In the great amphitheatre the important commanders of the invading army—men stern of visage, grim and careworn and businesslike, with little of the religious enthusiast about them, gave their orders amid the din of thousands of voices, the hammering and sawing of final preparation in the arena, the hustling of baggage, the rattle and rush and seeming confusion of the camping of an army. The “Restoration Host,” men, women, children in pinafores, and children in arms poured into the big building, while hundreds of natives crowded about and looked on in wonder. Besides the Dowie followers from Zion City there were delegations arriving from Philadelphia and Boston and a number of other Eastern cities, and at last the army encamped in the Garden numbered nearly 4,000. They were weary and sleepy and hungry, and they went without their breakfasts, but there was not a complaint heard. Later, when the self-proclaimed prophet came among them and directed them, rebuked them, cajoled them, scolded them, and patronized them like so many children, they lifted up their voices and hands in submission and adulation. “He has prospered us greatly,” they cried. Later, the leader in the movement, in a

long interview with the newspaper men, which took the form of a sermon, proclaimed again that he was appointed a prophet by God, and denied that he had come to New York for the money that there was in it, although he admitted that investments in Zion were “the best investments.” He repeated that he had been called to New York by Jehovah to redeem it from wickedness and sin, and in the same breath denounced with vehemence the religious press that had condemned his teachings. One moment bubbling over with anecdote, at another thundering forth in a tirade against those whom he called his persecutors; again drifting back into stories of his early days and early struggles, his keen and penetrating voice was now lifted to its full volume, and again broken and choked by sobs. In this way he told what he said was his whole history and the history of his movement and his aims. Then he went down into the great arena, where his army was swarming, and got order out of seeming chaos. Then he went back to his apartments and with his wife went for a drive in the Park in his carriage. The arrival of the Restoration host began at 7 o’clock in the morning, when the first special train got into Communipaw [?] over the Jersey Central Railway. It should have arrived at 6 o’clock, but a hot box necessitated stopping the train. There were nine cars, including three Pullman sleepers, for not all the followers of Elijah are on an equal footing in this world. There were about 500 passengers on this train, and they were landed at Whitehall Street and boarded a long line of Broadway cars for Madison Square Garden. Not all of them got the cars, and there were many cases of wanderers about lower Broadway inquiring the way to their rendezvous.

[The New York Times, October 17, 1903—New York, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]]

The New York Times October 18, 1903—New York, New York, USA “ELIJAH III.’S” HOSTS IN TENTS OF UNGODLY Quartermaster Establishes Cru saders in Strange Places. MANY COMPLAINTS MADE The Thousands Suffer from Delay at Breakfast, Too—Services To-day and Canvass To-morrow [The following is a partial excerpt from the full length article:] “As many an army has found the problem of subsistence the most important and momentous in its campaigns, so the regiments of John Alexander Dowie, “Elijah the Restorer,” Captain of the hosts of Zion, who are encamped in Madison Square Garden nearly 4,000 strong, yesterday found itself temporarily suffering by famine in the very heart of a city of plenty…”

[The New York Times, October 18, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The New York Times October 19, 1903—New York, New York, USA THRONGS TURN FROM ENRAGED “ELIJAH III.” Half of Vast Audience Leaves Garden Despite Guards PROPHET DENOUNCES CITY Pleadings and Even Force Have No Effect on Thousands Who Decline to Wait for Dowie’s Preaching. [The following is a partial excerpt from the full length article:] John Alexander Dowie, self-proclaimed prophet of God and leader of the “Restoration Host of Zion,” with an army of his followers more than 3,000 strong, yesterday began in Madison Square Garden what he declares to be an effort to carry out, as “Elijah III.,” a divine command to redeem the City of New York…”

[The New York Times, October 19, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The New York Times October 20, 1903­—New York, New York, USA HOSTILE AUDIENCE HOWLS AT DOWIE Proclamation of Himself As Eli jah Nearly Causes Riot. ‘Restorer’ Heaps Abuse on Press and Clergy, Denounces Freemasons, and Raves at Listeners Who Decline to Stay. [The following is a partial excerpt from the full length article:] John Alexander Dowie, in the presence of about 5,000 people, one-half of whom were his followers in the Host of Zion, last night declared himself “Elijah the Restorer,” prophet of God, and his declaration caused a demonstration that but for the quick closing of the meeting would have resulted in a riot. The declaration was received with a storm of hisses almost sufficiently intense to drown the cries of “imposter,” “fake,” “blasphemer,” and jeers that resounded throughout the amphitheatre. In vain the followers of the self-proclaimed prophet acclaimed his pretensions. These demonstrations served but to inflame the unbelievers in every part of the building. During the scene of pandemonium the voice of Dowie died away, and he completely lost control of the audience…

[The New York Times, October 20, 1903­—New York, New York, USA]

The New York Times October 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA CARRIE NATION Halts ABUSE FROM “ELIJAH” He Stops Shouting “Liar” to be Polite to the Smasher. Great Audience Hisses the Torrent of Villification That “Prophet” Pours Out on Preachers and Press. [The following is a partial excerpt from the full length article:] Amid a storm of hisses, yells, catcalls, and hooting, John Alexander Dowie, “Elijah III.,” gave another of his free shows in Madison Square Garden last night before an audience of 6,000 New Yorkers, threefourths of whom left the hall long before the so-called services were ended. The remainder stayed with the hope of seeing a fight of some sort. Confusion and excitement reigned throughout the evening, despite the fact that for the first time since the “Restoration Host” has come to town the police were scattered throughout the inside of the building in anticipation of trouble. In furnishing amusement for the crowd, Dowie shares the first place with Carrie Nation, who several times tried to interrupt the speaker, and was hustled about in lively fashion by the guards of the “prophet.” The saloon smasher finally left the building, followed by half the remaining audience. In the body of the hall three rousing cheers and a tiger were given for her while the Doxology was being sung …

[The New York Times, October 21, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The New York Times October 22, 1903—New York, New York, USA “ELIJAH” OVERAWED BY ANGRY MULTITUDE Defiance Gone, He Abruptly Closes Services in Garden. Record-Breaking Throng, in Resentful Mood, Sweeps Away Police and Makes Demonstration Against “Prophet.” [The following is an excerpt of the article:] Facing a gathering of fully 13,000 persons, including 600 Columbia University students, and with a throng estimated at fully 10,000 surging about the doors of Madison Square Garden, John Alexander Dowie, leader of the Zion Restoration Host, heeded a quiet suggestion made to him by the police and brought last night’s meeting to an abrupt close without having delivered his sermon and without having uttered any of his characteristic tirades, to hear which the enormous crowds had assembled. The great gathering was full of pent-up excitement and hostility from the very start, and although there were 700 policemen on the scene, it soon became apparent that a demonstration of extraordinary magnitude would follow any attempt to hold the meeting. Even before the services began there were riotous incidents, in which several men were ejected from the building. Several personal encounters took place between Zion Guards and spectators in various parts of the cast amphitheatre …

[The New York Times, October 22, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

The New York Times October 24, 1903—New York, New York, USA DOWIE LEAVES CITY AND MAY NOT RETURn Guarded Movements Before Taking Train for Boston Report That He May Be Going to Australia with His Wife and Son—Restoration Host Disintegrating Guarding his movements with all possible secrecy, John Alexander Dowie, “Elijah the Restorer,” slipped away from New York last night for Boston, carrying all his family and baggage with him in his private car. He absolutely declined to indicate in any way when he will return to the city, and the information obtained last night was that he intends to sail with his family to Australia. It was impossible to ascertain last night whether any provision had been made for the members of the Zion Restoration Host now at Madison Square Garden, either for their return to Zion City or for their maintenance while here. Accompanied by his wife and their un-kissed son, Dowie left the Fifth Avenue Hotel secretly by the Twenty-fourth Street entrance at 11:30 o’clock, entering his brougham, the curtains of which were carefully pulled down. They were rapidly driven up Fifth Avenue to Twenty-ninth Street, then east, then back to Madison Avenue, then south, and generally circulated around the district between the hotel and the Grand Central Station with the evident intention of throwing off any who attempted to follow the carriage. Finally the brougham arrived at the station, where some two hundred pieces of baggage had preceded them. Dowie and his family hurried into the station and made for the private car Iolanthe, which was in the yard. Thirteen of the leaders of the Dowie church were on hand, and got into the car to bid goodbye to the “Prophet” and his family. Six others of the faithful were in the station, but were not permitted in the train yard and were swept aside by railroad attendants as they tried to get in.

Before Dowie could board his car he was approached by a reporter who had followed his carriage in a cab. He seemed intensely provoked at being questioned. “When are you going to return to New York?” he was asked. “Peace be to thee,” was his only reply. “Yes, I understand that, but when are you coming back?” was urged. “Get out of the road,” yelled the un-kissed son, as he hurried his father “Elijah” into the car, quickly following with Mrs. Dowie. The apostles bade farewell to the party and as soon as Dowie and his family were in the car the curtains were pulled down, and every attempt made to prevent disturbance or interference. There was no demonstration of any sort about the station and the only persons gathered, outside of the few members of the host, were travelers who were waiting for trains and who showed a lively interest in the affair. At midnight the car was hauled out of the station on the midnight train for Boston. The disintegration of the Zion Restoration Host began yesterday with the departure of a special train of seven cars carrying 340 Zionites back to their homes in Zion City. Although it is absolutely certain that this number took its departure, Dowie announced vehemently last night that only 125 of his followers were scheduled to go home on the train; and that only 112 actually started. Dowie announced that the places of those who left yesterday would be taken by fresh Zionites who were coming here on a special train. The audience at last night’s meeting of the Zionites was far smaller than on any previous evening. The “Prophet” announced as a special feature that “some time during the week” he would devote an hour to excoriating the press. About the only thing of interest said by “Elijah” was that the second coming of Christ was at hand, and that a temporal rule would be set up in the world. Then Mrs. Dowie took the platform and was listened to respectfully while she said that Zion’s cause had been misrepresented by the newspapers. She told how hard she had worked with her husband, and in a pleasant way asked that the work of Zion be given justice. Then young Dowie got up and shook his fist at the audience and said he wanted to “nail a few lies,” and was received with good-natured laughter. Then father and son both took the stage at once and shouted angrily to the people to keep still. Dowie at his early morning meeting declared that his life had been threatened by fifty different persons in letters just received by him. These letters, the prophet let it be understood, held over him death in a dozen different forms, from shouting to stabbing and dynamiting. “Oh, I see you there!” he shouted, pointing to the main body of the house, in which about 200 persons were seated. “You have come here with a revolver in your pocket to kill me, but after hearing my wonderful voice you have repented.” Everybody got up and craned his neck, expecting to see a low-brewed Anarchist, but no one was singled out. The forenoon service was slimly attended.

[The New York Times, October 24, 1903—New York, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The New York Times October 25, 1903—New York, New York, USA THE WAYS OF DOWIE To the Editor of the New York Times: If any person of this community wishes to be received effusively by the leaders of the Dowieites, all he has to do is tell them that he is thinking of buying lots in “Zion.” But how any citizen of this Nation with a spark of manhood would care to live in a town absolutely dominated by that incarnation of billingsgate and vituperation, “Elijah,” is incomprehensible. I was told yesterday by one of the leaders that everybody in Zion must pay 5 per cent. of his profits and earnings to this champion fakir of the century on penalty of defrauding the “Lord’s anointed.” They wanted to give him 10 per cent., but “Elijah” said he’d be satisfied with 5 per cent. Here is a town of over 10,000 inhabitants in the most enlightened Nation on earth contributing, willingly, to a blatant blatherskite one twentieth of their substance per annum. Allow me to give you one illustration of the methods used by Dowie in handling his people. This took place on Monday morning in Madison Square Garden: “I’m now going to introduce to you people,” said the prophet, “the manager of the Zion Land and Investment Company. Come Judd! Come Peters!” commanded Dowie, and the persons alluded to arose and walked leisurely toward the platform. “Come! Step lively!” roared the prophet, and they both jumped like cash boys to his side and stood meekly while he questioned them. Last Sunday he sent the President of the Zion City Bank on an errand to the other end of the Garden to order the guards to fill up a few vacant seats. Who in this town would care to live with a bully like that? MARK MARION. New York, Oct. 20, 1903.

