William Branham Teachings

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03fb9c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="70" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="66"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="76" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="66" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Issues"><U><B>Church Issues</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cults and Cult Definitions"><U><B>Cults and Cult Definitions</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Christian Debatorial Works</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christian Debatorial Works"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id299.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="William Branham"><U>William Branham</U></A>   |   <B>William Branham Teachings</B></div> <div> William Branham Teachings</div> <div> 1. Branham’s followers believe him to be the apostle of the final Church age. He gained popularity through his teachings on what he called "God’s Seventh Church Age," which would be the final move of God before the manifestation of His Kingdom on earth. Branham based this teaching on his interpretation of Joel 2:23, which speaks of the latter rain on God’s blessings upon Israel, and applied this latter rain to the neo-Pentecostal move of his day. He taught that God’s promise to restore what the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm had eaten would be the restoration of the Church out of denominationalism, which he equated with the Mark of the Beast.</div> <bR> <div> 2. Branham  propagated what he called the "Serpent’s Seed" teaching: the belief that Cain was produced through a sexual union between Eve and the serpent in the garden. The curse of the Serpent’s Seed, he believed, continues to plague mankind through women, and is evidenced in their temptation of men. (William M. Branham, My Life Story, p. 19.)</div> <bR> <div> "Eve’s eating was adultery with the serpent, Proverbs 30:20. Remember, he was not a snake at this point. That curse came after the act. ... It was not an apple that caused Adam and Eve to realize they were naked. But it was a sex act. ... The serpent was an upright handsome creature. He was, in fact, `the missing link’ that science even in their unspiritual wisdom, can see is missing `between man and monkey.’ ... Satan used this creature to get himself into the Human race."  (Was it an Apple? ;Lima, Oh: Bible Believers of Lima).</div> <bR> <div> 3. Branham believed that some humans (Cains' descendants) are descended from the serpent’s seed and are destined for hell, which is not eternal, however. The seed of God, i.e., those who receive Branham’s teaching, are predestined to become the Bride of Christ. There are still others (represented by those still in denominational churches) who possess free will and who may be saved out of these churches, but they must suffer through the Great Tribulation. He considered denominationalism a mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:17). (Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, pp. 95,96.)</div> <bR> <div> 4. Another of Branham’s teachings was that the Zodiac and the Egyptian pyramids were equal to the Scriptures in the revelation of God’s Word. <William M. Branham, Adoption (Jeffersonville, IN: Spoken Word Publications), pp. 31,104.</div> <bR> <div> 5.Like the "Jesus-Only" Pentecostals Branham denied the Trinity doctrine teaching a form of Modalism. Instead of three Persons in the Godhead, Branham taught that there was only one Person (Jesus) going under different titles or modes at various times in history. Branham's teaching is a variation of a second century heresy taught by Sabellius know as Modalistic Monarchianism or Patripassianism (see Monarchianism, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pp. 727-28). Branham explained, "...not one place in the Bible is trinity ever mentioned...It's Catholic error and you Protestants bow to it" (Conduct, Order, Doctrine Q and A, p. 182). "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is offices of one God. He was the Father; He was the Son; He is the Holy Ghost. It's three offices or three dispensations,..." (Ibid., p. 392). This view of the Godhead is called Modalism and has been held to be heretical by both Catholic and Protestant churches.</div> <bR> <div> 6. Branham proclaimed himself the angel of Revelation 3:14 and 10:7 and prophesied that by 1977 all denominations would be consumed by the World Council of Churches under the control of the Roman Catholics, that the Rapture would take place, and that the world would be destroyed. (Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, p. 96). Branham's followers identified him as the prophetic Elijah of Malachi 4 and the seventh angel of Revelation 10. Speaking of himself, Branham said, "...we are promised a return of that Spirit [Elijah] just before the end-time. He won't start another church, because there is no more church ages to come... because the Laodicea Church Age is the last age, and the messenger of the Seventh Angel,... is the fellow that is going to reveal, by the Holy Spirit, all of these mysterious things.... Notice. This last message of the last church age is not a reformer, he is a PROPHET!" (The Seven Seals, pp. 144, 45).</div> <bR> <div> 7. Branham claimed that proper baptism was needed to avoid the "Mark of the Beast" of denominational churches and escape the danger of missing the rapture and entering the Tribulation. Proper baptism must be in the name of Jesus only. Baptism with the Trinitarian formula of Matthew 28:18 ("in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost") is unacceptable to God. Branham explained, "There never was a person baptized in the name of `Father, Son, Holy Ghost' until early Catholic church" (Ibid., p. 178). "Look down on your Bible and see if that says `in the names of...' Does it? No, sir... It said, `in the NAME...'" Branham attempted to explain the distinction, "You see, you misunderstand it then. It's one God in three dispensations.... And when He said, `Go baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit,' it was Jesus Christ. And that's why we baptize in Jesus' Name" (Ibid., pp. 181, 184). If an incorrect formula was spoken during baptism, Branham felt the convert would go into darkness. "But a tritheist, triune baptism was never recognized in the Church, the New Testament... Now you know what to do, that's right; and if you refuse to walk in Light when Light's brought forth, you turn to darkness. Right! Amen!" (Ibid., p. 190).</div> <bR> <div> Although many Pentecostals overlooked these and other aberrant teachings, and embraced him as an apostle and a prophet, his popularity declined in the late ‘50s due to his attempt to establish his proclamations as equal to the Scriptures.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>