Customer Reviews

Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson

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If a biography can have the beauty of a painting, this one does. It does not stand off from a safe academic distance from its subject, as if the author's heart could not possibly be touched or fascinated by the drama of his subject's story, but through its words the author conveys his own wonder at Sister Aimee's remarkable life. He does so with caution, since his own religious perspective differs from her, but nevertheless the heart of the author comes through, stirring the reader to greater amazement at one who in this often frightening century prayed for miracles, and received them in wondrous abundance. Epstein does not minimize the personal troubles of Sister Aimee's life, though he does defend her integrity re serious charges of scandal (in my view, persuasively). If you have ever contemplated writing a biography, this book provides a model of biography-writing at its finest.

I assume that Mr. Epstein is Jewish, and so am especially thankful for what his book may signify as a contribution to greater understanding between Christians and Jews (though that is not the focus of his book).

I look forward to future works by this author.

For those who are quick to dismiss Aimee Semple Mcpherson as the prototypical religious huckster this book will give you much pause to think. Although Epstein doesn't attempt to minimize her mortal weaknesses and often a naivete which frequently had her at odds with the more worldly he also shows the tirelessly devoted humanitarian who pushed herself to the point of breakdown. The book helps one to appreciate the multifacted, sometimes subtle and sometimes dominating personality she possessed, a woman who can command admiration for her spiritual gifts despite the feet of clay.

Epstein could have written a very skeptical biography of this powerful woman: her rollercoaster life certainly gave him enough ambiguous material. Instead, he's written a balanced and engaging account, describing both the power and attraction of her spiritual talents and the engulfing loneliness of her personal life. A fascinating and very readable book.

I read this book perhaps five or more years ago, and it remains one of the top two books that I have ever read, besides the Bible. As I passed it in the library, I deliberately avoided it, yet felt compelled to go back and check it out. I couldn't
put it down! I had stereotyped Aimee McPherson as simply a long-ago female evangelist, but Daniel Epstein compelled me to follow him as he
brought her out of the shadows of the past and into the light, as though she lived now. Her story became so compelling to me that by the time the book was finished, I felt that her story stayed with me for weeks and weeks. I even wondered what her point of view would have been as I encountered various things in life. I literally could not read another book for months, and I have never had that reaction to a book. I simply had no desire for another book. All I can compare it to would be akin to the aftermath of an excellent steak dinner!

Before reading this book I simply had no idea how important an historical figure Aimee Semple McPherson is.

I had no idea that she was such an intensely popular media figure, on the scale of a top Hollywood celebrity;

... that she was one of, if not THE, first to break the gender barrier in circuit evangelism and pastoring;

... that she was the first religious radio broadcaster, having set up her own 24/7 radio tower atop her Angelus Temple;

... that she pioneered modern religious drama at the pulpit of her temple, or that she had prodigiously composed both popular songs and whole operettas, had preached a voluminous corpus of her own sermons and had also written extensively;

... or that she had spearheaded a massive ongoing relief effort, matching or exceeding that of the government, in the face of disasters such the Great Depression and the Santa Barbara earthquake.

But above all, I had no idea that Aimee possessed a simply incredible healing anointing, far greater than anything I've ever seen or heard about with any other healing evangelist.

I had seen some media glosses of Aimee's life, and unsurprisingly the accent was on her failings. And while those failings were significant, and it's important to tell the whole story warts and all, when it comes to things to do with the Lord, the media, now as during Aimee's time, still has a penchant for majoring on the minors.

Daniel Mark Epstein has beautifully told Aimee's story, and he's managed to do it both objectively and sympathetically. The man has a poet's discipline, and when he's set loose on prose he fluidly packs all kinds of detail and meaning into his words. The more I read this book the more I wanted to return to it and see the story through.

I was brought to tears several times during the tale. Most of the time it was due to the astonishing healings that Aimee wrought through Christ. A family with three young daughters, all congenitally blind, walks away with them seeing. A tearful mother's trembling hand searches in vain for misshapenness in her daughter's spine. Grapefruit-sized goiters disappear dramatically, as if lanced and evacuated. Cripples walk - some of the young ones unsteadily, because they don't know HOW to walk, never having done it before.

Ace reporters show up to find fault and expose fraud, barely can find the words to record what their own eyes are seeing, and then stay to pray. Men rip the siding off churches, trying to pass their children through the walls into overflowed services. The AMA certifies the healings and encourages Aimee in her work.

If it weren't for the healings, this would still be a noteworthy story of a dynamic evangelist, church-planter, dramatist, composer, writer, and American phenomenon. But the healings - the very part of the story that the media and cynics disdain - make this a supremely important story for anyone who wants to know what one person can achieve if they have the courage to say Yes to the Lord.

But the other cause of my tears was seeing Aimee fall victim to her own vulnerabilities and errors. The sad truth is that this world is eager to tear down anyone who achieves a degree of success in the Lord. And if the to-be-expected wolf pack of the media and the public opinion it shapes are not enough, there also will be ministerial rivals to pick up the slack.

Aimee was eaten alive by corrupt prosecutors, lawyers, incompetent managers, the media, and other pastors. And yes, her own vulnerabilities and mistakes fed into the process. But she nonetheless was a woman of immense dedication, compassion, giftings and anointing, and you will do yourself a great spiritual disservice if you ignore her achievements because of her failings. Take the achievements as motivation and the failings as admonition. In the end you will be hard put not to feel sympathy and love for Sister Aimee. I am very much the richer for having become familiar with her through this excellent book.

