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William M.
Branham

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. He left a lasting impact on
televangelism and the modern
Charismatic movement and is recognized
as the "principal architect of restorationist
thought" for Charismatics by some
Christian historians.[1][2] At the time they
were held, his 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.
 The Reverend

William M. Branham

Branham in 1947

Born William Marrion

Branham
April 6, 1909
Cumberland County,
Kentucky, US

Died December 24, 1965

 (aged 56)
Amarillo, Texas, US
Occupation Evangelist

Spouse(s) Amelia Hope

Brumbach
(m. 1934; died 1937)
Meda Marie Broy
(m. 1941)

Children William • Sharon •

Rebekah • Sarah •
Joseph

Parent(s) Charles Branham •

Ella Harvey

Religion Christianity
 Baptist (1929–
1946)
Pentecostal (1946–
1960)
Nondenominational

Branham claimed to have received an

angelic visitation on May 7, 1946,
commissioning his worldwide ministry and
launching his campaigning career in mid-
1946. His fame spread rapidly 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. 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 known as the Full
Gospel tradition, Branham developed an
alternate theology that 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".[3] Many of his
followers, however, accepted his sermons
as oral scripture and refer to his teachings
as The Message. In 1963, Branham
preached a sermon in which he indicated
he was a prophet with the anointing of
Elijah, who had come to herald Christ's
second coming. 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 to have made over one
million converts during his career. His
teachings continue to be promoted
through the William Branham Evangelistic
Association, who reported in 2018 that
about 2 million people receive their
material. Branham died following a car
accident in 1965.

Early life

The dirt-floor log cabin that was William Branham's

birthplace as shown in his biography William
Branham: A Man Sent From God
William M. Branham was born near
Burkesville, Kentucky, on April 6,
1909,[4][5][6] the son of Charles and Ella
Harvey Branham, the oldest of ten
children.[7][a] He claimed that at his birth, a
"Light come [sic] whirling through the
window, about the size of a pillow, and
circled around where I was, and went
down on the bed".[5] Branham told his
publicist Gordon Lindsay that he had
mystical experiences from an early age;[4]
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".[4][5] According to Branham, that
year his family moved to Jeffersonville,
Indiana.[5] Branham also said that when he
was seven years old, God told him to avoid
smoking and drinking alcoholic
beverages.[4][9] Branham stated he never
violated the command.[4]

Branham's father was an alcoholic, and he

grew up in "deep poverty" much like their
neighbors.[4] As a child, he would often
wear a coat held closed only by safety
pins, without a shirt underneath.[6]
Branham's neighbors reported him as
"someone who always seemed a little
different", but said he was a dependable
youth.[4] 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.[10]
Branham called his childhood "a terrible
life."[9]

At 19, Branham left home seeking a better

life. He traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, where
he worked for two years on a ranch and
began a successful career in boxing.[4] He
returned to Jeffersonville when his brother
died in 1929.[4][11] Branham had no
experience with religion as a child; he said
the first time he heard a prayer was at his
brother's funeral.[12] Soon after, while
working for the Public Service Company of
Indiana, Branham was almost killed when
he was overcome by gas.[12] While
recovering from the accident, he said he
again heard a voice leading him to begin
seeking God.[12] He began attending a
local Independent Baptist church, the First
Pentecostal Baptist Church of
Jeffersonville, where he converted to
Christianity.[13][4] Six months later, he was
ordained as an Independent Baptist
minister.[4] His early ministry was an
"impressive success"; he quickly attracted
a small group of followers, who helped
obtain a tent in which he could hold a
revival.[4]

At the time of Branham's conversion, the

First Pentecostal Baptist Church of
Jeffersonville was a nominally Baptist
church that observed some Pentecostal
doctrines, including divine healing.[14] As a
result, he may have been exposed to some
Pentecostal teachings from his
conversion.[15] He was first exposed to a
Pentecostal denominational church in
1936, which invited him to join, but he
refused.[14][b]

During June 1933, Branham held revival

meetings in his tent.[4] On June 2 that year,
the Jeffersonville Evening News said the
Branham campaign reported 14
converts.[17] 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".[18][19] Belief in the
baptismal story is a critical element of
faith among Branham's followers.[20]
Branham initially interpreted this in
reference to the restoration of the gifts of
the spirit to the church and made regular
references to the baptismal story from the
earliest days of the healing revival.[21] In
later years, Branham also connected the
story to his teaching ministry.[22] Baptist
historian Doug Weaver said Branham
might have embellished the baptismal
story when he was achieving success in
the healing revival.[23]

Branham Tabernacle c. 1935

Following his June tent meeting,

Branham's supporters helped him organize
a new church, the Branham Tabernacle, in
Jeffersonville.[24] Branham served as
pastor from 1933 to 1946.[24] 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.[24] Branham
believed the stagnation of the church's
growth was a punishment from God for his
failure to embrace Pentecostalism.[24]
Branham married Amelia Hope Brumbach
(b. July 16, 1913) in 1934, and they had
two children; William "Billy" Paul Branham
(b. September 13, 1935) and Sharon Rose
Branham (b. October 27, 1936).[7]
Branham's wife died on July 22, 1937, and
their daughter died four days later (July 26,
1937), shortly after the Ohio River flood of
1937.[25] Branham interpreted their deaths
as God's punishment for his continued
resistance to holding revivals for the
Oneness Pentecostals.[18][c]

Branham married Meda Marie Broy in

1941, and together they had three children;
Rebekah (b. 1946), Sarah (b. 1950), and
Joseph (b. 1955).[7]

Healing revival
Background …

Branham is known for his role in the

healing revivals that occurred in the United
States in the 1940s and 1950s,[27] and
most participants in the movement
regarded him as its initiator.[28] Christian
writer John Crowder described the period
of revivals as "the most extensive public
display of miraculous power in modern
history".[29] Some, like Christian author and
countercult activist Hank Hanegraaff,
rejected the entire healing revival as a
hoax and condemned the evangelical and
Charismatic movements as cults.[30]
Divine healing is a tradition and belief that
was historically held by a majority of
Christians but it became increasingly
associated with Evangelical
Protestantism.[31] 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.[32]

Branham held massive inter-

denominational meetings, from which
came reports of hundreds of miracles.[28]
Historian David Harrell described Branham
and Oral Roberts as the two giants of the
movement and called Branham its
"unlikely leader."[28]

Early campaigns …

William Branham and F. F. Bosworth

Branham held his first meetings as a faith
healer in 1946.[33] His healing services are
well documented, and he is regarded as
the pacesetter for those who followed
him.[34] At the time they were held,
Branham's revival meetings were the
largest religious meetings some American
cities he visited had ever seen;[35] reports
of 1,000 to 1,500 converts per meeting
were common.[35] Historians name his
June 1946 St. Louis meetings as the
inauguration of the healing revival
period.[36] He said he had received an
angelic visitation on May 7, 1946,
commissioning his worldwide ministry.[37]
In his later years, in an attempt to link his
ministry with the end time, he connected
his vision with the establishment of the
nation of Israel, at one point mistakenly
stating the vision occurred on the same
day.[38][38][d][e]

His first revival meetings were held over 12

days during June 1946 in St. Louis.[41] His
first campaign manager, W. E. Kidston,
was editor of The Apostolic Herald and had
many contacts in the Pentecostal
movement.[41] Kidston was instrumental in
helping organize Branham's early revival
meetings.[41] Time magazine reported on
his St. Louis campaign meetings,[42] 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.[41] Branham's fame
began to grow as a result of the publicity
and reports covering his meetings.[41]
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.[41] 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.[43] 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.[43]

F. F. Bosworth counsels attendees on the doctrine of

divine healing at a Branham Campaign meeting in
Tacoma, Washington, April 1948.

