BelieveTheSign

Proof of the Prophetic: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Proof of the Prophetic (view source)

Revision as of 21:24, 1 January 2014

1,825 bytes added ,  10 years ago
no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 3: Line 3:
Most people think of prophecy as a prediction of an event or occurrence that will happen in the future.   
Most people think of prophecy as a prediction of an event or occurrence that will happen in the future.   


=The Problem with William Branham's Prophetic Ministry=
'''Prophesy''' /ˈprɒfɪsʌɪ/


One significant problem with William Branham's prophetic ministry is that there does not seem to be a single occurrence where we have a clear prophecy recorded on tape that was later clearly fulfilled.
*verb (prophesies, prophesying, prophesied)
:#predict.
:#speak or write by divine inspiration.<ref>Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).</ref>


There are 4 types of prophecies that could occur with respect to William Branham:
=Was William Branham a prophet?=


:1. '''Prophecy beforehand (verified) that was not fulfilled''' - We have several occasions where William Branham prophesied of things that would come to pass in the future but '''did not happen as prophesied''' ("failed prophecies").  Examples of this would include:
One significant problem with William Branham's prophetic ministry is that '''we have been unable to find a single occurrence''' where we have a clear prophecy recorded on tape that was later clearly fulfilled.
 
=The '''Test'''=
 
'''This is a test''' for anyone that is a follower of the message of William Branham. '''Please provide us with an unambiguous prophecy made by William Branham that was recorded publicly (i.e. we can verify on a tape) and that was later fulfilled in a clear manner.''' We will publish any such prophecy and its fulfillment on our website.
 
While some view William Branham's healing ministry and his gift with the word of knowledge as proof that he was a prophet, this is not the Biblical test. There are numerous prophecies on this website that were made by William Branham in advance but were not fulfilled. This creates a clear problem with Deuteronomy 18:20-22. One would think that those that believe him to be a prophet would have numerous examples of publicly available prophecies that were later clearly fulfilled. Sadly, this is not the case.
 
All of the prophecies that we have had pointed out to us are either after the fact (i.e. William Branham only mentions them on tape after they have been fulfilled) or are ambiguous prophecies (i.e. if they were not fulfilled, no one would have been able to point to the prophecy and say that it was clearly wrong).
 
We will publish any responses on this page for the benefit of all.
 
=The Problem=
 
A significant problem with William Branham's prophetic ministry is that there does not seem to be a single occurrence where he makes an unambiguous public prophecy (i.e. recorded on tape) that was later clearly fulfilled.
 
==Four Types of Prophecies that William Branham could have made==
 
There are a number of different types of prophecies that William Branham could have made:
 
===A vague Prophecy made beforehand (verified) that was (sort of) fulfilled===
 
This is the kind of prophecy that is seen quite commonly.  It contains within it enough vagueness for deniability if it doesn't happen but also something that can be pointed to as a "fulfillment of prophecy" if it does happen.  With respect to William Branham, a good example of this would be [[Was the birth of Joseph Branham foretold|the "prophecy" of the birth of his son, Joseph]].
 
===A Prophecy made beforehand (verified) that was not fulfilled===
 
We have several occasions where William Branham prophesied of things that would come to pass in the future but '''did not happen as prophesied''' ("failed prophecies").  Examples of this would include:


::A. The [[The Brown Bear Vision|vision of the brown bear]]
::A. The [[The Brown Bear Vision|vision of the brown bear]]
::B. The [[The Vision of the Meetings in South Africa|vision of the African meetings]].
::B. The [[The Vision of the Meetings in South Africa|vision of the African meetings]].


:2. '''Prophecy beforehand (unverified) that was not fulfilled''' - This would include '''prophecies that William Branham said had been fulfilled but, in fact, were not'''.  Examples of this would include:
===A Prophecy made beforehand (unverified) that was not fulfilled===
 
This would include '''prophecies that William Branham said had been fulfilled but, in fact, were not'''.  Examples of this type of failed prophecy would include:


::A. [[The Municipal Bridge Vision]]; and
::A. [[The Municipal Bridge Vision]]; and
::B. [[The Marilyn Monroe Vision]].  
::B. [[The Marilyn Monroe Vision]].  


