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Credibility: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Credibility.png|thumb|right|250px]] | [[Image:Credibility.png|thumb|right|250px]] | ||
In our search to find | In our search to find the truth and to separate fact from fiction as it relates to William Branham's ministry, the biggest issue that we have run across is whether William Branham was credible with respect to the various stories he relates describing his supernatural experiences. | ||
''To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.'' — Edward R. Murrow | ''To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.'' — Edward R. Murrow | ||
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=Was William Branham credible?= | =Was William Branham credible?= | ||
'''''If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.''''' - Mark Twain | {| style="width:100%; border:1px solid #E8B399;background-color:#F0DCC8;vertical-align:top; float:left; text-align:center; padding: 0.3em;margin-left:5px" | ||
|'''''If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.''''' - Mark Twain | |||
Because William Branham was a minister of the Gospel, one starts off with the assumption that he was credible. But that assumption must be discarded if it can be demonstrated that | '''''In order to thoroughly deceive others, it is necessary to also deceive oneself'''. The actor playing Hamlet must indeed believe in the moment that he is the Prince of Denmark, though when he leaves the stage he will usually remember who he really is.'' | ||
''On the other hand, '''when someone's entire life is based on such pretense, they seldom if ever return to reality. That is the secret of many successful politicians, evangelists and confidence tricksters alike–they believe they are telling the truth, even when it seems sure they must have known that they faked the evidence.''' Sincerity, my dear Julia, is a quality not to be trusted.'' – Sarah Caudwell from 'The Sibyl in Her Grave' | |||
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Because William Branham was a minister of the Gospel, one starts off with the assumption that he generally told the truth, that he was credible. But that assumption must be discarded if it can be demonstrated that he regularly strayed from telling the truth. | |||
William Branham portrayed himself as a simple, honest, uneducated man who was sent from God as a prophet to forerun the second coming of Christ. However, many of the stories that he told have been proven to be untrue and many of the doctrines that he said he received directly from God were, in fact, [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] from other ministers. Another significant issue is that many of [[Different Stories|William Branham's stories changed dramatically over time]]. Why did this happen? | William Branham portrayed himself as a simple, honest, uneducated man who was sent from God as a prophet to forerun the second coming of Christ. However, many of the stories that he told have been proven to be untrue and many of the doctrines that he said he received directly from God were, in fact, [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] from other ministers. Another significant issue is that many of [[Different Stories|William Branham's stories changed dramatically over time]]. Why did this happen? | ||