View source for Question 30 (ABM) - The man from Windsor

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{{ABM Q&A re Credibility}}

=Question 30 - The Mans from Windsor=

Dear ABM,

Staying with William Branham’s credibility, I would like to deal with a story that I have a real problem with.  We refer to it as the “man from Windsor.”  The issue here is – why did William Branham keep changing the story?  If the story was true, there would be no dramatic changes in it.  As Mark Twain stated, “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”  But if the story keeps changing, you have to ask the question – did it actually ever occur?  Personally, given all the changes, I don’t think it did.  And if it did, why did he change it to make himself look more formidable as a prophet?

The first time that William Branham relates the story on tape was in 1950.  in telling the story he states that the man asked for forgiveness and found it.  He repeats the story another 11 times from 1953 to 1963 but the story changes over time; eliminating the forgiveness that the man found and replacing it with judgment, illness, paralysis and death.

Here is the way the story evolved over time highlighting what William Branham said was revealed to him regarding the man's deception and his punishment.  If you would like to read the full version of each story, they are below in full.

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 90%
|-
! style="width: 20%"|Date
! style="width: 35%"|The Deception
! style="width: 35%"|The Punishment
|-
|January 10, 1950
|''And I took a hold of his hand. There was no vibrations.''
|''"…is there '''forgiveness''' for me?" There was.''
|-
|May 8, 1953
|''I seen a vision break… seen him setting at a table with a green scarf hanging over it, with a man with …a blue suit …a woman … with a green dress…''
|''"The disease that you put on that prayer card will be on you the rest of your life." And it is.''
|-
|September 2, 1954
|''…seen him setting at a table with another man... And a woman was standing there with a dotted dress…''
|''"Now, the things …on your prayer card, is on you. You have it now…"  Far as I know, the man's in eternity today, '''dead'''.''
|-
|March 7, 1956
|''…man setting up there in the balcony with the red tie on, blue suit? You and him set together last night a table, had a green cover over it. And a woman set over in the corner.''
|''And the man's laying '''bedfast to this day'''.''
|-
|December 9, 1956
|''… you set with your wife and a man that's in this building tonight with a red tie on and a blue suit…''
|''”What you put on your prayer card, you have."  And '''screaming, he run from the building'''.  …I '''don't know what ever happened'''.''
|-
|December 7, 1957
|''…a woman standing, looking down on two men. One of them went on a gray suit with a red tie.''
|''”The thing that you put on your prayer card…, is on you now.” The man '''died about a year later'''. ''
|-
|June 30, 1957
|''"You're a Church of Christ minister… You're the one exposed."  And just then the man setting up there; he said, "Mr. Branham, I'm the guy that was with him." Said, "That's my wife setting right here, was with him."''
|''"The things that you put on your card, you have. Both cancer and TB." …But the last time I heard him, '''I never heard no more, just a letter from some of the people, that he was in a serious condition'''. ''
|-
|February 8, 1958
|''"You're a preacher, and that man setting right there with that gray suit on in the balcony is the one that was with you last night. …and you told your wife …That fellow raised up there and said, "Brother Branham, that's the truth. I was right there with him."''
|''"Now, what was on your prayer card you have." He '''died about six months later''' with a cancer. ''
|-
|March 30, 1958
|''”You're a certain denominational church." Called who he was, and I said, "Last night you set with your wife, and that man there with the red tie on…''
|''And I said, "Now, what you put on your prayer card, you have." …They took him out '''paralyzed''', and he's still paralyzed.''
|-
|February 12, 1961
|''That man setting right yonder in the balcony with the red tie on and the gray suit, you was in his house the other night…''
| ''And I said, "Because that you have said, and put that on your prayer card, now you have it." And he '''died about six weeks afterwards'''.''
|-
|January 24, 1962
|''You belong to a certain church. Last night you set with that man right up there with a red suit on--with a red tie and black suit. And that's his wife setting right over on this corner, and your wife.''
| ''I said, "The things that you got on your card is upon you." He '''died about six weeks after that'''.''
|-
|November 24, 1963
|''You're a church of Christ preacher. You belong to the church of Christ…  And that man setting up there with that blue suit on, and your wife and his wife setting there…
|''I said, "Sir, you put ''''TB and cancer'''' on that card, and '''now you have it'''. It's yours now."
|}

Why would William Branham need to exaggerate the story to such a degree if it was really God who revealed the deception?  If it was true, why did he keep changing it?

Was the point of William Branham telling the story to instill fear in the people? Fear of William Branham, the mighty prophet?  You have stated that people were afraid to tell William Branham about some of the problems he had?  But it appears that he is the one that created that problem.

Was he trying to place himself on the same level by paralleling with the apostle Peter in Acts 5?

Shalom,

BTS

=The following quotes of William Branham are included for reference:=

'''MOSES  HOUSTON.TX  50-0110'''
:Then a few nights after that, I was over at Windsor, Ontario.  Had fourteen thousand at that meeting there.
::There was a man in the meeting who thought that that was just a bunch of make-up. He went and got a prayer card in one of the lines, pretending that he was sick and in need. And he went and wrote on the prayer card he had all kinds of diseases and so forth like that. And he come around and give it into the--the man, the prayer line manager. I never see the cards. They take the cards down there. He thought, "I'll just see what this is all about."
:Then when he come in and put that on a prayer card down, he come walking up. I said, "Good evening, sir."
:He said, "Howdy do."
:And I took a hold of his hand. '''There was no vibrations.''' I looked at him; I seen him and two men, standing in a room across a table making that up.
:I said, "Why would you purpose in your heart to try to deceive somebody?" I said, "God is apt to strike you dead right now."
:'''And he fell down on the floor and begin to screaming to the top of his voice.''' He said, "God, have mercy on me."
:I said, "Why would you do that, friend?"
:He said, "Brother Branham, I--I thought it was just make-up. I--I--I honestly, '''is there forgiveness for me?'''"
:'''There was.'''
<br>
'''GOD.COMMISSIONING.MOSES  JONESBORO.AR 53-0508'''
:Here not long ago, there was an impostor slipped in the line, goes to a great church. We was at Windsor, Ontario. We had eighty-five hundred the first night in the meeting. Long about end of the meeting, there was a man come to the platform, fine looking fellow, dressed in a gray suit and a red tie. He come up there. I was so weak; them visions just weaken me. He come up, he said, "I want to be healed, Rev. Branham." And I just took a hold of his hand to see if it... what was. I said, "You haven't any disease, brother."
:And he said, "Oh, yes, I have." He thought it was mental telepathy. He said, "Ask that usher down there, got my prayer card. Look on it."
:I said, "I don't care what you put on the prayer card, you... There's nothing wrong with you. You're not a sick man."
:He said, "I am a sick man."
:I said, "You--you're not." I said, "You might've been, sir, but maybe you had faith out there and was healed."
:He turned around, struck his hands in his pocket, and said, "So that's the way it is, is it? Uh-huh!" Facing the audience, said, "I knowed that..."
:And I thought, "Lord, what's going on?" Just then I looked at him, I seen a vision break. I seen him setting at a table with a green scarf hanging over it, with a man with a--with a blue suit on setting across the table. And I said, "You belong to a certain denomination," which I won't expose it tonight, which speak where the Bible speaks and silent where It's silent. Said, "You belong to that church, and you're a minister of that church."
:He said, "No."
:I said, "Don't you lie before God." I said, "You set at a table last night, where a woman was--was--was dressed with a green dress on, and she had a scarf on the table, which was green. A man with a red suit on set across the table. And you said, 'You was coming down to write on there that you had TB, and everything for it was a mental telepathy.'"
:And a man up in the audience screamed out, said, "That's the truth, preacher. I was the one was with him." And here he come, that man fell and grabbed me by the trouser leg like that.
:I said, '''"The disease that you put on that prayer card will be on you the rest of your life." And it is.'''
<br>
'''SOUTH.AFRICA.TESTIMONY  NEW.YORK.NY  54-0902'''
:Many... It was right down here perhaps that night at Windsor, Ontario, I believe it was. Well, that minister come to the platform under another name, act like he was sick, come up there and had something... He thought it was mental telepathy, that some of the ushers, or someone picked up the prayer cards and read it to me, mental telepathy, like you'd read sins and everything that they'd done, and where they'd been and everything from a prayer card. And then those things just foretold years and weeks and months...
:And I... anywhere you want to... You know my address. There's never been one time that It's ever failed to be perfect, just the way it says. 'Cause It can't be nothing else; it's just God. See? Not your brother, I'm a long ways from being perfect. But He is perfect. That's right. He is perfect; I'm not.
:And the man standing on the platform a saying, like that, said, "I am... come up," nice looking fellow. I was so weak I just caught his hand first to see; I said, "Well, you don't have any diseases."
:Said, "Oh, yes I do."
:I said, "Well, I don't, sure don't believe you have, sir."
:He said, "Oh, yes, I have."
