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The Doctrine of Father Divine is the teachings of the late Father Divine (d. 1965) and his religious movement, the International Peace Mission movement. The most obvious teaching of Father Divine is his claim to be God, but his doctrine constituted a larger coherent system of thought. Image File history File links AmericaAfrica. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... African American history is the history of an ethnic group in the United States also known as Black Americans. ... Military history of African Americans is that of African Americans in the United States since the arrival of the first black slaves in 1619 to the present day. ... The Atlantic slave trade, started by the Portuguese[1], but soon dominated by the English, was the sale and exploitation of African slaves by Europeans that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th century to the 19th century. ... Slave sale in Easton, Maryland The history of slavery in the United States began soon after Europeans first settled in what became the United States. ... See also: American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans. ... Prominent figures of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. ... The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and Border States of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965 and affected African Americans and many other races. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The word Maafa (also known as the African Holocaust or Holocaust of Enslavement) is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, terrible occurrence or great tragedy. ... For the automotive term, see redline. ... A.U.M.P. Church AME Church National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. ... Haile Selassie I Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion and philosophy that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, whom they call Jah. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Ifá is a system of divination that originated in West Africa among the Yoruba people. ... Voodoo redirects here. ... 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The Links, Incorporated is an exclusive non-profit organization based upon the ideals of combining friendship and community service and was was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1946, from a group of ladies known as the Philadelphia Club to have focuses on civic, cultural, and educational endeavors[1... Sigma Pi Phi is the the oldest surviving black fraternity and generally considered to be the first black fraternity. ... National Black Chamber of Commerce The National Black Chamber of Commerce, (NBCC), was “incorporated in March of 1993, in Washington D.C.” The organizations mission is “To economically empower and sustain African American communities, through the process of entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with... 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This is an alphabetical list of African-American-related topics: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A African American African American contemporary issues African American culture... Father Divine (c. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion—sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, and institutions associated with such belief. ... The International Peace Mission movement was the religious movement started by Father Divine, an African-American who claimed to be God. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

Theology

"Father Divine" preached of his divinity from even before he was known as "Father Divine" in the late 1910s. His doctrine taught that his life fulfilled all Biblical prophecies about the second coming, regarding himself as Jesus Christ reborn. Father Divine also lectured that Christ existed in "every joint" of his follower's bodies, and that he was "God's light" incarnated to show how to establish heaven on earth and show the way of eternal life. For example: Father Divine (c. ... Divinity has a number of related uses in the field of religious belief and study. ... // Caitlin wants nathans penis mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. ... The Bible is the collection of Religious text or books of Judaism and Christianity. ... The Second Coming refers to the Christian belief in the return of Jesus Christ, an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead, last judgment and full establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (also called the Reign of God), including the... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Christ is the English of the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ...

Condescendingly I came as an existing Spirit unembodied, until condescendingly inputting MYSELF in a Bodily form in the likeness of men I came, that I might speak to them in their own language, coming to a country that is supposed to be the Country of the Free, where mankind is privileged to serve GOD according to the dictates of his own conscience...establishing the Kingdom of GOD in the midst of them; that they might become to be living epistles as individuals, seen and read of men, and verifying what has long been said:

"The tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and God Himself shall be with them, and shall be their God, and they shall be his people."

– quoted in Peace Mission Movement p. 62, Mrs. S. A. Divine, 1985 and God, Harlem, U.S.A. p. 178, Jill Watts, 1992.

Father Divine and his followers capitalized pronouns referring to him, much like "LORD" translated from the tetragrammaton is capitalized in the English Bible. Edna Rose Ritchings, is the symbolic maintainer of the International Peace Mission movement. ... For capitalize in the context of Capital Letters, see Capitalization and Majuscule. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun phrase. ... A Lord (Laird in some Scottish contexts) is a male who has power and authority. ... It has been suggested that Yahweh be merged into this article or section. ... The efforts of translating the Bible from its original languages into over 2,000 others have spanned more than two millennia. ...

Father Divine's definition of God became quite celebrated at the time because of its unusual use of language: "God is not only personified and materialized. He is repersonified and rematerialized. He rematerialized and He rematerialates. He rematerialates and He is rematerializatable. He repersonificates and He repersonifitizes."

Positive thought

Father Divine can be considered part of the New Thought Movement; indeed, many of his white followers came from this tradition. The New Thought Movement describes a set of religious developments that originated in the United States during the late 19th century, inspired by the philosophy of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby from Belfast, Maine. ...

Welfare

Father Divine was particularly concerned with the downtrodden of society, including but not limited to Blacks.

Race

Scholars disagree about whether Father Divine, an African American, was a civil rights activist, but he certainly advocated some progressive changes to race relations. For example, because he believed that every human was accorded equal rights, he believed that all members of lynch mobs ought to be tried and convicted as murderers. Father Divine's anti-lynching campaigns resonated in the black ghettos where his congregations lived, and he got over a quarter million people to sign his anti-lynching proposals. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Equal Rights can be: One of several groups called the Equal Rights Party. ... Lynching is a form of violence, usually murder, conceived of by its perpetrators as extrajudicial punishment for offenders or as a terrorist method of enforcing social domination. ... A ghetto is an area where people from a specific racial or ethnic background live as a group in seclusion, voluntarily or involuntarily. ...

Patriotism

Father advocated that followers think of themselves as simply Americans. He believed that America was the birthplace of the "Kingdom of God", which would ultimately encompass truths of all religious principles, promoting equality and brotherhood. The Movement was supportive of the United States Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and particularly the Bill of Rights as inspired documents, believing that they outlined a more ideal life. A copy of the 1823 William J. Stone reproduction of the Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. ... Image of the United States Bill of Rights from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration The United States Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. ...

Communal living

Toward this life, followers of Father Divine owned and managed property collectively. The movement strove to alleviate poverty by feeding the poor and through education in written English, which the Movement believed was the "universal language." The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Chastity

Father Divine established an "International Modesty Code" which forbids smoking, drinking, and profanity. Additionally, it forbade tips, bribes, receiving presents, and "undue mixing of the sexes," along with women wearing slacks or short skirts and men wearing short-sleeves. This article is about the product manufactured from Tobacco plants (Nicotiana spp. ... Functional group of an alcohol molecule. ... Look up Profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Thrift and capitalism

Father Divine advocated a number of economic practices, which his followers abided by. He opposed life insurance (which converts were to cancel), welfare, social security, and credit. Thus, the Movement advocated economic self-sufficiency. His insistence that his followers refuse welfare not related to employment was estimated to have saved New York City $2 million during the Depression. Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insureds death. ... Welfare is financial assistance paid by taxpayers to groups of people who are unable to support themselves, and determined to be able to function more effectively with financial assistance. ... Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Credit as a financial term, used in such terms as credit card, refers to the granting of a loan and the creation of debt. ...

Business owners in the Movement named their ventures to show affiliation with Father Divine, and obeyed all of these practices. They dealt only in cash, refusing credit in any of its forms. Each was to sell below competitor's prices while refusing any sorts of tips or gratuities. Finally, they refrained from trade in alcohol or tobacco.

Although Father Divine himself was married, the movement discouraged marriage, along with any excessive mingling of the sexes. In the "Heavens" and other living spaces the Movement maintained separate areas existed for men and women.

References

• International Peace Mission movement Homepage
• God, Harlem U.S.A: the Father Divine story, Jill Watts, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992 ISBN 0-520-07455-6
• The Father Divine Project — A Database Documentary