Latest revision as of 17:50, 3 July 2023

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I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. - Friedrich Nietzsche

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. - Mark Twain

In order to thoroughly deceive others, it is necessary to also deceive oneself. The actor playing Hamlet must indeed believe in the moment that he is the Prince of Denmark, though when he leaves the stage he will usually remember who he really is.

On the other hand, when someone's entire life is based on such pretense, they seldom if ever return to reality. That is the secret of many successful politicians, evangelists and confidence tricksters alike–they believe they are telling the truth, even when it seems sure they must have known that they faked the evidence. Sincerity, my dear Julia, is a quality not to be trusted. – Sarah Caudwell from 'The Sibyl in Her Grave'

In our search to find the truth and to separate fact from fiction as it relates to William Branham and his ministry, one of the the most important issues that has to be addressed is his credibility. This need to be examined in relation to the various stories he tells in describing his supernatural experiences.

To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful. — Edward R. Murrow

Credibility refers to the believability, trustworthiness and reliability of a person.

Was William Branham credible?

Because William Branham was a minister of the Gospel, one starts off with the assumption that he generally told the truth, that he was credible. But that assumption must be discarded if it can be demonstrated that he regularly strayed from telling the truth.

William Branham portrayed himself as a simple, honest, uneducated man who was sent from God as a prophet to forerun the second coming of Christ. However, many of the stories that he told have been proven to be untrue and many of the doctrines that he said he received directly from God were, in fact, plagiarized from other ministers. Another significant issue is that many of William Branham's stories changed dramatically over time. Why did this happen?

The following items have caused us to question William Branham's credibility (click on the links to read a detailed explanation of the issue):

But didn't Abraham lie?

We have had many message ministers deflect the issue of William Branham's credibility by pointing to the flaws of some of the prophets in the Old Testament. Such a response is clearly coming out of Cognitive Dissonance (if you don't know what this is, please click on the link).

When a message believers, confronted with the clear facts that William Branham lied, states, "Abramham lied and he was the father of faith," they are effectively admitting that William Branham lied but that it is not a big deal.

The problem with this argument is that it is a red herring.

Why did Abraham lie? Because he feared that his life was in danger.

William Branham, on the other hand, appeared to have lied to uphold the claim that God spoke to him and that his prophesies were authentic. William Branham lied to make himself look like a prophet so that people would follow him.

Under the new covenant as outlined in the New Testament, lying is not acceptable behaviour because the Bible plainly tells us what is expected of Christian leaders:

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach...^[1]

An elder must be blameless...^[2]

For the overseer must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work...^[3]

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.^[4]

Also, because many of William Branham's prophecies failed, we must also deal with Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

Footnotes

↑ The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 3:2–3.
↑ Titus 1:6 (NET)
↑ Titus 1:7 (NET)
↑ The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 1:8–11.

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[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 3:2–3.

[2] Titus 1:6 (NET)

[3] Titus 1:7 (NET)

