The term Branhamism refers to the teachings of the "prophet" William M. Branham (1909-1965), although those who follow his teaching would not necessarily like the term. "Will it come after while, Brother Branham?" Rev. "[279] Mercer sexually abused children and adults. His only overseas trip during the 1960s proved a disappointment. Branham identified historical Christian figures as church age messengers, naming some of the same men as Russel. He explained that the allegations eroded the trust of the crowds who attended the healing services. "[301], In 2020, Joaquim Gonalves Silva, a prominent leader of Branham's followers in Brazil was accused of raping multiple women. They were arrested multiple times in both countries for harassing women for their appearance and disrupting church services. Some of his followers believed he was claiming divinity and were prepared to accept his claims. William M. Branham was born near Burkesville, Kentucky, on April 6, 1909,[10][11][12][a][b] the son of Charles and Ella Harvey Branham, the oldest of ten children. [11] Branham told his publicist Gordon Lindsay that he had mystical experiences from an early age;[10] and that at age three he heard a "voice" speaking to him from a tree telling him "he would live near a city called New Albany". [8] From 1955, Branham's campaigning and popularity began to decline as the Pentecostal churches began to withdraw their support from the healing campaigns for primarily financial reasons. [177], Many believed the rapture was imminent and that it was necessary to be near Branham in Arizona to take part. [124] Hollenweger investigated Branham's use of the "word of knowledge gift" and found no instances in which Branham was mistaken in his often-detailed pronouncements. Founder of the religious movement known as Branhamism and the William Branham Evangelistic Association (Branham Tabernacle - Jeffersonville, Indiana). Right. Branham reported that in his visions he saw seven major events would occur before the Second Coming of Christ, including the prediction of the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Second World War, the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, and the rise of communism. [172] Weaver also attributed Branham's eschatological teachings to the influence of a small group of his closest followers, who encouraged his desire for a unique ministry. [145], I remember in the beginning of the healing movement, simply to report a healing would produce great jubilation and praise from congregations. [146] Branham generally attributed the failure of supplicants to receive healing to their lack of faith. [98] Branham's final major overseas tour in 1955 included visits to Switzerland and Germany. [151] During the early years of his campaigns, donations had been able to cover costs, but from 1955, donations failed to cover the costs of three successive campaigns,[8] one of which incurred a $15,000 deficit. Walter Hollenweger, who served as a translator on Branham's European tours, reported that "very few were actually healed" in the campaigns, and the overwhelming majority pronounced healed by Branham failed to recover. [18] Wathen was a supplier for Al Capone's bootlegging operations. [81][77] At the first of these meetings, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian minister Ern Baxter joined Branham's team. He chooses a people. The Son of Man is to reveal Himself among His people. Rptr. However, Plaff had died of his cancer just days after being pronounced healed. [25], Branham told his audiences that he left home at age 19 in search of a better life, traveling to Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked on a ranch for two years and began a successful career in boxing. [71], Historians name his June 1946 St. Louis meetings as the inauguration of the healing revival period. Hollenweger was disappointed that Branham refused to acknowledge the numerous failed pronouncements of healings. [34][c] Weaver speculated that Branham may have chosen to hide his early connections to Pentecostalism to make his conversion story more compelling to his Pentecostal audiences during the years of the healing revival. [25] Branham accused Eve of producing a "hybrid" race, and he provided a way to trace the hybrid line of the Serpent's Seed to Africans and Jews through Ham the biblical progenitor of the African peoples, King Ahab, and Judas Iscariot. [139][140], In 1955, Leonard Steiner, pastor of a Pentecostal church in Zurich Switzerland that hosted a Branham meeting reported cases of failed healing and the negative consequences for members of his congregation. Like his sermons on the church ages, Branham's sermons on the seals were largely borrowed from the writings of Charles Taze Russell and Clarence Larkin. [10][11] According to Branham, that year his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Voyez rapidement qui est destin le mmorial et quand . [25], In his later years, Branham began to preach almost exclusively on biblical prophecy. Separating himself from the things of the world and everything, and come into one purpose, Jesus Christ. ($144,913 in 2020 dollars)[150], Some of Branham's business associates thought he was partially responsible because of his lack of interest in the financial affairs of the campaigns and tried to hold him personally responsible for the debt. [190] In 1960, Branham claimed the Holy Spirit had revealed this doctrine to him as one of the end-time mysteries. [146] Some people left his meetings disappointed after finding Branham's conviction that everyone in the audience could be healed without being in the prayer line proved incorrect. "[126] No consistent record of follow-ups of the healing claims were made, making analysis of many claims difficult to subsequent researchers. [151] Branham became increasingly reliant on the Full Gospel Businessmen to finance his campaign meetings as the Pentecostal denominations began to withdraw their financial support. "[212] No other mainstream Christian group held a similar view; Branham was widely criticized for spreading the doctrine. 