Branham's revivals were interracial from

their inception and were noted for their
"racial openness" during the period of
widespread racial unrest.[44] 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.
Dedicated to ministering to both races,
Branham insisted on holding 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.[44]

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.[45] The first addition to the
team was Jack Moore and Young Brown,
who periodically assisted him in managing
his meetings.[46] Following the Shreveport
meetings, Branham held a series of
meetings in San Antonio, Phoenix, and at
various locations in California.[45] Moore
invited his friend Gordon Lindsay to join
the campaign team, which he did
beginning at a meeting in Sacramento,
California, in late 1947.[46] Lindsay was a
successful publicist and manager for
Branham, and played a key role in helping
him gain national and international
recognition.[47][48]In 1948, Branham and
Lindsay founded Voice of Healing
magazine, which was originally aimed at
reporting Branham's healing
campaigns.[47][f] 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.[49][42]

April 1948 cover of Voice of Healing magazine

The first meetings organized by Lindsay
were held in northwestern North America
during late 1947.[46][42] At the first of these
meetings, held in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canadian minister Ern Baxter
joined Branham's team.[46] Lindsay
reported 70,000 attendees to the 14 days
of meetings and long prayer lines as
Branham prayed for the sick.[46] William
Hawtin, a Canadian Pentecostal minister,
attended one of Branham's Vancouver
meetings in November 1947 and was
impressed by Branham's healings.
Branham thus became an influence on the
Latter Rain revival movement, which
Hawtin helped initiate.[50] In January 1948,
meetings were held in Florida;[46] F. F.
Bosworth met Branham at the meetings
and also joined his team.[51] Bosworth was
among the pre-eminent ministers of the
Pentecostal movement and lent great
weight to Branham's campaign team.[51]
He remained a strong Branham supporter
until his death in 1958.[51] Bosworth
endorsed Branham as "the most sensitive
person to the presence and working of the
Holy Spirit" he had ever met.[52][53] During
early 1947, a major campaign was held in
Kansas City, where Branham and Lindsay
first met Oral Roberts.[46] Roberts and
Branham had contact at different points
during the revival.[54] Roberts said
Branham was "set apart, just like
Moses".[54]

From left: Young Brown, Jack Moore, William

Branham, Oral Roberts, Gordon Lindsay; photo taken
at Kansas City in 1948
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.[55] After one year of
campaigning, his exhaustion began
leading to health issues.[56] Attendees
reported seeing him "staggering from
intense fatigue" during his last
meetings.[46] Just as Branham began to
attract international attention in May 1948,
he announced that due to illness he would
have to halt his campaign.[46][57] His illness
shocked the growing movement,[58] and
his abrupt departure from the field caused
a rift between him and Lindsay over the
Voice of Healing magazine.[46] Branham
insisted that Lindsay take over complete
management of the publication.[46] With
the main subject of the magazine no
longer actively campaigning, Lindsay was
forced to seek other ministers to
promote.[46] He decided to publicize Oral
Roberts during Branham's absence, and
Roberts quickly rose to prominence, in
large part due to Lindsay's coverage.[51]
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.[51]
Branham's return to the movement led to
his resumed leadership of it.[51] 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.[59] As a result of
the meeting, Lindsay rejoined Branham's
campaigning team.[59]

Style …

Branham at a healing campaign meeting

Most revivalists of the era were

flamboyant but Branham was usually calm
and spoke quietly, only occasionally raising
his voice.[54] His preaching style was
described as "halting and simple", and
crowds were drawn to his stories of
angelic visitation and "constant
communication with God".[28] He refused
to discuss controversial doctrinal issues
during the early years of his
campaigns,[60][61] and issued a policy
statement that he would only minister on
the "great evangelical truths".[62] 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.[54]
In the first part of his meetings, one of
Branham's companion evangelists would
preach a sermon.[46] Ern Baxter or F. F.
Bosworth usually filled this role, but other
ministers also participated in Branham's
campaigns.[46] Baxter generally focused
on bible teaching; Bosworth counseled
supplicants on the need for faith and the
doctrine of divine healing.[63] Following
their build-up, Branham would take the
podium and deliver a short sermon,[46] in
which he usually related stories about his
personal life experiences.[60] After
completing his sermon, he would proceed
with a prayer line where he would pray for
the sick.[54] Branham would often request
God to "confirm his message with two-or-
three faith inspired miracles".[63] His
campaign manager organized the prayer
line, sending supplicants forward to be
prayed for on stage individually.[63]
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.[64] 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."[65]

Branham told audiences the angel that

commissioned his ministry had given him
two signs by which they could prove his
commission.[65] 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.[65][66]
Branham's use of what his fellow
evangelists called a word of knowledge
gift separated him from his
contemporaries.[33][60] 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.[60] 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".[60][67] This caused many in
the healing revival to view Branham as a
"seer like the old testament prophets".[60]
Branham amazed even fellow evangelists,
which served to further push him into a
legendary status in the movement.[60]
Branham's audiences were often
awestruck by the events during his
meetings.[54][68] 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".[53]
Opposition …

Branham faced criticism and opposition

from the early days of the healing
campaign.[69] 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".[70][71] In 1947, Rev. Alfred
Pohl, a minister in Saskatchewan, Canada,
stated that many people Branham
pronounced as healed later died.[69] A year
later, W. J. Taylor, a district superintendent
with the Pentecostal Assemblies of
Canada, raised the same concern and
asked for a thorough investigation.[72]
Taylor presented evidence that claims of
the number of people healed were vastly
overestimated.[61] He stated, "there is a
possibility that this whole thing is
wrong".[73][72] The number of people who
claimed to be healed in Branham's
campaign meetings "is impossible to
approximate" and the numbers vary greatly
between sources.[74] According to Kydd, by
watching films of the revival meetings, "the
viewer would assume almost everyone
was healed" but the results proved
otherwise the few times follow-up was
made.[75] No consistent record of follow-
ups was made, making analysis of the
claims difficult to subsequent
researchers.[75] Pentecostal historian
Walter Hollenweger said, "very few were
actually healed".[76] Some attendees of
Branham's meetings believed the healings
were a hoax and accused him of
selectively choosing who could enter the
prayer line.[77] 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.[77]
Branham generally attributed the failure of
supplicants to receive healing to their lack
of faith.[78]

The "word of knowledge" gift was likewise

subject to much criticism.[70] 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.[70] Criticism of
Branham's use of this gift was primarily
around its nature; some accused him of
witchcraft and telepathy.[75] Branham was
openly confronted with such criticisms
and rejected the assertions.[75]

