The Family Bible Tells All

Much to my surprise, my team noted two other previously unsuspected methods that W. V. Grant used. In one, a Grant associate was seen standing at the back of the auditorium supplying hand signals. He was pointing to parts of his own body to indicate where the subject Grant was handling was afflicted! He had his own crib sheets, and was perhaps only there to remind Reverend Grant if the mnemonics began to fade. (The term “mnemonics” refers to a memory system which I will explain up ahead.) The other gimmick was spotted when Grant took a massive Bible from one of our workers. He admired it and casually opened it at the inside front cover, glanced there for a moment, and then returned the book to its owner. He was apparently aware that many families record births, marriages, and deaths inside their Bibles. Later, during the “calling out” procedure, information Grant had learned from that brief perusal was fed back by him to our colleague. Unknown to Grant, the information written there was false, and Grant had been allowed to see it in hopes that he would use it.

A Disclaimer

Grant specifically states that there is no trickery used in his “calling out” stunt. In his broadcast of March 23, 1986, from Mobile, Alabama, he said, in typical evangelist style—the very longest way possible:What you see at these services is not ESP. What you see at these services is not mind power. What you see at these services is not fortunetelling. What you see at these services is not magic tricks. What you see at these services is “HSP”: Holy Spirit Power! Paul called it the Gifts of the Spirit.

He then asked someone in the audience, “If I told you God told me something about you, would you believe it?” And he proceeded to do his vaudeville act, telling the victim details already known to the preacher by any of several means, none of them connected with heavenly voices or powers. There is no question whatsoever that Reverend W. V. Grant gives the impression to his audiences, live and via TV, that his “calling out” is a divine event, and not a trick. To quote from an excellent and devastating Cincinnati Enquirer investigation of Grant by Camilla Warrick, which appeared in June of 1983:It was at the Texas Bible school, Grant says, that “God began to use me” and he started to call out the names of strangers during services. “It doesn’t take any faith for God to show you somebody’s name or somebody’s doctor’s name,” he explained. “It takes faith for you to go ahead and say it after God shows it to you, because just as sure as you say someone’s name ... the old devil says, ‘What are you going to do if it isn’t?’ “ Grant’s ability to call out names is a reflection, he says, of just one of nine gifts of the spirit that he possesses. But it doesn’t manifest itself in all occasions for all people. “I can’t see into anyone’s life,” he said, “unless the anointing is upon me.”

Grant has committed himself many times during his services to declaring that his “calling out” process is divine. In Oakland, California (see Chapter 9), at a crusade in which he “healed” a confederate of ours, he several times reinforced the notion that he had no way except divine inspiration to know anything about those he would “call out.” Excerpts from his statements at that meeting:... Don’t be talking to me or asking me to pray for you or I can’t call you out after a while, and ask you if I’ve ever talked to you before. How many understands that?   So don’t tell me anything. I may wanna ask you if I’ve talked to you and then if I ask you that, well, ahhh, you’re gonna have to be honest. How many knows that?   How many knows God knows all about you? Don’t tell me a thing. That way, if I call you out later, you can say you hadn’t talked to me.   How many will lift your hand and say, “Brother Grant, I know because of what I’m seeing here tonight that Jesus is real. I know he knows my name and my doctor’s name and my affliction. Lift your hand and say, “I know it’s not you. It has to be God.”

In his own publication, Dawn of a New Day, in the issue of Fall 1983, it says clearly that at a Tulsa meetingBrother Grant, ministering under a very unusual heavy anointing, called out and ministered to thousands. Through the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, he would reveal not only their condition and affliction—but also their names and doctors’ names many times.

An Old Act

If you think the description of this “calling out” act sounds like that offered by mentalist Kreskin, take ten points for perception. Kreskin, however—like his model, Joseph Dunninger, the greatest mentalist who ever lived—offers his act as entertainment, not religion. The methods are somewhat different, but the effect is the same. W. V. Grant, actually denying from time to time that what he is doing is a “magic act,” not only gains the full attention of his audience with these tricks, but also convinces them of his closeness to God. Of course, each of these information-gathering systems—personal questioning and written information—has its advantages and drawbacks. For example, the vast majority of the audience, not arriving until just before the scheduled performance, cannot know about the much earlier personal questioning. Using the “healing card” method, the preacher cannot easily know the location of those who made out the cards. He has to ask them to identify themselves, or be guided to them by another means. But how does Grant recall all this complicated data while he runs up and down the aisles? He carries no note pad, yet he appears to be aware of each set of data as he needs it. He uses a mnemonic system, a method of memory by association, to store his information. Memory expert Harry Lorayne perfected the mnemonic system and wrote definitively on it many years ago, and he has verified that it could easily be used for this purpose. Grant associates the face with the name with the doctor with the disease by means of certain simple procedures. He can easily store away some 30 sets of data, enough for any revival performance. Other data go on “crib sheets” carried in his pockets.