William M. Branham
Template:Short description Template:Featured article Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox clergy William Marrion Branham (April 6, 1909 – December 24, 1965) was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post-World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to prelude Christ's second coming; <ref name = "hwd">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name = "lgp">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name = "tcp">Template:Cite news</ref> He is credited as "a principal architect of restorationist thought" for charismatics by some Christian historians,Template:Sfn and has been called the "leading individual in the second wave of Pentecostalism."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He made a lasting influence on televangelism and the modern charismatic movement,Template:Sfn and his "stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement".Template:Sfn At the time they were held, Branham's inter-denominational meetings were the largest religious meetings ever held in some American cities. Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully campaign in Europe; his ministry reached global audiences with major campaigns held in North America, Europe, Africa, and India.
Branham claimed that he had received an angelic visitation on May 7, 1946, commissioning his worldwide ministry and launching his campaigning career in mid-1946. His fame rapidly spread as crowds were drawn to his stories of angelic visitations and reports of miracles happening at his meetings. His ministry spawned many emulators and set in motion the broader healing revival that later became the modern charismatic movement. At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, Branham was widely adored and "the neo-Pentecostal world believed Branham to be a prophet to their generation".Template:Sfn 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. By 1960, Branham transitioned into a teaching ministry.
Unlike his contemporaries, who followed doctrinal teachings which are known as the Full Gospel tradition, Branham developed an alternative theology which was primarily a mixture of Calvinist and Arminian doctrines, and had a heavy focus on dispensationalism and Branham's own unique eschatological views. While widely accepting the restoration doctrine he espoused during the healing revival, his divergent post-revival teachings were deemed increasingly controversial by his charismatic and Pentecostal contemporaries, who subsequently disavowed many of the doctrines as "revelatory madness".Template:Sfn His racial teachings on serpent seed and his belief that membership in a Christian denomination was connected to the mark of the beast alienated many of his former supporters. His closest followers, however, accepted his sermons as oral scripture and refer to his teachings as The Message. Despite Branham's objections, some followers of his teachings placed him at the center of a cult of personality during his final years. Branham claimed that he had converted over one million people during his career. His teachings continue to be promoted by the William Branham Evangelistic Association, which reported that about 2 million people received its material in 2018. Branham died following a car accident in 1965.
Early life
Childhood
William M. Branham was born near Burkesville, Kentucky, on April 6, 1909,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn the son of Charles and Ella Harvey Branham, the oldest of ten children.Template:Sfn He claimed that at his birth, a "Light come Template:Sic whirling through the window, about the size of a pillow, and circled around where I was, and went down on the bed".Template:Sfn Branham told his publicist Gordon Lindsay that he had mystical experiences from an early age;Template:Sfn 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".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Branham, that year his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana.Template:Sfn Branham also said that when he was seven years old, God told him to avoid smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham stated he never violated the command.Template:Sfn
Branham told his audiences that he grew up in "deep poverty",Template:Sfn often not having adequate clothing, and that his family was involved in criminal activities.Template:Sfn Branham's neighbors reported him as "someone who always seemed a little different", but said he was a dependable youth.Template:Sfn Branham explained that his tendency towards "mystical experiences and moral purity" caused misunderstandings among his friends, family, and other young people; he was a "black sheep" from an early age.Template:Sfn Branham called his childhood "a terrible life."Template:Sfn
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.Template:Sfn Wathen was a supplier for Al Capone's bootlegging operations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Branham told his audiences that he was required to help his father with the illegal production and sale of liquor during prohibition. In March 1924, Branham's father was arrested for his criminal activities; he was convicted and sentenced to a prison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Indiana Ku Klux Klan claimed responsibility for attacking and shutting down the Jeffersonville liquor producing ring.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Branham was involved in a firearms incident and was shot in both legs in March 1924, at age 14; he later told his audiences he was involved in a hunting accident. Two of his brothers also suffered life-threatening injuries at the same time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Branham was rushed to the hospital for treatment. His family was unable to pay for his medical bills, but members of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan stepped in to cover the expenses.Template:Sfn The help of the Klan during his impoverished childhood had a profound impact on Branham throughout his life. As late as 1963, Branham continued to speak highly of them saying, "the Ku Klux Klan, paid the hospital bill for me, Masons. I can never forget them. See? No matter what they do, or what, I still ... there is something, and that stays with me ...".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Branham would go on to maintain lifelong connections to the KKK.<ref name = "tre">Template:Cite web</ref>
Conversion and early influences
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.Template:Sfn While Branham was away, his brother Edward aged 18, shot and killed a Jeffersonville man and was charged with murder.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Edward died of a sudden illness only a short time later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Branham returned to Jeffersonville in June 1929 to attend the funeral.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham had no experience with religion as a child; he said that the first time he heard a prayer was at his brother's funeral.Template:Sfn
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Soon afterward, while he was working for the Public Service Company of Indiana, Branham was overcome by gas and had to be hospitalized.Template:Sfn Branham said that he heard a voice speaking to him while he was recovering from the accident, which led him to begin seeking God.Template:Sfn Shortly thereafter, he began attending the First Pentecostal Baptist Church of Jeffersonville, where he converted to Christianity.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The church was pastored by Roy Davis, a founding member of the second Ku Klux Klan and a leading recruiter for the organization. Davis later became the National Imperial Wizard (leader) of the KKK. Davis baptized Branham and six months later, he ordained Branham as an Independent Baptist minister and an elder in his church.Template:Sfn Supported by the KKK's Imperial Kludd (chaplain) Caleb Ridley, Branham traveled with Davis and they participated together in revivals in other states.<ref name="Wade, Bernie L.-2021">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name = "hassan2">Template:Cite web</ref>