:3. '''Prophecy beforehand (unverified) that was clearly fulfilled''' - Message believers will provide several examples where William Branham stated that he had prophesied something that actually did come to pass.  There are several examples of this such as [[Kari Holma]] and the vision of the grizzly bear.  However, we have '''no record''' of these events being publicly recorded before the fact.  Also, there are problems associated with all of these so-called prophecies.
:While these are "after the fact" prophecies, it is strange that William Branham held out that they were validly fulfilled, when they clearly were not.
 
===A Prophecy made beforehand (unverified) that was clearly fulfilled===


:4. '''Prophecy beforehand (verified) that was clearly fulfilled''' - Anything in this category would be considered an actual prophecy.  '''We are unaware of any prophecies that would fulfill this criteria.'''  Because of this, there would appear to be no independent evidence that William Branham actually had a prophetic gift.
Message believers will provide several examples where William Branham stated that he had prophesied something that actually did come to pass.  There are several examples of this such as [[Kari Holma]] or [[The Brown Bear Vision#The 1961 Vision of the Grizzly Bear|the vision of the grizzly bear]]. However, there would appear to be '''no record''' of these events being publicly recorded before the fact.  Therefore, they could simply be '''after-the-fact prophecies'''. While one would normally think that "after the fact" prophecies would be amazingly accurate, there are significant problems associated with a number of William Branham's "after-the-fact" prophecies.


We have asked publicly for examples of unambiguous prophecies that were publicly announced and clearly fulfilled at a later date but have had no response to date.
:Any of the following "so-called" prophecies cannot be used as proof of a prophetic ministry.  Why?  There is '''NO EVIDENCE''' that they were made publicly prior to the events occurring. This would include the following:


This is a serious problem for those that wish to believe that William Branham was a prophet and requires us to issue this challenge:  
::*[[New Albany Prophecy]]
::*[[Ohio River flood of 1937]]
::*[[Driverless Cars]]


==A '''Challenge''' For All Message Believers==
===A Prophecy made beforehand (verified) that was clearly fulfilled===


'''This is a test for anyone that is a follower of the message of William Branham.  Please provide us with an unambiguous prophecy made by William Branham that was recorded publicly (i.e. we can verify on a tape) and that was later fulfilled in a clear manner.  We will publish any such prophecy and its fulfillment here.'''
Anything in this category would be considered a true prophecy.  '''We are unaware of any of William Branham's prophecies that would fulfill this criteria.''' Because of this, there would appear to be no independent evidence that William Branham actually had a prophetic gift.


While some view William Branham's healing ministry and his gift with the word of knowledge of proof that he was a prophet, this is not the Biblical test.  There are numerous prophecies on this website that were made in advance but were not fulfilled.  This creates a clear problem with Deuteronomy 18:20-22.  One would think that those that believe him to be a prophet would have numerous examples of publicly available prophecies that were later clearly fulfilled.  Sadly, this is not the case.
We have repeatedly asked publicly for examples of unambiguous prophecies that were made on tape and clearly fulfilled at a later date, but have had no response to date.


All of the prophecies that we have had pointed out to us are either after the fact (i.e. William Branham only mentions them on tape after they have been fulfilled) or are ambiguous prophecies (i.e. if they were not fulfilled, no one would have been able to point to the prophecy and say that it was clearly wrong).
This is a serious problem for those that wish to believe that William Branham was a prophet.


=Prophecy in the New Testament=
=Prophecy in the New Testament=
Line 52: Line 86:


Unfortunately, we are not aware of any evidence to this effect.
Unfortunately, we are not aware of any evidence to this effect.


{{Portal Navigation}}
{{Portal Navigation}}
|-
|-
|}
|}
Retrieved from "http:///index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/16595"