Mussolini
This is an essay analyzing William Branham's Seven Visions of 1933. It was written by a former message follower.
Click on the links below to go to a specific section within the essay. You are currently on the topic below that is in bold:
An Introduction to the Analysis of the Seven Visions of 1933
What were the Seven Visions?
How many Visions?
Why were the Visions given?
Why did the Visions fail to change men’s religious ideas?
A Comparison of the 1960 Sermon and the Church Age Book
A Critique of each Vision
- Mussolini
- Hitler
- Three ISMs
- Scientific progress
- Women and morals
- Powerful Woman in America
- America destroyed
The Prediction
The sequence of the visions
Two views of the Seven Visions
Summary of the discussion
Mussolini
| Church Age Book statement of the vision |
|---|
| The first vision was that Mussolini would invade Ethiopia and that nation would “fall at his steps.” But the vision also said that Mussolini would come to a horrible end with his own people turning on him |
The first reference to this vision is found in the sermon ‘Israel and the Church’ preached in March 1953, therefore this is not a prophecy because it relates to an event that occurred in the past - Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935.
Some readers will immediately take issue with this statement (that it is not a prophecy) on the basis that a prophet said it and that therefore it must be true. But remember the ‘Note about evidence’ – just because William Branham claimed that he received the visions in 1933 (and therefore they pre-dated the events themselves) that is no reason to believe it to be true until corroborating evidence is produced. In the absence of this evidence from 1933, one can only assess the timing of a vision based on the first verifiable statement. If this means that the statement post-dates the event then it cannot be a prophecy. All of the visions that were ‘fulfilled’ prior to 1953 are in this category. It bears repeating, that to simply argue that ‘the prophet said it and therefore you should accept that it is true’ is a circular argument - it assumes what you want to believe.
The wording of this vision ‘fall at his steps’ implies that the war was over quickly but this was not the case. The invasion of Ethiopia by Italian forces occurred on 3 October 1935, Addis Ababa was captured on about May 5th 1936 but fighting continued until 1939 when the country was finally ‘pacified’. So, the phrase seems to be incorrect.
Mussolini was arrested by communist partisans on the 25th April 1945 and shot with his mistress the next day. The bodies were sent by train to Milan where they were dumped and hung upside down, stoned and spat upon. The vision said that they would ‘come to a horrible end’ which while not being very specific would modestly equate to what happened – but remember it is post-fact.
There are 17 other references to this vision and they are can be reviewed below.
I will now comment on some of these references.
| Sermon statement |
|---|
| When I said that Mussolini, when he first come in power twenty-some-odd years ago, I said, "If Mussolini ever goes towards Ethiopia, mark this down, there'll never be peace till Jesus Christ comes." Israel and the Church 26th March 1953 |
This statement differs from the original and note that Mussolini ‘came into power’ in 1922 when he became the Prime Minister of Italy. Within five years of attaining power (1927) he had established full dictatorial authority. This was all well before the date of the vision in 1933.
There was no question of ‘If’ in the original and no prophecy can sensibly start with a conditional.
There was no comment in the original about peace or about ongoing war. The original vision could be paraphrased as: Mussolini will invade Ethiopia and will achieve a quick victory but will be killed by his own people in a horrible manner.
The sermon statement could be paraphrased as: Mussolini may invade Ethiopia but if he does the world will be catapulted into ongoing war right up until the Rapture.
There is no comparison between these versions. Which one are you supposed to believe?
| Sermon statement |
|---|
| and the new dictator of Italy, Mussolini, shall make his first invasion towards Ethiopia, and he will take Ethiopia; but that'll be his last. He shall come to his end. Condemnation by Representation 13 November 1960) |
There are other sermon quotes where he introduces the idea that Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia would be his last. However, as well as again adding detail to the vision, Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia was not ‘his last’, he did not ‘come to his end’. Mussolini sent Italian forces to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union and his forces allied with German forces in North Africa (in Libya and Tunisia). These military operations spanned a total of 10 years and were carried out after the invasion of Ethiopia.
| Sermon statement |
|---|
| How Mussolini would go to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia would fall at his step, and then how that he'd come to a disgrace, and be spit on by his own people; and disgraced, hung upside down, with that prostitute that he lived with, on the street. Shalom 12th January 1964
Now we have the claim that the original vision showed Mussolini being spat on and hung upside down (this did happen in Milan after he was shot). But the vision did not mention ‘spitting’ or ‘hanging upside down’. Again, new, unjustified detail that attempts to ad historical information to the original vision. The details of this vision kept changing: ‘no peace’ added, ‘last invasion’ added, ‘spat on, hung upside down’ added. The can be no justification for adding details to a vision. William Branham was wrong not to stick with whatever it was that the vision originally showed. |
Footnotes