At the time of Branham's conversion, the First Pentecostal Baptist Church of Jeffersonville was a nominally Baptist church which adhered to some Pentecostal doctrines, including divine healing and speaking in tongues; Branham reported that his baptism at the church was done using the Jesus name formula of Oneness Pentecostalism.Template:Sfn Branham claimed to have been opposed to Pentecostalism during the early years of his ministry. However, according to multiple Branham biographers, like Baptist historian Doug Weaver and Pentecostal historian Bernie Wade, Branham was exposed to Pentecostal teachings from his conversion.Template:Sfn
Branham claimed to his audiences he was first exposed to a Pentecostal church in 1936, which invited him to join, but he refused.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn 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. Weaver identified several parts of Branham's reported life story that conflicted with historical documentation and suggested that Branham began significantly embellishing his early life story to his audiences beginning in the 1940s.Template:Sfn
During June 1933, Branham held tent revival meetings that were sponsored by Davis and the First Pentecostal Baptist Church.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On June 2 that year, the Jeffersonville Evening News said the Branham campaign reported 14 converts.<ref name = "13c">Template:Cite news</ref> 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".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Belief in the baptismal story is a critical element of faith among Branham's followers.Template:Sfn In his early references to the event during the healing revival, Branham interpreted it to refer to the restoration of the gifts of the spirit to the church.Template:Sfn In later years, Branham significantly altered how he told the baptismal story, and came to connect the event to his teaching ministry. He claimed reports of the baptismal story were carried in newspapers across the United States and Canada.Template:Sfn Because of the way Branham's telling of the baptismal story changed over the years, and because no newspaper actually covered the event, Weaver said Branham may have embellished the story after he began achieving success in the healing revival during the 1940s.Template:Sfn
Besides Roy Davis and the First Pentecostal Baptist Church, Branham reported interaction with other groups during the 1930s who were an influence on his ministry. During the early 1930s, he became acquainted with William Sowders' School of the Prophets, a Pentecostal group in Kentucky and Indiana. Through Sowders' group, he was introduced to the British Israelite House of David and in the autumn of 1934, Branham traveled to Michigan to meet with members of the group.Template:Sfn
Early ministry
Branham took over leadership of Roy Davis's Jeffersonville church in 1934, after Davis was arrested again and extradited to stand trial.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sometime during March or April 1934, the First Pentecostal Baptist Church was destroyed by a fire and Branham's supporters at the church helped him organize a new church in Jeffersonville.Template:Sfn At first Branham preached out of a tent at 8th and Pratt street, and he also reported temporarily preaching in an orphanage building.Template:Sfn
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. The church was built on the same location reported by the local newspaper as the site of his June 1933 tent campaign.<ref name = "13c"/> Newspaper articles reported the original name of Branham's new church to be the Pentecostal Tabernacle. The church was officially registered with the City of Jeffersonville as the Billie Branham Pentecostal Tabernacle in November 1936. Newspaper articles continued to refer to his church as the Pentecostal Tabernacle until 1943.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name = "rbtl">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Branham served as pastor until 1946, and the church name eventually shortened to the Branham Tabernacle.Template:Sfn The church flourished at first, but its growth began to slow. Because of the Great Depression, it was often short of funds, so Branham served without compensation.Template:Sfn
Branham continued traveling and preaching among Pentecostal churches while serving as pastor of his new church. Branham obtained a truck and had it painted with advertisements for his healing ministry which he toured in. In September 1934, he traveled to Mishawaka, Indiana where he was invited to speak at the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ (PAJC) General Assembly meetings organized by Bishop G. B. Rowe. Branham was "not impressed with the multi-cultural aspects of the PAJC as it was contrary to the dogmas advanced by his friends in the Ku Klux Klan."<ref name="Wade, Bernie L.-2021"/>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
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.Template:Sfn The couple began dating in 1933.Template:Sfn Branham married Brumbach in June 1934.Template:Sfn Their first child, William "Billy" Paul Branham (1935–2023) was born on September 13, 1935.Template:Sfn Branham's wife became ill during the second year of their marriage. According to her death certificate, she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in January 1936, beginning a period of declining health. Despite her diagnosis, the couple had a second child, Sharon Rose, who was born on October 27, 1936.Template:Sfn In September 1936, the local news reported that Branham held a multi-week healing revival at the Pentecostal Tabernacle in which he reported eight healings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The following year, disaster struck when Jeffersonville was ravaged by the Ohio River flood of 1937.Template:Sfn Branham's congregation was badly impacted by the disaster and his family was displaced from their home.Template:Sfn By February 1937, the floodwaters had receded, his church survived intact and Branham resumed holding services at the Pentecostal Tabernacle. Following the January flood, Hope's health continued to decline, and she succumbed to her illness and died on July 22, 1937. Sharon Rose, who had been born with her mother's illness, died four days later (July 26, 1937).Template:Sfn Their obituaries reported Branham as pastor of the Pentecostal Tabernacle, the same church where their funerals were held.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Branham frequently related the story of the death of his wife and daughter during his ministry and evoked strong emotional responses from his audiences. Branham told his audiences that his wife and daughter had become suddenly ill and died during the January flood as God's punishment because of his failure to embrace Pentecostalism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham said he made several suicide attempts following their deaths.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn
By the summer of 1940, Branham had resumed traveling and held revival meetings in other nearby communities.<ref name = "rbtl"/> Branham married his second wife Meda Marie Broy in 1941, and together they had three children; Rebekah (1946–2014), Sarah (b. 1950), and Joseph (b. 1955).Template:Sfn
Healing revival
Background
Branham is known for his role in the healing revivals that occurred in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s,Template:Sfn and most participants in the movement regarded him as its initiator.Template:Sfn Christian writer John Crowder described the period of revivals as "the most extensive public display of miraculous power in modern history".Template:Sfn Some, like Christian author and countercult activist Hank Hanegraaff, rejected the entire healing revival as a hoax and condemned the movement as cult in his 1997 book Counterfeit Revival.Template:Sfn
Divine healing is a tradition and belief that was historically held by a majority of Christians but it became increasingly associated with Evangelical Protestantism.Template:Sfn The fascination of most of American Christianity with divine healing played a significant role in the popularity and inter-denominational nature of the revival movement.Template:Sfn
Branham held massive inter-denominational meetings, from which came reports of hundreds of miracles.Template:Sfn Historian David Harrell described Branham and Oral Roberts as the two giants of the movement and called Branham its "unlikely leader."Template:Sfn
Early campaigns
Branham had been traveling and holding revival meetings since at least 1940 before attracting national attention.<ref name = "rbtl"/> Branham's popularity began to grow following the 1942 meetings in Milltown, Indiana where it was reported that a young girl had been healed of tuberculosis. 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.Template:Sfn