[The New York Times, October 25, 1903—New York, New York, USA]

THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER October 26, 1903—New York, New York, USA DOWIE CHALLENGED Indian Messiah Dares Him to Prove His Claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of the Punjab Announces Himself the Genuine Redeemer—Pigott Also an Impos tor—Dowie Not Yet Heard From. Dowie has a rival. From faraway India comes a printed circular from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who writes from Quadian [sic—Qadian], in the Punjab, in which he claims to be the only genuine, simon-pure Messiah now before the public. Ahmad’s words are not marked by shrinking modesty, and he appears to look with quite pardonable disfavor upon the claims of Dr. Dowie and Pigott, the English pretender to the messiahship. He has issued a challenge to Elijah III to make good his pretensions, but so far Zion City’s own and especial messiah has failed to reply. In support of his claims to divinity the Indian Messiah declares that when the Lord saw how badly things were being managed on earth, he raised him in the land of the Punjab “for His works are wonderful.” “I am the true Messiah who was to come in the last ages: thus has Almighty God has spoken to me,” he announces. “I do not claim to be the promised Messiah simply by my own assertion, but Almighty God who made the earth and heavens has borne witness to the truth of my claim. The evidence of God has been manifested in hundreds of heavenly signs shown in my support. I say it truly that Almighty God has poured His grace upon me in far greater abundance than upon the Messiah who has gone before me. In the looking glass of my person the face of God is revealed to a far greater extent than in that of Jesus’s person. If these are simply my own assertions, and there is no other authority for them, I am a liar; but if Almighty God bears witness to my truth, no one can give the lie to me. Thousands of times—I should say times without number—has He

borne witness to the truth of my claim. “A sign of the evidence of God in my favor will appear on the death of Mr. Pigott, the arrogant pretender of divinity, who shall be brought to destruction within my lifetime. Another sign will appear on Dr. Dowie’s acceptance of my challenge. If the pretender of Elijahship shows his willingness by any direct or indirect means to enter the lists against me, he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment. These two signs are particularly for Europe and America; ah! that they ponder over them and benefit by them. “It should be borne in mind that Dr. Dowie has not given any reply to my challenge sent to him September last, nor has he even so much as mentioned it in his paper. For an answer to that challenge, I will wait for a further period of seven months from this day, the 23rd of August, 1903. If he accepts the challenge within this period and fulfills all its conditions as published by me previously, and makes an announcement to that effect in his paper, the world will soon see the end of this contest. I am about seventy years of age, while Dr. Dowie is about fifty-five, and, therefore, compared with me, he is a young man still. But since the matter is not to be settled by age, I do not care for this great disparity in years. The whole matter rests in the hands of Him who is the Lord of heaven and earth and Judge over all judges, and He will decide it in favor of the true claimant. “But if Dr. Dowie cannot, even now, gather courage to appear in the contest against me, let both continents bear witness that I shall be entitled to claim the same victory as in the case of his death in my lifetime if he accepts the challenge. The pretensions of Dr. Dowie will thus be falsified and proved to be an imposture. Though he may try as hard as he can to fly from the death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a mighty contest will be nothing less than death to him, and calamity will certainly overtake his Zion, for he must take the consequences of either the acceptance of the challenge or its refusal.” In view of the fact that Ahmad appears to have Dr. Dowie in a corner, it may be possible that the latter will prefer to stay there rather than come out in the open and “leave the world with great sorrow and torment.” Full information regarding the Indian Messiah (copyrighted), the “arguments and signs which support his claims, his moral teachings, the truth and knowledge he has brought, and the path he teaches for seeking union in God,” will be furnished by the “Review of Religions,” published monthly at Quadian, for the trifling sum of 6 shillings, strictly in advance.

[THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER, October 26, 1903—New York, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Glasgow Herald October 27, 1903—Glasgow, Scotland, UK A NEW MESSIAH False Prophets Denounced and Challenged. (FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.) London, Monday Night. Within the past few weeks there has been issued from Qadian, in the Punjab, a Notice “for circulation in Europe and America,” entitled “Predictions Concerning Pigott and Dowie, By the Promised Messiah.” This remarkable document, which forms a six-page pamphlet, has been printed at Lahore in the English language, but the Promised Messiah is apparently a native of Asia, since the pamphlet includes a Translator’s Note, and the signature appended to the Predictions is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

[The Glasgow Herald, October 27, 1903—Glasgow, Scotland, UK]

Savannah Morning News November 03, 1903—Savannah, Georgia, USA WITH NO BEAT OF DRUM Dowie’s Host, Beaten, Left New York to Return to Zion. New York, Nov. 2.—Without parade or demonstration more than 2,000 members of John Alexander Dowie’s Zion host left the city for home to-day. Only about a hundred of Dowie’s followers are left in New York, and they include members of the choir, elders and sub-overseers.

[Savannah Morning News, November 03, 1903—Savannah, Georgia, USA]

The Argos Reflector November 5, 1903—Argos, Indiana, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Argos Reflector, November 5, 1903—Argos, Indiana, USA]

The Waterloo Press November 5, 1903—Waterloo, Indiana, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-fiveyears, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Waterloo Press, November 5, 1903—Waterloo, Indiana, USA]

Evening Herald November 7, 1903—Huntington, Indiana, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-fiveyears, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Evening Herald, November 7, 1903—Huntington, Indiana, USA]

The Daily Mail November 9, 1903—Bedford, Indiana, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

The Deseret Evening News—November 9, 1903—Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

[The Daily Mail, November 9, 1903—Bedford, Indiana, USA]

The remarkable thing is that at present time there are so many pretenders to divine honors. We have previously in these columns referred to an Indian, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who has challenged Dowie and who claims to be the Messiah. The gentleman in far-away India must have heard of Dowie’s boastings and concluded that here was an opportunity for a contest between rival claimants. He offers to test their claims by prayer, the false prophet to die first.

[The Deseret Evening, News—November 9, 1903: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

THE TIMES November 9, 1903—London, England, UK Mrs. Dowie, the wife of Mr. John Alexander Dowie, whose attempt to conduct a mission in London some time ago was attended by many disorderly scenes, and Dr. A.J. Gladstone Dowie, her son, conducted religious services at Caxton-hall, St. James’s, yesterday afternoon and evening. Admission was by ticket until a quarter of an hour before the beginning of each service, after which non-ticket holders were admitted. The congregation in the afternoon was not a particularly large one, but in the evening people were admitted to the gallery and the hall was crowded. A hymn sung by the choir, who were accompanied by a stringed band, preceded the entrance of Mrs. Dowie and her son at each service. On their entry the congregation rose and remained standing until prayer had been offered by Mrs. Dowie, who was described on the handbills as “The Rev. Jane Dowie, Overseer of Women’s Work in the Christian Catholic Church in Zion.” She wore a black gown over a loose white robe, and her son, who was described as a doctor of laws of Chicago University, appeared in academic robes. There was no disturbance at either service, except that in the afternoon Mr. Dowie, while giving what he termed “A true account of the Pearson affair,” was interrupted by some persons at the back of the hall, who cheered the statement that in New York, as in England, there was a statute which rendered any person who allowed his child to die without calling in medical assistance liable to prosecution for criminal negligence. Mr. Dowie resented the interruption, and in a loud voice exclaimed, “If there are any cads here who wish to make a noise will they get out? And will they go quickly and at once? I won’t stand any impudence— not one bit, either in England or America.” The speaker proceeded to explain that it was the belief of the “Christian Catholic Church” that the Almighty would cure any person who was sick, provided that he or she led a pure life and repented of all sin. In defense of their principle they were prepared to pay any fines that the law might inflict, but they would use all legal means to abolish a law which said that no man could allow his children to die without calling in medical assistance. Mrs. Dowie, who followed, announced that her subject was “The Principles, Prospects, and Practices of the Christian Catholic Church,” but her remarks were mainly directed to the Press criticisms of the work. She remarked thatwhen the people began to receive the blessing of Diving healing, when the blind were receiving sight, and the deaf hearing, the ministers of the churches started to tell “abominable lies” about the work, and, she added, “If a minister starts to lie he can do it even better than the newspapers, and that is saying a good deal.” Speaking of her husband, whom she described as “the

general overseer,” she said the members of the Christian Catholic Church believed him to be the third Elijah. All the theologians who had studied the question had declared that Elijah must come before Christ’s second appearance, and he had come. The movement was the beginning of the restoration of all things. How long it would be before the coming of the Lord they could not tell, but they believed it was near at hand. At the evening meeting Mr. Dowie gave some particulars of the work which is being carried on “in the city of Zion,” where, he said, the manufacture of lace and candy making were two of the principal industries. As at the afternoon meeting, however, a good deal of his speech consisted of diatribes against the Press and Press reporters, whom he described as “pure automatons, worked from the central office which imagines all their lies for them.” He was not alluding to The Times, but the general character of the Press was that it told lies without excuse. The “general overseer” wanted to make as much money as he possibly could, but it was in order that he might be able to put it back into God’s work, for the extension of His kingdom throughout the world. Notwithstanding the many lies that had been told about them, the New York meetings had been eminently successful. Mrs. Dowie said a Press reporter spoke the truth by accident, sometimes. The “general overseer” was not infallible, and was very human in his actions, for he came right down to the everyday things of life.

Subsequent to performing what were assumed to be miraculous healings, Dowie would showcase the individual’s handicap assistance apparatus or aids by affixing them to the wall.

[THE TIMES, November 9, 1903—London, England, UK]

The Manchester Democrat November 11, 1903—Manchester, Iowa, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Manchester Democrat, November 11, 1903—Manchester, Iowa, US]

Clearwater Record November 13, 1903—Clearwater, Nebraska, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic—Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Clearwater Record, November 13, 1903—Clearwater, Nebraska, USA]

Corvallis Gazette November 13, 1903—Corvallis, Oregon, USA About Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon.) 1900-1909 JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-fiveyears, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Corvallis Gazette, November 13, 1903—Corvallis, Oregon, USA]

Dakota Farmers Leader November 13, 1903—Canton, South Dakota, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Dakota Farmers Leader, November 13, 1903—Canton, South Dakota, USA]

Delphos Daily Herald November 13, 1903—Delphos, Ohio, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Delphos Daily Herald, November 13, 1903—Delphos, Ohio, USA]

The Cedar Falls Gazette November 13, 1903—Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-fiveyears, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Cedar Falls Gazette, November 13, 1903—Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA]

The Genoa Times November 13, 1903—Genoa, Nebraska, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[The Genoa Times, November 13, 1903—Genoa, Nebraska, USA]

Wausau Pilot November 17, 1903—Wausau, Wisconsin, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIa Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Wausau Pilot, November 17, 1903—Wausau, Wisconsin, USA]

Lincoln County Leader December 11, 1903—Toledo, Oregon, USA JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic— Qadian], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah [sic—Mirza] is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I give him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am that Messiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

Toledo Blade December 17, 1903—Toledo, Ohio, USA

[Lincoln County Leader, December 11, 1903—Toledo, Oregon, USA]

“Whether the God of Mohammedans or the God of Dowie is the true God may be settled without the loss of millions of lives, which Dr. Dowie’s prediction would involve. That method is that, without threatening the Mohammedan public in general with destruction, he should choose me as his opponent and pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.

