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William Branham and the nature of God: Difference between revisions
William Branham and the nature of God (view source)
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, 3 years ago→What did William Braham believe and teach?
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=What did William Braham believe and teach?= | =What did William Braham believe and teach?= | ||
William Branham initially believed in the doctrine of the Trinity. However, he eventually came to believe that the doctrine of the Trinity was completely false. | William Branham initially believed in the doctrine of the Trinity. However, he eventually came to believe that the doctrine of the Trinity was completely false. He also rejected Oneness theology. So what did he believe? | ||
The problem is that if there is no Trinity, where does that leave Jesus? Here are the choices: | The problem is that if there is no Trinity, where does that leave Jesus? Here are the choices: | ||
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#Jesus is a lower god. (Arianism) | #Jesus is a lower god. (Arianism) | ||
#Jesus is another god. (Tri-theism) | #Jesus is another god. (Tri-theism) | ||
#Jesus is | #Jesus is the Son of God but is also God the Father (Sabellianism or Oneness) | ||
#Jesus is just a man and was not deity. (Nestorianism) | #Jesus is just a man and was not deity. (Nestorianism) | ||
#Jesus was born a man but was adopted by God the Father when he was baptized (Adoptionism) | |||
These points clearly answer the question, “If the Trinity is not true, then where does that leave Jesus?” It leaves Jesus as | These points clearly answer the question, “If the Trinity is not true, then where does that leave Jesus?” It leaves Jesus as someone other than what the Bible teaches. This should establish why the Trinity is an essential of the faith and cannot be denied by anyone who calls themselves a Christian. It is good to point these out to someone who says the doctrine of the Trinity is not essential or primary. | ||
=William Branham | Let's examine closely what William Branham taught. | ||
==William Branham believed in the Trinity initially== | |||
William Branham was ordained as an exhorter in the Pentecostal Baptist Church (see article on [[Roy Davis]]) and, early in his ministry, believed in the Trinity as evidenced by the following: | William Branham was ordained as an exhorter in the Pentecostal Baptist Church (see article on [[Roy Davis]]) and, early in his ministry, believed in the Trinity as evidenced by the following: | ||
:''And now, there are those sitting here who are feeble this afternoon, that's in need of physical healing. And we have chosen these few words to read from Thine. And may '''the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity''', come in now, the Promise, the Comforter, that You said You would send. And He would take the things of God and would show them to us.<ref>THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS ERIE.PA 51-0729A</ref> | |||
:''And now, there are those sitting here who are feeble this afternoon, that's in need of physical healing. And we have chosen these few words to read from Thine. And may '''the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity''', come in now, the Promise, the Comforter, that You said You would send. And He would take the things of God and would show them to us. | |||
:''Truly, we're not much in this world, we're looked down upon, but, God, we believe we're accepted in Christ Jesus, and He in return, has give us the Holy Ghost. We love Him, that great, '''third Person of the Trinity''' Who burns through our hearts. And we love Him. O Holy Spirit, I thank You for Your Divine leading...<ref>EARLY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES HAMMOND.IN 52-0713A</ref> | |||
:''Truly, we're not much in this world, we're looked down upon, but, God, we believe we're accepted in Christ Jesus, and He in return, has give us the Holy Ghost. We love Him, that great, '''third Person of the Trinity''' Who burns through our hearts. And we love Him. O Holy Spirit, I thank You for Your Divine leading... | |||
:''The same God the Father was made manifest in flesh, and now in the Holy Spirit. That's the reason the baptism is in the Name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost (See?) '''the Trinity'''--the Trinity, not three gods, but '''three persons in one God'''...<ref>THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST CHICAGO.IL 53-0829</ref> | |||
:''The same God the Father was made manifest in flesh, and now in the Holy Spirit. That's the reason the baptism is in the Name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost (See?) the Trinity--the Trinity, not three gods, but three persons in one God... | |||
:''Now, of course, we people today, '''we believe that there’s three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost is the three persons of the one true God.''' It’s three offices, not three Gods. But that same… Listen now, we think that was ridiculous in the Catholic church, but we brought it right down here at Pentecost and tore yourselves to pieces with it—set up another organization, started something else.<ref>William Branham, 57-0309B - I Will Restore, para. 32</ref> | |||
