Fear in the Message
Given the belief that message believers constitute the Christian elite - The Bride of Christ - it is surprising that the predominant response from those in the message is one of fear. Some feel that those that bring to light William Branham's many failings have unnecessarily put their eternal destination on the line. They point their fingers and say, "What if you're wrong?"
The underlying emotion is that of fear. It is interesting that in virtually all of the emails that we have received from message believers, fear is what they try to use to persuade us not to say anything.
How do you disagree with an angel of God?
William Branham clearly used fear on those he preached to. As a result, his followers are afraid to question him.
William Branham claimed to be an "angel"
William Branham stated:
- ...You said, "As it was in that day, so will it be in this day." God, You still have Angels. And we realize that Angel was manifested in human flesh, for soon He disappeared in the presence of Abraham, and Abraham called Him, " Elohim." God.[1]
William Branham claimed to have the true "message"
- ... See? It'll be... But this message that I'm preaching is the true message of this day, and it's the last message.[2]
To question him is death
- And you're on the basis of free moral agency. You can turn this down or you can accept it. To turn it down is to be lost and remain potash, and calcium, and petroleum.</ref>57-0120M THE.IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN</ref>
The opposite of fear
Scripture teaches that the opposite of fear is love. Why? The Bible states,
- There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.[3]
But we have had a rare few that contacted us in the spirit of love. One couple were convinced that the conclusions of our research were wrong, so they left the ninety and nine and came after us. They spent over 400 hours researching. They were afraid for us spiritually and that concern led them to a labor of love focused on rescuing us.
I told them that I had no desire to be wrong and that if they could prove the conclusions on our website to be wrong, we would publish that research.
You can see the research for yourself on their website, Searching for Vindication.
Those in the message believe that the capstone of love is coming down on the virtue of brotherly kindness to complete the Bride. Sadly, what we have found after leaving the message is that the conduct of message believers toward those that have left is, for the most part, lacking in both.
Some have accused us of mocking William Branham
We don't consider that pointing out lies, inconsistencies, and false teaching to be mocking. Some times it is necessary to point to the false with the absurd.
But there is another point here. Mocking would imply that William Branham is deserving of a great deal of respect which we don't think is correct.
The Bible says:
- But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 18:7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come.[4]
We have sat for many years in a church that taught the message. As a result, there is a fair amount of righteous anger going on regarding how the teaching of William Branham, or at least the interpretation of it across the pulpits of message churches today, has attempted to place people in fear of their eternal souls by controlling their behavior. The message has been a stumbling block for many.
How can that be of God? There is legitimate anger at the time that people have lost in believing what has turned out to be based on failed visions, prophecies that changed over time, lies and false interpretations of the Bible.
Is there is any thing mocking or arrogant about being direct and concise about how William Branham lied, or about how his ministers and believers treat people?
We are simply being honest. There is a lot of disrepute when people use language about being careful calling out the lies of William Branham as if he were an Apostle or Prophet.
Why would William Branham or any message minister deserve and respect or reverence, when they have acted in ways that contrive to deceive members of their assemblies?