:And I said, "Well, you might've had, but you don't have now."
:He said, "Oh, look on my prayer card down there. I've got TB, cancer." And oh, I forget what all it was.
:I said, "Well, you--you might've had it, but you don't have it now." I said, "Maybe your faith just rose up to a place that you were healed in the audience."
:So he turned around and stuck his hands in his pockets, said, "That's it, is it?"
:I thought, "What's going on?" And just real weak, they was fixing to take me from the platform. I thought, "Well, what's this?" And I looked around. And after while, then it broke to a vision. And I seen him setting at a table with another man. And they were setting. And a woman was standing there with a dotted dress on. And there was a green thing hanging over the table, like this. And they had made up together that it was mental telepathy, and they was going to prove it from the platform. And that was revealed and told him who he was and what church he belonged to.
:Brother, I said, '''"Now, the things that you put on the plat--on your prayer card, is on you. You have it now."''' That was right. He fell down, grabbed a hold of my pants leg. I said, "Sir, that's between you and God, not me." I said, "That's between you and God."
:'''Far as I know, the man's in eternity today, dead.''' See? Now, you can't play church. You're not dealing with some little petty something; you're talking to Almighty God, so you got to be reverent and sincere. If I should stand here for the--till this time tomorrow afternoon, ex... reciting, pledge, instance, like that, it would never like cover it. Why, it could be an encyclopedia of books wrote on what I have seen the Lord Jesus do. No wonder He said, "The things that I do shall you, and greater," more of it shall you do.
<br>
'''BLIND.BARTIMAEUS  CHICAGO.IL  56-0407'''
:You remember that night at that--over there in Toronto, Canada, when that minister come to the platform, and he thought it was a mental telepathy. So he said, "What it is, if the person writes what they got on the prayer card," now imagine, writing their sin on...?... All right. Said, "Then he transfers it to... The usher picks up the prayer card, holds the prayer card, and meditates, and transfers it to them." And he come in the prayer card--in there with a whole lot of stuff on his prayer card, he had, TB, and a lot of things.
:He come up there; I said, "There's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Oh, look. Look at my prayer card."
:I said, "It's nothing to do with it. You're here trying to find out something. You think it's telepathy. Now, the disease that you put on that prayer card, is on your body." That's right. And when he did, I got a letter here about two years ago from him. He said, "Oh, Brother Branham, come to me."
:I said, "You see that man setting up there in the balcony with the red tie on, blue suit? You and him set together last night a table, had a green cover over it. And a woman set over in the corner. And you said that you'd come prove that it was mental telepathy."
:And that man said, "That's the God Almighty truth. That's right. That's right."
:And the man grabbed me by the pant's leg, he said, "Pray for me, Brother Branham."
:I said, "That's between you and God now. It's out of my hands. He's done spoke it. That's you now." '''And the man's laying bedfast to this day.'''
<br>
'''JEHOVAH.JIREH  BROOKLYN.NY  56-1209E'''
:Here some time ago when that minister... You was over here at a place just across the river from--in Windsor, Ontario. Was there anybody here was in the Windsor meeting that night when that man come to the platform and? See? I don't think there is as I see.
:A man come to the platform, and he--he had a prayer card. And he give it to the ushers. He come up. He come up on the platform. Looked at him, I said, "Sir, there's nothing wrong with you physically."
:"Oh, yes, there is," he said. "Yes, there is." Said, "Look on my prayer card."
:I said, "I don't know what's on your prayer card, know what you put on that. But there's nothing wrong with you."
:"Oh, I got TB, and I got cancer, and all--all he had..."
:I said, "I couldn't tell you that, sir." I said, "You haven't got it now. You might have had it down there."
: So he turned around and said, "That's it." And just at that time the Lord showed a vision.
:I said, "Why would the devil put in your heart to do something like that?" I said, "You're a certain kind of a preacher." And I said, "Last night you set with your wife and a man that's in this building tonight with a red tie on and a blue suit, and he's setting right there in the audience. And you set by a little room with a green thing hanging over a table, and you said it was mental telepathy. And you'd write on the prayer card, and the usher would pick up the prayer card and transfer it to me mental telepathy, not thinking of--of the hundreds out there that's called without prayer cards. And the things that's predicted that'll happen weeks and months and years later and never fail." I said--and I said, "There..."
:And that man raised up; he said, "Reverend Branham, that's the truth. I was with him last night and that's the truth."
:And he fell and grabbed my pant's leg, and he said, "I'm sorry."
