WA Draves

William August Draves (born May 12, 1912 , † June 28, 1994 ) was the founder, worldwide leader and apostle (comparable to a bishop) of the Church of Christ with the Elias message .

From 1937 to 1993, WA Draves, according to his own confession and the faith of the Church, received 87 divine messages, which were brought through the risen John the Baptist who appeared as an angel . These messages are recognized by the Church of Christ with the Elijah message alongside the Bible and the Nephite account as holy scriptures of equal value .

childhood

WA Draves was born on May 12, 1912 and grew up as the third child in a family of eight children in the western part of the US state of Nebraska . As a 10-year-old, he and his father and older brother attended services for several days in a congregation of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Eventually he and his brother were baptized in the Platte River by Pastor Sivvitts in North Platte , Nebraska . Evangelist Ralph Burton made the subsequent confirmation . During the confirmation he was given a prophecy by his own admission with the content that one day he would “have to do a special job” among his fellow believers “..., see angels and would be seen as a prophet in God's work”. During the next days of the services on August 3, 1922, he received additional confirmation from a prophetess that the previous prophecy was true and actually from God. He was also told that 40 years would pass before his mother's death and that he will be with her during this time. According to a later biography of WA Draves, this prophecy is believed to have come true to the day his mother died on August 3, 1962 at the age of 84 in a Draves-run retirement home in Kingston , Missouri , USA .

When WA Draves was 13, his family moved to the state of Colorado . There she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Draves was then baptized in this church. However, he did not attend the sacrament celebrations because he disliked the practice of using water during the sacrament.

youth

In 1929, when Draves was almost 17 years old, his family learned of the alleged apparitions of the risen John the Baptist and his messages, which he is said to have brought to Otto Fetting , at that time still an apostle of the Church of Christ, Temple Lot. The family was also informed of the supposed divine plans in the messages to build the temple on Temple Square in Independence , Missouri, on the exact spot that Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Mormons, had , supposed to have seen in a vision in 1831 . This temple square now belonged to the Church of Christ, Temple Lot. The foundation was excavated in 1929 to the extent of approx. 55 × 27.5 m. All of this news gave WA Draves courage and confidence.

In April 1929, Draves' father was killed when a train collided with a truck. At the time, the family lived on a farm east of Platteville , Greeley County , Colorado . Apostle Thomas Barton came at the request of the mother for visits from elders (presbyters) of the Church of Christ, Temple Lot. The mother and several children including WA Draves were baptized. Thomas Barton prophesied in the subsequent confirmation to Draves that he would "have special work to do in the Church among the brethren, ... would see angels and be a leader in God's work". Barton, according to Draves' later testimony, knew nothing of the prophecies that Draves had received as a 10-year-old. The complete agreement of these two independent prophecies impressed him and gave him renewed certainty about their divine origin.

During the summer of 1929, Draves was packed with temple construction work and planned to go to Independence, Missouri, to help build it. Finally, Draves heard of the 12th message (quote and explanation from Otto Fetting , Work in the Church of Christ (Temple Lot)), which John the Baptist is said to have brought to Otto Fetting on July 18, 1929 as the angel. For Draves it was now completely incomprehensible that former members of other Mormon churches could join the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) without having been baptized again with a kind of cleansing baptism according to this 12th message. Draves later learned that even Apostle Thomas Barton, who served at the forefront of the Church of Christ, Temple Lot, but had previously transferred from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had not been baptized either.

Working in the Church of Christ (Fetting) as well as in the Church of Christ with the Elias message

Draves finally joined the "Church of Christ (Fetting)" founded by Otto Fetting . "Church of Christ (Fetting)", (the addition of brackets was used to distinguish it from other "Churches of Christ") and was rebaptized within this church in 1931 by Apostle WP Buckley. Draves was later ordained an elder (presbyter) by Apostle George Backus . The ordination as apostle of the "Church of Christ (Fetting)" took place in 1940. After the 26th message from Draves (in the total count including the messages Fetting the 56th message), the church questioned the divine authorship of Draves' messages in 1943 and finally only recognized Fetting's 30 messages. Draves and his followers had to leave the church. Thereupon Draves founded his own "Church of Christ" called "The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message". Until his death on June 28, 1994, he held the worldwide leadership of this church.

Main work "The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel"

From October 4, 1937 to September 12, WA Draves received 87 messages. After each reception, Draves delivered the messages directly to the church in order to check the punctuation and grammar and to have a verse counted. He distributed copies to libraries around the world, allegedly encouraging John the Baptist to do so. To this day, these messages belong to the Bible , the report of the Nephites (a separate edition of the Book of Mormon ) and together with the 30 messages of Otto Fetting to the equivalent holy writings of the Church of Christ with the Elijah message. These 117 messages in total are published as a collection in book form with the original title "The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel". They were distributed in English and in various translations, including German, French, Polish and Russian, outside the USA also in Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Written testimony of the angel messenger's visits by WA Draves

To testify the truth of his alleged experiences on oath in person, Draves wrote on June 17, 1940 in Independence, Missouri, after receiving his 18th message (the 48th message in the total including the messages of Fetting) that night had the following personal testimony:

“To all of whom it may concern: In all sincerity, I give this venerable testimony to my Lord on this day. He is my witness and also my judge. I expect to stand before God's great and pleasant courtroom to answer for what I may say therein. The appearances, experiences and words of the messenger's visits are true. I've seen him from time to time. I heard his voice. I saw his face. I have seen the light that accompanies him, which precedes his appearance and remains for an hour or more after he leaves. I felt his touch on my shoulder and also in it while he held my hand. I have been enveloped in that wonderful heavenly and divine power of God.

I want to make this statement so that everyone may know that this is true. I do not fear the future and I cannot and I will deny the things that I have seen and heard from the heavenly source, the messenger, as long as I have my right mind and God gives me his grace to stay here on earth . I may have been misunderstood by those who should be my companions, and I may have failed in some things in the past, and others may still make statements about me; but I want them to understand, that this testimony is true and that I remain faithful to the advice and instructions given by the messenger regardless of what a person or people may say. The messenger wears a white robe. His hair is a tiny bit golden next to his skin and turns white like pure wool, white like snow. His eyes are like a flame and his feet are like the shine of fine brass, as if they were on fire. His voice has the sound of someone in authority. His expression is like the shine of the sun with all its light, even brighter than the light that shines on the earth. He is enveloped in light and very bright immediately around him. I wish that all could see the sweet and powerful influence that comes with this heavenly and then all doubt would fade from the mind of the natural man. Peace to all and may the Lord's will be done. These are my words to you on this day and may the Spirit of God bear witness. - WA Draves "

literature

• Draves, WA: Brief History in WA Draves' Life, o.O. 1992
• The Word of the Lord, Independence, Missouri 2005
• Huonker, Martin (Ed.): The word of the Lord brought to mankind through his angel, Wegweiser-Verlag Wannweil ​​1974
• Reimer, Hans-Dieter: Material service of the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen , 38th year, Quell Verlag Stuttgart, p. 297 - p. 298
• Schmid, Georg, et al. (Ed.): Churches, sects, religions. Religious communities, ideological groups and psycho-organizations in the German-speaking area. A manual. Founded by Oswald Eggenberger, Theologischer Verlag Zurich 2003, 7th edition, p. 196 - p. 197

Web links

• The Word of the Lord - All 87 Messages (Messages No. 31 - No. 117) by WA Draves in English