Johannes Greber -

[Karyn]

 

 

Johannes Greber was born in Wenigerath, Germany in 1874, studied for the priesthood at a seminary in Trier, and was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest in 1900.  He provided for the poor and sick in Hunsrueck, a rural community of small farmers.  He also supported women from his own income to become nurses and used natural healing methods and remedies to cure the disease.  During World War I, he transported more than 14,000 children to Holland to save them from starvation.  

In 1923, Greber was invited to attend a prayer meeting by a parishioner. But this was not a regular prayer meeting. It was a séance.  During the meeting, a young boy lapsed into a trance state and delivered messages from a spirit guide. At first, Greber thought the boy was a charlatan and wanted none of it.  The parishioner urged him to sit in and observe. The spirit’s words left an indelible impression on the skeptical priest.  After attending meetings for the next two and a half years, Greber took leave from the Catholic Church. He ran an organization that helped the poor but was never excommunicated.

Greber immigrated to Teaneck, New Jersey in 1929 where he opened a nondenominational church with prayer and healing sessions.  It was at this time that Greber asked for help from Edward Niemann, a deep-trance medium.  It was through Niemann that a spirit announced during a prayer meeting to both Johannes and Elizabeth, a church member, that they were to be married.  They decided to marry with in a couple of months. The spirit spoke through Niemann to perform the ceremony.

Greber wrote a translation of the New Testament, publishing The New Testament, A New Translation and Explanation Based on the Oldest Manuscripts (1935). He said he used the oldest sources available, but when the meaning of a passage was not clear, he received spiritual guidance. His wife, Elizabeth, acted as a medium to help him with the translation. Over the years Greber’s book has sold over a quarter of a million copies.

Greber died in 1944. The Johannes Greber Memorial Foundation was established in Teaneck and operated out of Greber’s house under the management of Fred Haffner during the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Unfortunately, after Lafollete Becker assumed operation of the foundation, she was convinced that Greber’s spirit instructed her to close it down during a prayer meeting.  She shredded about 35,000 copies of his book, claiming they were a mistake. All was not lost. Reprints of the book can still be found today.

Additional Reading:

Greber, Johannes (1935) New Testament, A New Translation Based on the Oldest Manuscripts.

Biographical Information at:  http://www.godsgrandplan.org/page6