:'''I said, "What you put on your prayer card, you have."'''
:And he said, "Oh, pray, pray for me that I..." And he was a preacher.
:And I said, "I have nothing to do with that. You cursed yourself. So you have what you put on the prayer card." '''And screaming, he run from the building. There it was. I don't know what ever happened. See?'''
<br>
'''BLIND.BARTIMAEUS  LIMA.OH  57-0127E'''
:Remember that man that night, up here across on the Canadian line. They went up there and put on his prayer card a whole lot of things that he had, TB and everything, and walked up here. I said, "There's nothing wrong with you."
:Said, "Oh, yes there is. Look on my prayer card."
:I said, "That has nothing to do with you. The usher's got the prayer card." I said, "There's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Oh, yes, there is. There's something wrong with me."
:And I said, "Well, maybe you had faith and was healed."
:He said, "That's what it is then."
:And I turned and looked, I thought, "Strange." I seen a room open up before me. And there stood a woman standing, looking down on two men. One of them went on a gray suit with a red tie. And the other man setting across from him, had his back to me. There was a green spread hanging over the table. And I heard them say, "Aw it's just nothing but a telepathy, and we will prove it, and we'll show that he's wrong."
:And he belonged to a certain denominational church that I would not call the name. And when he come back, and the vision left, I said, "Why has the devil put in your heart to do this?" Why I said, "Man, aren't you ashamed of yourself being a preacher? And last night you set with your wife and another man, which is setting right there in the balcony, setting in there with that red tie on in the gray suit. And you set in a room last night, and said that you'd go over and write so-and-so on your prayer card...?... thought the usher was...?... to me, mental telepathy."
:I said, "Now, the...?... And grabbed...?... on the platform by my pants and '''I said, "The thing that you put on your prayer card, TB and so forth, is on you now." The man died about a year later.''' That was the...?... Many of you's heard that. How many's heard it, let's see your hands. Many of you out there. Certainly. We're not playing church. It's the Holy Spirit. You be reverent.
<br>
'''THIRSTING.FOR.LIFE  CHICAGO.IL  57-0630'''
:And so one time in a meeting, it was in Canada, way up here in... I can never think of that city across from Detroit, Windsor, Ontario. And there was a--a man slipped into the meeting. And he thought it was a telepathy. And he put on his prayer card, on the back of it, "I have so many diseases," and things like that. There wasn't nothing wrong with him. And when he come up to the platform, he happened to be in the part of the line, probably just going through praying for the sick. And he said, "Could you tell me what's wrong with me?" And Brother Baxter started passing him on.
:I said, "Just a moment."
:He said, "I want to know what's wrong with me."
:Brother Baxter said, "We're not having that."
:Now, he'd been better off if he'd listened to Brother Baxter (See?), went on through. But no, he had to stop. And when he did, then the Holy Spirit said to him, "There's nothing wrong with you, you have no disease at all."
:He said, "Oh, yes I do." He said, "Look on my card down there that they got."
:I said, "I don't care what you got on your card; you--you haven't got nothing wrong with you."
:And he said, "Oh, yes."
:I said, "Well, you don't..."
:He said, "I've got it." Said, "I got--I got it stated on my card."
:I said, "I don't know anything about your card; I never see that. You just get a card, you... Anything you want to put on it, you put on it. But I don't see that, the ministers get them." And he said... But he said...
:I said, "You might have had it and maybe you had a--a faith and was healed."
:"Oh," he said, "That's what it is, is it," turned around.
:And just then I looked and there was a vision. I said, "Why has the devil put in your heart to do that?" I said, "You are..." Now, if this is a person of that is in this building, I'm not speaking against your church. I said, "You're a Church of Christ minister." They love to fuss. I said, "You're a Church of Christ preacher. Last night you set with a man with a gray suit and a red tie. And you set at a table had a little green cloth hanging over it; there was a blond-headed woman setting next to you, and you said it was telepathy. And you come to this meeting today and wrote that on there, thinking you could pass it through and make a telepathy out of it to up trip God's Spirit." I said, "You're the one exposed."
:And just then the man setting up there; he said, "Mr. Branham, I'm the guy that was with him." Said, "That's my wife setting right here, was with him."
:'''And I said, "The things that you put on your card, you have. Both cancer and TB."''' And he fell down on the platform. '''But the last time I heard him, I never heard no more, just a letter from some of the people, that he was in a serious condition.''' So we're not playing church.
<br>
'''THE.QUEEN.OF.THE.SOUTH  SOUTH.BEND.IN   58-0208'''
