Two views of the Seven Visions
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
Two views of the seven visions
The standard view amongst Message believers is that these visions are true and that they have mainly been fulfilled. This view is based on a very shallow understanding of the visions and of what was said.
There are two narratives. The first is based almost exclusively on the list in the Church Age Book or on a vague amalgam of statements made in sermons. These are sanitised presentations which look to offer the visions as crisp, unambiguous statements that could plausibly be said to have been fulfilled or are reasonably in the process of being fulfilled. The picture that is painted is:
| Name | Church Age Book (abbreviated) | Believers view |
|---|---|---|
| Prediction | Let me predict that this age will end around 1977. | He often said it was just a prediction and that he could be wrong by 100 years. It is therefore perfectly ok that 1977 has passed. |
| Mussolini | The first vision was that Mussolini would invade Ethiopia and that nation would “fall at his steps.” | Mussolini invaded Ethiopia therefore he was right. |
| HItler | The next vision foretold that an Austrian by the name of Adolph Hitler would rise up as dictator over Germany, and that he would draw the world into war | Hitler started World War II therefore he was right. |
| Three ISMs | The third vision was in the realm of world politics for it showed me that there would be three great ISMS | Fascism and Nazism are no more and Communism remains therefore he was right. |
| Scientific progress | The fourth vision showed the great advances in science that would come after the second world war. It was headed up in the vision of a plastic bubble-topped car that was running down beautiful highways | The car has been produced (everyone knows that!) and will be on the roads soon therefore he was right. |
| Women and morals | The fifth vision had to do with the moral problem of our age, centering mostly around women. God showed me that women began to be out of their place with the granting of the vote. | Morals have got worse therefore he was right. |
| Powerful woman in America | Then in the sixth vision there arose up in America a most beautiful, but cruel woman | Still outstanding but will soon be fulfilled. |
| America destroyed | The last and seventh vision was wherein I heard a most terrible explosion. As I turned to look I saw nothing but debris, craters, and smoke all over the land of America. | There are enough nuclear weapons in the world to allow this to be fulfilled therefore this is bound to happen soon. |
The Voice of God web site reproduces the Church Age Book version of the visions and has this to say:
- On a Sunday morning in June of 1933, Brother Branham was given a series of seven visions that would happen before the Coming of the Lord. We’ve all heard him speak of these visions, and we’ve even witnessed some of these things come to pass in the past few years. The egg-shaped car has been commonplace for about 20 years now, and since it is the most efficient design, it won’t be going away. The driverless car will be here soon. It’s equipped with sensors that are fully functional on modern road systems and is waiting to go into full production for the public. Everything is moving towards the last vision, which is the destruction of America.
The impression given is that there are no problems with the visions. The words are intended to be comforting but the statements are false and misleading. The ‘cruel woman’ is ignored. Roosevelt is ignored. The ‘Three ISMs’ are ignored. Claiming that cars are egg-shaped doesn’t mean that they are and stating that driverless cars ‘will be here soon [because they are] equipped with sensors that are fully functional on modern road systems [and are just] waiting to go into full production for the public’ is naïve and wrong.
The degree to which this premier Message web site fails to provide convincing support for the validity and fulfilment of these visions is a significant indictment in its own right of their prophet and of the visions themselves.
The William Branham Home Page simply reproduces the Church Age Book visions with no comment. Almost as if that was all that he had ever said about them. All difficulties are ignored.
Charisma News quotes the Church Age Book versions but adds:
- It might be well to mention here that a subsequent vision relative to this war predicted that President Roosevelt would declare war against Germany and in so doing would eventually be elected for a fourth term.
And
- Please note: This vehicle is already in existence, and has been for many years, waiting only the systems of highways that can accommodate such a mode of transportation. I have in my files pictures and scientific data concerning this vehicle.
They claim a subsequent vision featuring Roosevelt – evidence? They have some inside information on the existence of a self-driving car invisible to the rest of us. And William Branham’s methodology, that the highway has to be built to support the car, is repeated. Note the subtlety, the car exists therefore the vision is fulfilled but you can’t see the car yet because the highways haven’t been upgraded. This is the same as claiming that there is a ‘dragon in the garage’.
The second narrative has been the subject of this essay. Claims without evidence, conflicting versions, additional details and no rationale for the actions that William Branham took (or didn’t take), no fulfilments and no likelihood of fulfilment and a missed end date for the coming of the Lord.
Those who walk within the confines of the first narrative do so mainly out of ignorance and an unwillingness to investigate. But if the visions were actually real and if they had been progressively fulfilled, as William Branham claimed, then the evidence would be everywhere. That there is no evidence at all is a very good reason to abandon belief in the prophet and his visions.
Footnotes