Billy Burke (Christian evangelist, preacher)

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Billy Burke (born 1953) is a traveling Pentecostal faith healer and satellite TV personality.

Mr. Burke's main base of operations is in Florida, but he also conducts services throughout the country and regularly visits western Pennsylvania, particularly the First Presbyterian Church of Downtown Pittsburgh [1] where he claims to have been healed of brain cancer by famed faith healer Kathryn Kuhlman when he was 9 years old.

[edit] Life

According to Mr. Burke, when he was 9 years old he underwent an unsuccessful operation for brain cancer that left him partially paralyzed. His grandmother convinced his parents to remove him from Montefiore Hospital and bring him to a Kathryn Kuhlman healing service at the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. It was there that he claimed he was completely healed.

Dealing with his parents' subsequent divorce and the loss of his brother in a car accident, Mr. Burke lost his faith by the age of 20. However, after attending another Kathryn Kuhlman service in Ohio, he decided to enter the ministry and attended Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim, CA. He went on to minister in western PA and then moved to FL after a divorce in 1989.

[edit] Criticism

Like every single other Pentecostal faith healer, Mr. Burke has never been able to offer one shred of evidence, in the form of medical records or doctors' affidavits, that he has been the instrument of a miraculous cure. Indeed, any medical records validating his own miraculous healing have been "lost", according to Mr. Burke. The testimonials on his website consist of 3 fabulous tales from people identified only by their first names and states. Lacking such evidence, it must be assumed that the explanation for the subjective claims of "cures" at a Billy Burke crusade must be attributed to the placebo effect and the power of suggestibility.

Mr. Burke has also been criticized for his advocacy of the Word of Faith gospel (aka "gospel of greed") and his ostensible cupidity. He tells his listeners that health and prosperity are promised to believers, and if they are lacking either, the cause must be found in their lack of faith or some hidden sin. [2] And although he doesn't charge admission to his crusades, he does tell the attendees that their healing will depend on the amount of money they donate to Billy Burke ministries. [3] His website offers various levels of "partnerships", depending on one's monthly contribution, as well as selling various books and tapes with such titles as "How to Keep Your Miracle" and "How to Receive Miracle Money". Mr. Burke also has his own TV show on the Daystar network.