:Oh, how many was at the Wednesday meeting to see that fellow that run to the platform, that thought it was a telepathy and there taken that trouble. There, one man back there was.
:When he run up the platform, he put on his card, he said... He went to the platform and he said, "How do you do?"
:And I said, "How do you do, sir?" He said a--I said, "You--there's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Yes, there is." I was tired, right at the end of the line. He said, "Yes, there is." Said, "Look on my prayer card down there."
:I said, "I don't care what you got on your prayer card."
:He said, "I got TB; I got, oh, all kinds of stuff." See? I caught it right then what his trick was. He said, "Well, look on my prayer card."
:I said, "I don't know what you put on your prayer card, sir, I have no way of knowing that. But I do know there's nothing wrong with you now."
:And he said, "Well, how--what happened?"
:I said, "I couldn't tell you. You might've just set out there and got healed out in the audience."
:He said, "So that's the way it is, is it?" And then the Lord came with a vision.
:I said, "Why has the devil put in your heart to lie before God?" I said, "What you put on your prayer card, you have right now." I said, "You're a preacher, and that man setting right there with that gray suit on in the balcony is the one that was with you last night. And you set in the room with a little green spread over a table, and you told your wife that you knowed it was a telepathy. And you got a card and come in here.
:That fellow raised up there and said, "Brother Branham, that's the truth. I was right there with him."
:'''I said, "Now, what was on your prayer card you have." He died about six months later with a cancer.''' Uh-huh, uh-huh.
<br>
'''CHRIST.KNOCKING.AT.THE.DOOR  MIDDLETOWN.OH  58-0330E'''
:How many was at the Windsor meeting to see that critic, that preacher? They packed him out paralyzed, and he's still paralyzed. Come on the platform, thought it was some kind of a psychology, and wrote on his card that it was such and such and such. Come up on the platform, the Holy Spirit said, "You are lying. You put on your prayer card down there a certain thing. You put TB and all this stuff on there. Now, because you've done it... You're a certain denominational church." Called who he was, and I said,"Last night you set with your wife, and that man there with the red tie on, set with you at a table with a green thing pulled over the table." '''And I said, "Now, what you put on your prayer card, you have."''' And this man run down there, so I...
:Said, "God be merciful, Brother Branham, that is the truth." '''They took him out paralyzed, and he's still paralyzed.'''
<br>
'''JEHOVAH.JIREH LONG.BEACH.CA  61-0212M'''
:Like a fellow come in the prayer line, put a... He thought it was telepathy, 'cause he wrote it on a prayer card. He wrote on there he had TB, and everything. He come in the line, said, he said, "How do you do?"
:And I said, "How do you do, sir?" And he said, I said, "Well, do you believe me to be His servant?" See, that's what the Angel told; Get the people to believe you.
:"Yes, sir." That didn't sound right. It didn't register. See, in myself I'd... Why, he was a fine looking man, just as nice looking fellow.
:I said, "Yes, sir." Got talking to him, and I said, "There's nothing wrong with you; you're perfectly healthy."
:Said, "You're wrong."
:I said, "No, I'm not."
:He said, "Get that prayer card down there and look." Said, "I got TB, cancer," I don't know what all he had wrote...
:I said, "I don't care what you got on that prayer card," I said, "there's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Well, I've got it on my prayer card."
:I said, "That don't hurt..." I said, "I don't care what you put on your prayer card, that doesn't mean a thing. (See?) It's what the Holy Spirit says."
:And he said, "Well, it is..."
:I said, "Well, maybe you had faith enough to get healed 'fore you come in the meeting. I..."
:He said, "And that's the way it is..."
:And I thought, "What's going on here?" He looked like he was Christian man. Looked around, there I looked over on the wall, like towards this way, and there I seen it, moving out. And I turned around to him. Many setting here now was right in the meeting when it happened. And I--I said "Why, why would you let the devil put such a thing as that in your mind?" I said, "Now, you are a certain church," I won't call the name, "that don't believe. The days of miracles is past. And you was at the meeting the other night and told me, and--and said, within yourself rather, that this was nothing but a mental telepathy." And I said, "That man setting right yonder in the balcony with the red tie on and the gray suit, you was in his house the other night; you was setting at a table had a cloth pulled over it like this, and you made up in your mind that you was going to come down here and write that on your prayer card, and come in here."
:And that man screamed out and said, "That is the living truth," setting up in the platform like that.
:'''And I said, "Because that you have said, and put that on your prayer card, now you have it." And he died about six weeks afterwards.'''
<br>
'''HAVE.NOT.I.SENT.THEE  PHOENIX.AZ  62-0124'''
