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The Seven Churches Ages: Difference between revisions
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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?== | It is easy for people in the First World (North America, Europe, etc.) to look at the state of the church and to see the parallels between the modern church and the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. However, this parallel does not hold true in third world countries and, is as far as one can get from the truth in countries where Christians are openly persecuted for their faith (for example, Islamic countries). | ||
===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. | ||
:''Notice. This last message of the last church age is not a reformer; he is a prophet, not a reformer. Show me where one prophet ever started a church age. He's not a reformer; he is a prophet. '''Others was reformers but not prophets.''' If they would've been, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet; that's the reason they continued on in the baptism in Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and all these other things, because they were reformers and not prophets. But yet they were great men of God and saw the need of the day that they lived in, and God anointed them, and they sent out there and tore those things to pieces. But the full Word of God never come to them, because they was not prophets. They were reformers. 194 But in the last days it'll have to be a prophet to take up the mysteries of God, bring it back, because the mysteries was only re—known by prophets. So it has to be this fellow come. See what I mean now? He can't be a reformer; it's got to be a prophet, because it's got to be somebody that's gifted and set there that catches the Word.<ref>63-0318 - The First Seal, para. 191-192</ref> | :''Notice. This last message of the last church age is not a reformer; he is a prophet, not a reformer. Show me where one prophet ever started a church age. He's not a reformer; he is a prophet. '''Others was reformers but not prophets.''' If they would've been, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet; that's the reason they continued on in the baptism in Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and all these other things, because they were reformers and not prophets. But yet they were great men of God and saw the need of the day that they lived in, and God anointed them, and they sent out there and tore those things to pieces. But the full Word of God never come to them, because they was not prophets. They were reformers. 194 But in the last days it'll have to be a prophet to take up the mysteries of God, bring it back, because the mysteries was only re—known by prophets. So it has to be this fellow come. See what I mean now? He can't be a reformer; it's got to be a prophet, because it's got to be somebody that's gifted and set there that catches the Word.<ref>63-0318 - The First Seal, para. 191-192</ref> | ||
==Do the messengers match the ages?== | |||
William Branham stated that: | |||
:''And, remember, '''the messenger is always comes at the end of the Message.''' We know in the church ages there how we got that.<ref>William Branham, 62-0909M - Countdown, para. 60</ref> | |||
:''Remember, Paul come at the end of the age. '''All the messengers come at the end of the age.''' It's at the end time, when these things are—are brought forth.<ref>William Branham, 62-1230E - Is This The Sign Of The End, Sir?, para. 271</ref> | |||
:''Each messenger has had his message, and the—the message and the messenger of the age. And it is most remarkable that each messenger… We even found in the church ages (and tonight we'll go back in the Old Testament and find that it's the same thing) that '''God sends the messenger of that age at the end of the time; always at the end, never at the beginning.''' At the end!<ref>William Branham, 63-0116 - The Evening Messenger, para. 79-80</ref> | |||
So did the messengers that William Branham picked meet that criteria? | |||
#Ephesus - 53 - 170 A.D. Messenger - Paul (born circa 5 A.D. - died circa 67 A.D.) | |||
#Smyrna - 170 - 312 A.D. Messenger - Irenaeus (born c. 130 A.D. - died circa 200 A.D.) | |||
#Pergamos - 312 - 606 A.D. Messenger - Martin (born c. 316 A.D. - died 397 A.D.) | |||
#Thyatira - 606 - 1520 A.D. Messenger - Columba (born 521 A.D. - died 597 A.D.) | |||
#Sardis - 1520 - 1750 A.D. Messenger - Martin Luther (born 1483 A.D. - died 1546 A.D.) | |||
#Philadelphia - 1750 - 1906 A.D. - Messenger - John Wesley (born 1703 A.D. - died 1791 A.D.) | |||
#Laodicea - 1906 - present - Messenger - William Branham (self- proclaimed) (born circa 1909 A.D. - died 1965 A.D.) | |||
'''Every one of William Branham's messengers was at the beginning of the age''' with two exceptions: | |||
#Columba - he was born in another age and never even made it to "his age" | |||
#Branham - he thought he was at the end of his age, but it turned out he was wrong. | |||
==Messengers Outside Their Ages, Messengers Confronting Heresies== | ==Messengers Outside Their Ages, Messengers Confronting Heresies== | ||
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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 was 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 | =What is the proper interpretation?= | ||
Most scholars and biblical commentators understand the letters to the seven churches to be addressed to the actual, historic churches named in them, and by extension to any churches that may find themselves in similar circumstances to theirs. Beyond this, they seek no additional, hidden meaning behind them. | |||
Some commentators in the past have called attention to certain parallels between the individual letters and successive periods of church history, from John’s day until the end. They conclude that the seven letters present a panorama of the age of the church. Clarence Larkin, as well as other dispensational commentators, was in this group. | |||
However, virtually all commentators today generally ignore this application altogether, or critique it on the grounds that nothing in the text of Revelation would in any sense suggest that the letters to contemporary Christian congregations should be given this secondary meaning, and that it violates the commitment to literal interpretation espoused by many.<refr>Steve Gregg, Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), 62.</ref> | |||
William Branham taught that the description of the seven churches referenced seven successive periods of the church are prophetically delineated. But this does not agree with the division made in Revelation 1:19: | |||
:''Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterwards.<ref>American Bible Society, The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation, 2nd ed. (New York: American Bible Society, 1992), Re 1:19.</ref> | |||
The second and third chapters of the book of Revelation contain "the things that are now", while the remainder of the book contains " the things that will happen afterwards." <ref>John Chappel Woodhouse, The Apocalypse, Or, Revelation of Saint John, Translated; With Notes, Critical and Explanatory, vol. 2 (London: J. Hatchard; J. Brettell, 1805), 40–41.</ref> | |||
=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. | ||