News of two events eventually reached W. E. Kidston. Kidston was intrigued by the reported miracles and invited Branham to participate in revival meetings that he was organizing. W. E. Kidston, was editor of The Apostolic Herald and had many contacts in the Pentecostal movement.Template:Sfn Kidston served as Branham's first campaign manager and was instrumental in helping organize Branham's early revival meetings.Template:Sfn
Branham held his first large meetings as a faith healer in 1946.Template:Sfn His healing services are well documented, and he is regarded as the pacesetter for those who followed him.Template:Sfn At the time they were held, Branham's revival meetings were the largest religious meetings some American cities he visited had ever seen;Template:Sfn reports of 1,000 to 1,500 converts per meeting were common.Template:Sfn
Historians name his June 1946 St. Louis meetings as the inauguration of the healing revival period.Template:Sfn Branham said he had received an angelic visitation on May 7, 1946, commissioning his worldwide ministry.Template:Sfn In his later years, he also connected the angelic visitation with the establishment of the nation of Israel, at one point mistakenly stating the vision occurred on the same day.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn
His first reported revival meetings of the period were held over 12 days during June 1946 in St. Louis.Template:Sfn Time magazine reported on his St. Louis campaign meetings,Template:Sfn and according to the article, Branham drew a crowd of over 4,000 sick people who desired healing and recorded him diligently praying for each.Template:Sfn Branham's fame began to grow as a result of the publicity and reports covering his meetings.Template:Sfn
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. Following the St. Louis meetings, Branham launched a tour of small Oneness Pentecostal churches across the Midwest and southern United States, from which stemmed reports of healing and one report of a resurrection.Template:Sfn By August his fame had spread widely. He held meetings that month in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and drew a crowd of 25,000 with attendees from 28 different states.Template:Sfn The size of the crowds presented a problem for Branham's team as they found it difficult to find venues that could seat large numbers of attendees.Template:Sfn
Branham's revivals were interracial from their inception and were noted for their "racial openness" during the period of widespread racial unrest.Template:Sfn An African American minister participating in the St. Louis meetings claimed to be healed during the revival, helping to bring Branham a sizable African American following from the early days of the revival. Branham held interracial meetings even in the southern states. To satisfy segregation laws when ministering in the south, Branham's team would use a rope to divide the crowd by race.Template:Sfn
Author and researcher Patsy Sims noted that venues used to host campaign meetings also hosted KKK rallies just days prior to the revival meetings, which sometimes led to racial tensions. Sims, who attended both the KKK rallies and the healing revivals, was surprised to see some of the same groups of people at both events.Template:Sfn According to Steven Hassan, KKK recruitment was covertly conducted through Branham's ministry.<ref name = "tre"/>
After holding a very successful revival meeting in Shreveport during mid-1947, Branham began assembling an evangelical team that stayed with him for most of the revival period.Template:Sfn The first addition to the team was Jack Moore and Young Brown, who periodically assisted him in managing his meetings.Template:Sfn Following the Shreveport meetings, Branham held a series of meetings in San Antonio, Phoenix, and at various locations in California.Template:Sfn Moore invited his friend Gordon Lindsay to join the campaign team, which he did beginning at a meeting in Sacramento, California, in late 1947.Template:Sfn
Lindsay was a successful publicist and manager for Branham, and played a key role in helping him gain national and international recognition.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1948, Branham and Lindsay founded Voice of Healing magazine, which was originally aimed at reporting Branham's healing campaigns.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The story of Samuel the Prophet, who heard a voice speak to him in the night, inspired Branham's name for the publication.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Lindsay was impressed with Branham's focus on humility and unity, and was instrumental in helping him gain acceptance among Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal groups by expanding his revival meetings beyond the United Pentecostal Church to include all of the major Pentecostal groups.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The first meetings organized by Lindsay were held in northwestern North America during late 1947.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At the first of these meetings, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian minister Ern Baxter joined Branham's team.Template:Sfn Lindsay reported 70,000 attendees to the 14 days of meetings and long prayer lines as Branham prayed for the sick.Template:Sfn William Hawtin, a Canadian Pentecostal minister, attended one of Branham's Vancouver meetings in November 1947 and was impressed by Branham's healings. Branham was an important influence on the Latter Rain revival movement, which Hawtin helped initiate.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In January 1948, meetings were held in Florida;Template:Sfn F. F. Bosworth met Branham at the meetings and also joined his team.Template:Sfn Bosworth was among the pre-eminent ministers of the Pentecostal movement and a founding minister of the Assemblies of God; Bosworth lent great weight to Branham's campaign team.Template:Sfn He remained a strong Branham supporter until his death in 1958.Template:Sfn Bosworth endorsed Branham as "the most sensitive person to the presence and working of the Holy Spirit" he had ever met.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
During early 1947, a major campaign was held in Kansas City, where Branham and Lindsay first met Oral Roberts.Template:Sfn Roberts and Branham had contact at different points during the revival.Template:Sfn Roberts said Branham was "set apart, just like Moses".Template:Sfn
Branham spent many hours ministering and praying for the sick during his campaigns, and like many other leading evangelists of the time he suffered exhaustion.Template:Sfn After one year of campaigning, his exhaustion began leading to health issues. Branham reported to his audiences that he suffered a nervous breakdown and required treatment by the Mayo Clinic.Template:Sfn Branham's illness coincided with a series of allegations of fraud in his healing revivals. Attendees reported seeing him "staggering from intense fatigue" during his last meetings.Template:Sfn
Just as Branham began to attract international attention in May 1948, he announced that due to illness he would have to halt his campaign.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His illness shocked the growing movement,Template:Sfn and his abrupt departure from the field caused a rift between him and Lindsay over the Voice of Healing magazine.Template:Sfn Branham insisted that Lindsay take over complete management of the publication.Template:Sfn With the main subject of the magazine no longer actively campaigning, Lindsay was forced to seek other ministers to promote.Template:Sfn He decided to publicize Oral Roberts during Branham's absence, and Roberts quickly rose to prominence, in large part due to Lindsay's coverage.Template:Sfn
Branham partially recovered from his illness and resumed holding meetings in October 1948; in that month he held a series of meetings around the United States without Lindsay's support.Template:Sfn Branham's return to the movement led to his resumed leadership of it.Template:Sfn In November 1948, he met with Lindsay and Moore and told them he had received another angelic visitation, instructing him to hold a series of meetings across the United States and then to begin holding meetings internationally.Template:Sfn As a result of the meeting, Lindsay rejoined Branham's campaigning team.Template:Sfn
Style