:The night before there there'd been a--a man come which belonged to a certain denomination. He come up there, and he'd wrote on his prayer card, "I have TB, so-and-so," and all like that. He thought it was a telepathy. So they handed the prayer card to the usher as he come up on the platform. The man come up there and I said, "There's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Oh, yes, there is; look on my prayer card."
:I said, "I don't care what the prayer card says. There's nothing wrong with you."
:He said, "Well, look, I've got TB, and so-and-so," like that. "Look on that prayer card."
:I said, "I don't look on that prayer card. I look towards heaven." See?
:And he said, "Well, that's what's the matter with me."
:I said, "Well, maybe... You might've had it down there. If you have, you haven't got it now, because you--it just isn't there. And he said... I said, "You might've got healed down there."
:He said, "Uh, huh. That's what you think. I got healed down there."
:I thought, "What's the matter with this man?" I turned and looked again. There was a vision broke before him. I said, "You deceiver. You belong to a certain church. Last night you set with that man right up there with a red suit on--with a red tie and black suit. And that's his wife setting right over on this corner, and your wife. And you set by a table that had a green cloth around it, and you made up that you was coming here to do that to prove that this was a mental telepathy." '''I said, "The things that you got on your card is upon you." He died about six weeks after that.''' Don't you never do that.
<br>
'''THREE.KINDS.OF.BELIEVERS  JEFF.IN  V-3 N-6  63-1124E'''
:Many of you remember up there that night when that man come out on the platform. He thought that there was a mental telepathy of reading the prayer cards, and how he thought he had it right then. Brother, he--he was sure he had it. And he come around. He belonged to a church that don't believe in--in--in these, in the Gospel, the full Gospel. And he come up on the platform. I was tired. They was fixing to take me away.
:That was at Windsor, Ontario. In there, come right across from--from United States there, right across from Detroit, at Windsor, the big auditorium.
:And this man come up there with a gray suit on, and a red tie, intelligent-looking man, smart as a tack. He come to the platform. And I... He walked up. And I said, "Well, just let me have your hand." I said, "I'm tired; I've seen so many visions. Just let me have your hand." And--and I never noticed the man. And he put his hand over on mine. And I said, "Sir, there is nothing wrong with you. Go ahead."
:He said, "Oh, there is, too."
:And I said, "Well, let me see there." I said, "No, sir, there is not one sign. No, sir, you're a healthy man."
:He said, "Go look at my prayer card!"
:I said, "I don't care what you put on your prayer card." I said, "I don't have nothing to do with the prayer card," not thinking, you see. I was tired and wore out. And my... But the grace of God, you see, was still there, remember.
:If He sends you, it's His obligation to take care of you. It ain't mine; it's Him. He sent It. I'm just supposed to stand on what's true.
:When Moses throwed his stick down, it turned into a serpent, and the magicians done the same thing, what could Moses do but stand there and wait for the grace of God? That's all. Same thing. He followed out the commandments. And you know what happened, don't you? See?
:This man said, "Now," he said, "there is. Look at my prayer card."
:I said, "Well, you might have had a lot of faith, and might have done it," not thinking, you see. I done... not even paying attention.
:Then he unbuttons his coat and pushed out his chest. He said, "There you are!" to the audience.
:And I thought, "What's going on here?"
:He looked around. He said, "There you are!" Said, "See the gimmick?" That's your Judas, a religious man, a preacher of a great denomination. Said, "There you are! I had 'so much faith.' Now, he's got so weak, he can't read the telepathy. See, it don't come to him no more." And there he said, "It's not my faith was so great." Said, "I put that on the prayer card, and now he can't catch it, you see." Said, "That's the gimmick!"
:I thought, "What's going on?" Then the grace of God came down.
:I said, "Sir, why has the devil put in your heart to try to deceive God?" A modern Judas! I said, "You're a church of Christ..." Excuse me. Well, I done said it. "You're a church of Christ preacher. You belong to the church of Christ, from over in United States. And that man setting up there with that blue suit on, and your wife and his wife setting there, you set at a table last night that had a green thing over it, a--a spread like this, and you made up that this was 'telepathy,' and you were coming tonight."
:That man raised up. He said, "That's the honest truth. God, have mercy on me!"
:'''I said, "Sir, you put 'TB and cancer' on that card, and now you have it. It's yours now."'''
:And he grabbed me by the pants leg, he said, "I didn't..."
:I said, "I can't help. You go right ahead. That's up between you and God. You wrote your doom right on your card." And that got him. That was all of it.

