Why you should be concerned
We often hear people say, "But people in the message are so nice. Should I really be concerned about what they believe?"
The answer is - you should be very concerned. Why? Because the teachings of William Branham and those that follow him can create problems for both you and your family.
Here are the major issues we have encountered:
William Branham's teachings have the authority of scripture
William Branham is revered by his followers as a prophet. In fact, they believe him to be the greatest prophet that has ever lived, next to Jesus Christ himself. Some congregations hold William Branham to be the equal to Jesus Christ.
This means that his sermons, of which over 1,100 are in print, are considered on par or, in many congregations, are actually esteemed greater than the Bible.
Women are second class citizens
William Branham was clearly a misogynist. He taught that:
- parents should beat their daughters if they ever went sunbathing
- men should beat their wives if they ever smoked or wore clothes that he considered were immodest.
- Christians should approach women wearing makeup and call them "Miss Dogmeat".
- The only place for a woman was in the kitchen.
Quotes related to his views on women can be found in this article on "The Misogyny of William Branham."
Sexual abuse is covered up
People in the message believe that they are the spiritual "creme de la creme". Denominations are of the devil. People who attend non-message churches are spiritually inferior to them.
As a result, when sexual or spousal abuse takes place in a message church, they do everything in their power to cover it up so that their church will not be viewed in a bad light. We have interacted with numerous people who experience abuse, either sexually or spousal abuse, and were told to keep quiet. In fact, our initial reason for leaving the message church that we attend for several decades was because the pastor covered up the sexual abuse of a minor. He publicly humiliated a police officer in the church who had filed a police report about the incident. That was the last service we attended at that church.
Message legalism
People who follow William Branham refer to themselves as being in "The Message." But what does being "in the message" entail?
Footnotes