The Message

The Message or the Message of the Hour is how followers of William Branham refer to his teachings. It is also how they refer to themselves generally as a movement. If you are "in the message" then you consider yourself a true follower of William Branham and a true follower of God.

The true status of followers of William Branham

We will cover in some detail as to what message believers think of themselves. But the question is what is their actual status? Are message believers special or are they members of a cult?

Is the message a cult?

A “cult” has been defined as a religious group founded by and built upon the teachings of a religious leader whose authority is viewed as being equal to or greater than the Bible and whose teachings are in opposition to the doctrines of biblical and historic Christianity.

The crucial part of the above definition of the word cult is, “whose authority is viewed as being equal to or greater than the Bible.” The founder of the cult is viewed as being a “prophet” or “prophetess” of God. Since he or she is the “voice of God,” the person’s teachings are authoritative. Thus the cult is based solely upon the religious authority of the founder. Everything depends on the validity of that authority.

The issue of religious authority is the most basic problem one encounters when witnessing to a cultist. While the child of God looks to the Scriptures as the ultimate standard by which to decide religious truth, the cultist looks to his leader to decide the truth for him. As long as the Christian and the cultist are looking to different religious authorities, there is no common ground between them where they can begin.

Do message believers put William Branham's teachings on par with the Bible?

It is clear that some followers of William Branham believe that he was Jesus Christ. Many followers of William Branham do put his sermons on equal standing with the Bible because they believe that he was infallible. These groups would include most of the followers of Joseph Branham.

But some message believers say:

...I have never put Brother Branham's teachings above the Bible! That is not what I believe.

While such people may think that they place the Bible above William Branham's teaching, this is in fact not the case. Why? Because here is what they actually believe:

1. William Branham was one of the greatest prophets of all time. Exactly how great he was may vary between message believers BUT, at the very least, they will state that William Branham was one of the seven church age messengers and therefore at least the equal of Paul the Apostle. In addition, his ministry as the [Seventh Angel]] puts him in a league that surpasses the other church age messengers.
2. As the seventh angel, William Branham could not make any significant doctrinal errors because the purpose of his ministry was to reveal all of the hidden mysteries of God. As a result of this, a message believer does not have the option of disagreeing with William Branham, except in respect of relatively small issues.
3. To the extent that William Branham did make a significant error, God corrected him. This has resulted in the doctrine of Progressive Revelation, which basically states that if William Branham taught different things about a subject, one should rely on the last teaching.
4. Message believers hold that the only true evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is believing the Word for your hour. This means the teachings of William Branham. As a result, if you think that William Branham's message has any significant errors, it proves that you don't have the Holy Spirit.

What do followers of William Branham think that the message is?

When you ask a follower of William Branham what the message is, you may get an answer that is difficult to follow. They themselves admit that it is difficult to define, primarily because they specifically try avoid describing it as what it actually is - the teachings and doctrines of William Branham. So they tend to describe it in more nebulous terms:

Has anybody ever asked you what the Message is? I have had it asked me, "You call yourselves 'Message Believers' but what is the message?" I tried to explain it to the person, but they couldn't catch it.