“In making this proposal, I have not taken the initiative, but the jealous God has inspired me upon Dr. Dowie’s presumptuous prediction that all Mohammedans shall perish.”

[Toledo Blade, December 17, 1903—Toledo, Ohio, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

Ferndale Enterprise December 22, 1903—Ferndale, California, USA Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, of Qudiah [sic], Punjab, India, insists that John Alexander Dowie, of Zion, Ill., U. S. A., is not up to date. Allah is good and Mahomet is prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirzah is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an article just published in the Review of Religions, which is printed on occasions at Gurdaspur, India. That the tempestuous Dr. Dowie shall know that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no common man, is not a frail human forsooth, the new Messiah writes: “Dr. Dowie should further bear in mind that this challenge does not proceed from an ordinary Mohammedan. I am the very Messiah, the promised one, for whom he is so anxiously waiting. Between Dr. Dowie’s position and mine the difference is this, that Dowie fixes the appearance of the Messiah within the next twenty-five years, while I gave him the glad tidings that the Messiah has already appeared. I am thatMessiah, and Almighty God has shown numerous signs from earth as well as from heaven in my support. My following, which already claims a hundred thousand souls, is making a rapid progress. The proof that Dr. Dowie furnishes in support of his extravagant claims is the very height of absurdity. He claims to have healed hundreds of sick men. But why did his healing power fail in the case of his own beloved daughter, where it should have been exercised in the highest degree?”

[Ferndale Enterprise, December 22, 1903—Ferndale, California, USA]

The Beacon Journal June 24, 1903—Akron, Ohio, USA A PRAYING DUEL. Elijah Dowie Has Been Challenged to the Death. Chicago, June 24.—Elijah Dowie has been challenged to a praying duel to the death. The Challenger is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian Punjaub [sic—Qadian Punjab], India. “Come thou, O self-styled prophet, to a duel,” says Mirza in his “defi.” “The weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.” Elijah has not accepted the challenge, but neither has he declined it. However, he cannot afford to ignore the challenge. The Review of Religions, published in Gurdaspur, India, through which the challenge is issued, says Mirza is “the promised Messiah,” sent “for the reformation of the world exactly as the time fixed by calculations based on Biblical prophecies as the time of the advent of the Messiah,” and he has a following of over 100,000 members.

[The Beacon Journal, June 24, 1903—Akron, Ohio, USA]

The Manchester Guardian February 6, 1904—London, England, UK The great Dr. Dowie is by no means the only prophet who at present contributes to the gaiety of nations. India can show his double, who in some respects, even outdoes him. The Indian prophet’s name is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, commonly called Mirza Sahib; he is the head of the Ahmadieah [sic—Ahmadiyya] sect of Mahometans, which he founded, and he lives at Quadian [sic—Qadian], in the Punjaub [sic— Punjab]. An Indian paper says of him that, by his fine appearance, his denunciations, his prophecies, and his gushing self-praise, he more than recalls Dr. Dowie. He claims to be the Messiah, to have inaugurated a new millennium, and that a universal struggle is now going on between the “good and bad attractions,” which are respectively himself and his opponents. He liberally abuses the more orthodox Mahometans, who repay the compliment in kind. He prophesies, performs miracles which include a “symbolical raising of the dead,” whatever that may be, and points to 150 “supernatural signs” and 30,000 guaranteed “answers to prayer.” At one time he had a convenient habit of prophesying the deaths of his opponents, but as this contravened a section of the Indian Penal Code, he was compelled to desist therefrom. His followers are said to number about 10,000. He is 65 years of age, and comes of a family which has earned the fame that “religious enthusiasm, if not ambition, seems to run in it.”

[The Manchester Guardian, February 6, 1904—London, England, UK]

JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE HAS A RIVAL IN INDIA

Allah is good and Mahomet is his prophet truly, but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the Messiah! So claims Mirza Ghulam, and he proposes that each should pray that the other perish, and Mirza is lost in wonderment that the overseer of Zion has not toed the scratch. He expresses his amazement in an English pamphlet which he has scattered broadcast through America. Dowie ignores the challenger, though the Indian prophet warns him that divine judgment approaches.

[The Olympia State Capital, February 12, 1904—Olympia, Washington, USA]

The Morning News March 3, 1904—Wilmington, Delaware, USA John Alexander Dowie, the Chicago “prophet” has his counterpart in India. Indeed, the oriental product in some ways outdoes the man who, according to all accounts has made a good thing out of it in that city. The Hindoo’s name is Mirza Ghelan [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, head of a distinct sect of Mohammedians [sic], and he lives in the Junjauh [sic—Punjab]. In fine appearance, denunciation and prophecies he more than equates Dowie, but so far he does not seem to have developed the business sense of John Alexander. He lives humbly and only attracted official attention when he began to foretell the death of certain opponents. Mirza was “induced” to abandon this feature of his performance, as it contravened a section of the penal code. He is 65 years old and has about 10,000 followers.

[The Morning News, March 3, 1904—Wilmington, Delaware, USA]

The Evening Journal March 16, 1904—Adelaide, South Australia ANOTHER “MESSIAH.” The Rev. J. A. Dowie, who poses as “Elijah II.” has a double in India. The Indian prophet’s name isMirzaGhulam Ahmad,commonly calledMirzaSahib; he is the head of theAhmadieah[sic—Ahmadiyya] sect of Mohammedans, which he founded, and he lives at Quadian [sic—Qadian], in the Punjaub [sic— Punjab]. An Indian paper says of him that, by his fine appearance, his denunciations, his prophecies, and his gushing self-praise, he more than recalls Mr. Dowie. He claims to be the Messiah, to have inaugurated a new millennium, and that a universal struggle is now going on between the “good and bad attractions,” which are respectively himself and his opponents. He liberally abuses the more orthodox Mohammedans, who repay the compliment in kind. He prophesies, performs miracles, which include a “symbolical raising of the dead,” whatever that may be, and points to 150 “supernatural signs” and 30,000 guaranteed “answersto prayer.” At one time he had a convenient habit of prophesying the death of his opponents, but as this contravened a section of the Indian Penal Code he was compelled to desist therefrom. His followers are said to number about 10,000. He is 65 years of age, and comes of a family which has earned the fame that “religious enthusiasm, if not ambition, seems to run in it.”—Glasgow Weekly Herald.

[The Evening Journal, March 16, 1904—Adelaide, South Australia]

The Register March 17, 1904—Adelaide, South Australia ANOTHER “MESSIAH.” The Rev. J. A. Dowie, who poses as “Elijah II.” has a double in India. The Indian prophet’s name is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, commonly called Mirza Sahib; he is the head of the Ahmadieah [sic—Ahmadiyya] sect of Mohammedans, which he founded, and he lives at Quadian [sic—Qadian], in the Punjaub [sic— Punjab]. An Indian paper says of him that, by his fine appearance, his denunciations, his prophecies, and his gushing self-praise, he more than recalls Mr. Dowie. He claims to be the Messiah, to have inaugurated a new millennium, and that a universal struggle is now going on between the “good and bad attractions,” which are respectively himself and his opponents. He liberally abuses the more orthodox Mohammedans, who repay the compliment in kind. He prophesies, performs miracles, which include a “symbolical raising of the dead,” whatever that may be, and points to 150 “supernatural signs” and 30,000 guaranteed “answers to prayer.” At one time he had a convenient habit of prophesying the death of his opponents, but as this contravened a section of the Indian Penal Code he was compelled to desist therefrom. His followers are said to number about 10,000. He is 65 years of age, and comes of a family which has earned the fame that “religious enthusiasm, if not ambition, seems to run in it.”—Glasgow Weekly Herald.

[The Register, March 17, 1904—Adelaide, South Australia]

The McCook Tribune April 8, 1904—McCook, Nebraska, USA An Asiatic Dowie. John Alexander Dowie, the Chicago “prophet,” has his counterpart in India. Indeed, the Oriental product in some ways outdoes the man who, according to all accounts, has made a good thing out of it in Chicago. The Hindoo’s name is Mirza Gheelan [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, head of a distinct sect of Mohammedans, and he lives in the Puniaub [sic— Punjab]. In fine appearance, denunciation and prophecies he more than equals Dowie but so far he does not seem to have developed the sound business sense of John Alexander. He lives humbly and only attracted official attention when he began to foretell the death of certain opponents. Mirza was “induced” to abandon this feature of his performance, as it contravened a section of the penal code. He is 65 years old and has about 10,000 followers.

[The McCook Tribune, April 8, 1904—McCook, Nebraska, USA]

commercial advertiser April 20, 1904—Honolulu, Hawaii, USA An Asiatic Dowie. John Alexander Dowie, the Chicago “prophet,” has his own counterpart in India. Indeed, the Oriental product in some ways outdoes the man who, according to all accounts, has made a good thing out of it in Chicago. The Hindoo’s name is Mirza Gheelan [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, head of a distinct sect of Mohammedans, and he lives in the Punjaub. In fine appearance, denunciation and prophecies he more than equals Dowie, but so far he does not seem to have developed the sound business sense of John Alexander. He lives humbly and only attracted official attention when he began to foretell the death of certain opponents. Mirza was “induced” to abandon this feature of his performance, as it contravened a section of the penal code. He is 65 years old and has about 10,000 followers.

[commercial advertiser, April 20, 1904—Honolulu, Hawaii, USA]

Brownsville Daily Herald May 18, 1904—Brownsville, Texas, USA An Asiatic Dowie. John Alexander Dowie, the Chicago “prophet,” has his own counterpart in India. Indeed, the Oriental product in some ways outdoes the man who, according to all accounts, has made a good thing out of it in Chicago. The Hindoo’s name is Mirza Gheelan [sic—Ghulam] Ahmad, head of a distinct sect of Mohammedans, and he lives in the Puniaub [sic— Punjab]. In fine appearance, denunciation and prophecies he more than equals Dowie, but so far he does not seem to have developed the sound business sense of John Alexander. He lives humbly and only attracted official attention when he began to foretell the death of certain opponents. Mirza was “induced” to abandon this feature of his performance, as it contravened a section of the penal code. He is 65 years old and has about 10,000 followers.

[Brownsville Daily Herald, May 18, 1904—Brownsville, Texas, USA]

The Age November 18, 1904—Melbourne, Australia Murza Ghularn [sic—Mirza Ghulam] Ahmad, of Punjab, India, who claims to be the promised Messiah, had challenged “Prophet” Dowie to a duel of prayer, in which each of them is to petition the Almighty that “whoever of us two is the liar may perish first.” The challenge has not, so far, been accepted.

SECTION 2: ARTICLES 128–156 Documenting the Fall & Death of Dowie and the Victory of Ahmad

[The Age, November 18, 1904—Melbourne, Australia: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

Munsey’s Magazine June 1905—New York, New York, USA An interesting indication of the tendencies of Moslem opinion in India is afforded by the statements of a newly arisen Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He is the man who not long ago challenged Dr. Dowie of Chicago to a prayer-duel, proposing that the Illinois Elijah should pray God that whichever of the two prophets was false should die before the other. On the question of war Ahmad has expressed himself clearly in an article published in an Indian periodical, the Review of Religions: Like the first Messiah, the last Messiah has been sent to preach his word in peace, and to abolish jihad with the sword [that is, propaganda by war]. Time itself is warning the advocates of jihad that the sword cannot satisfy the search after truth. No civilized nation at the present day resorts to the sword in religious matters, and in all enlightened countries perfect freedom is allowed in religious views. The believers in the advent of a bloody Mahdi and a warlike Messiah should not fail to see their errors under the existing circumstances. Such views are in opposition to the divine will.

