A controversial figure... (From Bournemouth Echo)

A controversial figure...

10:06am Wednesday 16th July 2008

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TODD Bentley and his claims of miracles have been enormously controversial even among Christian believers.

People from all over the world have attended his mass revival meetings, at which he yells "Bam! Bam! Bam!" as believers collapse and he proclaims them cured. Many more have seen him at work on the internet or the TV channel GodTV.

But the sharp split in church-going opinion was evidenced on the Daily Echo's Faith Matters page in May.

Keith Chapman-Burnett from House of Destiny Church, Poole, told the paper then: "I am 100 per cent convinced that this is of God and would stake my reputation on it." But pastor Brian Campbell, Sunny Hill Community Church, Parkstone: "It's tosh. As a Pentecostal church we believe in the gifts of the spirit, but this is mass hysteria."

The 32-year-old, Canadian-born revivalist had an unhappy upbringing and spent time in prison as a teenager.

He said: "I'm very open about my past... I served time in prison for my crime. I'd break into vehicles, I'd steal, as I got older, I'd take your pot, I'd take your drugs."

He claims God sought him out when he was in his drug dealer's trailer and spoke to him.

Supporters claim his mass healings have cured people of serious illness and disability. Associated Press has reported that in at least 20 cases, he claims to have revived the dead.

But both ABC News and Associated Press have said his organisation failed to provide their reporters with medical evidence of his miracles.

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