Most revivalists of the era were flamboyant but Branham was usually calm and spoke quietly, only occasionally raising his voice.Template:Sfn His preaching style was described as "halting and simple", and crowds were drawn to his stories of angelic visitation and "constant communication with God".Template:Sfn Branham tailored his language usage to best connect to his audiences. When speaking to poor and working-class audiences, he tended to use poor grammar and folksy language; when speaking to more educated audiences and ministerial associations, he generally spoke using perfect grammar and avoided slang usage.Template:Sfn
He refused to discuss controversial doctrinal issues during the healing campaigns,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and issued a policy statement that he would only minister on the "great evangelical truths".Template:Sfn He insisted his calling was to bring unity among the different churches he was ministering to and to urge the churches to return to the roots of early Christianity.Template:Sfn
In the first part of his meetings, one of Branham's companion evangelists would preach a sermon.Template:Sfn Ern Baxter or F. F. Bosworth usually filled this role, but other ministers like Paul Cain also participated in Branham's campaigns in later years.Template:Sfn Baxter generally focused on bible teaching; Bosworth counseled supplicants on the need for faith and the doctrine of divine healing.Template:Sfn Following their build-up, Branham would take the podium and deliver a short sermon,Template:Sfn in which he usually related stories about his personal life experiences.Template:Sfn
Branham would often request God to "confirm his message with two-or-three faith inspired miracles".Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn After completing his sermon, he would proceed with the prayer line where he would pray for the sick. Branham would often tell supplicants what they suffered from, their name, and their address.Template:Sfn
He would pray for each of them, pronouncing some or all healed. Branham generally prayed for a few people each night and believed witnessing the results on the stage would inspire faith in the audience and permit them to experience similar results without having to be personally prayed for.Template:Sfn Branham would also call out a few members still in the audience, who had not been accepted into the prayer line, stating their illness and pronouncing them healed.Template:Sfn
Branham told his audiences that he was able to determine their illness, details of their lives, and pronounce them healed as a result of an angel who was guiding him. Describing Branham's method, Bosworth said "he does not begin to pray for the healing of the afflicted in body in the healing line each night until God anoints him for the operation of the gift, and until he is conscious of the presence of the Angel with him on the platform. Without this consciousness he seems to be perfectly helpless."Template:Sfn
Branham explained to his audiences that the angel that commissioned his ministry had given him two signs by which they could prove his commission.Template:Sfn He described the first sign as vibrations he felt in his hand when he touched a sick person's hand, which communicated to him the nature of the illness, but did not guarantee healing.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
This second sign did not appear in his campaigns until after his recovery in 1948, and was used to "amaze tens of thousands" at his meetings.Template:Sfn As the revival progressed, his contemporaries began to mirror the practice.Template:Sfn According to Bosworth, this gift of knowledge allowed Branham "to see and enable him to tell the many events of [people's] lives from their childhood down to the present".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
This caused many in the healing revival to view Branham as a "seer like the old testament prophets".Template:Sfn Branham amazed even fellow evangelists, which served to further push him into a legendary status in the movement.Template:Sfn Branham's audiences were often awestruck by the events during his meetings.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, Branham was widely adored and "the neo-Pentecostal world believed Branham to be a prophet to their generation".Template:Sfn
Growing fame and international campaigns
In January 1950, Branham's campaign team held their Houston campaign, one of the most significant series of meetings of the revival.Template:Sfn The location of their first meeting was too small to accommodate the approximately 8,000 attendees, and they had to relocate to the Sam Houston Coliseum.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Bosworth argued in favor, while Best argued against.Template:Sfn The photograph showed a light above Branham's head, which he and his associates believed to be supernatural.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The photograph became well-known in the revival movement and is regarded by Branham's followers as an iconic relic.Template:Sfn Branham believed the light was a divine vindication of his ministry;Template:Sfn others believed it was a glare from the venue's overhead lighting.Template:Sfn
In January 1951, former US Congressman William Upshaw was sent by Roy Davis to a Branham campaign meeting in California.Template:Efn Upshaw had limited mobility for 59 years as the result of an accident, and said he was miraculously healed in the meeting. The publicity of the event took Branham's fame to a new level.Template:Sfn Upshaw sent a letter describing his healing claim to each member of Congress.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Los Angeles Times reported on the healing in an article titled "Ex-Rep. Upshaw Discards Crutches After 59 Years". Upshaw explained to reporters that he had been able to walk two or three steps without the aid of his crutches prior to attending Branham's meeting, but following Branham's prayer his strength increased so that he had walked four blocks.<ref name="lat">Template:Cite news</ref> Upshaw died in November 1952, at the age of 86.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to Pentecostal historian Rev. Walter Hollenweger, "Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world" during his five major international campaigns.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham held his first series of campaigns in Europe during April 1950 with meetings in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Attendance at the meetings generally exceeded 7,000 despite resistance to his meetings by the state churches.Template:Sfn Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully tour in Europe.Template:Sfn
A 1952 campaign in South Africa had the largest attendance in Branham's career, with an estimated 200,000 attendees.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Lindsay, the altar call at his Durban meeting received 30,000 converts.Template:Sfn During international campaigns in 1954, Branham visited Portugal, Italy, and India.Template:Sfn Branham's final major overseas tour in 1955 included visits to Switzerland and Germany.Template:Sfn
Branham's meetings were regularly attended by journalists,Template:Sfn who wrote articles about the miracles reported by Branham and his team throughout the years of his revivals, and claimed patients were cured of various ailments after attending prayer meetings with Branham.Template:Sfn Durban Sunday Tribune and The Natal Mercury reported wheelchair-bound people rising and walking.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Winnipeg Free Press reported a girl was cured of deafness.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> El Paso Herald-Post reported hundreds of attendees at one meeting seeking divine healing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite such occasional glowing reports, most of the press coverage Branham received was negative.Template:Sfn
Allegations of fraud
To his American audiences, Branham claimed several high profile events occurred during his international tours. Branham claimed to visit and pray for King George VI while en route to Finland in 1950. He claimed the king was healed through his prayers. 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Branham also claimed to pray for and heal the granddaughter of Florence Nightingale at a London airport. Branham's campaign produced photos of an emaciated woman who they claimed to be Nightingale's granddaughter. However, Florence Nightingale never married and had no children or grandchildren. Investigators of Branham's claim were unable to identify the woman in the photograph.Template:Sfn
