1. Smith Wigglesworth was a British evangelist who was influential in the early history of Pentecostalism.
19 Facts About Smith Wigglesworth
1. 2.
Smith Wigglesworth was born on 10 June 1859 in Menston, Yorkshire, England, to an impoverished family.
3.
Smith Wigglesworth was illiterate as a child, being unschooled because of his labours.
4.
Smith Wigglesworth's grandmother was a devout Methodist; his parents, John and Martha, took young Smith to Methodist and Anglican churches on regular occasions.
5.
Smith Wigglesworth was confirmed by a Bishop in the Church of England, baptized by immersion in a Baptist church and had grounding in Bible teaching in the Plymouth Brethren while learning the plumbing trade as an apprentice from a man in the Brethren movement.
6.
Smith Wigglesworth learned to read after he married Polly; she taught him to read the Bible.
7.
Smith Wigglesworth often stated that it was the only book he ever read, and did not permit newspapers in his home, preferring the Bible to be their only reading material.
8.
Smith Wigglesworth worked as a plumber, but he abandoned this trade because he was too busy for it after he started preaching.
9.
In 1907, Smith Wigglesworth visited Alexander Boddy during the Sunderland Revival, and following a laying-on of hands from Alexander's wife, Mary Boddy, he experienced Baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
10.
Smith Wigglesworth spoke at some of the Assemblies of God events in Great Britain.
11.
Smith Wigglesworth received ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in the United States, where he evangelized from 1924 to 1929.
12.
Smith Wigglesworth believed that healing came through faith, and he was flexible in his approach.
13.
Smith Wigglesworth practiced anointing with oil, and the distribution of "prayer handkerchiefs".
14.
Smith Wigglesworth largely believed his ministerial success was due to his Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
15.
Smith Wigglesworth ministered in the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Pacific Islands, India, Ceylon, and several countries in Europe.
16.
Smith Wigglesworth continued to minister until the time of his death on 12 March 1947.
17.
Smith Wigglesworth described cancer as "a living evil spirit", and insisted that many diseases were "Satanic in origin".
18.
On one occasion Smith Wigglesworth declared to the sick "I'll only pray for you once, to pray twice is unbelief".
19.
Smith Wigglesworth died at the funeral of his close friend, Wilf Richardson, on 12 March 1947, at the age of 87.