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 1:8–11.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {| style="width:100%; border:1px solid #E8B399;background-color:#F0DCC8;vertical-align:top; float:left; text-align:center; padding: 0.3em;margin-left:5px"
 |'''''I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.''''' - Friedrich Nietzsche
+|-
+|}<br>
+{| style="width:100%; border:1px solid #E8B399;background-color:#F0DCC8;vertical-align:top; float:left; text-align:center; padding: 0.3em;margin-left:5px"
+|'''''If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.''''' - Mark Twain
+'''''In order to thoroughly deceive others, it is necessary to also deceive oneself'''. The actor playing Hamlet must indeed believe in the moment that he is the Prince of Denmark, though when he leaves the stage he will usually remember who he really is.''
+''On the other hand, '''when someone's entire life is based on such pretense, they seldom if ever return to reality. That is the secret of many successful politicians, evangelists and confidence tricksters alike–they believe they are telling the truth, even when it seems sure they must have known that they faked the evidence.''' Sincerity, my dear Julia, is a quality not to be trusted.'' – Sarah Caudwell from 'The Sibyl in Her Grave'
 |-
 |}
-In our search to find out the truth and to separate fact from fiction as it relates to William Branham's ministry, the biggest issue that we have run across is whether William Branham was credible with respect to the various stories he relates describing his supernatural experiences.
+In our search to find the truth and to separate fact from fiction as it relates to William Branham and his ministry, one of the the most important issues that has to be addressed is his credibility.  This need to be examined in relation to the various stories he tells in describing his supernatural experiences.
 ''To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.'' — Edward R. Murrow
-Credibility refers to the believability, trustworthiness and reliability of a person or message.
+Credibility refers to the believability, trustworthiness and reliability of a person.
-{| style="width:100%; border:1px solid #E8B399;background-color:#F0DCC8;vertical-align:top; float:left; text-align:center; padding: 0.3em;margin-left:5px"
-|'''''If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.''''' - Mark Twain
-|-
-|}
 =Was William Branham credible?=
+[[Image:Credibility.png|thumb|right|250px]]
+Because William Branham was a minister of the Gospel, one starts off with the assumption that he generally told the truth, that he was credible.  But that assumption must be discarded if it can be demonstrated that he regularly strayed from telling the truth.
-As a minister of the Gospel, one starts off with the assumption that William Branham was credible.  But that assumption can be eliminated or overturned if it can be demonstrated that, at times, he did not tell the truth.  This might not necessarily mean that he was lying, as it is possible to believe that what you are saying is the truth but it's really not.
+William Branham portrayed himself as a simple, honest, uneducated man who was sent from God as a prophet to forerun the second coming of Christ.  However, many of the stories that he told have been proven to be untrue and many of the doctrines that he said he received directly from God were, in fact, [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] from other ministers.  Another significant issue is that many of [[Different Stories|William Branham's stories changed dramatically over time]].  Why did this happen?
-One significant issue is that [[Different Stories|William Branham's stories could change dramatically over time]].  Why did this happen?
 The following items have caused us to question William Branham's credibility (click on the links to read a detailed explanation of the issue):
-*[[The Mystery of the Empty Cornerstone|The Case of the Empty Cornerstone]]
+#Did William Branham visit the Vatican and see the inscription "''[[VICARIVS FILII DEI]]''" above the throne of the Pope?
-*[[Roy Davis|When did William Branham embrace Pentecostalism?]]
+#[[William Branham and Billy Graham|Did William Branham lie about his prophecy regarding Billy Graham?]]
-*[[Was William Branham Honest|The Explanation for His Poor Grammar]]
+#[[1933 Ohio River Experience|Did anyone hear the voice on the Ohio River in 1933?]]
-*[[1933 Ohio River Experience|The Voice on the Ohio River in 1933]]
+#Did William Branham see [[Stories about Eagles|a mother eagle carry her babies on her wings?]]
-*[[The Man from Windsor]]