Branham similarly claimed to pray for King Gustaf V while in Sweden in April 1950. Investigators found no evidence for the meeting; King Gustaf V died in October 1950. Branham claimed to stop in Egypt in 1954 while en route to India to meet with King Farouk; however Farouk had been deposed in 1952 and was not living in Egypt at the time. Branham claimed to visit the grave of Buddha while in India, however Buddha was cremated and has no grave. In total, critics of Branham identified many claims which appeared to be false when investigated. Weaver accused Branham of major embellishments.Template:Sfn<ref name = "ptu">Template:Cite web</ref>
Branham faced criticism and opposition from the early days of the healing revival, and he was repeatedly accused of fraud throughout his ministry.Template:Sfn According to historian Ronald Kydd, Branham evoked strong opinions from people with whom he came into contact; "most people either loved him or hated him".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Kydd stated that it "is impossible to get even an approximate number of people healed in Branham's ministry."Template:Sfn No consistent record of follow-ups of the healing claims were made, making analysis of many claims difficult to subsequent researchers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Additionally, Branham's procedures made verification difficult at the time of his revivals. Branham believed in positive confession. He required supplicants to claim to be healed to demonstrate their faith, even if they were still experiencing symptoms. He frequently told supplicants to expect their symptoms to remain for several days after their healing. This led to people professing to be healed at the meetings, while still suffering from the condition. Only follow up after Branham's waiting period had passed could ascertain the result of the healing.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
From the early days of the healing revival, Branham received overwhelmingly unfavorable coverage in the news media, which was often quite critical.Template:Sfn At his June 1947 revivals in Vandalia, Illinois, the local news reported that Beck Walker, a man who was deaf and mute from birth, was pronounced healed but failed to recover. Branham claimed Walker failed to recover his hearing because he had disobeyed Branham's instruction to stop smoking cigarettes. Branham was lambasted by critics who asked how it was possible the deaf man could have heard his command to stop smoking.Template:Sfn
At his 1947 meetings in Winnipeg, Branham claimed to have raised a young man from the dead at a Jeffersonville funeral parlor. Branham's sensational claim was reported in the news in the United States and Canada, leading to a news media investigation to identify the funeral home and the individual raised from the dead. Reporters subsequently found no evidence of a resurrection; no funeral parlor in the city corroborated the story.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same year the news media in Winnipeg publicized Branham's cases of failed healing. 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. To their surprise, their investigation failed to confirm any cases of actual healing; every person they interviewed had failed to recover.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
At meetings in Vancouver during 1947, newspaper reporters discovered that one young girl had been in Branham's prayer lines in multiple cities posing as a cripple, but rising to walk after Branham pronounced her healed each time. An investigative reporter suspected Branham had staged the miracle. Reporters at the meeting also attempted to follow up on the case of a Calgary woman pronounced healed by Branham who had died shortly after he left the city. Reporters attempted to confront Branham over these issues, but Branham refused to be interviewed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Branham was also accused of fraud by fellow ministers and churches that hosted his meetings. In 1947, Rev. Alfred Pohl, the Missionary-Secretary of Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, served as Branham's guide and host at meetings across western Canada. Pohl stated that many people Branham pronounced as healed later died and produced witnesses to validate his allegations. Pohl stated that the numerous deaths "severely tested the faith" of many ministers who had trusted in Branham.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Pohl also claimed Branham was frequently given and accepted large financial gifts from individuals who he pronounced as healed, including those who subsequently died.Template:Sfn
In 1948, W. J. Taylor, a district superintendent with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, raised concerns again following another wave of Branham meetings and asked for a thorough investigation.Template:Sfn Taylor presented evidence that claims of the number of people healed were vastly overestimated, and that multiple people pronounced healed by Branham had subsequently died.Template:Sfn While he stated his personal admiration for Branham, the troubling number of deaths led him to suggest "there is a possibility that this whole thing is wrong".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Churches in Canada continued to experience crises following Branham campaign meetings as they attempted to explain the numerous failed healings to their congregations.Template:Sfn At meetings in Regina, Branham pronounced the wife of a prominent minister healed of cancer. 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. To his surprise, his wife died only days later of her illness. The confusion created by the situation led ministers to claim Branham had deceived them.Template:Sfn
According to Kydd, "the controversy surrounding Branham deepened" with time.Template:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn One such case was Carol Strubler, who at age nine in 1954 was prayed for by Branham at a recorded revival in Washington, D.C., when he preached a sermon entitled "The Deep Calleth Unto The Deep". One newspaper reported, "Rev. William Branham of Jeffersonville, Ind., prayed for her and assured the heartbroken mother her daughter would live.<ref name = "trhn"/> A week later the mother told this newspaper she was confident the evangelist's words were true and had cancelled a scheduled visit to St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia." However, Strubbler died "of acute leukemia, just three weeks after [Branham] told her mother she was healed of the fatal sickness."<ref name = "trhn">Template:Cite news</ref> Another case was four-year-old Donny Morton, who was diagnosed with a rare brain condition. At recorded meetings in California during April 1951, Branham pronounced Morton healed, but the child subsequently died in October. His story was published in Reader's Digest.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Similar allegations came from Branham's European campaigns. Rev. 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. Hollenweger said that while there were a few "well-attested cases of miraculous healing", Branham was "naïve" and "dishonest" and misled his audiences when he reported the number of people healed. Hollenweger was disappointed that Branham refused to acknowledge the numerous failed pronouncements of healings.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
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.Template:Sfn Allegations in Norway led authorities to limit Branham's ability to hold meetings; the Directorate of Health forbade Branham from laying hands on the sick and sent police to his meetings to enforce the order.<ref name = "nrk">Template:Cite web</ref>
Serious allegations also were made following Branham's meetings in South Africa during 1952 and complaints were lodged with government authorities.<ref name = nai/> Michael Plaff, a doctor, was pronounced healed of cancer by Branham during one meeting. In February 1952, the Branham campaign published an article claiming Plaff had visited the hospital the day after he was prayed for and his cure was confirmed by medical tests. However, Plaff had died of his cancer just days after being pronounced healed.<ref name = mdh/> A minister attending meetings in Durban with his congregation reported that over twenty people suffering from tuberculosis were pronounced healed by Branham, but all failed to recover. In another case, a woman suffering a heart condition was pronounced healed by Branham, but died less than a week later. A 23-year-old leukemia patient was pronounced healed by Branham, but failed to recover and died about thirteen months later.<ref name = mdh/>
