4/17/2020
A Bit Of History: Daniel Curry

The following article was originally posted on May 31, 2017. We hope you enjoy it if you did not see the original post.


Daniel Curry was one of the most influential debaters of the mid 19th century. A Methodist theologian, an editor, and a publisher, he was loved by his friends and respected by his opponents. He was also the subject of the most beloved stories told by Brother Branham.

Below is an article published in the Cambridge Chronicle, September 3, 1887, containing his obituary that tells a little more of the story about Mr. Curry.

Rev. Daniel Curry, D. D., LL. D.

The Methodist Episcopal Church has suffered a great loss in the death of Rev. Daniel Curry, D. D., LL D., who died in New York recently. As theologian, preacher, journalist and debater he was renowned.

He was born in 1808 in what is now Cortlandville, near Peekskill. He entered the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and was graduated two years later. In 1840 he took charge of an academy at Macon, Ga. Two years afterward he entered the Georgia conference. The great conflict over the slavery question was then at its height. Dr. Curry was an abolitionist, a co-worker with Garrison, Whittier, and Phillip, and when the Methodist Church South was established he returned to the north.

He entered the New York Conference East and held appointments in it for eleven years. In 1845 he became president of Asbury, now De Pauw University, at Greencastle, Ind. Two years later he came east. In 1864 he became editor in chief of The Christian Advocate, a position he held until, in 1876, ill health forced him out of it. He spent some time in Europe and after his return edited The Methodist, which was afterward merged into The Christian Advocate. For the next six years, Dr. Curry devoted himself to theological writing. He produced "Fragments," "Platform Papers," a new edition of "Clark's Commentary on the New Testament," a "Life of Bishop Clarke," and other works. In addition to all this he edited The National Repository through eight volumes. From 1884 to his death he edited The Methodist Magazine. His friends loved and admired him and his opponents respected him.

Here sometime ago, in, oh, about a hundred years ago, there was a great Christian lived in the southwest United States. His name was Daniel Curry, a wonderful man, a godly man, a sainted man, a real Christian, a man that everybody thought so much of, such a wonderful person. And the story goes, that he died or went into a trance, and he said…as he went up to Heaven, of course, when he died. And when he got to the pearly gates, the caretaker come to the door, said, “Who are you?”

He said, “I am the evangelist, Daniel Curry, I’ve won thousands of souls to Christ. And I’m…I want to come in this morning. My life’s journey is ended on earth, I have no place to go now.”

That’s the way it’s coming to you some morning, sinner. That’s the way it’s coming to you, backslider. That’s the way it’s coming to you that’s grieved the Holy Spirit away from them, not be gentle and tender anymore. You haven’t cried for years. You haven’t blushed, for I don’t know when. All modesty is gone from you. Sure. But it’s going to come to your door one of these mornings. And as the gentle Holy Spirit comes and knocks, why don’t you just let Him in?

So when Daniel Curry come there to—to—to the gate, they went in, said, “We’ll see if you got your name here.” They looked all around, they couldn’t find any name. Said, “No, there’s no Daniel Curry here.”

“Oh,” he said, “surely!” Said, “I’m an evangelist.” He said, “I’ve won souls to Christ.” Said, “I’ve tried to do the thing that’s right.”

The caretaker said, “Sir, I’m sorry to tell you, but there’s no Daniel Curry here.” Said, “I’ll tell you what you might do.” Said, “We have no rights here to take your case.” He said, “But do you want to appeal your case? You can appeal it to the White Throne Judgment, if you want to.” But said, “We have no mercy here for you, at all, because we don’t have you here. There’s no mercy for you.” Said, “Do you want to appeal your case?”

He said, “Sir, what more can I do but appeal my case?”

He said, “Well, then, you can go at the White Throne Judgment and appeal your case there.”

Daniel Curry said that he felt hisself going through the space for about an hour. Said he come into a place, it got lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter. Said, farther he went, the lighter it got. It was a hundred times, thousands of times brighter than the sun ever shined. And said he was trembling, trembling. And said, when he got in the middle of that Light, he heard a Voice say, “Was you perfect on earth?” Just come out of a—a Light.

He said, “No, I wasn’t perfect,” got trembling.

Said, “Did you always play honest with everybody?”

Said, “No.” (Said, “A few things come to my mind that I wasn’t just exactly honest about.”) Said, “No, I—I—I guess I wasn’t honest.”

Said, “Did you tell the truth in every case, in your life?”

Said, “No. I remember some things I’ve told, that wasn’t shady…that was shady. I—I—I—I never was truthful just exactly.”

Said, “Then, did you ever take anything that did not belong to you, anything, money, anything else that didn’t belong to you?”

Said he thought on earth that he was pretty good, but he was condemned. Said, “No. No, I’ve took things that didn’t belong to me.”

He said, “Then you wasn’t perfect.” He said, “No, I wasn’t perfect.”

Said he was looking any minute for the blast to come from that great Light from where the Dove rested, “Condemned!” Said, just then he heard a Voice behind him, that was sweeter than any mother’s voice he had ever heard. Said he turned to look. And the sweetest face he had ever saw, sweeter than any mother’s face, was standing before him. And said He said, “Father, Daniel Curry stood for Me down on earth. It’s true, he wasn’t perfect, but he stood for Me. He stood for Me on earth, now I’m going to stand for him in Heaven. Take all of his sin and put them over on My account.”

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