🛖 Zion • The Church That Created a Christian UTOPIA

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This ranks as one of the most craziest church backstories you'll ever hear.
The city of Zion, Illinois was founded in 1901 as a religious utopia to establish a theocratic society to be the Kingdom of God. The Christian Catholic Church (as it was known originally) and city of Zion was founded by Dr. John Alexander Dowie, who became a popular evangelist and faith healer after setting up a little brown hut near the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. After witnessing several doctors unable to help patients, he claimed to be able to pray over them with divine healing. With his followers multiplying, he bought a large amount of land north of Chicago for 6,000 of adherents. Zion was a church-owned city. It prohibited unclean pork, smoking, and alcohol. It owned all the businesses, banks, healing homes, and schools. The Bible was the official textbook.
Then things got weird. Dowie claimed to be the spiritual return of Elijah the prophet. Due to his eccentric popularity as a forerunner to Christ's second coming, he made enemies with Miza Ghulam Ahmad of Islam (who claimed to be the coming of Christ in spirit). Ahmad challenged Dowie to a "prayer duel" where God would take the life of the false prophet. Dowie dismissed the challenge, despite Ahmad adding a death prophecy.
After only a few years, Dowie started to fall apart. He endured financial trouble, his family left him, and he suffered a stroke. His chief lieutenant, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, rescued the city from bankruptcy. Voliva introduced rules against anyone who didn't belong to the church, then dictated flat-earth doctrine in the schools. He previously stated he would live to be 120 years old due to his diet of Brazil nuts and buttermilk, but died at 72. After his death in 1942 and the tabernacle burning down, the church dissolved and the city was no longer under theocratic reign.
A small remnant church was reorganized years later. Under its current pastor, it was renamed Church Community Church (keeping the CCC acronym). After visiting the church, I found no mention of Dowie. Nowadays, CCC looks like any other type of conservative Bible-believing, non-denominational church (though they love Ray Comfort and John Piper from those I overheard).
The only HINTS of the past is the Biblical street names. Elisha, Enoch, Ezra, and Ezekiel just to name a few.
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▶️ Timestamps:
0:00 Zion
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🎵 Music:
Track: Infraction - Alright
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_Oqifn2PxhE.html
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#52churchesin52weeks #johnalexanderdowie #zion #pentecostal #godsgenerals #wilburboliva #52in52

Опубликовано:

6 май 2023

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Комментарии : 32

@52churchesin52weeks Год назад

Two churches left! Hope you enjoyed this week's visit. Let me know what you thought below.

@philipwheeler7317 Год назад

Idk if too late to recommend one? West Salem Mission. In Ohio. It is a SDA church made up of ex Amish. Truly a unique mix.

@marlalink6746 Год назад

David, we missed you last week! In today's podcast you sounded like you may have had a head cold so I am very glad that you seem to be doing well. I have been following you since week 4 and I will truly miss your weekly church synapses after week 52 (only 2 more weeks). May God continue to bless you. Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us - the faith, knowledge, respect, and love you manifest have been inspiring and I feel that God is very pleased with your Christian efforts.

@52churchesin52weeks Год назад

Hey Marla, thanks for joining along - appreciate it! Yeah, think allergies got the best of me for the past week. I'll still post takeaway videos on a near-weekly level, but take a break from the constant weekend travel. It's fun, but definitely settling in on a home church is the way to go.

@auntkami Год назад

This morning RU-vid recommended up your episode about churches being like dating. Your thesis was all about the follow up. This evening I get this. Your experience with one person following up with you is a great example of the point you were making 9 months ago.

@RestfullyRenewed Год назад

Wow that was wild, the man has done a lot of damage in the past, glad the church are now determined to get it right.

@sharonkreider8373 Год назад

I grew up in Zion in the Christian Catholic Church. Even though I was born in 1944, not much was different for me since my family was one of the original families to settle in Zion. We had dietary laws as well as faith healing that was still practiced by some famiies. All the streets were in alapbetical order and came from the bible, I lived on Gideon Avenue. The city did eventually change but very slowly. There is a good book about the city, "Zion City, Illinois / Twentieth-Century Utopia by Philip L. Cook." The only correction I will make is that you misprounced Wilber Glenn Voliva's name. I would also make a correction to the the person who said it was his wife that died from from burns while straightening her hair, it was his daughter Esther and she was curling her hair. The only benefit form growing up in Zion was I always felt safe, not something that could be said today.

@boba.6478 Год назад

What a crazy and awesome story. For story points, I think this video wins. Wow. I had heard many things about Ahmadiyyah Islam, but because of this video I had to go and read up on Mirza Ahmad, fascinating. I find it extremely ironic and a little telling that the man who claims to be an incarnation of the inciter and winner of the most famous (actually the only one I had heard of) "prayer duel to the death" (it troubles me that that is such a fun phrase to say) would be so dismissive of the challenge made to him. What a wild story man. My personal perspective, if your tithes are used to build chapels, fund missions, print Bibles, you are probably okay. If you are buying the preacher's million dollar furniture, luxury vehicle, diamond rings, run away (oh, don't burn down the tabernacle, by the way), just run away. Also, if representing your faith to someone means tearing them down or BLASTING someone, well, I'm just not sure that that is what Christ meant when he said to "Let your light so shine before men..." As always, very excellent job, David. Thank you.