The Branham campaign published a book entitled "A Prophet Visit South Africa" to publicize the success of the tour. The book related the details of dozens of healings. Investigators in South Africa followed up on the reported healings and found that 46 of the people Branham said had been healed had failed to recover.<ref name = mdh>Template:Cite book</ref> After reviewing the results of the investigation, one minister concluded "that the cures claimed are so largely exaggerated as to be almost fraudulent in their claim."<ref name = mdh/> When Branham attempted to visit South Africa again in 1965, the South African government placed restrictions on his visa preventing him from holding any healing revivals while he was in the country.<ref name = nai>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Ern Baxter, who participated in most of Branham's campaigns between November 1947 and 1953 including his tours to India and Europe, reflected on the exaggerated reports of miracles in the healing revival in a 1978 interview. He explained that the allegations eroded the trust of the crowds who attended the healing services.<ref name = nwafe/>
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Some attendees of Branham's meetings believed that some healings were staged and accused him of selectively choosing who could enter the prayer line.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Branham generally attributed the failure of supplicants to receive healing to their lack of faith.Template:Sfn According to Pohl, Hollenweger, and Steiner, Branham's practice of blaming the supplicant for lack of faith was severely damaging in multiple churches and left many people who failed to receive healing in despair.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
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Their expectations had been raised so high, only to be dashed after all the excitement was over. Some seemed to experience a momentary relief from pain, but all too many would discover no lasting benefit. And by that time the healer would be too far away to be questioned or to explain. The sick person would then simply be forced to accuse himself of lack of faith, or in some cases, throw his faith overboard.Template:Sfn
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The "word of knowledge" gift used by Branham was also subject to much criticism.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Criticism of Branham's use of this gift was primarily around its nature; some asserted that it was a non-Christian practice and accused him of witchcraft and telepathy.Template:Sfn Branham was openly confronted with such criticisms and rejected the assertions.Template:Sfn
Others alleged that Branham's discernments were not genuine. Many people Branham prayed for were required to first write their name, address, and what they were seeking prayer for on prayer cards. The cards were submitted to Branham's team who would choose the supplicants to be prayed for by Branham and organize the prayer line. Some critics accused Branham's team of sharing prayer card information with Branham before he began his prayer lines.Template:Sfn<ref name = "ptu"/>
Financial difficulties
In 1955, Branham's campaigning career began to slow following financial setbacks.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Even after he became famous, Branham continued to wear inexpensive suits and refused large salaries; he was not interested in amassing wealth as part of his ministryTemplate:Sfn and was reluctant to solicit donations during his meetings.Template:Sfn 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,Template:Sfn one of which incurred a $15,000 deficit. ($Template:Inflation in 2024 dollars)Template:Sfn
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 debts.Template:Sfn Branham briefly stopped campaigning and said he would have to take a job to repay the debt, but the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International ultimately offered financial assistance to cover the debt.Template:Sfn Branham became increasingly reliant on the Full Gospel Businessmen to finance his campaign meetings as the Pentecostal denominations began to withdraw their financial support.Template:Sfn
Finances became an issue again in 1956 when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) charged Branham with tax evasion.Template:Sfn The American government targeted the other leading revivalists with lawsuits during the same time period, including Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, and A. A. Allen.Template:Sfn The IRS asserted income reported by the ministers as non-taxable gifts was taxable,Template:Sfn despite the fact Branham had not kept the gifts for himself.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Except Allen, who won his legal battle, the evangelists settled their cases out of court.Template:Sfn
The IRS investigation showed Branham did not pay close attention to the amount of money flowing through his ministry,Template:Sfn and had failed to document gifts and donations he received or how the proceeds were used.Template:Sfn It also revealed that others assisting in his campaigns were taking financial advantage of the campaigns.Template:Sfn Branham reported his annual salary to the IRS as $7,000 ($Template:Inflation in 2024 dollars) while his manager Gordon Lindsay's was reported at $80,000. ($Template:Inflation in 2024 dollars)Template:Sfn Comparatively, Oral Roberts earned a salary of $15,000 in the same years.Template:Sfn Branham's case was eventually settled out of court when Branham admitted to tax evasion and agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty. ($Template:Inflation in 2024 dollars)Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham was never able to completely pay off the tax liability.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
End of the revival
By the mid-1950s, dozens of the ministers associated with Branham and his campaigns had launched similar healing campaigns.Template:Sfn In 1956, the healing revival reached its peak, as 49 separate evangelists held major meetings.Template:Sfn Branham and Lindsay ineffectively attempted to encourage the other evangelists to help their local churches rather than launch national careers.Template:Sfn The Branham campaign held meetings across the United States in 1956, and a large meeting in Mexico City that had 20,000 in attendance. However the swelling number of competitors and emulators were further reducing attendance at Branham's meetings.Template:Sfn
His correspondence also decreased sharply. Whereas he had once received "a thousand letters a day", by 1956 his mail dropped to 75 letters a day. Branham thought the decline was temporary.Template:Sfn He continued expecting something greater, which he said "nobody will be able to imitate".Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn
Amid the financial issues in 1956, Lindsay left Branham's campaign team. Branham eventually criticized the Voice of Healing magazine which he had helped create as a "massive financial organization" that put making money ahead of promoting good.Template:Sfn The loss of Lindsay as a manager and the publicity of Voice of Healing was a major setback for Branham. After 1956, attendance at Branham's meetings dwindled and his appeal became limited to the loyal following that developed around him during the earlier years. Branham came to depend on The Herald of Faith published by Joseph Mattsson-Bose as his primary publicity tool for the final years of his ministry.Template:Sfn
Branham also began to criticize other leading contemporaries in the healing revival leading to open hostilities between the evangelists. In 1957 Branham openly criticized A. A. Allen concerning the validity of a miracle reported in his campaigns. Allen replied by circulating a letter at the Christian Fellowship Convention criticizing Branham for creating divisions and suggesting Branham may soon die as a result of his actions.Template:Sfn Branham also began to criticize Oral Roberts and Billy Graham.Template:Sfn The bad feelings and breakdown of cooperation between the leaders of the movement contributed to the end of the healing revival.Template:Sfn
