Craig Marsh and the positive review

"People have accused Craig Marsh of being rude and arrogant and of being untruthful. All I can say to those people is that I didn't experience anything like that. I found him both funny and engaging, and he spoke with passion, humility and honesty. No, I didn't see hundreds healed, but plenty came forward to give their life to the Lord or to recommit themselves to him. His preaching and teaching were great, biblically based, profound at times and he clearly understood where we were at as a church." - Red, Christian Blogger

I try to be fair. There is likely disagreement on my success in this endeavour. I've offered Marsh a guest post (and Tzortzis, for that matter) but it's not something he's interested in pursuing at this time. Some weeks ago I had a rather pleasant and polite chat with Red who writes over at Picking Apples of Gold. She's a Christian, miracle-believing blogger who has recently attended a training course in praying for miracle healings.

She's rather kindly reviewed the proceedings over at her blog. There were no healings viewed, or evidence presented, or change of mind on my part, but there was some secondhand testimony. By all accounts he was well received and warm in person. Do have a read, and if you choose to comment, please keep it nice :-)

Craig Marsh and the Starship Enterprise

"His surgeons do not know how this has happened and have said it was not something that should have happened on it’s own"

 -Testimony on Craig Marsh's website

In an earlier episode, worth reading for background, I spoke of Craig Marsh and his miraculous regrowing stomach. He says with confidence that he is a walking miracle, astounding experienced surgeons in his native New Zealand. He claims documentation to back this up, except when he says the opposite. When you ask to see said paperwork you learn that skeptics are unworthy of standing in its presence and Christians who request proof are merely failing to show enough faith in Craig Marsh.

I've exhausted all reasonable attempts to view a copy of these fascinating records. Luckily, although lacking in detail, there are many stories and anecdotes on his site and one had just enough information to track down the hospital mentioned as being baffled by a supposed miraculous cure.

Craig Marsh and the anonymous performance review

I've been contacted by a former worker at one of Craig Marsh's shows. They've wanted to tell their story for some time now but have been concerned about community reprisals. I'll be respecting their request for anonymity, but if you have any questions based on the below please add a comment and I'll e-mail the author for clarification.


The year was, 2006 (I think), the month, March (I think) and Craig Marsh had arrived to conduct a multi-day mission.

I say 'I think' because it could have been the previous October, or both, I didn't keep much of a record about the dates I'm afraid.

Craig Marsh's Response: More Than I Can Stomach

*Edit: I've been asked to state that I do not work for Premier Christian Radio, do not represent their views and am not acting on behalf of their company or agents. I'm happy to do so.*

Back in March I discussed modern-day miracles with Doctor Craig Keener on Premier Christian Radio. He'd written a 1,200 page book on the subject, and while he was a pleasant chap with some good points on Hume I disagreed with his endorsement of riot-inciting Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke and Dawit Molalegn, mega rich megapastor of the FBI miracle church.

In addition the host played two recorded messages and asked for my response. One was from a woman who said her leg felt improved some days after being prayed for. The other was from a Pastor Craig Marsh. His - let's be polite initially - story was that his stomach had been largely amputated for medical reasons, he was terminally ill, and then during a group prayer event his stomach spontaneously regrew, allowing him to both live a normal life and perplex his medical staff.

Reinhard Bonnke and the Case of the Evil God

"When you grasp what we are saying here, then you join the army with the battering ram of the Word of the Cross. It will pulverise the strongholds of the devil. It is the drum-roll thunder of God’s invincible army on the march."

 "No matter how brilliant a sermon may be, in a form as perfect as the bullet case of a tank cartridge, if you do not fill it with explosives it will simply bounce off the hardened hearts of the unbelievers."

"Witnesses should witness; it is our nature. Soldiers are not fitted with uniforms and equipped with weapons simply to go on parade; their true place is on the battlefield." (Wasser und Mehr)

There are religious books that only provide heat when put on a bonfire. (Evangelism by fire.)

The church was never constructed for defensive purposes. The gates of hell should be invaded, not avoided. Offence is the best defense. Instead of waiting to ward off the devil's onslaught, turn the tide of battle and launch an invasion of the devil's territory. Jesus is with you. (Official Facebook page) 

Many years ago I spent a rather enjoyable week working in Istanbul. It was my first time in a Muslim majority country and much less of a difference than I had perhaps naively expected. I avoided alcohol, pork, and long conversations on unstunned Halal slaughter. I'd heard a rumour that showing the sole of one's shoe could be considered offensive. This was prudish of me - I have no doubt that I would still have been welcome had I indulged in all the above perceived vices - but it seemed only fair that I make a moderate effort when visiting.

But what of Reinhard Bonnke? A close associate of the very rich huckster Benny Hinn, Bonnke was called in a dream (naturally) to minister to Africa, where his performances are billed under the ill-advised heading of crusades.

I feel certain that Bonnke must work late into the night in his efforts to provoke reactions when he 'invades the Devil's territory'. Crusades are not looked upon with kindness by Muslims and they have strong historical precedent for adopting this position. Couple this with Bonnke's incessant, dreary repetition of analogies with soldiers, guns, explosives, invasions, tanks and so on and you're left quite certain that he is not a chap interested in interfaith dialogue.

But could it get worse?

Dawit Molalegn and FBI's Miracle Church

By the time I reach the end of this sentence you'll likely be asking why I'm suddenly concerned with a Megachurch in Ethiopia. I have a radio show coming up where I'll be discussing miracles, and as part of my background reading I've been investigating those listed as reliable witnesses of the miraculous. The FBI church is not my strongest case, but I'm working through these in rough chronological order so it managed to come up trumps.

Although originally named Faith Baptist Church, self-styled megachurch President Dawit Molalegn rebranded his ministry to Faith Bible International Church. The more astute among you will already have noticed the logo in the bottom right corner of all screenshots - he's stolen his livery wholesale from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A documentary made by the megachurch is available on ethiotube.net and the comments make for interesting reading:

"This man is so fat, because of this poeple's money and fat life. But full of lie. He drive, he eat, he talk(bussiness), and live like he is popstar. There is no way he look like pastor. He did not even mentiion one word from bible. 
all is money, dollar, dollar, dollar, dollarhow paster take the stage to talk about dollar???"

Comments on Molalegn's weight may seem a little ill spirited, but if you watch the video you won't find anyone else who's managed to acquire such a quintessentially Western complaint.