[Munsey’s Magazine, June 1905—New York, New York, USA]

New-York Tribune April 2, 1906—New York, New York, USA ZION OUSTS DOWIE. Wife and Even the Unkissed Son Join New Leader. Chicago, April 1.—At a meeting to-day of 5,000 adherents of the Christian Catholic Church at Zion City, of which John Alexander Dowie is the founder and first apostle, Dowie’s authority was repudiated and Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who fro some time has been conducting the affairs of the church, was elected in his stead. Mrs. Dowie also repudiated her husband, and their son, Gladstone Dowie, the unkissed, cast his lot with his mother and the new leader, Voliva.

[New-York Tribune, April 2, 1906—New York, New York, USA]

DOWIE DOWN AND OUT.

NEW LEADER FOR ZION.

Prophet Charged with Hypocrisy and Polygamous Teaching.

Chicago, April 2.—John Alexander Dowie, head of the “Christian Catholic Church,” founder of Zion City and self-proclaimed Elijah III, has been stripped of his power, his wealth, and his leadership. Overseer Wilbur Glenn Voliva has taken control, charging Dowie with tyrannical rule, financial mismanagement, and secret advocacy of polygamy. Dowie is stranded in Mexico, his empire completely shattered.

[New-York Tribune, April 3, 1906—New York, New York, USA]

RECEIVER FOR ZION.

Act to Forestall Dowie’s Threatened Fight Against Ouster.

Chicago, April 4.—It was decided today by Overseer Voliva of Zion City that in view of the intended return of John Alexander Dowie from Mexico, and Dowie’s threats to regain possession of church property by legal action, a receiver should be appointed by the federal court. The people of Zion have utterly repudiated their former prophet.

[New-York Tribune, April 5, 1906—New York, New York, USA]

DOWIE’S DOWNFALL.

Likened to that of Solomon in Sermon at Zion City by Overseer Voliva.

Chicago, Ill.—The downfall of Solomon was used Sunday by Deputy Overseer Wilbur Glenn Voliva in a sermon at Zion City to describe the fate of John Alexander Dowie, who has been deposed from the leadership of the Christian Catholic Church. Voliva declared that Dowie had fallen from grace through spiritual pride, extravagance, and false doctrine.

[The Laclede Blade, April 28, 1906—Laclede, Missouri, USA]

Princeton telegraph March 20, 1907—Princeton, Missouri, USA Dowie Dies—Unforgiving Wife, Son and Father Year By Year Story of Amazing Reversals in the Life of Dowie When John Alexander Dowie passed away, death ended the most spectacular and remarkable career that modem times have known. Gigantic successes and tragic failures punctuated his life. Here are some of the remarkable works and reversals that marked Dowie’s career: ☐ He built a creed, he was excommunicated. ☐ He built a city; he was exiled from it. ☐ He was amassed a fortune of millions; he was reduced to virtual poverty. ☐ He elevated Voliva to great power; Voliva ruined him. ☐ He drew about him thousands who worshiped him: he died deserted by all save a handful of the faithful.

[Princeton telegraph, March 20, 1907—Princeton, Missouri, USA]

The New York Times March 10, 1907—New York, New York, USA DOWIE DIES IN THE CITY HE FOUNDED Neither Wife Nor Son, Whom He Had Repulsed, Was at His Bedside. SINGS HYMNS AS END NEARS Voliva and the Receiver Announce that His Death Will Not Af fect the Future of Zion. Special to The New York Times. Chicago, March 9.—John Alexander Dowie died at 7:40 o’clock this morning at his residence, Shiloh House, in Zion City. The founder of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, a sect that had its followers in every quarter of the globe, passed away peacefully after a period of unconsciousness. The end was not unexpected. For hours the old leader, deserted by all except, a few faithful followers, had been sinking slowly. Paralysis and a complication of dropsy and other maladies caused death. No relative was with him at the last. Repulsed when they made a final effort to see him three months ago, neither his wife Jane nor his son Gladstone was at his bedside when the end came. Mrs Dowie and her son arrived late tonight from Ben McDhul, their home in Michigan, which is practically all that remains of the wealth once controlled by Dowie, estimated to have been millions. Soon after Dowie’s death Shiloh House, with its furnishings, was seized by Receiver John C. Hately, in the name of the United States Court, for the benefit of the creditors of Zion City. The house is valued at $50,000 and the furnishings at $80,000. A custodian is now in charge of the rooms where the body of Dowie lies in state. The future of Zion City, it was declared by General Overseer Wilbur Glenn Voliva, Dowie’s successor as head of the Church, will not be affected by the death of the founder. Receiver Hately made the same announcement… Prayers and parts of hymns were murmured from time to time by the lips of the dying man, whose pallid face and shrunken and emaciated form told plainly of the long and unsuccessful fight with disease. Dowie, who was just 60 years old, had crowded in his eventful life the experience of a century, and apparently the full measure of the years had descended on him…

[The New York Times, March 10, 1907—New York, New York, USA]

Los Angeles Herald March 10, 1907 —Los Angeles, California, USA DOWIE DIES IN THE CITY HE PLANNED Career of Remarkable Man Comes to a Close Death Finds Him with No Relatives or Friends by His Side Present Head of Zion City Declares No Changes Will Follow in Plans Already Made By Associated Press. CHICAGO, March 9. — Late in the day Mr. Voliva received word to say nothing regarding the death of Dowie and declared that the death of the former leader will not affect the future of the church in any adverse manner. He declared that with his death all bitter feeling against Dowie will disappear.

DOWIE PASSES AWAY WHILE ONLY ONE FRIEND IS NEAR By Associated Press. CHICAGO, March 9. — John Alexander Dowie died at 7:40 this morning at Shiloh house, Zion City. There were present with him when he died only Judge D. N. Barnes and two personal attendants. It had been his custom to hold religious services every Sunday afternoon in the parlor of Shiloh house. About 450 of his original followers remained faithful and attended these services. Dowie always wore his apostolic robes and made a characteristic address. Five weeks ago the meetings ceased and Dowie appeared no longer in public. The Sunday meetings, however, were still held by his adherents. Since that time Dowie has been gradually failing. Friday afternoon, however, there were no indications of approaching death. He received a few followers and prayed for some people. His condition seemed to be about the same as for the last two or three weeks. One of the attendants remained with him until midnight and was relieved by the other attendant. Shortly before 1 o’clock this morning Dowie became delirious and his talk was the same as at a religious meeting in the days of his prime. He denounced people with the old time vigor, ordered the guards to throw out disturbers and acted just as he had on so many previous occasions. He gradually became weaker and the attendant telephoned for Judge Barnes,

NO EFFECT IS FELT ON CHURCH DOWIE’S DEATH WILL NOT CHANGE AFFAIRS History of Elijah Second and How He Built Zion City of Nothing is Told (Continued from Page One) who reached Shiloh house at 7 a. m. Forty minutes later Dowie was dead. No Funeral Arrangements No arrangements have yet been made for the funeral. The death of Dowie was unexpected. A large number of followers and others are gathered at Shiloh house to pay their respects. Mrs. Dowie, Judge Dowie, the prophet’s father and his son, who are at Ben McD’hul, Mich., have been notified and are expected today. Judge Barnes, who was at the bedside of Dowie, is a member of Voliva’s council, but remained friendly to Dowie believing him to be insane and not responsible for his actions. Dowie’s wife, father and son held the same views, and it is therefore believed, though they were estranged, that they will attend the funeral. John Alexander Dowie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25, 1847. In 1860 his parents removed to Adelaide, Australia, where for seven years the youth was clerk in a business house. Here Dowie developed the commercial instinct that served him so well in later life. He saved enough money during this period to return to Edinburgh at the age of 20 to take a five year course in theology and art. He became a master of Greek and Hebrew and cultivated a literary taste that resulted in after years in a library of 10,000 volumes, with which he was thoroughly familiar. Wanted a Wider Field Six years of denominational activity wearied Dowie, who longed for a wider field of operation. He forsook his church and in 1878 went to Melbourne, where he set up a free Christian tabernacle, the first of its kind, and organized adivine healing association which afterward became international in character. He became president of this organization and gained fame by going out into the country during the prevalence of putrid fever and apparently effecting many cures by prayer and the laying on of hands. After ten years in Melbourne, Dowie decided to remove to England, where his association had a number of branches, but fate took him across the Pacific and his announced intention of making Great Britain world headquarters was never carried out. Dowie landed in San Francisco in 1888, needing money. He needed $250 and had just told his wife he had “asked God for it,” he said, when a man he had not seen in months came along and put the amount in his hand. That

was the starting point in his wonderful money-getting career in the western world. Goes to Chicago Two years of wandering along the California coast followed and then, in 1890, Mr. Dowie, his wife, his son Alexander John Gladstone Dowie and his daughter, Esther, arrived in Chicago, which was to be the theater of his great work. During the next five years Dowie was arrested at least a hundred times for violation of the city ordinances relating to the care of the sick, but the more trouble that was made for him the more heprospered. Branch churches were established in other cities, a large hospital for the healing of the sick was built in Chicago, a printing plant put in operation and a bank was also started. The Christian Catholic church in Zion, the outgrowth of the original International Divine Healing association, was formally organized inFebruary, 1896, Dowie becoming general overseer. Four years afterward Dowie, before a large audience in the Auditorium theater,announced that he was Elijah the restorer. This assumption of a Biblical personality created even more of a sensation among his followers than any of the worldly successes of the “prophet.” Previous to this Dowie had marked out his plans for Zion City, the crowning effort of his life. Six thousand acres of land were purchased and in August, 1901, the first building was erected in Zion City, which a year later had a population of 10,000. Dowie Supreme In Zion City Dowie was supreme. The title of the 6000 acres bought with the money of the sect rested in him. Lots were leased, not sold. Running for 999 years, these leases were filed with the following restrictions: Premises shall never be used for a slaughter house, saloon or beer garden, tobacco store, opium joint, theater, gambling establishment, dance hall, circus, pharmacy, drug store, office or residence of a practicing physician or surgeon, place for selling pork or secret meeting place. In December, 1905, Zion City was placed under control of a federal receiver, which was dissolved later on Dowie’s presentation of ability to pay dollar for dollar on all indebtedness. At that time Dowie estimated the value of his holdings in Zion City at $25,000,000. Eighteen months ago Dowie began a promotion of a second Zion in Mexico. While engaged in this undertaking his health failed and he went to Jamaica. While there he suffered a stroke of paralysis from which he never fully recovered. It was at this time that he appointed Wilbur Glenn Voliva his first lieutenant and general overseer of the church. The month Voliva took charge of Zion City he, by power of attorney vested in him by Dowie, had all the property belonging to the church transferred from Dowie to Overseer Granger, charging extravagance and gross mismanagement by Dowie. Dowie Is Denounced Voliva called all the Zionists to the tabernacle in Zion City and denounced Dowie. With the exception of less than 200 of Dowie’s former followers, all the inhabitants of Zion City chose Voliva as their future leader and word was sent Dowie in Mexico that he had been deposed. He immediately started for Chicago