Growing fame …

Branham at the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1950

In January 1950, Branham's campaign

team held their Houston campaign, one of
the most significant series of meetings of
the revival.[51] 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.[51] 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.[79][59] Bosworth
argued in favor, while Best argued
against.[79] The photograph showed a light
above Branham's head, which he and his
associates believed to be
supernatural.[79][59] The photograph
became well-known in the revival
movement and is regarded by Branham's
followers as an iconic relic.[72] Branham
believed the light was a divine vindication
of his ministry;[79] others believed it was a
glare from the venue's overhead
lighting.[80]
Congressman William Upshaw

In January 1951, US Congressman William

Upshaw, who had been crippled for 59
years as the result of an accident, said he
was miraculously healed and had regained
the ability to walk in a Branham meeting,
further fueling Branham's fame.[72]
Upshaw sent a letter describing his healing
claim to each member of Congress.[81][72]
Among the widespread media reports was
a story in the Los Angeles Times that
described it as "perhaps the most effective
healing testimony this generation has ever
seen".[81] Upshaw died in November 1952,
at the age of 86.[82]

Branham's meetings were regularly

attended by journalists,[83] 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.[83] Durban Sunday Tribune and
The Natal Mercury reported wheelchair-
bound people rising and walking.[84][85]
Winnipeg Free Press reported a girl was
cured of deafness.[86] El Paso Herald-Post
reported hundreds of attendees at one
meeting seeking divine healing.[87]
Logansport Press reported a father's claim
that his four-year-old son, who suffered
from a "rare brain ailment", benefited from
Branham's meetings.[88] Despite such
occasional glowing reports, most of the
press coverage Branham received was
negative.[89]

According to Hollenweger, "Branham filled

the largest stadiums and meeting halls in
the world" during his five major
international campaigns.[59][89] Branham
held his first series of campaigns in
Europe during April 1950 with meetings in
Finland, Sweden, and Norway.[90][59]
Attendance at the meetings generally
exceeded 7,000 despite resistance to his
meetings by the state churches.[62] In
Norway, the Directorate of Health forbade
Branham from laying hands on the sick
and sent police to his meetings to enforce
the order.[91] Branham was the first
American deliverance minister to
successfully tour in Europe.[92] A 1952
campaign in South Africa had the largest
attendance in Branham's career, with an
estimated 200,000 attendees.[62][93]
According to Lindsay, the altar call at his
Durban meeting received 30,000
converts.[62] During international
campaigns in 1954, Branham visited
Portugal, Italy, and India.[62] Branham's
final major overseas tour in 1955 included
visits to Switzerland and Germany.[94]

Financial difficulties …

In 1955, Branham's campaigning career

began to slow following financial
setbacks.[53][95] 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 ministry[6]
and was reluctant to solicit donations
during his meetings.[96] 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,[53] one of
which incurred a $15,000 deficit.[95] 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.[53]
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.[96] Branham became increasingly
reliant on the Full Gospel Businessmen to
finance his campaign meetings as the
Pentecostal denominations began to
withdraw their financial support.[96]
Finances became an issue again in 1956
when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
charged Branham with tax evasion.[53] The
American government targeted the other
leading revivalists with lawsuits during the
same time period, including Oral Roberts,
Jack Coe, and A. A. Allen.[97] The IRS
asserted income reported by the ministers
as non-taxable gifts was taxable,[95]
despite the fact Branham had not kept the
gifts for himself.[98] Except Allen, who won
his legal battle, the evangelists settled
their cases out of court.[95] The IRS
investigation showed Branham did not pay
close attention to the amount of money
flowing through his ministry.[99] It also
revealed that others were taking
advantage of him.[99] Branham's annual
salary was $7,000 while his manager's
was $80,000.[95] Oral Roberts earned a
salary of $15,000 in the same years.[100]
The case was eventually settled out of
court with the payment of a $40,000
penalty.[53][101] Branham was never able to
completely pay off the debt.[53][101] Amid
the financial issues, Lindsay left Branham's
campaign team. Branham eventually
criticized the Voice of Healing magazine as
a "massive financial organization" that put
making money ahead of promoting
good.[58]

End of the revival …

By the mid-1950s, dozens of the ministers

associated with Branham and his
campaigns had launched similar healing
campaigns.[102] In 1956, the healing revival
reached its peak, as 49 separate
evangelists held major meetings.[103]
Through the Voice of Healing magazine,
Branham and Lindsay ineffectively
attempted to discourage their activities by
saying Branham wished they would help
their local churches rather than launch
national careers.[102] The swelling number
of competitors and emulators further
reduced attendance at Branham's
meetings.[102] His correspondence also
decreased sharply; whereas he had once
received "a thousand letters a day", his
mail dropped to 75 letters a day but
Branham thought the decline was
temporary.[104] He continued expecting
something greater, which he said "nobody
will be able to imitate".[102] In 1955, he
reported a vision of a renewed tent
ministry and a "third pull which would be
dramatically different" than his earlier
career.[102]

Among Branham's emulators was Jim

Jones, the founder and leader of the
Peoples Temple.[105] According to
Historian Catherine Wessinger, while
rejecting Christianity as a false religion,
Jones covertly used popular Christian
figures to advance his own ideology.[106]
To draw the crowds he was seeking, Jones
needed a religious headliner 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.[105]
Branham critics Peter Duyzer and John
Collins reported that Branham "performed
numerous miracles", drawing a crowd of
11,000.[107] Jones later became known for
the mass murder and suicide at
Jonestown in November 1978.[105]
According to Collins, Jim Jones and Paul
Schäfer were influenced to move to South
America by Branham's 1961 prophecy
concerning Armageddon, but utlimately
concluded that Jones and Branham "did
not see eye to eye", and that Jones
rejected Branham as a dishonest
person.[108][109][g]

By 1960, the number of evangelists

holding national campaigns dropped to
11.[103] 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.[111] Harrell
attributed the decline to the increasing
number of evangelists crowding the field
and straining the financial resources of the
Pentecostal denominations.[102] Weaver
agreed Pentecostal churches gradually
withdrew their support for the healing
revival, mainly over the financial stresses
put on local churches by the healing
campaigns.[112] The Assemblies of God
were the first to openly withdraw support
from the healing revival in 1953.[112]
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 conflicts—particularly between
the Oneness and Trinitarian factions within
Pentecostalism.[112]

Later life

Teaching ministry …

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.[95] 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.[113] 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.[114] By the 1960s, Branham's
contemporaries and the Pentecostal
denominations that had supported his
campaigns regarded him as an extremely
controversial teacher.[115] The leadership
of the Pentecostal churches pressed
Branham to resist his urge to teach and to
instead focus on praying for the sick.[116]
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.[117] 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".[116]

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.[116] 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.[118] Branham
acknowledged their rejection and said
their organizations "had choked out the
glory and Spirit of God".[118] 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".[119]

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.[120] Branham
quickly condemned their belief as heresy
and threatened to stop ministering, but the
belief persisted.[120] 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.[120] Branham lamented
Mercer and the actions of his group as he
worried that a cult was potentially being
formed among his most fanatical
followers.[120]
Branham continued to travel to churches
and preach his doctrine across North
America during the 1960s. He held his
final set of revival meetings in Shreveport
at the church of his early campaign
manager Jack Moore in November
1965.[121]

