Present Truth Ministries: Difference between revisions

The term "the message" is a code word for "the message of William Branham" (see our article on the subject by [[The Message|clicking here]]).  As such, PTM and Jason DeMars believe a number of unusual doctrines, including:

**[[The Body of Christ|People in demoninations are "foolish virgins"]]

In reality, they hold the message of William Branham above the Bible and so must be considered part of the Branham cult.  This can be clearly seen from an affiliated website that they run - contendingforthemessage.com

:Our intention is to respond to the critics who are stating the message contradicts itself or that brother '''William Branham''' was an outright liar. We will show step by step that '''his prophecies are accurate''' and that he is not a liar, but instead a man of God that should be listened to and '''we should take his words back to the Bible to ensure proper understanding'''.

:'''The Serpent, under the influence of Satan, deceived Eve into a sexual act resulting in the conception of Cain''' and later that day she had a relationship with Adam resulting in the conception of Abel. (from Contendingforthemessage.com)

:The teaching on '''Revelation 10:7''' really blessed my soul, that the mystery of God is the dispensation of grace wherein God is dealing with the Gentiles, grafting them into the olive tree.  '''That in the days of the voice or message of bro. Branham the mystery of God should be completed'''...   

Both the Present Truth Ministries and the Contending For the Message websites are run by Jason DeMars and Benjamin Wheeldon.  Jason DeMars has preached at many message churches including [[Cloverdale Bibleway]].

As with many cults, '''PTM tries to hide itself through deceptive means'''.  They attempt to come across as an innocuous non-denomination ministry that is only interested in spreading the Gospel and in freeing Christian ministers that have been imprisoned for the faith in Muslim countries.  Their web page entitled "Non-Trinitarian “Cult”??" states

:We are not Branhamites or strictly followers of William Branham, but we are Christian’s that are following in a line of many leaders who have brought more Light on the Scriptures. In each period of time throughout church history various leaders arose starting at the day of Pentecost. There was Paul, Peter, Timothy, Iranaeus, Colomba, Martin of Tours, John Wyclif, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, William Tyndale, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Charles Parham, William Seymour, Charles Price, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts '''and William Branham'''.  The Reformation period was an important part of bringing the Church out of a period of the dark ages, a time when the true Gospel was not widely known or published. We believe in the Reformation doctrine called “''Ecclesia semper reformanda est''.” This means that the church must always go through the process of examination and reformation. As time goes on God gives more Light on the Scriptures. This is a process called progressive revelation. Just as God progressively wrote the Scriptures he also gradually restores the correct understanding of those Scriptures.

From their web page "What is [[The Message|the Message of the Hour?]]"

 

:I would like to give a little background to those who charge us with being a non-Christian cult. Some have said that we are not Trinitarian’s. '''That is true''', in the classic sense of the term, but in fact, do you know the background of our belief? '''We hold to a view that is very much the same as the viewpoint of the apologists of the 2nd and 3rd Century.''' There are many theologians in the 20th and 21st Century that have acknowledged that persons is not an adequate expression for the distinctions within God.  Trinitarian Theologians Karl Barth and Eberhard Jungel preferred to use the terms “modes of being” in contrast to persons. John S. Whale regarded the Trinity as a “personal unity existing eternally in three eternal modes or functions.”