and took the controversy to the courts for settlement. Wilbur Glenn Voliva, head of the faction opposing Dowie, declined today to make any statement regarding the effect of the death of Dowie upon the future of the church. Telegrams were received from Dowie’s wife and son announcing their departure from Muskegon, Mich., for Zion City. STORY OF ELIJAH II AND HOW HE BUILT ZION CITY FROM NOTHING BY LEMUEL PARTON The death of John Alexander Dowie at Shiloh house yesterday was the ending of a tragedy as affecting as the story of old Father Goriot, as dramatic as the tragedy of Lear. The man who had founded a new faith, who had fought to spread his kingdom with the zealot Jephthah leading the armies, who had built a city for his people and who had thundered prophecy and anathema from his stronghold died stripped, dispossessed and desolate, denied and forsaken by his wife and son, a pensioner in his own house and an outcast from his own people. I saw and talked with Dowie in the days of his power, in the days when his following was increasing by thousands, and he held his hosts under his sway with unquestioned and undisputed rule. I saw him in the times of unrest, when the gates of his city were besieged, and he won victory after victory over his enemies; I saw him in the waning days of his reign, when the usurper had led away his people and he returned, his strength spent and his fortune gone, to find his wife and son among his accusers; and always, even to the last, there was the same burning, unquenchable, vindictive spirit, the same subtle insight into the weaknesses of men which brought them under his sway, the same patriarchal love of old world magnificence and display—the law exalted above the beatitudes, the curse of the prophet following his enemies. But his bodily strength failed him, and if John Alexander Dowie had returned to Zion City a year ago with the vigor of ten years before the people who deserted him will tell you that Wilbur Glenn Voliva would not be the ruler of the city today. Dowie Was Wise In building his “theocracy” which now is in danger of falling with its founder, Dowie combined with his natural qualifications for leadership of the people to whom he appealed, a shrewd and extremely worldly knowledge, gained by long experience, of the psychology of the religionists’ mind. He knew the power of suggestion, of summation of stimuli, he knew the secrets of hypnosis, he knew the psychology of the crowd. When the pudgy little man, with the bandy legs, shrilled at his people in his high thin voice, at first it was not the voice of a prophet, but his bandy legs were hidden under a magnificent robe; his white beard and penetrating eyes, burning in the deep recesses under his brows, were all you saw of his face. His voice, searching, vibrant, tense, reached every ear, and his denunciations and anathemas, at first quarrelsome and shrewish, with their constant repetition became scathing and accusing and brought his great audiences, mystics most of them, unresisting under his spell.

Foundation of His Church It was in this way that Dowie began the foundation of the Christian Catholic church in Zion in the early nineties. The robes and the other stage accessories were not present at this time and much of the prophet’s hold on the following which he later developed in Chicago was through his “divine healing.” It was not until after he had attracted a host of supporters, led to him by his supposed miracles of healing, that he founded his church. He had been an evangelist in Australia and had founded a sect there, but in Chicago he discovered an ideal field for the founding of the “new Zion” which he planned. Dowie had a mysterious faculty of being able to get financial support for his ventures. He secured a building for a church at Sixteenth street and Michigan avenue, and there Sunday by Sunday his crowds increased. His new religion began to assume more definite form and in 1896 the articles of faith which became the guide of the new sect were drawn up. With this the church was formally established, its organization decided upon and its deacons, elders and other officials appointed. Zion City Founded Four years later, the interval having been filled with unceasing activity on Dowie’s part, 6000 acres of land on the shore of Lake Michigan, forty miles north of Chicago, were purchased for the founding of Zion City. A mortgage was given and the sale of lots to the religious colonists began. The first building was erected in the spring of 1900 and the same year work on the tabernacle was begun. The tabernacle, which is of wood, like the other buildings, seats 10,000 persons. The walls are covered with the trophies of the apostle’s healing—crutches, arranged in fan designs and other figures, hot water bags and deformity apparatus, literally covering the walls in a grotesque and oddly repulsive display. Making a half circle above the platform are the 500 seats of the surpliced choir, another institution which greatly aided Dowie in his theatrical effects. Elijah hospice, the big hotel, was built in the second year of the city’s history. It contains 800 rooms and is adequately though cheaply gurnished [sic]. The administration building is situated across the street from the hospice. In it are all the public offices of the city. A block away are the company stores, a long row, connected by a continuous passageway. Building of the City The work of building the city had not gone ahead smoothly. Dowie was constantly harassed by attacks in the Chicago newspapers and was ridiculed after his declaration before a large audience in the Auditorium that he was Elijah the Restorer. With it all his creditors were pressing him. Time and again the word went out that, he was bankrupt and always he showed evidences of being able to discharge all his indebtedness. He was arrested more than one hundred times in Chicago, accused of violation of the laws regulating care of the sick. It was at a meeting in the Michigan avenue church that Dowie first met Wilbur Glenn Voliva, the man whom he afterward trusted and by whom he was overthrown. Voliva had been an itinerant preacher in Indiana, and had been identified with several evangelistic churches. He told Dowie of his desire to join

his congregation and to become an evangelist in the new Christian Catholic church of Zion. He was made a member of the new church and was taken into Dowie’s confidence from the first. Although then but 28 years of age he was schooled by six years’ experience in the field in which the first Apostle intended to use him. He was graduated from a small sectarian school, a son of pioneer parents, narrow, fanatical, but with all the zeal of a religious bigot and the energy of a man reared in the backwoods. After several years’ service, during which he win at the head of various Zion City missions, Voliva was sent to Australia to become the head of the church there. All Creeds Attracted Dowie continued to attract religious zealots of every known creed. For the most part they were recruited from small towns, the outer fringes of all churches, men who had tried all faiths — essentially mystics, half educated and attracted by Dowie’s elaborate restoration propaganda. Many were, drawn to Zion City by the stories of the prophet’s miracles of healing, and the population in the first three years included lame, halt and cripples of every description. The plan of the “theocracy” was carefully worked out. The temporal and spiritual leadership was carefully conserved in the person of the, “first apostle” but the civic organization was more democratic. The city was to be governed by a mayor, who was to be elected, and all the administrative offices were to be filled by election. In actuality the democratic features were a farce, as Dowie’s word was absolute in filling the different offices. During these first years the church prospered. Wealthy recruits were secured and the sale of the lots in the city, for which 99-years leases were given, gave the church large revenues. The house, situated on high ground and visible from all parts of the city, is a gaudy affront to good taste. Elaborately decorated with small gables and fancy cornices, with the roof hideous with red and green stripes, it is a singular exception to the apostle’s usual good judgment in matters of decoration. Liberally Spent People’s Money Dowie established himself in his new residence with a liberal expenditure of his people’s money. The house was richly furnished; a large retinue of servants was employed; fine horses were kept in his stable. The residents apparently were thoroughly in sympathy with the prophet’s love of display, and although most of them had been reared in non-ritualistic churches they took kindly to his costly robes, surpliced choir and the pompous ceremonial of the service. When Dowie returned from his tour of the world in 1904 he was at the height of his power. Although he had not been kindly received at many of the places which he visited, his people were absolutely under his control, and he was given an ovation on his home coming in June. An arch of triumph was built. All the people of the city, 10,000 strong, stood with their heads bowed in submission as he stretched his hands over them. From then on his health began to fail and with it his power began to slip away. There were no apparent signs of his losing control, and not a word was breathed against him in the city, but one leader after another was gradually drawn away. Voliva, in the meantime, was steadily gaining strength at the head of the Australian church. Energetic and untiring, with some of

the shrewdness and resourcefulness of Dowie, he centralized the power of the Australian church more and more in himself. Dowie still trusted him implicitly and the letters of Voliva to his superior always were devoted, even to the time of his leaving for Zion City. Gave Power to Voliva When the aged apostle’s health finally gave way in the winter of 1905 and 1906, and relinquishing control for the first time, he went to Jamaica to recuperate, he could think of no better man in whose hands to leave the destinies of the city than Voliva. Voliva was given a power of attorney and told to go immediately to Zion City. The day before the arrival of Voliva in Zion City the man who dared whisper a criticism of the first apostle would have been driven from the city. Voliva made a quiet entrance. His first address in the tabernacle gave no hint of the strife which was to follow his coming. He preached simply and effectively and spoke with the greatest respect of Dowie. Soon after his coming long conferences were held with the presiding elders in the administration building. The people knew that the city’s financial condition was being investigated, but nothing more. The opportunity for the break with Dowie soon came. Deacon Spelcher had been forbidden to solemnize the marriage of Elder Cotton by Dowie and now, in violation of the apostle’s orders, the ceremony was performed by Spelcher. Dowie learned of it and sent a long telegram ordering Speicher removed from his office. The reply sent by Voliva inaugurated the rebellion and marked the end of Dowie’s power. Dowie Is Denounced The following Sunday, before an audience crowding the tabernacle, Voliva denounced Dowie, made charges of immorality and dishonesty against him and proclaimed himself the leader of the city. Almost without exception the residents of the city were won over. Only a few, led by Deacons Lewis and Peters, remained falthful to Dowie. Dowie was on his way to reclaim his stronghold. But his strength was ebbing slowly and when he reached Chicago he was too exhausted to move on his enemies. The legal battle for the occupancy of Shiloh house was begun. Voliva shrewdly used every possible means of increasing the enmity against Dowie. Mrs. Dowie and Gladstone joined him, adding to the charges of misconduct with women of the city. After nearly two months, the old man was allowed to go to Shiloh house. He was carried from the train by two negro servants whom he had brought from Jamaica. After another legal struggle he was allowed to hold a meeting in the tabernacle. Only a score of his people were there and his wife denounced him from the platform. Gladstone also mildly censured his father, although he awaited the outcome of the legal controversy regarding the disposal of the property before he took a decided stand. The following Sunday Voliva was to hold services in the tabernacle, and Dowie, believing that if he could face his people again he could reclaim them, announced that he would attend the meeting and speak from the platform. When the meeting was nearly over he was borne in through a side entrance by the two negroes and carried to the platform. A silence, tense as wire, rested on the audience as

he faced them, but it was only for an instant. He swayed unsteadily and was carried to a chair. Hisses and cat calls swept the tabernacle and his eyes burning feverishly the old man stretched out his hand in an attempt to exercise some of his old time power. His rule wan ended. The attendants bore him out through a riotous storm of yells and hisses and back to his empty house. And then he remained, attended by the two negroes until the day of his death.

[Los Angeles Herald, March 10, 1907—Los Angeles, California, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

DOWIE DIES NEGLECTED

HOUSE SEIZED AT ONCE.

Prophet’s Wealth Gone—Former Followers Mourn Him at Last.

Zion City, Ill., March 9.—John Alexander Dowie, “First Apostle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion,” died today at Shiloh House, a broken, paralyzed, and penniless man. Deserted by his wife and son, and repudiated by the thousands who once worshiped him as Elijah, the founder of Zion passed away in utter neglect.

[New-York Tribune, March 10, 1907—New York, New York, USA]

OBITUARY.

LONDON, March 9.

Admiral Sir Richard Tracey is dead.

The self-styled Prophet Dowie is dead.

[The Civil & Military Gazette, March 12, 1907—Lahore, British India (Pakistan)]

A Mohammedan Mosque in New York?

By Rev. S. R. McCabe.

The sect of Mohammedans, of whom there are a large number in this country, are now proposing the erection of a grand mosque in New York. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, who claims to be the Promised Messiah, has directed attention toward the Western world. His dramatic prophecy concerning the downfall of John Alexander Dowie has drawn remarkable attention from American newspapers, establishing Islam’s defense before the public.