Teachings …

Branham developed a unique theology and

placed emphasis on a few key doctrines,
including his eschatological views,
annihilationism, oneness of the Godhead,
predestination, eternal security, and the
serpent's seed.[122] His followers refer to
his teachings collectively as "The
Message".[123] Kydd and Weaver have both
referred to Branham's teachings as
"Branhamology".[124][123] Most of
Branham's teachings have precedents
within sects of the Pentecostal movement
or in other non-Pentecostal
denominations.[125] The doctrines
Branham imported from non-Pentecostal
theology and the unique combination of
doctrines that he created as a result led to
widespread criticism from Pentecostal
churches and the Charismatic
movement.[125][126] 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.[125][126][127]

The Full Gospel tradition, which has its

roots in Wesleyan Arminianism, is the
theology generally adhered to by the
Charismatic movement and Pentecostal
denominations.[123] Branham's doctrines
are a blend of both Calvinism and
Arminianism, which are considered
contradictory by many theologians.[128] As
a result, his theology seemed complicated
and bizarre to many people who admired
him personally during the years of the
healing revival.[126] Many of his followers
regard his sermons as oral scripture and
believe Branham had rediscovered the true
doctrines of the early church.[123]

Divine healing …

Throughout his ministry, Branham taught a

doctrine of faith healing that was often the
central teaching he espoused during the
healing campaign.[129] He believed healing
was the main focus of the ministry of
Jesus Christ and believed in a dual
atonement; "salvation for the soul and
healing for the body".[129] He believed and
taught that miracles ascribed to Christ in
the New Testament were also possible in
modern times.[129] Branham believed all
sickness was a result of demonic activity
and could be overcome by the faith of the
person desiring healing.[129] Branham
argued that God was required to heal when
faith was present.[129] This led him to
conclude that individuals who failed to be
healed lacked adequate faith.[129]
Branham's teaching on divine healing were
within the mainstream of Pentecostal
theology and echoed the doctrines taught
by Smith Wigglesworth, Bosworth, and
other prominent Pentecostal ministers of
the prior generation.[129]

Annihilationism …

Annihilationism, the doctrine that the

damned will be totally destroyed after the
final judgment so as to not exist, was
introduced to Pentecostalism in the
teachings of Charles Fox Parham (1873–
1929).[130] Not all Pentecostal sects
accepted the idea.[131] Prior to 1957,
Branham taught a doctrine of eternal
punishment in hell.[132] By 1957 he began
promoting an annihilationist position in
keeping with Parham's teachings.[130] He
believed that "eternal life was reserved
only for God and his children".[130] In 1960,
Branham claimed the Holy Spirit had
revealed this doctrine to him as one of the
end-time mysteries.[133] Promoting
annihilationism led to the alienation of
Pentecostal groups that had rejected
Parham's teaching on the subject.[133]
Godhead …

Like other doctrines, the Godhead formula

was a point of doctrinal conflict within
Pentecostalism.[133] As Branham began
offering his own viewpoint, it led to the
alienation of Pentecostal groups adhering
to Trinitarianism.[133] Branham shifted his
theological position on the Godhead
during his ministry.[133] Early in his
ministry, Branham espoused a position
closer to an orthodox Trinitarian view.[133]
By the early 1950s, he began to privately
preach the Oneness doctrine outside of
his healing campaigns.[133] By the 1960s,
he had changed to openly teaching the
Oneness position, according to which
there is one God who manifests himself in
multiple ways; in contrast with the
Trinitarian view that three distinct persons
comprise the Godhead.[115]

Branham came to believe that

trinitarianism was tritheism and insisted
members of his congregation be re-
baptized in Jesus's name in imitation of
Paul the Apostle.[134] Branham believed his
doctrine had a nuanced difference from
the Oneness doctrine and to the end of his
ministry he openly argued that he was not
a proponent of Oneness doctrine.[134] He
distinguished his baptismal formula from
the Oneness baptism formula in the name
of Jesus by teaching that the baptismal
formula should be in the name of Lord
Jesus Christ.[134] He argued that there
were many people named Jesus but there
is only one Lord Jesus Christ.[134] By the
end of his ministry, his message required
an acceptance of the oneness of the
Godhead and baptism in the name of Lord
Jesus Christ.[128]
Predestination …

Branham adopted and taught a Calvinistic

form of the doctrine of predestination and
openly supported Calvin's doctrine of
Eternal Security, both of which were at
odds with the Arminian view of
predestination held by Pentecostalism.[128]
Unlike his views on the Godhead and
Annihilationism, there was no precedent
within Pentecostalism for his views on
predestination, and opened him to
widespread criticism.[134] Branham
lamented that more so than any other
teaching, Pentecostals criticized him for
his predestination teachings.[135] Branham
believed the term "predestination" was
widely misunderstood and preferred to use
the word "foreknowledge" to describe his
views.[135]

Opposition to modern culture …

As Branham's ministry progressed, he

increasingly condemned modern
culture.[116] According to Weaver,
Branham's views on modern culture were
the primary reason the growing
Charismatic movement rejected him; his
views also prevented him from following
his contemporaries who were transitioning
from the healing revival to the new
movement.[116] He taught that immoral
women and education were the central
sins of modern culture and were a result of
the serpent's seed.[136] Branham viewed
education as "Satan's snare for intellectual
Christians who rejected the supernatural"
and "Satan's tool for obscuring the
'simplicity of the Message and the
messenger'".[136] Weaver wrote that
Branham held a "Christ against Culture"
opinion,[136] according to which loyalty to
Christ requires rejection of non-Christian
culture; an opinion not unique to
Branham.[137]

Pentecostalism inherited the Wesleyan

doctrine of entire sanctification and
outward holiness from its founders, who
came from Wesleyan-influenced
denominations of the post-American Civil
War era.[138] The rigid moral code
associated with the holiness movement
had been widely accepted by Pentecostals
in the early twentieth century.[115][139]
Branham's strict moral code echoed the
traditions of early Pentecostalism[140] but
became increasingly unpopular because
he refused to accommodate mid-century
Pentecostalism's shifting viewpoint.[115]
He denounced cigarettes, alcohol,
television, rock and roll, and many forms of
worldly amusement.[141]

Branham strongly identified with the lower-

class roots of Pentecostalism and
advocated an ascetic lifestyle.[141] When
he was given a new Cadillac, he kept it
parked in his garage for two years out of
embarrassment.[141] Branham openly
chastised other evangelists, who seemed
to be growing wealthy from their ministries
and opposed the prosperity messages
being taught.[141] Branham did not view
financial prosperity as an automatic result
of salvation.[141] He rejected the prosperity
gospel that originated in the teachings of
Oral Roberts and A. A. Allen.[141] Branham
condemned any emphasis on expensive
church buildings, elaborate choir robes,
and large salaries for ministers, and
insisted the church should focus on the
imminent return of Christ.[141][142]
Branham's opposition to modern culture
emerged most strongly in his
condemnation of the "immorality of
modern women".[141] He taught that
women with short hair were breaking
God's commandments and according to
Weaver, "ridiculed women's desire to
artificially beautify themselves with
makeup".[143] Branham believed women
were guilty of committing adultery if their
appearance was intended to motivate men
to lust, and viewed a woman's place as "in
the kitchen".[143] Citing the creation story in
which Eve is taken from Adam's side,
Branham taught that woman was a
byproduct of man.[140] According to
Weaver, "his pronouncements with respect
to women were often contradictory" and
he regularly offered glowing praise of
women.[140] Weaver stated that Branham
"once told women who wore shorts not to
call themselves Christians" but qualified
his denunciations by affirming that
obedience to the holiness moral code was
not a requirement for salvation.[140]
Branham did not condemn women who
refused the holiness moral code to Hell,
but he insisted they would not be part of
the rapture.[140]