In the closing years of the revival, Branham helped launch and popularize the ministry of Jim Jones, the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple.Template:Sfn According to Historian Catherine Wessinger, while rejecting Christianity as a false religion, Jones covertly used popular Christian figures to advance his own ideology.Template:Sfn Jones needed a religious headliner to endorse his ministry and invited Branham to share the platform with him at a self-organized religious convention held at the Cadle Tabernacle auditorium in Indianapolis from June 11 to 15, 1956.Template:Sfn
Branham critics Peter Duyzer and John Collins reported that Branham "performed numerous miracles", drawing a crowd of 11,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Branham was an important influence on Jones, who copied many of his styles, methods, and teachings. Jones later became known for the mass murder and suicide at Jonestown in November 1978.Template:Sfn
According to Collins, Jim Jones and Paul Schäfer were influenced to move to South America by Branham's 1961 prophecy concerning the destruction of the United States in a nuclear war. Jones later said that he and Branham "did not see eye to eye", and accused Branham of being disingenuous.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Efn
Consensus among historians is that the healing revival ended in 1958.Template:Sfn By 1960, the number of evangelists holding national campaigns dropped to 11.Template:Sfn Several perspectives on the decline of the healing revival have been offered. Crowder suggested Branham's gradual separation from Gordon Lindsay played a major part in the decline.Template:Sfn Harrell attributed the decline to the increasing number of evangelists crowding the field and straining the financial resources of the Pentecostal denominations.Template:Sfn
Weaver agreed that Pentecostal churches gradually withdrew their support for the healing revival, mainly over the financial stresses put on local churches by the healing campaigns.Template:Sfn The Assemblies of God were the first to openly withdraw support from the healing revival in 1953.Template:Sfn Weaver pointed to other factors that may have helped destroy the initial ecumenism of the revival; tension between the independent evangelists and the Pentecostal churches caused by the evangelists' fund-raising methods, denominational pride, sensationalism, and doctrinal conflictsTemplate:Sndparticularly between the Oneness and Trinitarian factions within Pentecostalism.Template:Sfn Weaver also believed that "fraud and chicanary" by the revivals evangelists also played a major role in the decline.Template:Sfn
Later life
Template:Further As the healing revival began to wane, many of Branham's contemporaries moved into the leadership of the emerging Charismatic movement, which emphasized use of spiritual gifts.Template:Sfn The Charismatic movement is a global movement within both Protestant and non-Protestant Christianity that supports the adoption of traditionally Pentecostal beliefs, especially the spiritual gifts (charismata). The movement began in the teachings of the healing revival evangelists and grew as their teachings came to receive broad acceptance among millions of Christians.Template:Sfn
At the same time the Charismatic movement was gaining broad acceptance, Branham began to transition to a teaching ministry. He began speaking on the controversial doctrinal issues he had avoided for most of the revival.Template:Sfn By the 1960s, Branham's contemporaries and the Pentecostal denominations that had supported his campaigns regarded him as an extremely controversial teacher.Template:Sfn
The leadership of the Pentecostal churches pressed Branham to resist his urge to teach and to instead focus on praying for the sick.Template:Sfn Branham refused, arguing that the purpose of his healing ministry was to attract audiences and, having thus been attracted, it was time to teach them the doctrines he claimed to have received through supernatural revelation.Template:Sfn Branham argued that his entire ministry was divinely inspired and could not be selectively rejected or accepted, saying, "It's either all of God, or none of God."Template:Sfn
At first, Branham taught his doctrines only within his own church at Jeffersonville, but beginning in the 1960s he began to preach them at other churches he visited.Template:Sfn His criticisms of Pentecostal organizations, and especially his views on holiness and the role of women, led to his rejection by the growing Charismatic movement and the Pentecostals from whom he had originally achieved popularity.Template:Sfn Branham acknowledged their rejection and said their organizations "had choked out the glory and Spirit of God".Template:Sfn As a result of their view of his teachings, many Pentecostals judged that Branham had "stepped out of his anointing" and had become a "bad teacher of heretical doctrine".Template:Sfn
Despite his rejection by the growing Charismatic movement, Branham's followers became increasingly dedicated to him during his later life. Some even claimed he was the Messiah, treated him as deity, and began to baptise and pray in his name.Template:Sfn Branham quickly condemned their belief as heresy and threatened to stop ministering, but the belief persisted.Template:Sfn Many followers moved great distances to live near his home in Jeffersonville and, led by Leo Mercer, subsequently set up a colony in Arizona following Branham's move to Tucson in 1962.Template:Sfn
Many believed the rapture was imminent and that it was necessary to be near Branham in Arizona to take part.Template:Sfn Branham lamented Mercer and the actions of his group as he worried that a cult was potentially being formed among his most fanatical followers.Template:Sfn Before he died, some of his followers had already begun compiling his sermons and treating them as oral scripture, with a significant minority of his followers believing in his divinity.Template:Sfn
His followers refer to his teachings collectively as "The Message". Outsiders have referred to his teachings as Branhamism and Branhamology.Template:Sfn
Death
Branham continued to travel to churches and preach his doctrine across Canada, the United States, and Mexico during the 1960s. His only overseas trip during the 1960s proved a disappointment. Branham reported a vision of himself preaching before large crowds and hoped for its fulfillment on the trip, but the South African government prevented him from holding revivals when he traveled to the country in 1965. Branham was saddened that his teaching ministry was rejected by all but his closest followers.Template:Sfn
Pentecostal churches which once welcomed Branham refused to permit him to preach during the 1960s, and those who were still sympathetic to him were threatened with excommunication by their superiors if they did so.Template:Sfn He held his final set of revival meetings in Shreveport at the church of his early campaign manager Jack Moore in November 1965. Although he had hinted at it many times, Branham publicly stated for the first time that he was the return of Elijah the prophet in his final meetings in Shreveport.Template:Sfn
On December 18, 1965, Branham and his familyTemplate:Sndexcept his daughter RebekahTemplate:Sndwere returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana, from Tucson for the Christmas holiday.Template:Sfn About Template:Convert east of Friona, Texas, and about Template:Convert southwest of Amarillo on US Highway 60, just after dark, a car driven by a drunken driver traveling westward in the eastbound lane collided head-on with Branham's car.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was rushed to the hospital in Amarillo where he remained comatose for several days and died of his injuries on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1965.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Branham's death stunned the Pentecostal world and shocked his followers.Template:Sfn His funeral was held on December 29, 1965,Template:Sfn but his burial was delayed until April 11, 1966; Easter Monday.Template:Sfn Most eulogies only tacitly acknowledged Branham's controversial teachings, focusing instead on his many positive contributions and recalling his wide popularity and impact during the years of the healing revival.Template:Sfn Gordon Lindsay's eulogy stated that Branham's death was the will of God and privately he accepted the interpretation of Kenneth E. Hagin, who claimed to have prophesied Branham's death two years before it happened. According to Hagin, God revealed that Branham was teaching false doctrine and God was removing him because of his disobedience.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In the confusion immediately following Branham's death, expectations that he would rise from the dead developed among his followers.Template:Sfn Most believed he would have to return to fulfill a vision he had regarding future tent meetings.Template:Sfn Weaver attributed the belief in Branham's imminent resurrection to Pearry Green, though Green denied it.Template:Sfn Even Branham's son Billy Paul seemed to expect his father's resurrection and indicated as much in messages sent to Branham's followers, in which he communicated his expectation for Easter 1966.Template:Sfn The expectation of his resurrection remained strong into the 1970s, in part based on Branham's prediction that the rapture could occur by 1977.Template:Sfn After 1977, some of his followers abandoned his teachings.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Legacy and influence