[Every Where, March 1907—Brooklyn, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]]

Alexandra and Yea Standard, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express May 31, 1907—Melbourne, Australia We have received a pamphlet published by the Sadr Anjuman-i-Ahmadiyya, Qadian, India, entitled Divine Judgement in Dowie’s Death, or The Fulfilment of a Grand Prophecy. The publication bears on the doings of Dowie at Zion City, and is well written. According to the pamphlet, Dowie, in 1902, published a prophecy to the effect that all the Muhammadans living on the earth would be destroyed unless they bowed before the cross. A Hindu named Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claims to be the Promised Messiah, replied to Dowie’s prophecy, and challenged him to “pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” The challenge, which was published in a number of English and American newspapers, was not accepted by Dowie. On 23rd August, 1903, the Promised Messiah said he would wait for another seven months, and if Dowie accepted within that period the world would soon see the end of this contest. Dowie brought himself in opposition to the Promised Messiah, and indirectly accepted the challenge. The prophecy, it appears, came true, and Dowie died some time after, whilst a calamity overtook his Zion.

[Alexandra and Yea Standard, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express]

The Western Mail June 1, 1907—Perth, Australia DR. DOWIE AND AN INDIAN MESSIAH. “Divine Judgment in Dowie’s Death” has reached us from The Sadr AnjumaniAhmadiyya, Qadian, India. This is an interesting pamphlet which is by no less a person than Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whose importance can be gauged by his claims to be “the promised Messiah,” deals somewhat drastically with the late Dr. Dowie. It appears that this modern Mirza, who on account of his station keeps a close eye on all unauthorized prophets, found it particularly necessary to put some restraint on Mr. Pigott, who won some fame as the head of the Agapemonites in England a few years ago, and Dr. Dowie. Each of these had claimed divine gifts that did not belong to them, and each was in 1902 distinctly challenged by Mirza. The contest proposed was that each should “pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” This challenge was not taken up definitely by Dowie, but he continued to write against Muhammadanism, and he threatened that “Zion should wipe Islam out.” Mirza regarded this as an acceptance of the challenge which he quite confidently offered, although Mirza was 70 years of age and Dr. Dowie only 55, and became even more specific declaring “the Pretender to the Elijahship shall leave the world before my eyes in great sorrow and torment,” this being a sign for the particular benefit of Europe and America. The challenge seems to have being published at the time, and to have been received with genial interest by the American press who consider that Ahmad “appeared to have Dr. Dowie in a corner.” The promised Messiah now recounts the stages of Dr. Dowie’s decline, showing that though at the time of the prophecy Dowie was at the height of his power, he collapsed afterwards with great rapidity. It is interesting to observe that the earlier part of Dowie’s career is thus misdescribed: “John Alexander Dowie was a Scotchman and he first landed at San Francisco in America in 1888. Before this time he was for a short time a convict in Tasmania. It was in 1892 that he took to preaching and soon began to build up a separate following. He claimed the power of healing, and it was this claim which brought to him many credulous but wealthy people. With their wealth he became a rich man.” With this prophecy to his credit Mirza also claims that the recent earthquake disasters were foreshadowed by him, as well as the appearance of plague in India, while quite lately he published a vision that the plague would spread in the Punjaub [ sic— Punjab], as it has recently done.

[The Western Mail, June 1, 1907—Perth, Australia]

The Register A Mohammedan Prophet June 3, 1907—Adelaide, South Australia Reprinted in pamphlet form, an extract from the April number of The Review of Religions, Qadian Gurdaspur, India states that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, “the Promised Messiah,” has realized n prophecy of “divine judgment in Dowie’s death.” Quite a number of American and European newspapers are mentioned as having printed in 1903 a remarkable forecast by ‘’the promised Messiah” that the modern Elijah would “leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment.” and that “calamity will certainly overtake his city.” At that time Ahmad was 70 years of age, and Dowie was about 55, and healthy and prosperous with his enterprise. The pathetic circumstances of Dowie’s last days and the financial troubles of Zion are narrated as evidence of the fulfillment “of this grand prophecy” Ahmad puts other prophecies to his credit —punishment by earthquake and plague. ‘Thou. O Europe, are not safe, nor thou O Asia! And ye that dwell in islands; no self-made deity will assist you in that day. I see cities falling down, and I find inhabited places in ruin.” Ahmad asserts that the result of his predictions are such as to “distinguish the true messenger of God from a false claimant.’’

[The Register, June 3, 1907—Adelaide, South Australia]

The Nebraska State Journal June 4, 1907—Lincoln, Nebraska, USA Readers of The Journal will remember that in the fall of 1903 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Quadian [sic—Qadian], India, who then claimed and still claims to be the promised Messiah, challenged John Alexander Dowie to appear with him before the public and make good his claims to the second Elijahship or abandon the perch. The only response made by Mr. Dowie to Murza [sic—Mirza] Ghulam was to allude to him and his kind as “gnats and flies” whom he might step on and crush out their lives if he so desired. In a spirit of prophecy the Promised Messiah appended to his challenge these words: “Though he may try as hard as he can to fly from the death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a mighty contest will be nothing less than death to him, and calamity will certainly soon overtake his Zion.” That the great Indian seer was after him proper may be implied from these words, also a part of the original document: If the pretender to Elijahship shows his willingness by any direct or indirect means to enter the lists against me he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment.” This was a bold thing for Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to say unless he had authority for doing it, since he was then seventy years of age while Dowie was a mere boy of fifty-six. But he said it boldly, and as one speaking with authority. The outcome seems to have justified every word of it. Mr. Dowie did leave the world with great sorrow and torment, his last days being full of wild hallucinations that made him very hard to manage. Now look at Zion. It is upset in every department: no leadership, no continuity of thought or purpose among its distracted inhabitants. Wilbur Glen Voliva is a calamity, and so is the man whom Dowie decreed should be his ecclesiastical successor. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is vindicated, and his secretary, Muhammad Ali, in testimony thereof has issued a pamphlet giving all the facts in the case, and is sending the same broadcast all over the earth.

[The Nebraska State Journal, June 4, 1907—Lincoln, Nebraska, USA]

Waukegan Daily Sun June 6, 1907—Waukegan, Illinois, USA OH, LA, LA-RIVAL PROPHET SAYS PRAYED DOWIE TO DEATH Coupled with the announcement that Receiver John C Hately had ordered Wilbur Glen Voliva to leave Zion City, there were rumors in the north shore town that a new pretender to the mantle of Dr. John Alexander Dowie has appeared, News that the high priest of the Mohammedan faith may try to claim dominion over all that is left of thefollowing of Elijah III carries with it the explanation of a long hidden secret. Dowie was literally “prayed to death” by a rival prophet, according to the rival’s claim. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who asserts he is the promised Messiah of the Mohammedans, made the claim today that it was his prayers that laid Dowie low. Challenged to Prayer Duel. From Qadian, in far off India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad addressed himself to all former followers of Dowie today in a circular translated from the Punjab. In it he told how three years and a half ago he had challenged Dowie to a deadly praying contest—each of the prohets [sic—prophets] to pray to his God that the other would die first. At that time the challenger of Dowie publicly made the following announcement: His Challenge. ‘‘If the pretender of Elijahship shows his willingness by any direct or indirect means to enter the lists against me he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment.” Dowie very indiscretly [sic-indiscreetly], it appears tempted fate and the prohet [sic] by referring in a speech subsequently to the challenger as “the foolish Mohammedan Messiah,” and this, while not as open acceptance of the defi, was sufficient to set the Hindoo prophet to praying for all he was worth. “May he try as hard as he will to fly from the death which awaits him,” from such a mighty contest be nothing less than death to him—and calamity will certainly soon overtake Zion. May he leave the world before mine eyes with great sorrow and torment.” Mr. Ahmad claims also to have put another rival Messiah, a Mr. Piggott, out of business by the same devotional process.

[Waukegan Daily Sun, June 6, 1907—Waukegan, Illinois, USA]

Manitoba Free Press June 6, 1907—Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada PROPHESIED DOWIE’S DEATH Indian Fakir Who Claims To Be The Messiah Issues Brochure Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claims to be the promised Messiah, has issued a pamphlet which is being sent round to the leading newspapers of the world by his secretary, Muhammed Ali. The brochure deals with a prediction made by Ahmad in June and July, 1903, that Dowie would meet with his death before the alleged Messiah, and that calamity would overtake his Zion. Seven months from Aug. 23 was the date specifically named by the Indian fakir, who claims that Dowle’s downfall and death, over two years later, was the fulfilment of his prediction and challenge. The so-called Messiah who has his headquarters at Qadian, Gurdashur [sic—Gurdaspur], in the Punjaub [sic—Punjab], India, prophesies earthquakes in Europe, Asia and the islands, and no doubt as earthquakes are not uncommon in some parts of the world, his prophecy will again be fulfilled.

[Manitoba Free Press, June 6, 1907—Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada]

Dunnville Gazette June 7, 1907—Ontario, Canada A MESSIAH IN INDIA All the way from Qadian, Gurdaspur, India, comes a pamphlet addressed to THE GAZETTE, entitled “Divine Judgment in Dowie’s Death, or The Fulfillment of a Grand Prophecy.” Our circulation in India is not extensive, and the receipt of this pamphlet consequently was a surprise, which was increased by a perusal of its contents. The subject matter of the pamphlet is described as an extract from the April number of the Review of Religions, published at Qadian in the interest of Mohammedan faith, and to give an account of the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who calls himself as the Promised Messiah. It is this Ahmad who claims that, following an attack by Dowie in 1902 on Mohammedanism and a prediction of its impending overthrow, he gave out a prophecy that Chicago Elijah would leave the world before him in great sorrow and torment. Dowie at that time was at the height of his power, controlling vast wealth, possessing the unbounded confidence of thousands of followers, apparently enjoying perfect health, and several years younger than Ahmad, so that the latter and his adherents may be pardoned for taking some credit for the accuracy with which the prophecy was fulfilled a few months ago. But Ahmad does not ask people to accept him as the Promised Messiah on the strength of the accurate fulfillment of his prediction regarding Dowie alone. The marvellous claim he makes is thus set forth in his own words: “I am the true Messiah who was to come in the last ages; thus has Almighty God spoken to me. I do not claim to be the Promised Messiah simply by my own assertion, but Almighty God who made the earth and heaven has borne witness to the truth of my claim. The evidence of God has been manifested in hundreds of heavenly signs shown in my support. I say it truly that Almighty God has poured His grace upon me in far greater abundance than upon the Messiah who has gone before me. In the looking-glass of my person the face of God is revealed to a far greater extent than in that of Jesus’ person. If these are simply my own assertions, and there is no other authority for them, I am a liar; but if Almighty God bears witness to my truth, no one give the lie to me. Thousands of times—I should say times without number—has He borne witness to the truth of my claims.”

It would be interesting to have some details of the evidence to which Ahmad refers, but beyond the fulfilment of Dowie prediction, and of other predictions of somewhat general nature regarding the plague and earthquakes, the pamphlet is silent. Ahmad is said to have recently predicted another series of very disastrous earthquakes, without specifying their exact location, also other calamities of a terrible nature, which he says would have been put off for a while had he not come to give warning of them. If Ahmad confines his prophecies to those of the character appearing in the pamphlet, he is on fairly safe ground, and can build up quite reputation as a seer, but a trifle more exactness in the matter of places and dates would help him a lot with those of us who are inclined to be sceptical regarding his claims.

