Father Divine: Encyclopedia II - Father Divine - Physical characteristics and preaching style

Father Divine - Physical characteristics and preaching style

Father Divine was a lightly-built African American man at a diminutive 5 foot, 2 inches (1.57 m). Through most of his life he maintained a moustache which he kept well groomed. His hair was invariably combed, and since his days in Sayville, New York he almost always wore a suit in public.

Like many religious or cult leaders, Father Divine was said to be very charismatic. His sermons were emotionally moving and freely associated between topics. His speech was often peppered with words of his own invention like "physicalating" and "tangiblated". Other eccentricities were drawn from his doctrine. For example, nearly every sermon began with the greeting and exhortation, "peace!" Father Divine believed that "peace" should replace "hello."

See also: Doctrine of Father Divine

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Physical characteristics and preaching style", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki