Kathryn Kuhlman

{{Short description|American evangelist}}
{{POV|date=September 2015}}

{{Infobox person
| name               = Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman 
| image              = Richard Roberts Kathryn Kuhlman.jpeg
| caption            = Richard Roberts and Kathryn Kuhlman ministering.
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1907|5|9|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Johnson County, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1976|2|20|1907|5|9|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], U.S.
| occupation         = [[Evangelism|Evangelist]]
| known_for          = Miraculous healings
| spouse             = Burroughs Allen Waltrip ("Mister"), October 18, 1938– ? 1948 (divorced)
}}

'''Kathryn Kuhlman''' (May 9, 1907 - February 20, 1976) was an American [[Christian]] [[Evangelism|evangelist]] who was referred to by her contemporaries and the press to be a '[[Faith healing|faith healer]]'.

==Early life==
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was born in 1907 near [[Concordia, Missouri]], where her father was mayor.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Unknown |date=February 22, 1976 |title=Kathryn Kuhlman, Evangelist And Faith Healer, Dies in Tulsa |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/22/archives/kathryn-kuhlman-evangelist-and-faith-healer-dies-in-tulsa.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> She was one of four children to  [[German Americans|German-American]] parents Joseph Adolph Kuhlman and Emma Walkenhorst.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography of Kathryn Kuhlman |url=https://healingandrevival.com/BioKKuhlman.htm |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=healingandrevival.com}}</ref> Kuhlman had some of the best Bible instruction at home thanks to her parents, both of whom were Methodist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kathryn Kuhlman |url=https://www.christianlifeministries.com.au/people-of-faith/kathryn-kuhlman/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=www.christianlifeministries.com.au}}</ref> 

She had a spiritual experience at age 14 and several years later, she began [[Itinerant preacher|itinerant preaching]] with her elder sister and brother-in-law in [[Idaho]]. Later, she was ordained by the [[Evangelical Church Alliance]].<ref name=obitNY>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/22/archives/kathryn-kuhlman-evangelist-and-faith-healer-dies-in-tulsa.html | title=Kathryn Kuhlman, Evangelist And Faith Healer, Dies in Tulsa | work=[[New York Times]] |date=February 22, 1976 | first= Gary| last=  Settle| access-date =2007-11-12}}</ref>

Amanda H. Williams of [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]], a trailblazer for women in ministry and known for her healing ministry, helped to birth the healing ministry in Kuhlman.<ref name="obitNY" />

==Ministry==
Kuhlman traveled extensively around the United States and abroad holding healing meetings between the 1940s and 1970s. She was considered to be one of the most well-known faith healers in the world, however, the term "faith healer" was something she rejected as offensive.{{cn|date=March 2024}} In 1955, in her late 40s, despite being told by doctors about a heart condition, Kuhlman kept a very busy schedule, often traveling across the US and abroad, holding two to six-hour long meetings which could last late into the evenings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wacker |first=Grant |title=Female Evangelical Leaders Have a Hidden Predecessor to Thank |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/october/kathryn-kuhlman-female-evangelicals-hidden-predecessor.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=ChristianityToday.com |language=en}}</ref>

Kuhlman had a weekly [[TV program]] in the 1960s and 1970s called ''<nowiki/>'I Believe In Miracles''' that was aired nationally. She also had a 30-minute nationwide radio program, which featured sermons and, frequently, excerpts from her healing services (in music and message). Her foundation was established in 1954, and its [[Canada|Canadian]] branch in 1970. Late in her life she was supportive of the nascent [[Jesus movement]].<ref name="Believers' Portal">[https://believersportal.com/biography-kathryn-kuhlman/ ''Believers' Portal'']</ref>

By 1970 she had moved to [[Los Angeles]], conducting healing services for thousands of people, and was often compared to [[Aimee Semple McPherson]].<ref name="Kuhlman1970">{{cite news|url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0021/6793856/47241589_clean.html|title=Aimee Macpherson has a Dazzling Successor|date=July 4, 1970|access-date=2007-11-12|publisher=[[Pasadena Star-News]]}}</ref> She became well known for her "gift of healing" despite, as she often noted, having no [[Theology|theological training]].<ref name="Kuhlman1970"/>{{Dead link|date=March 2018}}  She was friendly with Christian television evangelist [[Pat Robertson]] and made guest appearances at his [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] (CBN) and on the network's flagship program ''[[The 700 Club]]''.