Branham was the "initiator of the post-World War II healing revival"Template:Sfn and, along with Oral Roberts, was one of its most revered leaders.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Branham is most remembered for his use of the "sign-gifts" that awed the Pentecostal world.Template:Sfn According to writer and researcher Patsy Sims, "the power of a Branham service and his stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement."Template:Sfn The many revivalists who attempted to emulate Branham during the 1950s spawned a generation of prominent Charismatic ministries.Template:Sfn
Branham has been called the "principal architect of restorationist thought" of the Charismatic movement that emerged from the healing revival.Template:Sfn The Charismatic view that the Christian church should return to a form like that of the early church has its roots in Branham's teachings during the healing revival period.Template:Sfn The belief is widely held in the modern Charismatic movement,Template:Sfn and the legacy of his restorationist teaching and ministering style is evident throughout televangelism and the Charismatic movement.Template:Sfn
The more controversial doctrines Branham espoused in the closing years of his ministry were rejected by the Charismatic movement, which viewed them as "revelatory madness".Template:Efn Charismatics are apologetic towards Branham's early ministry and embrace his use of the "sign-gifts". Charismatic author John Crowder wrote that his ministry should not be judged by "the small sliver of his later life", but by the fact that he indirectly "lit a fire" that began the modern Charismatic movement.Template:Sfn Non-Charismatic Christianity completely rejected Branham.Template:Efn
Crowder said Branham was a victim of "the adoration of man" because his followers began to idolize him in the later part of his ministry.Template:Sfn Harrell took a similar view, attributing Branham's teachings in his later career to his close friends, who manipulated him and took advantage of his lack of theological training.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn According to Weaver, to Branham's dismay,Template:Sfn his followers had placed him at the "center of a Pentecostal personality cult" in the final years of his ministry.Template:Sfn
Edward Babinski describes Branham's followers as "odd in their beliefs, but for the most part honest hard-working citizens", and wrote that calling them a cult "seems unfair".Template:Sfn While rejecting Branham's teachings, Duyzer offered a glowing review of Branham's followers, stating he "had never experienced friendship, or love like we did there".Template:Sfn Though Branham is no longer widely known outside Pentecostalism,Template:Sfn his legacy continues today.Template:Sfn Summarizing the contrasting views held of Branham, Kydd stated, "Some thought he was God. Some thought he was a dupe of the devil. Some thought he was an end-time messenger sent from God, and some still do."Template:Sfn
Followers of Branham's teachings can be found around the world; Branham claimed to have made over one million converts during his campaign meetings.Template:Sfn In 1986, there were an estimated 300,000 followers.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn In 2000, the William Branham Evangelical Association had missions on every inhabited continentTemplate:Sndwith 1,600 associated churches in Latin America and growing missions across Africa.Template:Sfn In 2018, Voice of God Recordings claimed to serve Branham-related support material to about two million people through the William Branham Evangelical Association, and estimated there were 2–4 million total followers of Branham's teachings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = "nrk"/>
Branham's followers do not have a central unifying leadership. Shortly after Branham's death, his followers divided in multiple feuding groups.Template:Sfn Many different followers of Branham's teachings have claimed to be his immediate successor, or an Elisha to his Elijah. Many also believe that Branham's son Joseph has claimed the inheritance of his father's ministry.Template:Sfn Each of the men claiming to be his successor have established new sects of Branham's followers.Template:Sfn His followers "range widely in belief in practice."<ref name = "fom">Template:Cite web</ref> Some followers have attempted to reform Branham's most extreme teachings.<ref name = "fom"/> While most churches adhere to a common set of tenets, the "extreme local authority" of the church promoted by Branham has led to widespread differences in interpretation of Branham's prophetic teachings.Template:Sfn One common theme among all groups is the belief that Branham was the return of Elijah the prophet and receiving his prophetic revelations is necessary to escape the impending destruction of the world.Template:Sfn Some groups of Branham's followers refuse medical treatment because of their divine healing beliefs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many followers of Branham's teachings live within insular communities, with their own schools and with no access to television or internet or outside media. Some groups prohibit their members from having relationships with outsiders. Those who leave are often shunned or disowned.<ref name = "taws"/><ref name = "tre"/> People who try to leave the teachings of Branham often face extreme repercussions. Carl Dyck wrote, "Those who have come out of this group give solemn evidence of the devastating effect that Branhamism had on them, both emotionally and psychologically. In fact, the followers of Branham pray that evil will come upon people who leave their church."Template:Sfn Branham's followers have harassed critics and individuals who reject Branham's teachings. Dyck reported that people who published material critical of Branham's teachings have been threatened by his followers and warned they may be killed.Template:Sfn The news media have also reported critics of Branham's teaching being threatened and harassed by his followers.<ref name = "taws">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name = "hwd"/>
In his book Churches that Abuse, Ronald Enroth wrote that some churches use Branham's teachings to "belittle, insult, and berate" their members as part of their discipleship teachings on submission, humility, and obedience.Template:Sfn According to Enroth, Branham's followers believe subjecting themselves to this treatment is necessary for them to "be refined and perfect" and "ready to meet Jesus" at this second coming.Template:Sfn Enroth reported instances of families being separated, with children being taken from their parents and reassigned to other families to be raised as a form of discipline. He also reported multiple cases of physical abuse against both adults and children in the United States and Mexico.Template:Sfn
Branham's followers are widely spread throughout the world. 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, the Russian government labeled missionaries of Branham's teaching as "extremists" and banned the importation of Branham-related publications to the Russian Federation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notes
Footnotes
References
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Hagiographical
External links
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- Evangelical Times: 'William Branham', by Eryl Davies
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