Question 12 (ABM) - A Biblical Perspective on William Branham's Lies: Difference between revisions

Question 12 (ABM) - A Biblical Perspective on William Branham's Lies (view source)

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 BTS
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+BTS,
+I appreciate your research on this subject. I think ultimately this is an issue were we are just going to disagree. I am glad to engage on this point once again though.
+You state "These were not mere exaggerations or embellishments.  They go far beyond that.  If a child were to tell the tales that William Branham did, they would simply be described as “lies”. You also state "He lied to promote himself and to “vindicate” his status as a prophet." I disagree with both of these assessments. The potentially serious issues you have raised which would support this viewpoint all have plausible explanations that would not lead to these conclusions. You have no definitive proof for the most serious of your accusations. I understand why you make such a conclusion. If you believe everything is suspect and a likely hoax, then these are nice comforting conclusions because it allows one to dismiss troubling things that would have to be confronted otherwise. But the thing you run into continually is people are so convinced that what they saw was real, you cannot talk them out of. Could I convince one healed of a birth defect that their healing was imaginary? Or that it was a false prophet by which their healing came?
+Indeed there are some areas where it can be proved he embellished things, but these are all of a minor nature and with scriptural precedent. If one believes Bro. Branham was a coming of the Elijah anointing, then one can also accept that he was in the mold of an Old Testament prophet, and not a New Testament prophet, and therefore would hold him to the standards of the Old Testament prophets.
+In a review of your quotation of Yael Shemesh, I generally agree with his assessment, and I think he it harmonizes well with my position. I also agree with you that the standard of the New Testament is higher than old. And I agree, his exaggerations are certainly not becoming of the conduct of a minister. On all these points we agree. But where we disagree is on this point: A man who has a personal failing, and who has failed in some things, does not have his calling or the good he has done by the spirit invalidated by the bad. I also disagree that his personal failing in this area is as severe as you believe it to be.
+You conclude that there are no examples in the new testament of men having personal failings. I disagree, again there are multiple examples. In Galatians 2:11-14, we find yet another personal failing of Peter. This time after he was converted. His conduct was unbecoming of an apostle, and he was called out for it, and justly so. But did that then negate his calling? Should we then reject the work he did in the name of the Lord? I believe Peter acknowledged his mistake. (Just as Bro. Branham acknowledged his.) Other examples are plentiful if sought. In Acts 15:36-41, Paul and Barnabas have an argument, fail to reconcile, and break company. This is contrary to the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. More serious examples could be found among believers who were not ministers - Ananias and Sapphira, two believers, lied and died as a result. Or perhaps worse, the fornicator in the Corinthian church of which Paul said let his flesh be destroyed, yet his soul shall be saved in the day of Jesus Christ. The principle remains the same - believers can have personal failings. These failings are not without consequences. But the failings do not invalidate the calling placed on them.
+Paul again speaks along this line in 1 Cor 3:10-14 were he instructs the care to be taken by minister in their doctrine. He said, (paraphrasing) "Take heed how ye build thereupon, for every man's works shall be tried by fire. The bad will burn up, but the good will remain." You, though, would have us throw out the good, along with the bad. As I am letting you take the lead in the topics to be discussed, we are generally focusing on the bad, or that which is perceived to be bad, but the good is monumental in the case of Bro. Branham. I yet to see a reason to reject it. Read carefully the statements you have quoted from Paul. He indeed calls for us to reject that which wrong, but he never calls on us to reject the good along with the bad.In fact, as I have shown in 1 Cor 3:10-14, Paul believed there are indeed cases of where the results will be mixed.
+A simple analysis of 1 Cor 3:16-17 will establish this fact. Paul states: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." We are not the temple of God except the spirit of God be in us. By definition, it would not be possible for us to defile the temple of God, except we be the temple of God. Paul entirely leaves open the possibility (which we see acted out different times in the new testament) whereby a holy ghost filled believer comes up short of standards of the gospel.
+Bro. Branham can be proven to have exaggerated at often, he acknowledged it. But his personal failings do not invalidate the message he brought or the good accomplished through his ministry.
+Regards,
+ABM
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