Weaver wrote that Branham's attitude to

women concerning physical appearance,
sexual drive, and marital relations was
misogynistic,[144] and that Branham saw
modern women as "essentially immoral
sexual machines who were to blame for
adultery, divorce and death. They were the
tools of the Devil."[136] Some of Branham's
contemporaries accused him of being a
"woman hater", but he insisted he only
hated immorality.[140] According to Edward
Babinski, women who follow the holiness
moral code Branham supported regard it
as "a badge of honor".[145]

Serpent's seed …

Branham taught an unorthodox doctrine of

the source of original sin.[125] He believed
the story of the fall of man in the Garden
of Eden is allegorical and interpreted it to
mean the serpent had sexual intercourse
with Eve and that their offspring was
Cain.[125] Branham taught that Cain's
modern descendants were masquerading
as educated people and scientists,[146] and
that Cain's descendants were "a big
religious bunch of illegitimate bastard
children"[147][67] who comprised the
majority of society's criminals.[148] He
believed the serpent was the missing link
between the chimpanzee and man, and
speculated that the serpent was possibly a
human-like giant.[149] Branham held the
belief that the serpent was transformed
into a reptile after it was cursed by
God.[149] Weaver commented on
Branham's interpretation of the story;
"Consequently every woman potentially
carried the literal seed of the devil".[140]
Branham first spoke about original sin in
1958; he rejected the orthodox view of the
subject and hinted at his own belief in a
hidden meaning to the story.[150] In later
years, he made his opinion concerning the
sexual nature of the fall explicitly
known.[150] Weaver wrote that Branham
may have become acquainted with
serpent's seed doctrine through his Baptist
roots; Daniel Parker, an American Baptist
minister from Kentucky, promulgated a
similar doctrine in the mid-1800s.[147]
According to Pearry Green, Branham's
teaching on the serpent's seed doctrine
was viewed by the broader Pentecostal
movement as the "filthy doctrine ... that
ruined his ministry".[150] No other
mainstream Christian group held a similar
view; Branham was widely criticized for
spreading the doctrine.[150] His followers
view the doctrine as one of his greatest
revelations.[150]

Eschatology …

In 1960, Branham preached a series of

sermons on the seven church ages based
on chapters two and three of the Book of
Revelation. The sermons closely aligned
with the teachings of C. I. Scofield and
Clarence Larkin, the leading proponents of
dispensationalism in the preceding
generation.[151] Like Larkin and Scofield,
Branham said each church represents a
historical age, and taught that the angel of
each age was a significant church
figure.[152] The message included the
description of a messenger to the
Laodicean Church age, which Branham
believed would immediately precede the
rapture.[152] Branham explained the
Laodicean age would be immoral in a way
comparable to Sodom and Gomorrah, and
it would be a time in which Christian
denominations rejected Christ.[153] As
described by Branham, the characteristics
of the Laodicean age resemble those of
the modern era.[152] Branham described
the characteristics of the Laodicean
messenger by comparing his traits to
Elijah and John the Baptist. He asserted
the 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.[154] Branham claimed
the messenger to this last age would
come in the spirit of Elijah the prophet and
cited the Book of Malachi 4:5–6 (3:23-24
in Hebrew) as the basis for claiming the
Elijah spirit would return.[145] His belief in a
"seventh church age messenger" came
from his interpretation of the Book of
Revelation 3:14–22.[119][155][145][156]

Branham preached another sermon in

1963, further indicating he was a prophet
who had the anointing of Elijah and was a
messenger heralding the second coming
of Christ.[115][157] Branham did not directly
claim to be the end-time messenger in
either of his sermons.[158][148] Weaver
believed Branham desired to be the
eschatological prophet he was preaching
about,[158] but had self-doubt.[159] Branham
left the identity of the messenger open to
the interpretation of his followers, who
widely accepted that he was that
messenger.[159]

Branham regarded his 1963 series of

sermons on the Seven Seals as a highlight
of his ministry.[160] According to Weaver,
they were primarily "a restatement of the
dispensationalism espoused in the
sermons on the seven church ages".[161]
The sermons focused on the Book of
Revelation 6:1–17, and provided an
interpretation of the meaning of each of
the seals.[160] Branham claimed the
sermons were inspired through an angelic
visitation.[160]

Anti-denominationalism …

Branham believed denominationalism was

"a mark of the beast", which added to the
controversy surrounding his later
ministry.[136][115][h] Branham was not
opposed to organizational structures; his
concern focused on the "road block to
salvation and spiritual unity" he believed
denominations created by emphasizing
loyalty to their organizations.[136]

Branham's doctrine was similar to the anti-

Catholic rhetoric of classical
Pentecostalism and Protestantism, which
commonly associated the mark of the
beast with Catholicism.[162] Branham,
though, uniquely associated the image of
the beast with Protestant
denominations.[163] In his later years, he
came to believe all denominations were
"synagogues of Satan".[132] A key teaching
of Branham's message was a command to
true Christians to "come out" of the
denominations and accept the message of
the Laodicean messenger, who had the
"message of the hour".[164] He argued that
continued allegiance to a denomination
was an acceptance of the mark of the
beast, which would mean missing the
rapture.[164]

Prophecies …

Branham issued a series of prophecies

during his ministry. He claimed to have
had a prophetic revelation in June 1933
that predicted seven major events would
occur before the Second Coming of
Christ.[22] His followers believe he
predicted several events, including the
1937 Ohio River Flood.[5] In 1964, Branham
said judgement would strike the west
coast of the United States and that Los
Angeles would sink into the ocean; his
most dramatic prediction.[120] Following
both the 1933 and 1964 prophecies,
Branham predicted the rapture would
happen by 1977 and would be preceded by
various worldwide disasters, the
unification of denominational Christianity,
and the rise-to-power of the Roman
Catholic Pope.[145] Peter Duyzer, among
other of Branham's critics, wrote that
either none of Branham's prophecies came
true or that they were all made after the
fact.[165] Weaver wrote that Branham
tended to embellish his predictions over
time.[166][i] Branham's followers believe his
prophecies came true, or will do so in the
future.[161]

Restorationism …
Of all of Branham's doctrines, his
teachings on Christian restorationism have
had the most lasting impact on modern
Christianity.[168] Charismatic writer Michael
Moriarty described his teachings on the
subject as "extremely significant" because
they have "impacted every major
restoration movement since".[169] As a
result, Moriarty concluded Branham has
"profoundly influenced" the modern
Charismatic movement.[170] Branham
taught the doctrine widely from the early
days of the healing revival, in which he
urged his audiences to unite and restore a
form of church organization like the
primitive church of early Christianity.[168]
The teaching was accepted and widely
taught by many of the evangelists of the
healing revival, and they took it with them
into the subsequent Charismatic and
evangelical movements. Paul Cain, Bill
Hamon, Kenneth Hagin, and other
restoration prophets cite Branham as a
major influence; they played a critical role
in introducing Branham's restoration views
to the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement, the
Association of Vineyard Churches, and
other large Charismatic organizations.[168]
The Toronto Blessing, the Brownsville
Revival, and other nationwide revivals of
the late 20th century have their roots in
Branham's restorationist teachings.[168]