[Dunnville Gazette, June 7, 1907—Ontario, Canada: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Observer Adelaide June 8, 1907—Adelaide, Australia A MOHAMMEDAN PROPHET Reprinted in pamphlet form, an extract from the April number of The Review of Religions, Qadian Gurdaspur, India states that Murza [sic—Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad, “the Promised Messiah,” has realized a prophecy of “divine judgment in Dowie’s death.” Quite a number of American and European newspapers are mentioned as having printed in 1903 a remarkable forecast by “the promised Messiah” that the modern Elijah would “leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment,” and that “calamity will certainly overtake his city.” At that time Ahmad was 70 years of age, and Dowie was about 55, and healthy and prosperous with his enterprise. The pathetic circumstances of Dowie’s last days and the financial troubles of Zion are narrated as evidence of the fulfilment “of this grand prophecy.” Ahmad puts other prophecies to his credit—punishment by earthquake and plague. “Thou, O Europe, are not safe, nor thou, O Asia! And ye that dwell in islands; no self-made deity will assist you in that day. I see cities falling down, and I find inhabited places in ruin.” Ahmad asserts that the result of his predictions are such as to “distinguish the true messenger of God from a false claimant.”

[The Observer Adelaide, June 8, 1907—Adelaide, Australia]

West Australian June 14, 1907—Perth, Australia DR. DOWIE AND AN INDIAN MESSIAH. “Divine Judgment in Dowie’s Death” has reached us from The Sadr AnjumaniAhmadiyya, Qadian, India. This interesting pamphlet which is by no less a person than Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whose importance can be gauged by his claims to be “the promised Messiah,” deals somewhat drastically with the late Dr. Dowie. It appears that this modern Mirza, who on account of his station keeps a close eye on all unauthorized prophets, found it particularly necessary to put some restraint on Mr. Pigott, who won some fame as the head of the Agapemonites in England a few years ago, and Dr. Dowie. Each of these had claimed divine gifts that did not belong to them, and each was in 1902 distinctly challenged by Mirza. The contest proposed was that each should “pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” This challenge was not taken up definitely by Dowie, but he continued to write against Muhammadanism, and he threatened that “Zion should wipe Islam out.” Mirza regarded this as an acceptance of the challenge which he quite confidently offered, although Mirza was 70 years of age and Dr. Dowie only 55, and became even more specific declaring “the Pretender to the Elijahship shall leave the world before my eyes in great sorrow and torment,” this being a sign for the particular benefit of Europe and America. The challenge seems to have being published at the time, and to have been received with genial interest by the American press who considered that Ahmad “appeared to have Dr. Dowie in a corner.” The promised Messiah now recounts the stages of Dr. Dowie’s decline, showing that though at the time of the prophecy Dowie was at the height of his power, he collapsed afterwards with great rapidity. It is interesting to observe that the earlier part of Dowie’s career is thus misdescribed: “John Alexander Dowie was a Scotchman and he first landed at San Francisco in America in 1888. Before this time he was for a short time a convict in Tasmania. It was in 1892 that he took to preaching and soon began to build up a separate following, and it was this claim which brought to him many credulous but wealthy people. With their wealth he became a rich man.” With this prophecy to his credit Mirza also claims that the recent earthquake disasters were foreshadowed by him, as well as the appearance of plague in India, while quite lately he published a vision that the plague would spread in the Punjaub [sic—Punjab], as it has recently done.

[West Australian, June 14, 1907—Perth, Australia]

The Truth Seeker June 15, 1907— New York, New York, USA The War of the Prophets Now that Dowie’s dead and buried, his claims repudiated, and none so hard up for an objurgation as to swear by his heard as that of a prophet, the squabbling over his property, his reputation, and his moth-eaten mantle seems indecent even to those who have always regarded him as an imposter. The following occurred in the newspaper dispatches last week: “Chicago, June 2.—Accompanied by a band which cost $30 and hour, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, practically deposed from Zion by the Federal Court, to-day held a revolutionary meeting in a tent just outside the court, the courts laying enjoined him from holding a meeting in Zion City. It was expected that the tent meeting would be livelier than ordinarily, but Gladstone Dowie, the ‘unkissed’ son of the former prophet, suddenly took the reins in his own hands and put an unexpected crimp in the Voliva plans. “The Voliva faction has been indulging in many bitter personalities regarding Mrs. Dowie, widow of the prophet and mother of Gladstone. This has become unbearable, and it was learned that similar attacks were to be chief entertainment at the Voliva meeting today. Gladstone, served notice upon Voliva and his adherents that if any more attacks, open or in secret, were made upon him or his mother the case would be carried into the courts, Voliva, who has come to have some respect for the Federal Court, heeded the warning, and his meeting today, while well attended, was unusually tame, because its fire had been drawn. Many curious persons from Chicago and the towns surrounding Zion attended the meeting, expecting something sensational, but were disappointed.” “In the city proper, where General Lewis, under the wing of the Federal Court, is holding forth as the legitimate successor of Dowie, the day was quietly spent with the customary religious services in the tabemacle. Voliva threatens to take his followers and build up a new Zion, preferably in some Southern state, but little heed is given the threat, and his followers are rapidly deserting and rallying to the Lewis standard. The courts are assisting the new overseer in putting Zion on a business basis, and with the removal of Voliva it is expected the people will settle down and regain their former prosperity.” Old Dowie himself was too much of an egotist to spend any thought on the crows that would caw over his refuse when he was dead. It is diverting to turn from the scene above described to a publication issued by a rival prophet on the other side of the globe, namely, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who is drawing a bunch of Mohammedans after him at Qadian, Gurdaspur, India. The publication

is a pamphlet entitled “Divine Judgmentin Dowie’s Death; or, The Fulfilment of a Grand Prophecy.” We have previously alluded to the prophecy in the above title. The late Dowie looked upon Mohammed as the prince of impostors; he not only prophesied that Mohammedanism would be destroyed by Zion, but from day to day prayed God for the time when the crescent should disappear. This coming to the knowledge of the Indian Messiah, he spread broadcast a challenge to Elijah II. to meet him and “pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” The Qadian man predicted that if Dowie accepted the challenge “he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment.” If Dowie declined, the Mirza said, the end would only be deferred; death awaited him just the same, and “calamity will soon overtake Zion.” That was the Grand Prophecy: Zion should fall, and Dowie die before Ahmad. It appeared to be a risky step for the Promised Messiah to defy the Restored Elijah to an endurance test, because the challenger was by fifteen years the older man of the two, and probabilities, in a land of plagues and fanatics, were against him as a survivor; but he won out. The argument he makes for the fulfilment of his prophecy that God would affect the decease of Dowie is cogent enough to convince the follower of the Promised Messiah, although in our view he weakens his case by stating that Dowie “drank Scotch highballs” and “planned a band of seven ‘vestal virgins’ to attend hum.” For if the founder of Zion indulged and endowed himself as alleged, there might be more of paresis than of providence in his taking off. The war of the prophets dates from the remote past and will beyond doubt go on as long as there are two of them in the field. In the times treated of by the Bible writers, miracle competitions were held. Aaron the successor of Moses, entered such a contest, arranged by Pharaoh. He cast down his rod before the monarch, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the magicians of Egypt, who duplicated the trick, their rods, thrown down, turning likewise into serpents; but Aaron got the decision because his rod swallowed up their rods. After that test Aaron was the Mirza for the children of Israel’s money. Another competition among the prophets was engaged in by Dowie’s predecessor, Elijah. It was a praying match, Elijah being the challenger. He kept the priests of Baal praying ineffectively to their deity, from sun to sun, that they would start the fire in an altar they had prepared, and meanwhile Elijah stood about jibing them with such remarks as “Cry aloud, for he is a god,either he is talking, or he is pursuing or he is on a journey or peradventure he sleepeth and must be waked.” He then, after performing certain incantations, lit the fire in his own altar although it had been previously drenched with four barrels of water and nothing in the narrative supports the criticism of Mark Twain that the barrels, instead of water, contained kerosene, and that Elijah touched a match to the pile. There is biblical precedent, therefore, for the Mirza’s “defi” to Dowie—there is also precedent in experience for the going to pieces of men of Dowie’s excessive activity and strenuous life. One who makes prediction and lives to see it fulfilled, of the downfall of a modern prophet, is not warranted thereby in setting himself up as another.

[The Truth Seeker, June 15, 1907—New York, New York, USA: [Part 1] [Part 2]]

The Sunday Herald June 23, 1907—Boston, Massachusetts, USA Great Is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad The Messiah FORETOLD PATHETIC END OF DOWIE AND NOW He predicts plague, flood and earthquake T WENTY-THREE were the days of August in 1903 when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India foretold the death ofDowie,yclept Elijah II., which took place last March, and now cometh the afore said Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, on June 23, and saith: “The turn of this country is drawing near. “Earthquakes… will be unparalleled in the world’s history and will remind men of the destruction of the judgment day. “In Europe and other Christian countries a kind of plague will make its appearance which will be very severe. “With my appearance, the secret designs of the wrath of God have been made manifest. “The days of Noah will you again witness, and the scene of Lot’s land you will see with your own eyes.” “He called the turn on Dowie, and why may he not on devastation?” his followers ask. “He has foretold plague, too, in the Punjab and other places, and great is the name of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India.” The Indian gentleman has been well known

in the eastern pastures of the world for many years. His claim is that he is “the true Messiah who was to come in the last ages,” and that God has showered him with grace. He first came to the attention of the United States in 1903, on account of a controversy with Elijah III. Since the death of Dowie the Indian prophet’s reputation has soared, for did he not tell of the death of Dowie, that it should take place within his (the Messiah’s) lifetime, should take place “with great sorrow and torment”? Dowie was aged 59, theseerwas 75. It was in these words that Dowie was requested to strive for the fray: “I am the true Messiah who was to come in the last ages; thus has Almighty God spoken to me. I do not claim to be the promised Messiah simply by my own assertion, but Almighty God who made the earth and heaven has borne witness to the truth of my claim. “The evidence of God has been manifested in hundreds of heavenly signs shown in my support. I say it truly that Almighty God has poured his grace upon me in far greater abundance than upon the Messiah who has gone before me. In the looking-glass of my person the face of God is revealed to a far greater extent than in that ofJesus’ person. If these are simply my own assertions, and there is no other authority for them, I am a liar, but if Almighty God bears witness to my truth, no one can give the lie to me. Thousands of times—I should say times without number—has he borne witness to the truth of my claims. “A sign of the evidence of God in my favor will appear on the death of Mr. Pigott, the arrogant pretender to divinity, who shall be brought to destruction within my lifetime. Another sign will appear for Dr. Dowie’s acceptance of my challenge. If the pretender to Elijahship shows his willingness by any direct or indirect means to enter the lists against me he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment. These two signs are particularly for Europe and America. Ah! that they ponder over them and benefit by them. It should be borne in mind that Dr. Dowie has not given any reply to my challenge sent him in September last, nor has he even so much as mentioned it in his paper. For an answer to that challenge I will wait for a further period of seven months from this day, the 23rd of August, 1903. If he accepts the challenge within this period and fulfils all its conditions as published by me previously, and makes an announcement to that effect in his paper, the world will soon see the end of this contest. I am about 70 years of age, whileDr. Dowieis about 55, and, therefore, compared with me, he is a young man still. But since the matter is not to be settled by age, I do not care for this great disparity in years. The whole matter rests in the hand of Him who is the Lord of heaven and earth and judge over all judges, and He will decide it in favor of the true claimant.

