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The Seven Churches Ages: Difference between revisions
→Messengers Outside Their Ages, Messengers Confronting Heresies
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=Problems with William Branham's interpretation= | =Problems with William Branham's interpretation= | ||
There are a number of | There are a number of problems with William Branham's interpretation of the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation. Here are a few of them which are dealt with below: | ||
#William Branham [[Plagiarism|plagiarized the concept of the seven church ages from Clarence Larkin]] (see link for detail or brief discussion below) | |||
#The Bible does not talk about church ages and this interpretation of Revelation 2 & 3 is clearly wrong on the basis of church history and current events. | |||
#William Branham's view of the messengers is inconsistent | |||
#the whole point of William Branham's interpretation was to point to himself | |||
==Seven Church '''Ages'''?== | ==Seven Church '''Ages'''?== | ||
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:''"The seven churches with their angels represent the whole Christian church, dispersed throughout the whole world, as it subsists, not, as some have imagined, in one age after another, but in every age. This is a point of deep importance, and always necessary to be remembered: that these seven churches are, as it were, a sample of the whole church of Christ, as it was then, as it is now, and as it will be in all ages."'' - John Wesley | :''"The seven churches with their angels represent the whole Christian church, dispersed throughout the whole world, as it subsists, not, as some have imagined, in one age after another, but in every age. This is a point of deep importance, and always necessary to be remembered: that these seven churches are, as it were, a sample of the whole church of Christ, as it was then, as it is now, and as it will be in all ages."'' - John Wesley | ||
==Where is Asia?== | ===Where is Asia?=== | ||
Asia Minor is located in the country of Turkey. | Asia Minor is located in the country of Turkey. | ||
*Paul grew up in Asia Minor, and established the church in Ephesus. | *Paul grew up in Asia Minor, and established the church in Ephesus. | ||
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:''and… see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel with whose—with those seven; these are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. '''The seven eyes—eyes mean seeing. Seeing means prophets, seers.''' This Lamb had seven horns, and on each horn had an eye: seven eyes. What is it? Christ and His Bride. Seven Church Ages, '''out of there was seven prophets that went forth, seven seers, eyes. So the last one must be a seer.''' All right.<ref>63-0317E - The Breach Between The Seven Church Ages And The Seven Seals</ref> | :''and… see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel with whose—with those seven; these are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. '''The seven eyes—eyes mean seeing. Seeing means prophets, seers.''' This Lamb had seven horns, and on each horn had an eye: seven eyes. What is it? Christ and His Bride. Seven Church Ages, '''out of there was seven prophets that went forth, seven seers, eyes. So the last one must be a seer.''' All right.<ref>63-0317E - The Breach Between The Seven Church Ages And The Seven Seals</ref> | ||
But the very next day he said that some of them weren't prophets (but he again makes it clear that he | But the very next day he said that some of them weren't prophets (but he again makes it clear that he thinks he is a prophet): | ||
:''The reformers came to reform the last fallen church age preceding them. And then after the reformers come and reform the—the church age from where it was and is went back into the world, then they start a new church age: always done it, always. Now, we went through that. See? In other words, here'd been a Catholic church age, of the Roman Catholic church. Along come Luther, a reformer. He's called a reformer. And what does he do? He starts right out there a-hammering away, and when he does, he protests the church, and the first thing you know, what does he do? He builds the same thing that he come to drive out of: another church. Then they have another church age. Then the first thing you know, here comes… The church age is in such a mess, along comes John Wesley, another reformer (See?), builds another church age. Get what I mean? Another church age is built up. They're all reformers. | :''The reformers came to reform the last fallen church age preceding them. And then after the reformers come and reform the—the church age from where it was and is went back into the world, then they start a new church age: always done it, always. Now, we went through that. See? In other words, here'd been a Catholic church age, of the Roman Catholic church. Along come Luther, a reformer. He's called a reformer. And what does he do? He starts right out there a-hammering away, and when he does, he protests the church, and the first thing you know, what does he do? He builds the same thing that he come to drive out of: another church. Then they have another church age. Then the first thing you know, here comes… The church age is in such a mess, along comes John Wesley, another reformer (See?), builds another church age. Get what I mean? Another church age is built up. They're all reformers. | ||
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*[[Paul the Apostle]] was martyred between 68 and 73 AD. | *[[Paul the Apostle]] was martyred between 68 and 73 AD. | ||
*John wrote the Book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos around 95 AD. | *John wrote the Book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos around 95 AD. | ||
If William Branham was correct, then Paul had been dead for over 20 years when John sent him the letter. I guess he never got the memo. | If William Branham was correct, then Paul had been dead for over 20 years when John sent him the letter. '''I guess he never got the memo.''' | ||
===Irenaeus=== | ===Irenaeus=== | ||
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sit collecting dust on Message shelves... if they even get there in the first place. We challenge you to take a step and learn what these men had to say for yourself. | sit collecting dust on Message shelves... if they even get there in the first place. We challenge you to take a step and learn what these men had to say for yourself. | ||
=Who is Clarence Larkin?= | |||
William Branham took his teaching on the church ages directly from Clarence Larkin, who wrote a book about the Book of Revelation. To see exactly what William Branham [[Plagiarism|plagiarized from Clarence Larkin, please click on this link.]] | William Branham took his teaching on the church ages directly from Clarence Larkin, who wrote a book about the Book of Revelation. To see exactly what William Branham [[Plagiarism|plagiarized from Clarence Larkin, please click on this link.]] | ||
==Plagiarism in the Church Ages== | |||
NOTE: William Branham's book "An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages" (which is commonly referred to as the "Church Age Book" or the "CAB") contains all of the plagiarism noted in his sermon series on the Seven Church Ages which were delivered in December, 1960. Most of the references in this article relating to the church ages are primarily to the actual sermons and not to the CAB. While the CAB contains all of the plagiarized text referred to here, some have said that the plagiarism in the CAB was the direct result of the involvement of Lee Vayle and, therefore, cannot be attributed to William Branham himself. The quotes contained below, however, clearly show that William Branham was the one that plagiarized Clarence Larkin's works. | NOTE: William Branham's book "An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages" (which is commonly referred to as the "Church Age Book" or the "CAB") contains all of the plagiarism noted in his sermon series on the Seven Church Ages which were delivered in December, 1960. Most of the references in this article relating to the church ages are primarily to the actual sermons and not to the CAB. While the CAB contains all of the plagiarized text referred to here, some have said that the plagiarism in the CAB was the direct result of the involvement of Lee Vayle and, therefore, cannot be attributed to William Branham himself. The quotes contained below, however, clearly show that William Branham was the one that plagiarized Clarence Larkin's works. | ||