@brittinendzinisa386 9 месяцев назад

WOW! I think that is all I can say. My mother and grandmother moved to Zion in 1976, IL after settling in New York for a short time after they left Jamacia. We lived in Zion, IL and although I didn't attend CCC I've been there a few times. This video truly gave me some insight into Zion, IL. The craziest part about it is that I've lived in Eswatini (Swaziland) for the past 7 years and have come in contact with people who praise Zion, IL. I've had deep discussions with people who attend Zionist church and can attest that some weird theologies are going around. What a small world. Thank you for this video. Truly enjoyed it.

@Mamo-br4nu 3 месяца назад

Hello am just curious to learn of the weird doctrines please may you share with me

@alekpratt9787 Год назад

Good research. I grew up in Zion and have spent a lot of time researching its history. One thing you got wrong was that “his family left him”. The truth is, dowey had been waiting on an investment from the evangelical church in Chicago. The day he was set to meet them and receive funds, his wife ended up burning to death while straitening her hair with an alcohol bottle. Dowey took this as a sign from god he was smiting him. And that is said to be the time of his downward slope into insanity. The church ended up splitting, Mount Zion was formed in opposition, and dowey lead a tyrannical and dark last few years before he was forced out of the church. A lot of wild history there.

@tmish969 6 месяцев назад

Wow! They knew the earth was flat! HalleluYAH! Thanks for the video! The Truth is being covered up about this town for a reason.

@koilachannel Год назад

Morning friend

@JohnreyKoji Год назад

Whatever the past is - it should help the present be better like in churches. Its amazing how you are able yo complete your goal of 52 churches in 52 weeks. 🤩

@WheelyArt Год назад

I am South African,interesting information on the Zion connection in South Africa,true that there are Zion churches here,one quite large with strange doctrines.

@Mamo-br4nu 3 месяца назад

Hello I am keen to learn of the strange doctrines you learnt about this church am assuming it's the ZCC church perhaps

@WheelyArt 3 месяца назад

@@Mamo-br4nu correct, its quite large too

@WheelyArt 3 месяца назад

@@Mamo-br4nu Long story short they have combined Christian beliefs with traditional african spiritual beliefs,for example they wear clothing and symbols which they believe keep evil spirits away

@Mamo-br4nu 3 месяца назад

@@WheelyArt thank you for your response

@rhemasartspace Год назад

It's good that the congregation is aware of the mistakes of the founder's past. And they recognize the importance of spiritual warfare. I just hope they don't become too extreme. Too much spiritual warfare can also be dangerous once we lose sight of God and take the battle into our own hands.

@elizabethMo Год назад

Most Christians believe in winning a theological matter than looking into the soul. This makes me wonder where the legalism balance lies .

@monus782 7 месяцев назад

I’ve heard of many religious communities like Nauvoo but I had no idea about this one, I guess it was much easier to do that type of thing back in the 1800s than it is today The church building looks beautiful despite the modern style and the defensiveness reminds me of my own former community when I was a Catholic, I guess the defensiveness comes from the community’s past.

@cjextreme Год назад

Sorry you got down on your health. Was it the choir singing or the congregation? They sounded great. We've heard so many that are little more than whispering. In Nauvoo, all the roads are named pretty much like that also(just different name sources). From your lion story, I'm beginning to see why churches are losing members, where did the love go? Thumbs up to the man with no name for your attitude to D!

@52churchesin52weeks Год назад

Hey CJ, hope you're well. I was wondering if that was the case with Nauvoo. I did a little research into Nauvoo to see the similarities with Zion IL. Was surprised to learn what happened after the Latter-day Saints headed west, selling a lot of land to the Icarians, who tried to set-up a socialist utopia based off the ideas of a French writer. Crazy thing was the kids went to a boarding school at the age of 4 and Sundays were the only time when families came together from what I read.

@cjextreme Год назад

@@52churchesin52weeks lol. Cabet saw the opportunity for free land and houses. Some homes were purchased for 12 dollars. Mostly though, the doors were left open because only people with some morals had the thought to pay something. We find the story(rotf) laughable that he tried to start a utopian community on the ashes of so much hate and war. I guess everyone else realized the irony as well because it didn't last long as there was so much infighting that after Cabet's death, they mostly all left. If I were to build my dream town, it would be right out of a B western, right down to th hitching rails 👍

@ruthfullyyours Год назад

I think you're right to say it's a crazy story! ☺Dowie and Voliva are unbelievable! That was a good story though. God's eyes are still on Christ Community Church (CCC).