Brother William Branham

William Marrion Branham (April 6, 1909 – December 24, 1965) was an American Christian minister, generally acknowledged as initiating the post World War II healing revival. American historian, David Edwin Harrell Jr. described him as:

an unlikely leader....his preaching was halting and simple beyond belief. But William Branham became a prophet to a generation. A small, meek, middle-aged man with piercing eyes, he held audiences spellbound with tales of constant communication with God and angels. Night after night, before thousands of awed believers he discerned the diseases of the sick and pronounced them healed. Branham's most controversial revelation was his claim to be the end-time "Elijah" prophet of the Laodicean church age. His theology seemed complicated and bizarre to many people who admired him personally In his last days, Branham's followers had placed him at the center of a Pentecostal personality cult. Other than those that still follow him as their prophet, Branham has faded into obscurity. Robert Price (as quoted by Douglas Weaver) summarized Branham's legacy as follows:

In the days of his prominence, the 1950's, what Spirit-filled believer did not know his name? Yet today, we may wonder, what believer does?

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Early life

William Branham was born in 1909 in a log cabin in Cumberland County, Kentucky, near Burkesville.[1] The first of ten children of Charles and Ella Branham, he was raised near Jeffersonville, Indiana. His father was an alcoholic, and William Branham often talked about how his upbringing was difficult and impoverished, although his claims of poverty have been called into question.

Branham claimed that from his early childhood he had supernatural experiences including prophetic visions. He said that in his early childhood, while assisting his father at a still, he heard a "Voice" that told him, "Don't you never drink, smoke or defile your body in any way. There'll be a work a work for you to do when you get older".

Leaving home at nineteen, William Branham worked on a ranch in Arizona. He returned home when his brother died and Branham began a search for God. He began attending the First Pentecostal Baptist Church in Jeffersonville and was eventually ordained as an Independent Baptist minister. Branham claimed that his first exposure to Pentecostalism was in 1936; however, the First Pentecostal Baptist Church which he attended prior to 1933 was "a Holy Ghost church" that believed in prayer for healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Teaching

Branham became more controversial in his later years and this was particularly evident in his development of a theology that emphasized a few select doctrines. Although not always consistent with each other, his primary concerns were eschatology, the denial of an eternal hell, Oneness Pentecostalism, predestination, eternal security and the serpent's seed. Branham asserted that his doctrinal teachings were given to him by divine revelation

Death

On December 18, 1965, William Branham and his family (all except his daughter Rebekah) were returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana from Tucson, Arizona for the Christmas holiday. About three miles east of Friona, Texas (about 70 miles south-west of Amarillo on U.S. Highway 60), just after dark, a car travelling west in the eastbound lane hit Branham's car head-on by accident.[51] He was rushed to the hospital in Amarillo, Texas but succumbed to his injuries on Christmas Eve.

The initial reaction of Branham's followers to his death was one of shocking disbelief. In the confusion immediately following his death, expectations developed that he would rise from the dead. His funeral was held on December 29, 1965 but his burial was delayed indefinitely. The press surmised that this was a result of Branham's expected resurrection. He was finally buried on April 11, 1966, the day after Easter Sunday, which was accepted reluctantly by his followers. Most believed that he would have to return to fulfill a vision that he had regarding future tent meetings.

Gordon Lindsay's eulogy stated that Branham's death was the will of God and privately, he accepted the interpretation of Kenneth 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 Branham because of his disobedience.

Public ministry

Branham's first major tent revivals took place in Jeffersonville in 1933. The same year, he constructed a church which was originally named the "Pentecostal Tabernacle" but was later changed to "Branham Tabernacle". He was the bivocational minister of this church until 1946.

William Branham was baptising converts on June 11, 1933 in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville when he claimed that people along the bank saw a bright light descend over where he was standing, 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." The only available newspaper report on the event was the Jeffersonville Evening News on June 2, 1933 which indicated that the Branham campaign reported 14 converts. Given the lack of corroborating evidence for this supposed supernatural event, Weaver indicates that it is possible that Branham later embellished the incident by "remembering" the forerunner message when he was achieving success in the healing revival.

Branham's first meetings as a faith healer started in 1946. Branham's sensational healing services are well documented and he is regarded as the pacesetter for those who followed. Historians generally mark the 1946 meetings as inaugurating the modern healing revival. William Branham claimed to have received an angelic visitation on May 7, 1946 commissioning his worldwide ministry.

During the mid-1940s William Branham was conducting healing campaigns almost exclusively with Oneness Pentecostal groups. The broadening of Branham's ministry to the wider Pentecostal community came as a result of his introduction to Gordon Lindsay in 1947, who soon became his primary promoter. In the same year, Ern Baxter joined the campaign team. Gordon Lindsay proved to be an able publicist for Branham, founding The Voice of Healing magazine in 1948, which was originally aimed at reporting solely Branham's healing campaigns. According to a Pentecostal historian, "Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world."

Controversy surrounded Branham from the early stages of his ministry. In 1947, a minister in Saskatchewan, Canada, stated that many who Branham pronounced as healed later died. 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, presenting evidence that claims of the number of people healed were vastly overestimated. He stated that "there is a possibility that this whole thing is wrong".

By 1950, the Branham campaign team now included F. F. Bosworth. On the night of January 24, 1950, a photograph was taken of Branham during a debate between F. F. Bosworth and a Baptist minister regarding the biblical justification for healing. The photograph showed a light appearing above Branham's head. Arrangements were made to have the photograph scientifically examined to ensure that the photograph was authentic. Branham believed that the light was supernatural and was a divine vindication of his ministry. The photographer, Theodore J. Kipperman  stated in 1984 that it was "the most amazing thing I ever saw". The photograph became "perhaps the most famous relic in the history of the revival.

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