The teaching holds that Christianity should

return to a form mirroring the primitive
Christian church.[168] 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.[168] Branham taught that by
the end of the first century of Christianity,
the church "had been contaminated by the
entrance of an antichrist spirit".[169] As a
result, he believed that from a very early
date, the church had stopped following the
"pure Word of God" and had been seduced
into a false form of Christianity.[169] He
stated the corruption came from the desire
of early Christianity's clergy to obtain
political power, and as a result became
increasingly wicked and introduced false
creeds.[169] This led to denominationalism,
which he viewed as the greatest threat to
true Christianity.[169] 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.[171] He believed the
rapture would occur at the culmination of
this process.[171] Although Branham
referred in his sermons to the culmination
of the process as a future event affecting
other people, he believed he and his
followers were fulfilling his restoration
beliefs.[3]

Death …
On December 18, 1965, Branham and his
family—except his daughter Rebekah—
were returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana,
from Tucson for the Christmas holiday.[121]
About three miles (4.8 km) east of Friona,
Texas, and about seventy miles (110 km)
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.[172] 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.[126][120][76]

Branham's death stunned the Pentecostal

world and shocked his followers.[121] His
funeral was held on December 29,
1965,[121] but his burial was delayed until
April 11, 1966; Easter Monday.[121] Most
eulogies only tacitly acknowledged
Branham's controversial teachings,
focusing instead on his many positive
contributions and recalled his wide
popularity and impact during the years of
the healing revival.[173] 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.[173][174][76]

In the confusion immediately following

Branham's death, expectations that he
would rise from the dead developed
among his followers.[175] Most believed he
would have to return to fulfill a vision he
had regarding future tent meetings.[175]
Weaver attributed the belief in Branham's
imminent resurrection to Pearry Green,
though Green denied it.[176] 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.[176] The
expectation of his resurrection remained
strong into the 1970s, in part based on
Branham's prediction that the rapture
could occur by 1977.[177] After 1977, some
of his followers abandoned his
teachings.[177][76]

Legacy and influence

Branham was the "initiator of the post-
World War II healing revival"[28] and, along
with Oral Roberts, was one of its most
revered leaders.[178][179] Branham is most
remembered for his use of the "sign-gifts"
that awed the Pentecostal world.[54]
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."[93] The many
revivalists who attempted to emulate
Branham during the 1950s spawned a
generation of prominent Charismatic
ministries.[102] Branham has been called
the "principal architect of restorationist
thought" of the Charismatic movement
that emerged out of the healing revival.[1]
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.[1] The belief is widely held in the
modern Charismatic movement,[1] and the
legacy of his restorationist teaching and
ministering style is evident throughout
televangelism and the Charismatic
movement.[180]

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".[j] 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.[111] Non-Charismatic
Christianity completely rejected
Branham.[k]

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.[183] 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.[115] 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.[184] According to Weaver,
to Branham's dismay,[120] his followers had
placed him at the "center of a Pentecostal
personality cult" in the final years of his
ministry.[185] 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".[145] 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".[186]

Though Branham is no longer widely

known outside Pentecostalism,[185] his
legacy continues today.[155] 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."[75] Followers of Branham's teachings
can be found around the world; Branham
claimed to have made over one million
converts during his campaign
meetings.[187] In 1986, there were an
estimated 300,000 followers.[188][l] In 2000,
the William Branham Evangelical
Association had missions on every
inhabited continent—with 1,600
associated churches in Latin America and
growing missions across Africa.[180] In
2018, Voice of God Recordings claimed to
serve Branham-related support material to
about two million people through the
William Branham Evangelical
Association.[189]

Notes
a. Branham's birthdate has also been
reported to be April 6, 1907, and April
8, 1908.[8]
b. Pentecostalism is a renewal
movement that started in the early
20th century that stresses a post-
conversion baptism with the Holy
Spirit for all Christians, with speaking
in tongues ("glossolalia") as the initial
evidence of this baptism.[16]
c. Oneness Pentecostalism is a subset
of churches within Pentecostalism
which adhere to a modalistic view of
God. Their baptismal formula is done
"in the name of Jesus", rather than the
more common Trinitarian formula "in
the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit".[26]
d. The United Nations debate on how to
treat European Jewry following the
Holocaust began in January 1946, with
a committee recommending settling
Jews in Palestine in April 1946. Britain
announced its intention to divide
Palestine in February 1947; the
partition plan was adopted by the UN
in November 1947, and State of Israel
formally became a nation on May 14,
1948.[39]
e. Pre-millennial dispensationalism views
the establishing of a Jewish state as a
sign of the imminent return of
Christ.[40]
f. Voice of Healing was renamed Christ
For the Nations in 1971
g. Jones ultimately rejected all of
Christianity as "fly away religion",
rejected the Bible as being a tool to
oppress women and non-whites, and
denounced the Christian God as a "Sky
God" who was "no God at all".
Historian Catherine Wessinger
concludes Jones used Christianity as
a vehicle to covertly advance his
personal ideology [110]
h. Weaver records Branham believed it
was "the mark of the beast", whereas
Harrell records he believed it was "a
mark of the beast".
i. In December 1964, Branham
prophesied that Los Angeles would
sink into the Pacific Ocean when
struck by the wrath of God; this
prophecy was subsequently
embellished into a prediction that an
area of land 1,500 miles (2,400 km)
long, 300–400 miles (480–640 km)
wide, and 40 miles (64 km) deep
would break loose, causing waves that
would "shoot plumb out to
Kentucky".[167]
j. Charismatic writer Michael Moriarty
stated, "Branham's aberrational
teachings not only cultivated cultic
fringe movements like the Latter Rain
Movement and the Manifested Sons of
God, but they also paved a pathway
leading to false predictions, revelatory
madness, doctrinal heresies, and a
cultic following that treated his
sermons as oral scriptures".[181]
k. Hanegraaff in Counterfeit Revival
condemned the entire evangelical
movement as a cult and singled out
Branham, saying his "failed prophecies
were exceeded only by his false
doctrine" in infamy.[182]
 l. Weaver based his estimate on
numbers reported by Branham's son.
The estimate included 50,000 in the
United States, with a considerable
following in Central and South America
(including 40,000 in Brazil), India, and
Africa; particularly in Kenya, Nigeria,
Ghana, and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo.[188]