1955). [187] Branham viewed Martin Luther as the initiator of a process that would result in the restoration of the true form of Christianity, and traced the advancement of the process through other historic church figures. "[25], "Branhamism" redirects here. [248], On December 18, 1965, Branham and his family except his daughter Rebekah were returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana, from Tucson for the Christmas holiday. Now, God is "perfected" in three. [12] Branham's neighbors reported him as "someone who always seemed a little different", but said he was a dependable youth. [203] Branham was deeply anti-Catholic, and viewed the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church as the agents of Satan who would bring about the end of the world. wmb dit vs ne pouvais pas fonde votre destin eternel sur votre don ainsi dit le geant de l'age william marrion branham. The news of the reported healing was slow to spread, but was eventually reported to a family in Missouri who in 1945 invited Branham to pray for their child who was suffering from a similar illness; Branham reported that the child recovered after his prayers. In response, the churches which hosted Branham's campaign conducted independent follow-up interviews with people Branham pronounced healed to gather testimonies which they could use to counter the negative press. "[279], "In one instance,Mercer ordered that [a girl's] hair be cut off to punish her because he had had a vision from God that she was being sexually inappropriate with young children. [237], Beginning in 1958, Branham began to claim Luke 17:30 was being fulfilled. [105][94], Bosworth argued in favor, while Best argued against. [48], By 1936, the congregation had constructed a new church on the same block as Branham's tent, at the corner of 8th and Penn street. [150], The IRS investigation showed Branham did not pay close attention to the amount of money flowing through his ministry,[154] and had failed to document gifts and donations he received or how the proceeds were used. "[16], Branham's father owned a farm near Utica, Indiana, and took a job working for O. H. Wathen, owner of R. E. Wathen Distilleries in nearby Louisville, Kentucky. Walter Hollenweger, "Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world" during his five major international campaigns. [38] His followers believed his ministry was accompanied by miraculous signs from its beginning, and that when he was baptizing converts on June 11, 1933, in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville, a bright light descended over him and that he heard a voice say, "As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so your message will forerun His second coming". [181][182] His unique arrangement of doctrines, coupled with the highly controversial nature of the serpent seed doctrine, caused the alienation of many of his former supporters. [87] On the night of January 24, 1950, Branham was photographed during a debate between Bosworth and local Baptist minister W.E. Best regarding the theology of divine healing. [289][290][291] Schfer and his compound were portrayed in the 2015 film Colonia. [134][106], Churches in Canada continued to experience crises following Branham campaign meetings as they attempted to explain the numerous failed healings to their congregations. [223][i] According to Weaver, Branham's "obsession with Luke 17:30 and Malachi 4:56 dominated the end of his ministry". Numerous people pronounced healed died shortly thereafter, investigators discovered evidence suggesting miracles may have been staged, and Branham was found to have significantly embellished and falsified numerous stories he presented to his audiences as fact. [34] Branham claimed to have been opposed to Pentecostalism during the early years of his ministry. In Iran, Branham's followers have faced persecution, with the government shutting down ten of their house churches in 2018 and jailing several Branham followers. [10], Branham told his audiences that he grew up in "deep poverty",[10] often not having adequate clothing, and that his family was involved in criminal activities. [97] Kydd reported that by watching films of the revival meetings, "the viewer would assume almost everyone was healed", but "results were less promising whenever follow-up was made. [254][255] Branham is most remembered for his use of the "sign-gifts" that awed the Pentecostal world. [54] Branham married his second wife Meda Marie Broy in 1941, and together they had three children; Rebekah (b. Branham's birthdate has also been reported to be April 6, 1907, and April 8, 1908. A. Allen concerning the validity of a miracle reported in his campaigns. [39][34] Peter Duyzer noted that Branham's story of the events surrounding the death of his wife and daughter conflicted with historical evidence; they did not die during the flood, he and his wife were both already Pentecostals before they married, and he was pastor of a Pentecostal church at the time of their deaths. Branham claimed that he had converted over one million people during his career. [81] Following the Shreveport meetings, Branham held a series of meetings in San Antonio, Phoenix, and at various locations in California. [186] It supports the restoration of apostles and prophets, signs and wonders, spiritual gifts, spiritual warfare, and the elimination of non-primitive features of modern Christianity. [68], Herald of Faith magazine which was edited by prominent Pentecostal minister Joseph Mattsson-Boze and published by Philadelphia Pentecostal Church in Chicago also began following and exclusively publishing stories from the Branham campaigns, giving Branham wide exposure to the Pentecostal movement. [113], A 1952 campaign in South Africa had the largest attendance in Branham's career, with an estimated 200,000 attendees. [172][198] Branham's strict moral code echoed the