=Response from ABM=

BTS,

Ern Baxter relates a very similar account, though it occurred in the southern states, not Ontario. In Baxter's story four men were involved in trying to trick Bro. Branham and prove he was not truly diagnosing diseases with his prophetic gift. Baxter said the following:

:''Well, to try to remember or to pick out a few outstanding supernatural occurrences with Branham is somewhat difficult because it was just a parade of the supernatural. On one occasion, we were down in the southern states, and a big auditorium meeting. The first or second night there, Brother Branham came to a certain man in the healing line. He looked at him and said, "Sir, I see you have come into this line tonight to trick me. In fact, I see you last night in a room sitting around a table with four other ministers. You are a minister of such and such a denomination." He pointed up to the balcony and said, "Those four men sitting up, there are your friends, and you plotted last night how to trick me. I was going to tell you what was wrong with you, and you were going to deny it." They just turned around and fled the building.

Bro. Branham's story of the man from Windsor is generally consistent, in my view. The fact that eyewitnesses, like Ern Baxter, relate that similar things happened in other places, give me confidence in the basic facts of the story. Bro.  Branham was able to detect attempts to trick him, and he exposed the attempts multiple times.

Why did he feel the need to exaggerate? I think I already answered that in the last question. I do not think he did it for selfish reasons. This story though, I think can also be chalked up somewhat to just forgetfulness, and perhaps blending multiple stories together. The basic premise remains accurate. I cannot remember in detail major events of my life that happened to me ten years ago. Given that some of these quotes are ten or more years after the fact, it could just be that his memory of the event was not clear. The number of people at the meeting changed, and the length of time the man lived after the event changed. It is not clear to me how the change of those facts in the story alter how the audience would perceive it. Otherwise I see no inconsistencies in the stories.

You can be forgiven but still have take the chastisement. This is seen in many cases in the bible. You make the jump in logic that forgiveness means there should be no punishment. I do not believe that to be a certain outcome. He was forgiven, but he still had to suffer a chastisement for his transgression.

You ask: "Was the point of William Branham telling the story to instill fear in the people?" Answer: The bible tells us to fear (respect) God. (Prov 1:7) So in that regard, yes I think that is exactly what he was trying to do. 

You ask: "Fear of William Branham, the mighty prophet?" Answer: No, fear of God.

You state: "You have stated that people were afraid to tell William Branham about some of the problems he had.  But it appears that he is the one that created that problem." I would disagree with that. People were not afraid of Bro. Branham, they were afraid of the nuts who surrounded him. Just like we are somewhat fearful today of the Ontario street preachers. There are unstable people now.. There were unstable people then. I remember talking to Bro. Branham one time, I told him some things that were going on. I also asked him sincere questions. He was not a hard person. But if some people got wind that you had questioned anything, look out. It was them, not Bro. Branham, who caused people to be afraid to openly question things.

You ask: "Was he trying to place himself on the same level by paralleling with the apostle Peter in Acts 5?" Answer: I would say he was attempting to show people that the supernatural was still occurring, just like in the days of the apostles. He was not trying to lift himself up, but rather lift up God by showing the power of God.

Bro. Branham was among the most humble people I have ever met. The way he spoke with boldness and authority when preaching was so far and away different than how we was off the platform, it was remarkable. It was almost like two different people. I went to his house one time to visit him, and his wife was taking a nap while he washed the dishes and tidied up. Things like that, perhaps give us a little different perspective when evaluating his humility. 

Kind regards,

ABM


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[[Category: Unfinished articles]]
[[Category: Questions and Answers]]
[[Category: Questions and Answers - Series 1]]