Footnotes
1. Weaver 2000, p. v.
2. Moriarty 1992, p. 119.
3. Moriarty 1992, p. 55.
 4. Harrell 1978, p. 28.
5. Weaver 2000, p. 22.
6. Crowder 2006, p. 323.
7. Duyzer 2014, pp. 26–27.
8. Duyzer 2014, p. 25.
9. Weaver 2000, p. 23.
10. Weaver 2000, pp. 23–24.
11. Duyzer 2014, p. 27.
12. Weaver 2000, p. 25.
13. Weaver 2000, pp. 26, 33.
14. Weaver 2000, p. 33.
15. Weaver 2000, pp. 32–34.
16. See Grenz, p. 90.
17. Staff writers (June 2, 1933). "Fourteen
Converted". Jeffersonville Evening
News. Jeffersonville, Indiana. p. 4.
18. Harrell 1978, p. 29.
19. Weaver 2000, p. 27.
20. Weaver 2000, pp. 27–28.
21. Weaver 2000, p. 28.
22. Weaver 2000, p. 29.
23. Weaver 2000, pp. 28–29.
24. Weaver 2000, p. 32.
25. Weaver 2000, pp. 37–38.
26. See Johns, p. 154.
27. Weaver 2000, pp. v–vii.
28. Harrell 1978, p. 25.
29. Crowder 2006, p. 321.
30. Hanegraaff 2001, p. 173.
31. Harrell 1978, pp. 11–12.
32. Harrell 1978, pp. 4–6, 11.
33. Crowder 2006, p. 324.
34. Anderson 2004, p. 58.
35. Weaver 2000, p. 47.
36. Krapohl & Lippy 1999, p. 69.
37. Kydd 1998, p. 177.
38. Weaver 2000, p. 37.
39. "Milestones: 1945–1952 – Office of
the Historian" . history.state.gov.
Retrieved July 17, 2017.
40. Weaver 2000, p. 37.
41. Weaver 2000, p. 45.
42. Weaver 2000, p. 46.
43. Sims 1996, p. 193.
44. Sims 1996, p. 76.
45. Harrell 1978, p. 31.
46. Harrell 1978, p. 32.
47. Harrell 1978, p. 47.
48. Moriarty 1992, p. 47.
49. Harrell 1978, pp. 31–32.
50. Faupel, D. William (2010). "The New
Order of the Latter Rain: Restoration or
Renewal?". In Wilkinson, Michael;
Althouse, Peter (eds.). Winds from the
North: Canadian Contributions to the
Pentecostal Movement. Brill. pp. 240–
241, 247. ISBN 978-90-04-18574-6.
51. Harrell 1978, p. 33.
52. Crowder 2006, p. 326.
53. Harrell 1978, p. 39.
54. Harrell 1978, p. 36.
55. Harrell 1978, p. 6.
56. Harrell 1978, p. 11.
57. Moriarty 1992, p. 49.
58. Weaver 2000, p. 49.
59. Harrell 1978, p. 34.
60. Harrell 1978, p. 38.
61. Kydd 1998, p. 173.
62. Weaver 2000, p. 51.
63. Weaver 2000, p. 68.
64. Weaver 2000, p. 70.
65. Harrell 1978, p. 37.
66. Moriarty 1992, p. 51.
67. Moriarty 1992, p. 50.
68. Moriarty 1992, p. 40.
69. Kydd 1998, p. 172.
70. Kydd 1998, p. 178.
71. Harrell 1978, p. 180.
72. Harrell 1978, p. 35.
73. Kydd 1998, pp. 172–173.
74. Kydd 1998, p. 179.
75. Kydd 1998, p. 180.
76. Kydd 1998, p. 175.
77. Weaver 2000, p. 72.
78. Weaver 2000, p. 71.
79. Weaver 2000, p. 50.
80. Weaver 2000, p. 74.
81. Weaver 2000, p. 57.
82. "Upshaw, William D" . Biographical
Directory of the United States
Congress. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
83. Crowder 2006, p. 327.
84. "Miracle sets boy walking normally" .
Durban Sunday Tribune. Durban, South
Africa. November 11, 1951. p. 15.
Retrieved September 29, 2017.
85. "Cripples rise from wheelchairs and
walk" . The Natal Mercury. Durban,
 South Africa. November 23, 1951.
p. 12. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
86. "Minister cured deafness, says 18-
year-old girl" . Winnipeg Free Press.
Manitoba, Canada. July 15, 1947. p. 1.
Retrieved September 29, 2017.
87. "300 fill out cards at healer service" .
El Paso Herald Post. El Paso, Texas.
December 17, 1947. p. 7. Retrieved
September 29, 2017.
88. "Claims service benefitted boy" .
Logansport Press. Logansport,
Indiana. June 12, 1951. p. 10.
Retrieved September 29, 2017.
89. Hollenweger 1972, p. 354.
90. Weaver 2000, pp. 50–51.
91. Forsberg, David (March 18, 2018).
"Listens to a dead "kvaksalver"
everyday" . Norway: NRK. Retrieved
March 26, 2018.
92. Weaver 2000, p. 56.
93. Sims 1996, p. 195.
94. Weaver 2000, pp. 51–52.
95. Weaver 2000, p. 93.
96. Harrell 1978, pp. 39–40.
97. Harrell 1978, p. 102.
 98. "Ephemera of William Branham" .
www.wheaton.edu. Billy Graham
Center, Wheaton College. Retrieved
July 3, 2019.
99. Crowder 2006, p. 328.
100. Harrell 1978, p. 49.
101. Weaver 2000, p. 94.
102. Harrell 1978, p. 40.
103. Weaver 2000, p. 91.
104. Harrell 1978, p. 160.
105. Reiterman & Jacobs 1982, pp. 50–52.
106. Wessinger, pp. 217–220.
107. Collins, John; Duyzer, Peter M.
(October 20, 2014). "The Intersection
of William Branham and Jim Jones" .
Alternative Considerations of
Jonestown & Peoples Temple. San
Diego State University. Retrieved
August 15, 2017.
108. Collins, John (October 7, 2016).
"Colonia Dignidad and Jonestown" .
Alternative Considerations of
Jonestown & Peoples Temple. San
Diego State University. Retrieved
August 15, 2017.
109. Collins, John; Duyzer, Peter (October 7,
2016). "Deep Study: Reverend Jim
Jones of Jonestown" . Alternative
Considerations of Jonestown &
Peoples Temple. San Diego State
University. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
110. Wessinger, pp. 217–220.
111. Crowder 2006, p. 330.
112. Weaver 2000, p. 92.
113. Grenz, p. 162.
114. Harrell 1978, p. 173.
115. Harrell 1978, p. 163.
116. Weaver 2000, p. 108.
117. Weaver 2000, pp. 108–109.
118. Weaver 2000, p. 97.
119. Weaver 2000, p. 140.
120. Weaver 2000, p. 103.
121. Weaver 2000, p. 104.
122. Weaver 2000, pp. 118, 98.
123. Weaver 2000, p. 118.
124. Kydd 1998, p. 176.
125. Weaver 2000, p. 98.
126. Harrell 1978, p. 164.
127. Kydd 1998, pp. 173–174.
128. Weaver 2000, p. 121.
129. Weaver 2000, p. 86.
130. Weaver 2000, pp. 117–118.
131. Douglas Gordon Jacobsen. (2006) A
Reader in Pentecostal Theology:
Voices from the First Generation,
Indiana University Press.
ISBN 0253218624 p. 31.
132. Weaver 2000, p. 117.
133. Weaver 2000, p. 119.
134. Weaver 2000, p. 120.
135. Weaver 2000, p. 122.
136. Weaver 2000, p. 114.
137. Niebuhr 1975, p. 45.
138. Weaver 2000, p. 17, 41.
139. Weaver 2000, pp. 109, 111.
140. Weaver 2000, p. 111.
141. Weaver 2000, p. 109.
142. Kydd 1998, p. 169.
143. Weaver 2000, p. 110.
144. Weaver 2000, p. 112.
145. Babinski 1995, p. 277.
146. Weaver 2000, p. 113.
147. Weaver 2000, p. 125.
148. Kydd 1998, p. 174.
149. Weaver 2000, p. 124.
150. Weaver 2000, p. 123.
151. Weaver 2000, pp. 99, 103.
152. Weaver 2000, p. 99.
153. Weaver 2000, pp. 129–130.
154. Weaver 2000, p. 129.
155. Larson 2004, p. 79.
156. Moriarty 1992, pp. 49–50.
157. Weaver 2000, pp. 99, 128.
158. Weaver 2000, p. 128.
159. Weaver 2000, p. 133.
160. Weaver 2000, pp. 99–100.
161. Weaver 2000, p. 101.
162. Weaver 2000, p. 115.
163. Weaver 2000, p. 116.
164. Weaver 2000, pp. 116–117.
165. Duyzer 2014, pp. 61–83.
166. Weaver 2000, pp. 30–31.
167. Weaver 2000, pp. 103–104.
168. Weaver 2000, pp. v–vi.
169. Moriarty 1992, p. 53.
170. Moriarty 1992, p. 56.
171. Moriarty 1992, p. 54.
172. "Head-on Collision Kills 1, Injures 6".
Friona Star. Friona, Texas. December
 23, 1965. p. 3. hdl:10605/243339 .
173. Weaver 2000, p. 105.
174. Liardon 2003, p. 354.
175. Weaver 2000, pp. 153–154.
176. Weaver 2000, p. 154.
177. Weaver 2000, p. 155.
178. Harrell 1978, p. 19.
179. Weaver 2000, p. 58.
180. Weaver 2000, p. vi.
181. Moriarty 1992, p. 55.
182. Hanegraaf 2001, p. 152.
183. Crowder 2006, p. 331.
184. Weaver 2000, p. 102.
185. Weaver 2000, p. x.
186. Duyzer 2014, p. 1.
187. Kydd 1998, p. 168.
188. Weaver 2000, pp. 151–153.
189. "Frequently Asked Questions" . Voice
of God Recordings. Retrieved
February 28, 2018.