In 1975, Kuhlman was sued by Paul Bartholomew, her personal administrator. He claimed that she kept $1 million in jewelry and $1 million in fine art hidden away and sued her for $430,500 for breach of contract.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120169428.html?dids=120169428:120169428&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JUL+18%2C+1975&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Evangelist+Sued+By+a+Former+Aide&pqatl=google | title=Evangelist Sued By a Former Aide | newspaper=[[Washington Post]] | date=July 18, 1975 | access-date=2007-11-12 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/662183362.html?dids=662183362:662183362&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+03%2C+1975&author=RUSSELL+CHANDLER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Ex-Aides+Sue+Kathryn+Kuhlman&pqatl=google | title=Ex-Aides Sue Kathryn Kuhlman | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=July 3, 1975 | first=Russell | last=Chandler | access-date=2007-11-12 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Two former associates accused her in the lawsuit of diverting funds and of illegally removing records, which she denied and said the records were not private.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wOgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5546,2534488&dq=kathryn+kuhlman | title=Kathryn Kuhlman Sued By Former Associates | publisher=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=July 12, 1975 | access-date =2007-11-12}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> According to Kuhlman, the lawsuit was settled prior to trial.<ref name="Pittsburgh1975"/>

Kuhlman's devotion to her ministry was summed up in the 1976 biography ''Daughter of Destiny'', written by Jamie Buckingham:<blockquote>"The television ministry itself required more than $30,000 a week. To stop, to even cut back, would mean she was beginning to fail. The same was true with the miracle services. As the pain in her chest grew almost unbearable, instead of holding fewer services, she increased the number."</blockquote>

=== Healing ===
An estimated two million people reported that they were healed in her meetings over the years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/religion/famed-preacher-kathryn-kuhlman-died-here-years-ago/article_a09b9f6a-7b37-5184-91cb-9e85c36e5deb.html|title=Famed preacher Kathryn Kuhlman died here 40 years ago|last=SHERMAN|first=BILL|date=Feb 20, 2016|work=Tulsa World|access-date=2018-03-16|language=en}}</ref>

Following a 1967 fellowship in [[Philadelphia]], [[William A. Nolen|Dr. William A. Nolen]] conducted a case study of 23 people who said they had been cured during one of her services.<ref name="NoHealing">{{cite news |url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0030/5967824/21003862_clean.html | title=Psychic Healing? Investigator declares no | publisher=[[The Greenville News]] |date=August 16, 1975 | access-date =2007-11-12}} Also see: William Nolen, ''Healing: a doctor in search of a miracle''. New York: Random House {{ISBN|0-394-49095-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0022/6795006/48320964_clean.html | title=Dr Nolen Looks at Faith Healing | publisher=[[The San Mateo Times]] |date=March 7, 1975 | access-date =2007-11-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/02/archives/men-of-medicine-and-a-medicine-man.html  | title=Men of medicine and a medicine man | work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 2, 1975 | first=Michael | last=Michaelson   | access-date =2007-11-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913003,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114084338/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913003,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 14, 2009 | title=Extra-Dispensary Perceptions | publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=March 17, 1975 | access-date =2007-11-12}}</ref> Nolen's long term follow-ups concluded that there were no cures in those cases. One woman who was said to have been cured of spinal cancer threw away her brace and ran across the stage at Kuhlman's command; her spine collapsed the next day and she died four months later.<ref name="Pittsburgh1975">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cOQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5291,834959&dq=kathryn+kuhlman+william+nolen|title=Inside Religion: Kuhlman Tested By MD's Probe|last=Lester|first=Kinsolving|date=November 8, 1975|access-date=2007-11-12|publisher=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]}}</ref><ref name="Kuhlman">{{cite book| last = Randi | first = James | author-link = James Randi | year = 1989 | title = [[The Faith Healers]] | publisher = Prometheus Books | id =  228| isbn = 0-87975-535-0 }}</ref>