Aimee Semple McPherson was born to a young mother and an old father on an Ontario farm in 1890. Her mother eventually divorced the father becoming a Salvation Army sister.
Aimee was precocious and charismatic from birth. She loved living on the farm with animals a special joy in her life. Aimee read Darwin in school becoming an agnostic for a brief period in her adolescence. She then met the Irish Pentecostal preacher Robert McPherson whom she married.
The couple were missionaries in China prior to the death of Robert in a malarial epidemic. The couple had two children Robereta and Rolf. Young widow Amy returned to America. She married a dull man in Harry McPherson who wanted her to stay home. Instead Amie, her mother and at times her children barnstormed across America preaching the gospel message. Amie had an ability as a faith healer. Epstein relates several miraculous cures Amie made of the deaf, blind and crippled.
Epstein devotes several chapters to Aimee's crusades and healing services. She was financially deprived until she hit the big time in large weeklong services in places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC and New York.
Aimee divorced McPherson and in the 1920 established Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. She founded the Foursquare Gospel Church;was a pioneer of religious broadcasting and gave thousands of sermons. Aimee was a skilled performer with many of her sermons being acted out in dramatic/musical presentations. She even wrote a religious opera; an autobiograpy and was one of the most famous women in America,
In 1926 she disappeared while swimming and was presumed dead. Several weeks later she emerged from the desert claiming she had been kidnapped. A court trial ensued accusing her of fradulence. Though acquitted she was never as popular as she once was. A third marriage to a 300 pounder proved a disastere. Aimee was highstrung, controlling, mesmerizing and completely devoted to her ministry. She knew many of the great folk of her day including Charlie Chaplin who gave her advice on staging at the Temple; Anthony Quinn was a musician in her Temple Band.
In her later years she was plagued by poor health and bad business decisions. She became estranged from her dominating mother and her daughter Roberta. Her son Rolf is still involved in Foursquare International Ministry.
Aimee had no racial prejudice and condemned the beliefs of the KKK who had given the Temple financial support. She was a fundamentalist Christian who would go into bars and nightclubs to preach to the people there in a loving manner. Aimee's faith was joyous and she eschewed hell fire and damnation sermons. She had an unlettered though brilliant mind.
She was sensitive,impetuous, lonely and moody.
Epstein's biography is positive in its view of Aimee Semple McPherson who used her abilities for God. I found it commendable that she and her Temple fed, clothed and ministered to thousands of Los Angeles residents during the Great Depression. Her patriotic rallies during World War II and sale of War Bonds is to be commended. Aimee died young worn out in body but her soul shines in a life well lived.

This is a biography of the renowned evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944). I say "renowned" though I personally had never heard of her before encountering this book, nor had either of my parents, who were contemporaneous with her, ever mentioned her to me. But she was apparently a household name at the height of her fame.

This voluminous book is perfectly worded, but written in a slightly old-fashioned style. The first half of the book is extremely readable, but grows less so, the last chapter being somewhat boring, to my mind.

The most fascinating part of the story is the recounting of the miraculous healings which were effected by, I would say, the Christ within Aimee by the immense power of her faith. Thousands and thousands of amazing healings occurred, instantaneously, before the eyes of everyone in the magnificent Angelus temple in Los Angeles built by the evangelist. The temple was filled to the brim every night by thousands of her followers and those incurables seeking healing.

Aimme was extemely gifted in many ways, intelligent with tremendous oratorical, dramatic and creative skills. She did not preach of the fires of hell, but accepted and loved her congregation as they were. Though she did believe in the two powers, i.e. in the power of the devil also. She was one of the great figures of her generation.

Her shadow self manifested itself in the innumerable squabbles, financial and otherwise, with her family and some of her vast entourage of helpers.

Her "kidnapping", whether genuine or otherwise, brought headlines throughout the world.

She eventually wore herself out, due to her excessive activity, lack of sleep, nervous exhaustion, law-suits and break-ups with her mother and daughter.

A worthwhile read for those interested in the life of this great evangelist.

This biography reads almost like fiction because the subject lived an amazing yet strange life. The book is a great example of how God utilizes the imperfect, not the perfect people, to do His will. Aimee Semple McPherson lived an extraordinary life. She had plenty of controversy and failures but she managed to touch thousands and perhaps millions of people. She changed people's lives in dramatic ways. The author did an amazing job because while I think he admired her, he managed to keep an objective perspective throughout the book. Regarding events that are not clearly known, he simply reported the facts, that events occurred and he did not draw conclusions or give his opinion. He simply told the story which was fascinating and did not contaminate it with his opinion.

I have never had a book effect me so personally before. I felt as though I was Sister Aimee. I attended L.I.F.E., the school she founded, and knew many of the people referred to. I was too young to have met Sister Aimee, but the book helped me to know the lady I so long have admired and never knew the entire story about. Thank you, Mr. Epstein for this wonderful book.

This is the most fascinating book that I have ever read, I could not put it down. I'm not a "Bible Thumper" but read this story because of the amazing Aimee. Never have I read about someone with the amount of stamina and non-stop good for humanity as I did in this story. As a result of reading "Sister Aimee" I traveled to her original church and parsonage in L.A. which still functions today. It gave me "goosebumps", especially knowing that her existing kitchen was open 24 hours a day and stocked with food for anyone who was hungry and needed food. It's all there-what a lady! She had more than her share of travails, some brought on by herself, but she prevailed through it all. I certainly learned a great deal about how some people must cope and succeed through life's difficulties.