References
Anderson, Allan (2004). An Introduction
to Pentecostalism. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53280-8.
Babinski, Edward T. (1995). Leaving the
Fold: Testimonies of Former
Fundamentalists. Prometheus Books.
ISBN 978-1615921676.
Crowder, John (2006). Miracle Workers,
Reformers, and The New Mystics.
Destiny Image. ISBN 978-0-7684-2350-1.
Duyzer, Peter M. (2014). Legend of the
Fall, An Evaluation of William Branham
and His Message. Independent Scholar's
Press. ISBN 978-1-927581-15-5.
Grenz, Stanley; Guretzki, David; Nordling,
Cherith Fee (1999). Pocket Dictionary of
Theological Terms. InterVarsity Press.
ISBN 978-0-830-81449-7.
Hanegraaff, Hank (2001). Counterfeit
Revival. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
ISBN 0-8499-4294-2.
Harrell, David (1978). All Things Are
Possible: The Healing and Charismatic
Revivals in Modern America . Indiana
University Press. ISBN 0-525-24136-1.
Hollenweger, Walter J. (1972).
Pentecostalism: Origins and
Developments Worldwide. Baker
Academic. ISBN 978-0-8010-4660-5.
Krapohl, Robert; Lippy, Charles (1999).
The Evangelicals: A Historical, Thematic,
and Biographical Guide. Greenwood
Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-
30103-2.
Kydd, Ronald A. N. (1998). Healing
through the Centuries: Models for
Understanding. Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc. ISBN 0-913573-60-4.
Larson, Bob (2004). Larson's Book of
World Religions and Alternative
Spirituality. Tyndale House Publishers.
Inc. ISBN 0-8423-6417-X.
Liardon, Roberts (2003). God's Generals:
Why They Succeeded And Why Some Fail.
Whitaker House. ISBN 978-0-88368-944-
8.
Moriarty, Michael (1992). The New
Charismatics. Zondervan. ISBN 978-0-
310-53431-0.
Niebuhr, H. Richard (1975). Christ and
Culture . Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-061-
30003-5.
Reiterman, Tom; Jacobs, John (1982).
Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim
Jones and His People . Dutton. ISBN 0-
525-24136-1.
Sims, Patsy (1996). Can Somebody
Shout Amen!: Inside the Tents and
Tabernacles of American Revivalists.
University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-
0813108865.
Wessinger, Catherine (2000). How the
Millennium Comes Violently: From
Jonestown to Heaven's Gate. Seven
Bridges Press. ISBN 978-1-889119-24-3.
Weaver, C. Douglas (2000). The Healer-
Prophet: William Marrion Branham (A
study of the Prophetic in American
Pentecostalism) . Mercer University
Press. ISBN 978-0-865-54710-0.
Further reading
Burgess, Stanley M.; van der Maas,
Eduard M. (2002). The New International
Dictionary of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Movements. Zondervan.
ISBN 978-0-310-22481-5.
Hollenweger, Walter J. (1972). The
Pentecostals. University of Virginia.
ISBN 978-0-9435-7502-5.
Hyatt, Eddie L. (2002). 2000 Years of
Charismatic Christianity. Charisma
House. ISBN 978-0-88419-872-7.
Johns, Jackie David (2005). Fahlbusch,
Erwin; et al. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of
Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans.
ISBN 978-0802824134.
Sheryl, J. Greg (2013). "The Legend of
William Branham" (PDF). The Quarterly
Journal. Personal Freedom Outreach. 33
(3). ISSN 1083-6853 .
Reid, Daniel G. (1990). Dictionary of
Christianity In America. InterVarsity
Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1776-4.
Robins, R. G. (2010). Pentecostalism in
America. Praeger (ABC-CLIO, LLC).
ISBN 978-0-313-35294-2.
 Stewart, Don (1999). Only Believe: An
Eyewitness Account of the Great Healing
Revival of the 20th Century. Treasure
House. ISBN 978-1-56043-340-8.
Weremchuk, Roy (2019). Thus Saith the
Lord? William M. Branham (1909–1965).
Leben und Lehre. Deutscher
Wissenschafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-
86888-150-9.

Hagiographical …

Green, Pearry (2011). The Acts of the

Prophet. Tucson Tabernacle.
OCLC 827238316 .
 Lindsay, James Gordon (1950). William
Branham: A Man Sent From God (PDF).
William Branham Evangelistic
Association. ASIN B0007ENQ64 .
Stadsklev, Julius (1952). William
Branham: A Prophet Visits South Africa.
Julius Stadsklev. ASIN B0007EW174 .
OCLC 1017376491 .
Vayle, Lee (1965). Twentieth Century
Prophet. William Branham Evangelistic
Association.

External links
 "William Branham Evangelistic
Association" . Voice of God Recordings.
Retrieved February 28, 2018.

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