William Branham?

[Teacup]

Some cousins of mine refer to him as "Brother Branham" and believe him to be the last days prophet. He died in the 60's. They refer to him and his quotes quite often. I'm concerned about it and don't like what I've read about him.

Anyone else know people involved in this? ysic, DLee

[LaMontre]

Some cousins of mine refer to him as "Brother Branham" and believe him to be the last days prophet. He died in the 60's. They refer to him and his quotes quite often. I'm concerned about it and don't like what I've read about him.

Anyone else know people involved in this? ysic, DLee

This seems fairly good;

http://www.watchman.org/profile/branpro.htm

He was like, the ultimate charismatic......I found some sites where they spoke of him like he was the second coming or something.

[Guy4God]

He was a false shepherd and led many, many people to error and the current Latter Rain/Manifest Sons heresies are his fault. Much info can found about him in cult watching and error in the church sites. :)

[Jesse]

Some cousins of mine refer to him as "Brother Branham" and believe him to be the last days prophet. He died in the 60's. They refer to him and his quotes quite often. I'm concerned about it and don't like what I've read about him.

Anyone else know people involved in this? ysic, DLee

I do - someone who was e-mailing me about a year ago sent me his website once. After checking it out a bit, I shared my concerns with her about some of Branham's teachings. She than seemingly blew me off and did not respond to any of the concerns that I shared. Yet she kept e-mailing me forwards and going about her business as usual as if I had never shared my concerns with her.

Shortly after that, she got upset with me simply because I let her know that I was not interested in a movie that she wanted to send me in the mail. I don't know if she would rather have me lie about it or what, but I was just simply being honest. I just don't understand people's way of thinking now days. People seem to be getting more unreasonable and more difficult to understand.

Anyway, here is an article that I found about William Branham: http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain26.htm

I found it on this page: http:www.erwm.com/FalseProphets.htm which has some other articles about him and other false prophets.

Also, in Dave Hunt's book titled Occult Invasion (which is currently out of print), Dave pointed out that Branham himself was never sure whether it was God or Satan who gave him his power, but "felt God" in his left hand (Page 497).

This is rather bizarre. If someone is going to be using any power, than I think
they better be sure that it is coming from God....and if it is coming from God, than I think they will know it. God is not the author of confusion.

[CountryBumpkin]

I have been praying for a long time for a dear friend who has been a Branham follower for over 20 years. They are so indocrinated and refuse to consider that they might be wrong. This friendship grieves my heart and I have been seeking God on whether I should separate from her or not.
I am not sure, scriptually, what I should do.

I don't invite JWs into my house so surely should I not do the same to my friend?

[Teacup]

This is difficult because I really believe they are true believers. ...but when I read how they view the trinity....and some of the crazy things about Branham - oh my.

I've noticed over the last several yrs. that the women only wear dresses, no make up and never cut their hair. I don't know how to talk to them because from what I read, they believe that if you do not accept this "last days prophet" then you are no going in the rapture and are not part of the bride. (in other words, you don't have "ears to hear" the one God has sent) They have sent me books to read on him before and I didn't get past the first few pages before the red flags appeared.

I love them very much, we were very close growing up. One is going through breast cancer at a very young age with 3 small children. Pray they get all of the cancer and that God will gently lead them out of this cult. ysic, DLee

[blitzkreig]

From the book "The Strange History of Pentecostalism"

WILLIAM BRANHAM
Many other well-known Pentecostal healers have been caught in deceptions and heresies. William Branham is considered the greatest of the Pentecostal healers, but we have eyewitness testimony from Alfred Pohl that Branham crusades were marked by exaggeration and deception. Branham also promoted manifold heresies. He denied the Trinity (saying it was of the devil), taught that Cain was the product of a sexual union between Eve and the serpent, believed the mark of the beast was denominationalism, denied the eternality of hell, proclaimed himself as the angel of Revelation 3:14 and 10:7, and promoted the Manifest Sons of God doctrine of the immortalization of end times apostles.

He falsely prophesied that the Rapture and the end of the world would take place by 1977. Branham claimed that an angel taught him how to detect diseases by vibrations on his left hand. "When the afflicting spirit comes into contact with the gift it sets up such a physical commotion that it becomes visible on Brother Branham's hand, and so real that it will stop his wrist watch instantly. This feels to Brother Branham like taking hold of a live wire with too much electric current in it" (F.F. Bosworth, "Gifts of Healing Plus," The Voice of Healing, March 1950, pp. 10-11).

Branham operated a gift of soothsaying, successfully reading personal details of the lives of people he met. He would name the names of people he had never met and describe past events and secret sins of people in his meetings. "This gift did much to further the growing Branham legend" (Harrell, All Things Are Possible, p. 38). Branham allegedly resurrected a fish which had been killed by a companion (Ibid., p. 89).

The confusion and duplicity involved in the Branham ministry were evident early in his career. After claiming that his angel had promised that "God has sent you to take a gift of divine healing to the people of the world," and after conducting healing crusades in many places and attracting massive crowds, Branham suddenly quit in May 1948, ANNOUNCING HE WAS ILL (Harrell, p. 32)! Five months later he resumed his meetings.

[Tamara224]

Wasn't Branham the origin of the "Shepherding movement" too? You'd be surprised how many churches and congregations have been influenced by it...

[Vonne]

Wasn't Branham the origin of the "Shepherding movement" too? You'd be surprised how many churches and congregations have been influenced by it...

I'd find it doubtful, as variations of that have existed long before. Albeit its quite possible he had a part of a recent incantation of it. Heres a decent summary I found awhile back regarding that movement. Roots of Sheepherding (http://www.intotruth.org/res/shepherding.html)

[Caneman]

William Branham was a man who had a genuine prophetic gift from Jesus Christ... his great mistake was that he also thought he had a teaching gift, and while teaching he lead many astray. Most will doubt this, but God used him in powerful ways with healing and prophecy. If William Branham had just stuck to the calling and gifting God gave him...

Blessings,

Caneman