+#[[The Cloud|Why did William Branham say that he was under the cloud when they took its picture, when he clearly wasn't?]]
-*Changes to [[Congressman Upshaw]]'s story
+#Did William Branham travel [[William_Branham's Travels#Around the world seven times?|around the world seven times?]]
-*The [[Donny Morton]] story
+#[[Bible saved from the flood|Was William Branham's Bible saved miraculously in the 1937 flood?]]
-*The story of [[King George VI]]
+#[[The Man from Windsor|Why did the story of the man from Windsor change so drastically over time?]]
-*[[William Branham Speaking as God|William Branham messes up as God speaks through him]]
+#[[Plagiarism|Why did William Branham say that he received his revelations from God when he took many of his doctrines from other men?]]
-*[[Plagiarism]]
+#Why did William Branham change the story of [[Congressman Upshaw]]'s healing?
-*[[The Cloud]]
+#[[Roy Davis|When did William Branham embrace Pentecostalism?]]
-*[[Prophecy of the Cloud]]
+#Was [[Donny Morton]] really healed?
-*[[Rattlesnake Mesa]]
+#[[William Branham speaks in tongues|Did William Branham speak in an unknown tongue that a Finnish woman understood?]]
-*[[The Rock Where Moses Stood|God moved the rock that Moses stood on to the Arizona desert in 1964]]
+#[[Was William Branham Honest|Was it reasonable for William Branham to blame his poor grammar on his dad?]]
-*[[The Nazarite Birth]] of William Branham
+#Did William Branham prayer for [[King George VI|King George VI and was he really healed?]]
-*[[Hope Branham's Nurse]]
+#[[Kari Holma|Did William Branham raise a boy from the dead in Finland?]]
-*[[The Amber Light]]
+#Who was [[Hope Branham's Nurse]]?
+#Was [[Florence Nightingale]] the granddaughter of the original Florence Nightingale?
-==Asking for Hope's Hand in Marriage==
+#[[The Pillar of Fire|Did the Pillar of Fire really appear above William Branham's head in Houston?  Why did other pictures from that evening appear in the newspaper, when he said his picture was the only one that turned out?]]
+#[[Proposing to Hope Brumbach|Was William Branham truthful about asking Hope's parents for her hand in marriage?]]
-Do you remember the funny story of William Branham asking Charles Brumbach if he could marry Hope? If so, then here are some things you may not know:
+#[[William Branham's Double Standard#William Branham in Shorts|If only sissies wear shorts, why did William Branham wear them?]]
+#[[Leo Mercer|How could William Branham have allowed Leo Mercer to be part of his ministry?]]
-) Charles and Hazel Brumbach divorced in November of 1931.
+#[[An Uncertain Sound|Did William Branham claim to be a prophet?]]
+#[[The Nazarite Birth|Was William Branham born under a Nazarite Vow?]]
-) Charles married Grace Creigh four months later, and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Fort Wayne is a 3.5 hour drive north of Jeffersonville (in a modern car on a modern highway).
+#[[Was William Branham's discernment ministry genuine?|Was William Branham's discernment 100% accurate?]]
+#[[Guessing the disease|Was William Branham's ministry always 100%?]]
-) Hope's mother continued to live in Jeffersonville.
+#[[The Mystery of the Empty Cornerstone|What was in the cornerstone of Branham Tabernacle?]]
+#[[William Branham's Travels|Did William Branham travel around the world seven times?]]
-) Hope and William were married in 1934 in Fort Wayne.
+#[[Billy Paul Branham|Why was William Branham dishonest about his son's first marriage?]]
+#[[Prophecy of the Cloud|Why was the vision of the five angels changed to a vision of seven angels?]]
-) When William Branham went to ask Charles for Hope's hand in marriage, it was after a sermon spoken by Roy Davis on a Wednesday night. Roy Davis' church was in Jeffersonville and they walked to her house from church.
+#[[Rattlesnake Mesa|Why did William Branham say that he was at Sunset Mountain when he was actually at Rattlesnake Mesa?]]
+#Why did William Branham make up [[The Story of the Pyramid Box|the story of the Pyramid Box]]?
-) William Branham said that he asked Charles if he could marry Hope, and that Hope asked her mother, on the same night, at the same house.
+#[[Different Stories|Why did William Branham's stories change so radically over time?]]
+#[[The Perfect Man|Was William Branham really the first fruits of spiritual maturity?  The perfect man?]]
-And what did William Branham say about his in-laws? He said that Hope's "mother was a very prissy sort of a woman. Fine woman, but she belonged up in the ranks, you know. And so Charlie was just a good old humble brother."
+#[[The Houston Photograph|Was the photo from Houston supernatural or just the out of focus picture of a flood light?]]
+#[[The Amber Light|Did William Branham see an amber light?]]
