The HyperTexts
James Alexander Brown debates Billy Graham on the subject of the Age of
Accountability and God "barbecuing" human beings in "Hell"
The following biographical material and images were proved to Michael R. Burch,
the editor of The HyperTexts, by Craig Fagan, the grandson of James
Alexander Brown, a country minister who strongly disputed the dogma of an
"eternal hell." In fact, he stood up to Billy Graham and other hellfire
ministers, claiming that they were "more dangerous that prostitutes with deadly
AIDS" and that if anyone should go to "hell," it would be them, if only for ten
days. How much more compassionate James Brown was than his adversaries, who
condemned billions of children as young as ten years old to "hell" for the
"crime" of having been born human. Here are two letters written to Mike Burch by
Craig Fagan, followed by images of his grandfather's ads against "hell,"
including one that makes the point that only the Devil would send innocent
children to "hell." Brother James A. Brown had to rest before publishing his
final ad, in which he argued against the infernal dogma of an "eternal hell" on
behalf of children, to the very end.
Mike,
My grandpa was born James Alexander Brown in 1906. He died in 1991. He had
eight children and (I need a calculator) many more grandchildren. He was a hard-working man who spent most of his life poor. He raised his family during the
great depression, working on the railroad and other jobs. He always gave away
everything he had. He was a strong man, with a very, very warm heart. He truly
loved God. Seeing my Grandpa was seeing the love of God in person. He has been
gone for 20 years and I still miss him.
He preached on the radio for years. He was on small little radio stations around
the Midwest. He probably had no more than a few hundred people listening to him,
but it didn't matter. He wanted to preach the word of God. And, he wanted it to
be known that God was not going throw people into Hell. He would make tape
recordings of his radio shows. When I'd go visit him in his little house in the
country, he would have a wall fall of his tapes.
Thanks for letting me reminisce.
Mike,
I was at my mom's yesterday. We went through some old boxes and pulled out
two flyers from my Grandpa. My grandpa was a country radio preacher in
Missouri. He only left the state of Missouri twice during the 86 years that he was on
earth. He did not believe in Hell. The first flyer was something he posted in
the paper a few months before he died. The second flyer was an earlier speaking
engagement. I thought you'd enjoy these.
Craig Fagan
The HyperTexts