Nolen's analysis of Kulhman came in for criticism from believers. Lawrence Althouse, a physician, said that Nolen had attended only one of  Kuhlman's services and did not follow up with all of those who said they had been healed there.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Rediscovering the Gift of Healing. Nashville: Abingdon|last = Althaus|first = Lawrence|year = 1977|pages = 59}}</ref> Dr. Richard Casdorph produced a book of evidence in support of miraculous healings by Kuhlman.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Miracles: A Medical Doctor Says Yes to Miracles!|last = Casdorph|first = Richard|year = 1976|pages = 169}}</ref> Hendrik van der Breggen, a Christian philosophy professor, argued in favor of the claims.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Miracle Reports, Moral Philosophy, and Contemporary Science.|last = Hendrik van der|first = Breggen|year = 2004|pages = 382}}</ref> Author [[Craig S. Keener|Craig Keener]] concluded, "No one claims that everyone was healed, but it is also difficult to dispute that significant recoveries occurred, apparently in conjunction with prayer. One may associate these with Kathryn Kuhlman's faith or that of the supplicants, or, as in some of Kuhlman's teaching, to no one's faith at all; but the evidence suggests that some people were healed, even in extraordinary ways.".<ref>{{Cite book|title = Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts|last = Keener|first = Craig|year = 2011|pages = 614 (ebook format)}}</ref>

Dr. Richard Owellen, a member of the cancer‐research department of the [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]] who appeared frequently at Kuhlman's services, testified to various healings that he said he had investigated.<ref>Kathryn Kuhlman, Evangelist And Faith Healer, Dies in Tulsa, ''New York Times'', Feb. 22, 1976.</ref>

== Personal life ==
Burroughs Waltrip was a Texas evangelist. He divorced his first wife, left his family, moved to [[Mason City, Iowa]], and started a revival center called Radio Chapel, for which Kuhlman and her pianist friend, Helen Gulliford, helped him raise funds.<ref name="Believers' Portal" />

After a romance between Waltrip and Kuhlman began, she told her friends that she could not "find the will of God in the matter", seemingly feeling guilt-ridden. Kuhlman's friends tried to encourage her to not marry Waltrip. However, she reasoned that Waltrip's wife had left him, not the other way around. (The details of their separation are not clear.)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-24 |title=Kathryn Kuhlman - "The Woman Who Believed in Miracles" |url=https://africachurches.com/kathryn-kuhlman-the-woman-who-believed-in-miracles/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=AfricaChurches.com News Portal |language=en-GB}}</ref> On October 18, 1938, she secretly married "Mister," as she called him, in Mason City, but the wedding supposedly brought her no peace.<ref name="EerdWord">{{cite news |last=Artman |first=Amy |date=March 29, 2019 |title=Turning Points in the Life of Kathryn Kuhlman |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |url=http://eerdword.com/2019/03/29/turning-points-in-the-life-of-kathryn-kuhlman/ |access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref> The couple had no children and eventually separated in 1944, divorcing in 1948.

Regarding her marriage, in a 1952 interview with the ''Denver Post'', Kuhlman stated, "He charged—correctly—that I refused to live with him. And I haven't seen him in eight years."{{sfn|Buckingham|1976}}  On many occasions, Kuhlman expressed remorse for her part in the pain caused by the breakup of Waltrip's previous marriage, citing his children's heartbreak as particularly troubling to her. She claimed it was the single greatest regret of her life, second only to the betrayal of her loving relationship with Jesus.{{sfn|Buckingham|1976}}

==Death==
In July 1975, a doctor diagnosed Kuhlman with a minor [[Heart failure|heart flare-up]]; in November, she had a relapse.<ref name="ObitPittsburgh">{{cite news | url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0034/6776963/33852475_clean.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104021820/http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0034/6776963/33852475_clean.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 4, 2013 | title=Kathryn Kuhlman Is Dead  | publisher=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=February 21, 1976 | access-date =2007-11-12}}</ref> As a result, Kuhlman underwent open-heart surgery in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], during which she died on February 20, 1976.<ref name="obitNY" /> It was reported in her biography that at the time of her passing in the hospital, a bright light was witnessed hovering over her lifeless body.{{sfn|Buckingham|1976}}

Kathryn Kuhlman was buried in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]]. A plaque in her honor is in the main city park in Concordia, Missouri, a town in central Missouri on Interstate Highway 70.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

After she died, her [[Will (law)|will]] led to controversy.<ref name="Bequests1976">{{cite news | url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0023/6792967/46427475_clean.html | title=Kuhlman Bequests Listed | publisher=[[Independent Press-Telegram]] |date=April 17, 1976
 | access-date =2007-11-12}} {{Dead link|date=March 2018}}</ref> She left $267,500, the bulk of her estate, to three members of her family and twenty of her employees. Smaller bequests were given to 19 other employees. According to the ''[[Independent Press-Telegram]]'', her employees were disappointed when they learned that "she did not leave most of her estate to the foundation as she had done under a previous 1974 will."

The Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation had continued, but due to lack of funding, it terminated its nationwide radio broadcast in 1982. Ultimately, the foundation closed its doors in April 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.charismanews.com/us/55287-kathryn-kuhlman-s-foundation-shutters-doors-40-years-after-her-death |title = Kathryn Kuhlman's Foundation Shutters Doors 40 Years After Her Death - Charisma News}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Many believers uphold Kuhlman as an important forerunner to the present-day [[charismatic movement]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/counterfeitreviv00hane|url-access=registration|title=Counterfeit Revival|last=Hanegraaff|first=Hank|date=1997|publisher=Word Pub.|isbn=9780849938924|language=en}}</ref> She influenced [[faith healers]] [[Benny Hinn]] and [[Billy Burke (evangelist)|Billy Burke]]. Hinn has adopted some of her techniques and he also wrote a book about Kuhlman, as he frequently attended her preaching services.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-05/i-files.html |title=Benny Hinn: Healer or Hypnotist? |publisher=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=May–June 2002 |first=Joe |last=Nickell |access-date=2007-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012200735/http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-05/i-files.html |archive-date=2007-10-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Burke did meet her and was counseled by her, having claimed a miracle healing in her service as a young boy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/billy-burke-evangelist-12412865 | title=Billy Burke Evangelist - Teaching Resources }}</ref>

In 1981, [[David Byrne]] and [[Brian Eno]] sampled one of Kuhlman's sermons for a track which they created during sessions for their collaborative album ''[[My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album)|My Life in the Bush of Ghosts]]''. After failing to clear the license to Kuhlman's voice from her estate, the track was reworked to use audio from an unidentified [[exorcism]], with this modified version being released as "[[The Jezebel Spirit]]".<ref name="duke">{{cite book|last=[[Kembrew McLeod]] and [[Peter DiCola]]|title=Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|date=14 March 2011|pages=[https://archive.org/details/creativelicensel00mcle/page/167 167]|isbn=9780822348757|url=https://archive.org/details/creativelicensel00mcle|url-access=registration|quote=The Jezebel Spirit Byrne.|accessdate=11 February 2014}}</ref> The Kuhlman version was later included on the 1992 [[bootleg recording]] ''Ghosts'', titled "Into the Spirit Womb".{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==Bibliography==
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''I Believe in Miracles'', Prentice-Hall Publishers (1962)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''God Can Do It Again'', (1969)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''Nothing Is Impossible With God'', Bridge-Logos Publishers (1974)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''Never Too Late'', Bridge-Logos Publishers (1975)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''The Greatest Power in the World: A Spirit-Filled Classic'' Bridge-Logos Publishers (2008)
*Kathryn Kuhlman,  ''A Glimpse into Glory:'' ''A Spirit-Filled Classic'' Bridge Publishing INC International Concepts.,U.S. (1979)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''Gifts of the Holy Spirit,'' Publisher - Kathryn Kuhlman (2022)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''Victory in Jesus and the Lord's Healing Touch,'' Leopold Classic Library (2015)
*Kathryn Kuhlman, ''Twilight and Dawn: The Great Physicians Second Opinion'', Bridge-Logos Publishers (1979)

==Biography==
*{{Cite book|isbn = 0882703188|title = Daughter of Destiny: Kathryn Kuhlman...Her Story|last1 = Buckingham|first1 = Jamie|year = 1976| publisher=Bridge-Logos Foundation }}
*Wayne E. Warner, ''Kathryn Kuhlman, The Woman Behind the Miracles'', Servant Publications/New Wine Press (1993)
*Artman, Amy Collier, ''The Miracle Lady: Kathryn Kuhlman and the Transformation of Charismatic Christianity'', [[Wm. B. Eerdmans]] Publishing Co., (2019)

==See also==
* [[Benny Hinn]]
* [[Aimee Semple McPherson]]
* [[John G. Lake|John G Lake]]
* [[A. A. Allen|A.A. Allen]]
* ''[[Sid Roth's It's Supernatural]]'', a television talk show which is hosted by [[Televangelism|televangelist]] Sid Roth, a Jewish convert to Christianity who admires Kathryn Kuhlman and Benny Hinn

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Find a Grave|8694}}
*[http://www.jgmol.com Joan Gieson with Kathryn Kuhlman]

{{1950s Healing Revival}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhlman, Kathryn}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Protestants]]
[[Category:People from Lafayette County, Missouri]]
[[Category:American Methodists]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:American faith healers]]
[[Category:American Charismatics]]
[[Category:Oral Roberts University people]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]