+#[[Jim Jones|Did William Branham help to launch the ministry of Jim Jones?]]
+#Was Marshal [[Matt Dillon]] from Gunsmoke a real person?
+#[[Is Joseph Branham a prophet?]]
+#Was there a [[Mormon prophecy about William Branham]]?
+#[[Prophecy: Danny Henry|Danny Henry message]]
+#[[William Branham's View of Himself|How did William Branham view himself?]]
+#[[William Branham and Money|Was William Branham a wealthy man when he died?]]
+#[[William Branham Speaking as God|If God spoke through William Branham, why did he mess up?]]
+#[[William Branham's Double Standard#William Branham the Hunter|If it was wrong to kill animals for sport, why did William Branham do it?]]
+#[[William Branham's Double Standard#William Branham at the Theatre|Why did William Branham deny that he went to movies 3 weeks after admitting that he did?]]
+#[[William Branham's Double Standard#William Branham, sold out for a Cadillac|Why did William Branham criticize those who drove Cadillac's when he owned one?]]
+#[[William Branham's Double Standard#Trimmed Hair & Short Skirts in the Branham Family|Why did William Branham criticize women that cut their hair and wore short skirts, when his own family did?]]
+#[[Arvel Mosier|What actually happened to Hattie Wright's boys?]]
+#[[William Branham on Suicide#Inaccuracies about William Cowper's death|Why did William Branham say he went to William Cowper's grave when he didn't?]]
+#[[William Branham on Suicide#Inaccuracies about William Cowper's death|Why did William Branham say William Cowper committed suicide when he died of heart failure?]]
+#[[William Branham on Suicide#Stephen Foster|Why did William Branham state the Stephen Foster committed suicide, when this is not true?]]
+#Was there really a connection between [[The Pope and the Lunar Eclipse|the Pope visiting israel in 1964 and the lunar eclipse that preceded his visit?]]
 =But didn't Abraham lie?=
-This should be considered as a response out of [[Cognitive Dissonance]] (if you don't know what this is, please click on the link).
+We have had many message ministers deflect the issue of William Branham's credibility by pointing to the flaws of some of the prophets in the Old Testament.  Such a response is clearly coming out of [[Cognitive Dissonance]] (if you don't know what this is, please click on the link).
-Many message believers, when confronted with the clear facts that William Branham lied repeatedly state, "Abramham lied and he was the father of faith."  This is effectively admitting that William Branham lied but that it is not a big deal if he lied.
+When a message believers, confronted with the clear facts that William Branham lied, states, "''Abramham lied and he was the father of faith,''" they are effectively admitting that William Branham lied but that it is not a big deal.
 The problem with this argument is that it is a [[Failed Prophecies|red herring]].
@@ Line 69: / Line 90: @@
 Why did Abraham lie?  Because he feared that his life was in danger.
-William Branham, on the other hand, lied to uphold the claim that God spoke to him and that his prophesies were authentic.  William Branham lied to make himself look like a prophet so that people would follow him.
+William Branham, on the other hand, appeared to have lied to uphold the claim that God spoke to him and that his prophesies were authentic.  William Branham lied to make himself look like a prophet so that people would follow him.
-Under the new covenant that we find in the New Testament, lying is not acceptable behaviour in Christian leaders:
+Under the new covenant as outlined in the New Testament, lying is not acceptable behaviour because the Bible plainly tells us what is expected of Christian leaders:
 :''Therefore an overseer must be above reproach...<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 3:2–3.</ref>
-:''For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Tt 1:7.</ref>
+:''An elder must be blameless...<ref>Titus 1:6 (NET)</ref>
+:''For the overseer must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work...<ref>Titus 1:7 (NET)</ref>
 :''Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, '''liars''', perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Ti 1:8–11.</ref>
-Also, several of his prophecies failed, therefore, we must deal with Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
+Also, because many of William Branham's prophecies failed, we must also deal with [[Prophecy|Deuteronomy 18:20-22]].
 {{Bottom of Page}}
+[[Category:William Branham pointing to himself]]
+[[Category:Critical analysis of William Branham‏‎]]
+[[Category:The Message]]
+[[Category:Supernatural vindication‏]]‎
+[[Category:Honesty and Credibility]]
+[[Category:Personal Life]]