“But if Dr. Dowie cannot even now gather courage to appear in the contest against me, let both continents bear witness that I shall be entitled to claim the same victory as in the case of his death in my lifetime if he accepts the challenge. The pretensions of Dr. Dowie will thus be falsified and proved to be an imposture. Though he may try as hard as he can to fly from the death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a contest will be nothing less than death to him, and calamity will certainly overtake hisZion; for he must take the consequences of either the acceptance of the challenge or its refusal. I close these brief remarks with the following prayer: O powerful and perfectGod, who hast ever been revealing and wilt ever continue to reveal Thyself to Thy prophets, do Thou give Thy judgment and show to Thy people the imposture and falsehood of Dowie and Pigott, for Thy weak creatures, having taken to human-worship and trusted in weak mortals like themselves, have fallen away from Thy path and are wandering in errors far from Thee.” Dowi eat first paid no public attention directly to the challenge from the far east. But on the 26th of September, 1903, he said, in his Zion City publication: “People sometimes say to me, ‘Why do you not reply to this, that and the other thing?’ Reply! Do you think that I shall reply to the gnats and flies. If I put my foot on them I would crush out their lives. I give them a chance to fly away and live.” Only once did he show in any way that he knew of the existence of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He referred to him as the “foolish Mahometan Messiah,” and on Dec. 12, 1903, he wrote: “If I am not God’s prophet, there is none on God’s earth that is.” In the following January he wrote: “My part is to bring out the people from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and settle them in this and other Zion cities until the time shall come when the Mahometans are swept away. … May God grant us that time.” Whereupon Mirza tersely challenged him to “pray to God that of us two whoever is the liar may perish first.” Dowie died with his friends fallen away from him and his fortune dwindled. He suffered from paralysis and insanity. He died a miserable death, with Zion City torn and frayed by internal dissensions. Mirza comes forward frankly and states that he has won his challenge, or “prediction.” And he asks every seeker after truth to accept the truth as he announced it. He regards the misfortunes which befell his traducer in America as evidences of divine vengeance commingled with divine judgment. As a follower says, however: “It is not to exult over a fallen enemy that we refer to certain circumstances in Dowie’s life. Such a thing is furthest from our ideas. It is only in the cause and

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, The Promised Messiah.

for the furtherance of truth that we publish these facts. The holy religion of Islam, no doubt, teaches us not to mention the faults of the dead, but this does not mean that facts should be concealed when their disclosure is in the interests of society and a service to humanity, truth and God.” All these conclusions the follower arrives at with a certainty which rings with self-conviction, or at least with pride in the accuracy of his prediction. He goes on to say: “In bringing disaster upon Dowie’s head, and ultimately in his untimely death, brought about with sorrow and torment,Almighty God has given his judgment exactly as he had informed his messenger three or four years previous to these occurrences.” J.H. Smyth Pigott, to whom the Messiah refers, heads a peculiar sect in Clopton, London, known as the Agapemonities, or “Dwellers in the Abode of Love.”About seven years ago he proclaimed himself the “New Messiah,” and drew around him 3000 fanatics, including many women. Pigott promised to take his followers to heaven on Aug. 24, 1901. At the appointed time they gathered in a field and waited vainly for the event to take place. Pigott promptly explained that they had been sinning, and thereby had so sorely grieved the Lord that he refused to accept them. The Agapemonities believed this explanation and promptly did pennance by subscribing a large sum of money for the erection of a beautiful church. In this Clopton region which is called the“Abode of Love”there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage, and the inmates are supposed to dwell together in an atmosphere of spiritual comradeship and platonic affection. Grave scandals resulted in popular hostility against the doctrines of Pigott. Pigott’s annual receipts are $30,000. At one time this Messiah, whom Mirza disapproves of so strongly, was a sailor on the Pacific coast. In 1890 he returned to England, his native country, took holy orders and became a curate of the Church of England in a London parish. Subsequently he joined the Salvation Army, rose to the position of major and then acquired divinity. As to disasters dire, the Indian divinity says: “Bear in mind that Almighty God has informed me of earthquakes in general. Know it for certain, then, that as earthquakes have come in America, Europe and Asia in accordance with my former prophecies, more will yet occur in diverse places, some of which would be so severe that the destruction wrought by them will be unparalleled in the world’s history and will remind men of the destruction of the judgment day. “Death will make such havoc that streams of blood will flow. Calamities of a terrible nature from earth as well as heaven will come upon men. “Many shall be saved and many shall be destroyed. The days are near, nay, they are at the door, when the world shall see an unparalleled scene of devastation. Not only will great earthquakes come, but other calamities from heaven and earth will also visit the earth. As this will be brought

about because men have forsaken God, and with all their heart and all their soul they are bent low upon the world. “Had I not come, these calamities would also have been put off for a while, but with my appearance the secret designs of the wrath of God have been made manifest, for he says that ‘punishment is not sent upon a people until a messenger is raised.’ Those who repent shall be saved, and those who show fear before the calamity comes shall be shown mercy. “Do you think that you can be saved by your own plans? That cannot be. Do not think that severe earthquakes have come in distant places in America and your country will be safe for I see that greater distress is in store for you. Thou, O Europe! art not safe, nor thou, O Asia! And ye that dwell in islands! no self-made deity will assist you on that day. I see cities falling down and I find inhabited places in ruin. “I say to you truly that the turn of this country is drawing near. The days of Noah will you again witness and the scene of Lot’s land will see with your own eyes. But God is slow in sending his wrath. Repent, that mercy may be shown to you. He who forsakes God is a worm, not a man and he who does not fear him is dead, not living.” The words of a plague prophecy, literally translated, run as follows: “In Europe and other Christian countries a kind of plague will make its appearance which will be very severe.” The appearance of plague in India was foretold by the promised Messiah by more than 10 years, assert his followers.

[The Sunday Herald, June 23, 1907—Boston, Massachusetts, USA]

RIVAL PROPHETS.

I HAVE received a strange request from India. I am asked to publish a statement of a prophecy and its fulfilment.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claims to be the Mohammedan promised messiah. He adopts modern methods of advancing his claims. He issued a public prayer challenge to Dr. Dowie of Zion City that whichever was false should die first. Dowie died in paralysis and disgrace on March 9, 1907, exactly as foretold by the Indian Messiah.

[The Agricultural Economist & Horticulture Review]

Sedalia Democrat-Sentinel January 25, 1909—Sedalia, Missouri, USA CLAIMED TO BE THE MESSIAH MIRZA GHULAN [sic] AHMAD, BORN IN PUNJAB, INDIA, JAN UARY 25, 1837. HE DIED IN LAHORE, INDIA, MAY 26, 1908 Was a Man of Wide Learning and Edited a Magazine—Once Challenged the Late John Dowie to a Praying Contest. New York, Jan. 25.—Seventy-two years ago one of the greatest modern religious leaders of India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Punjab, India. He died in Lahore, India on May 26, 1908, after establishing a cult that spread all over India and found many devotees among the lovers of the occult and mysterious in England and the United States. He claimed to be the Messiah which Mohammed said would come to his people. He was a man of wide learning and edited a magazine evidencing much scholarship, in which he defended his own particular variety of the Moslem faith and bitterly and maliciously attacked Christianity and its missionaries in India. The Mirza came to the notice of Americans a few years ago by challenging John Alexander Dowie to a praying test. Each was to pray that the one who was an imposter should die first. When Dowie avoided him, the Mirza predicted that he would perish miserably, and when the pretended successor of Elijah died deserted by his family and former supporters, he regarded that as a noted fulfillment of his prophecy.

[Sedalia Democrat-Sentinel, January 25, 1909—Sedalia, Missouri, USA]

The Hattiesburg News January 25, 1909—Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA Seventy-two years ago one of the greatest modern religious leaders of India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Punjab, India. He died in Lahore, India on May 26, 1908, after establishing of a cult that spread all over India and found many devotees among the lovers of the occult and mysterious in England and the United States. He claimed to be the Messiah which Mohammed said would come to his people. He was a man of wide learning and edited a magazine evidencing much scholarship, in which he defended his own particular variety of the Moslem faith and bitterly and maliciously attacked Christianity and its missionaries in India. The Mirza came to the notice of Americans a few years ago by challenging John Alexander Dowie to a praying test. Each was to pray that the one who was an imposter should die first. When Dowie avoided him, the Mirza predicted that he would perish miserably, and when the pretended successor of Elijah died deserted by his family and former supporters he regarded that as a noted fulfilment of his prophecy. He advocated peace and toleration, and had gone to Lahore a few days before his death to arrange for the establishment of a society to promote harmony and union between Hindus and Mohamedans.

[The Hattiesburg News, January 25, 1909—Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA]

The Independent January 25, 1909—Santa Barbara, California, USA Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Seventy-two years ago one of the greatest modern religious leaders of India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Punjab, India. He died in Lahore, India, on May 26, 1908, after establishing a cult that spread all over India and found many devotees among the lovers of the occult and mysterious in England and the United States. He claimed to be the Messiah which Mohammed said would come to his people. He was a man of wide learning and edited a magazine evidencing much scholarship, in which he defended his own particular variety of the Moslem faith and bitterly and maliciously attacked Christianity and its missionaries in India. The Mirza came to the notice of Americans a few years ago by challenging John Alexander Dowie to a praying test. Each was to pray that the one who was an imposter should die first. When Dowie avoided him, the Mirza predicted that he would perish miserably, and when the pretended successor of Elijah died deserted by his family and former supporters, he regarded that as a noted fulfillment of his prophecy. He advocated peace and toleration, and had gone to Lahore a few days before his death to arrange for the establishment of a society to promote harmony and union between Hindus and Mohammedans.

[The Independent, January 25, 1909—Santa Barbara, California, USA]

The Evening Star January 26, 1909—Independence, Kansas, USA January 25.—Seventy-two years ago one of the greatest modern religious leaders of India, Mizra [sic—Mirza] Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Punjab, India. He died in Lahore, India, on May 26, 1908, after establishing a cult that spread all over India and found many devotees among the lovers of the occult and mysterious in England and the United States. He claimed to be the Messiah which Mohammed said would come to his people. He was a man of wide learning and edited a magazine evidencing much scholarship, in which he defended his own particular variety of the Moslem faith and bitterly and maliciously attacked Christianity and its missionaries in India. The Mirza came to the notice of Americans a few years ago by challenging John Alexander Dowie to a praying test. Each was to pray that the one who was an imposter should die first. When Dowie avoided him, the Mirza predicted that he would perish miserably, and when the pretender successor of Elijah died deserted by his family and former supporters, he regarded that as a noted fulfillment of his prophecy. He advocated peace and toleration and had gone to Lahore a few days before his death to arrange for the establishment of a society to promote harmony and union between Hindus and Mohammedans.

Dowie Anointed of the Lord 1930—New York, USA & London, UK

[The Evening Star, January 26, 1909—Independence, Kansas, USA]

DOWIE ANOINTED OF THE LORD

BY ARTHUR NEWCOMB

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN was crowded to the roof on that October Sunday afternoon when John Alexander Dowie preached his first sermon in New York. Outside, in Madison Avenue, Twenty-sixth Street, Twenty-seventh Street and even across the corner in Madison Square were many thousands more…

Yet within four short years following the challenge of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the proud empire of Dowie collapsed into ruin, paralysis, rebellion, and death.

[Dowie Anointed of the Lord, 1930—New York, USA & London, UK: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]]

IAPSOP May 14, 2021—Forest Grove, Oregon, USA …In his last years, Dowie let it be known that he was a direct Messenger from God, the “First Apostle,” and that he was, in fact, Elijah the Restorer—a claim that brought him into conflict with Cyrus Teed (“Khoresh”) who also aspired to the title. The journal’s rich invective also extended to Islam, prompting Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of Ahmadiyya, to challenge Dowie to a “prayer duel”: “both of us will pray to God that whoever is a liar should die first.” Dowie died first, though Ahmad followed him the next year…

[IAPSOP, May 14, 2021—Forest Grove, Oregon, USA]