traditions of early Pentecostalism but became increasingly unpopular because he refused to accommodate mid-century Pentecostalism's shifting viewpoint. Kennedy. Historian Catherine Wessinger concludes Jones used Christianity as a vehicle to covertly advance his personal ideology, "Let me close by saying this: that the Son of man is now being revealed from heaven. In 1997, the O'odham Nation in Arizona accused Wayne Evans of defrauding their tribe of over $1 million and giving that money to Voice of God Recordings. A woman is a by-product of a man. [212] All three have suggested Branham may been influenced by the teachings of Baptist minister Daniel Parker's two-seed doctrine. [179], Throughout his ministry, Branham taught a doctrine of faith healing that was often the central teaching he espoused during the healing campaign. The church was officially registered with the City of Jeffersonville as the Billie Branham Pentecostal Tabernacle in November 1936. [101][102] Branham's use of what his fellow evangelists called a word of knowledge gift separated him from his contemporaries in the early days of the revival. En la lisant, vous pouvez comprendre l'importance de la rvlation de Dieu et de la . However, Strubbler died "of acute leukemia, just three weeks after [Branham] told her mother she was healed of the fatal sickness. [70] At the time they were held, Branham's revival meetings were the largest religious meetings some American cities he visited had ever seen;[71] reports of 1,000 to 1,500 converts per meeting were common. [20] The Indiana Ku Klux Klan claimed responsibility for attacking and shutting down the Jeffersonville liquor producing ring. [6] The belief is widely held in the modern Charismatic movement,[6] and the legacy of his restorationist teaching and ministering style is evident throughout televangelism and the Charismatic movement. [99] Supplicants seeking healing submitted prayer cards to Branham's campaign team stating their name, address, and condition; Branham's team would select a number of submissions to be prayed for personally by Branham and organized a prayer line. [130] The same year the news media in Winnipeg publicized Branham's cases of failed healing. Recevez le Saint-Esprit et il vous enseignera la Bible. "[32][56][34], Branham and his future wife Amelia Hope Brumbach (b. July 16, 1913) attended the First Pentecostal Baptist Church together beginning in 1929 where Brumbach served as young people's leader. [238] In 1964 and 1965 he began to make special emphasis that the Son of Man could only be revealed through the ministry of a prophet. [168] The Assemblies of God were the first to openly withdraw support from the healing revival in 1953. [85][77], The first meetings organized by Lindsay were held in northwestern North America during late 1947. [281] The organization disbanded in 2018 following widespread allegations of sexual molestation of children. Bible Search - KJV; Message Search; You are here: Home. [57] Their first child, William "Billy" Paul Branham was born soon after their marriage; the date given for his birth varies by source. [45], Branham took over leadership of Roy Davis's Jeffersonville church in 1934, after Davis was arrested again and extradited to stand trial. The FBI reported that, "rather than using the investors' capital to support the two funds, the defendants used the vast majority of investor money to purchase lavish gifts for their friends and themselves"[306][307][308][309][310], In 2020, Vinworth Dayal, a minister who promoted Branham's teachings in Trinidad was arrested and charged with money laundering through his church. [282], In 2002, Ralph G. Stair, a leader of a Branham's followers in United States, was arrested and convicted of molesting minors, raping multiple women in his church, and financial crimes. [185], Branham believed that all sickness was a result of demonic activity and could be overcome by the faith of the person desiring healing. [221], Branham also asserted the final messenger would be a mighty prophet who put the Word of God first, that he would be a lover of the wilderness, that he would hate wicked women, and be an uneducated person. [227] Branham believed the sermons would produce "rapturing faith" which was necessary for his followers to escape the tribulation, and that the sermons contained "the complete revelation of Jesus Christ". [200] Branham did not view financial prosperity as an automatic result of salvation. [81] William Hawtin, a Canadian Pentecostal minister, attended one of Branham's Vancouver meetings in November 1947 and was impressed by Branham's healings. God is a segregationalist [sic]. [214][204] Branham was baptized and ordained by Roy Davis, a founding member and later Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan; Branham and Davis continued to associate throughout Branham's life. [214] Steven Hassan described Branham's Serpent Seed teachings as "rebranded" Christian Identity theology.[33][214]. Researchers found no evidence that Branham ever met King George; King George was chronically ill and died about a year after Branham claimed to heal him. The minister and his wife were overjoyed, and the minister excitedly shared the details of the healing with his radio audience in Ontario later that week. Hassan concluded by stating that "The Message churches have a significant following and an enormous potential to influence people and create violence. [157] In 1955, he reported a vision of a renewed tent ministry and a "third pull which would be dramatically different" than his earlier career; he began to increasingly refer to the vision as his popularity began to decline. Following the January flood, Hope's health continued to decline, and she succumbed to her illness and died on July 22, 1937. William Marrion Branham (Kentucky 6 avril 1909 - Texas 24 dcembre 1965) est un pasteur chrtien vanglique amricain ayant t influent au sein des glises pentectistes amricaines, quoiqu'il refust d'appartenir ces organisations.