In his early ministry, William Branham was very inclusive and extended open arms to both Trinitarians and Oneness believers (see the vision of the [[Plum and Apple Trees]]. | In his early ministry, William Branham was very inclusive and extended open arms to both Trinitarians and Oneness believers (see the vision of the [[Plum and Apple Trees]]. | ||
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:''I said, "Then you have to refuse Jesus Christ, for He is the revelation of God, God revealed in human flesh." Unless you see it, you're lost. Jesus said, "Except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." He is the revelation of God, the Spirit of God revealed in human form. If you can't believe that, you're lost. '''You put Him a third person, second person, or any other person besides God, you're lost.''' "Except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." A revelation! <ref>THE ANOINTED ONES AT THE END TIME JEFF.IN 65-0725M</ref> | :''I said, "Then you have to refuse Jesus Christ, for He is the revelation of God, God revealed in human flesh." Unless you see it, you're lost. Jesus said, "Except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." He is the revelation of God, the Spirit of God revealed in human form. If you can't believe that, you're lost. '''You put Him a third person, second person, or any other person besides God, you're lost.''' "Except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." A revelation! <ref>THE ANOINTED ONES AT THE END TIME JEFF.IN 65-0725M</ref> | ||
= | ==Both Trinitarian and Oneness believers were wrong== | ||
William Branham's teachings on the Godhead were all over the map. As a result, this is one of the areas that most message believers apply the doctrine of [[Progressive Revelation]]. | William Branham's teachings on the Godhead were all over the map. As a result, this is one of the areas that most message believers apply the doctrine of [[Progressive Revelation]]. | ||
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:''There is God, see, not three gods. '''Oh, how many of you trinitarian people got that mixed up. And how you Oneness people got it mixed up, too''', of Him being one like your finger. Uh-huh. See? They, they both of them got it mixed up. See? That's right. He's the one God like your finger, one, how could He be His Own Father? See? See, He can't be His Own Father. And if He had another Father outside of the Holy Spirit, and if God is a man, a person, then He is a... the Holy Spirit was His Father, and God is His Father, Matthew 1, so then He was an illegitimate Child. See? So you can't make it either way, you, it's both wrong. <ref>William Branham, August 4, 1963, Calling Jesus on the Scene </ref> | :''There is God, see, not three gods. '''Oh, how many of you trinitarian people got that mixed up. And how you Oneness people got it mixed up, too''', of Him being one like your finger. Uh-huh. See? They, they both of them got it mixed up. See? That's right. He's the one God like your finger, one, how could He be His Own Father? See? See, He can't be His Own Father. And if He had another Father outside of the Holy Spirit, and if God is a man, a person, then He is a... the Holy Spirit was His Father, and God is His Father, Matthew 1, so then He was an illegitimate Child. See? So you can't make it either way, you, it's both wrong. <ref>William Branham, August 4, 1963, Calling Jesus on the Scene </ref> | ||
==Jesus Christ was a created being== | |||
William Branham also taught that Jesus Christ was part of God's creation: | |||
:'' | :''He was God manifested in a flesh of His creative Son. See? Now, that's, '''God created the Son'''. <ref>William Branham, August 4, 1963, Calling Jesus on the Scene </ref> | ||
This belief was originally taught by a man named Arius who was born in North Africa around 256 A.D. Arius became a church leader in Alexandria, Egypt and taught that Jesus was created. If Jesus was created by God the Father then there was a time when Jesus did not exist. This doctrine of Arius, referred to as Arianism spread and caused the church split into two groups.<ref>Alton Gansky, 60 People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues, and Heroes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2014).</ref> | |||
A detailed discussion of [[Arianism|the heresy of Arianism can be found in our article on the subject.]] | |||
==William Branham and [[Nestorianism]]== | ==William Branham and [[Nestorianism]]== | ||
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[[Nestorianism]] is basically the doctrine that Jesus existed as two persons, the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, rather than as a unified person. William Branham's teaching on the nature of Christ was clearly tainted by Nestorianism. It is even more clearly developed in the teachings of Lee Vayle. | [[Nestorianism]] is basically the doctrine that Jesus existed as two persons, the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, rather than as a unified person. William Branham's teaching on the nature of Christ was clearly tainted by Nestorianism. It is even more clearly developed in the teachings of Lee Vayle. | ||
:''God was in Him. '''He was a man, but He was a—a dual Person. One, He was a man; the Spirit in Him was God.'''<ref>William | :''And with such a shifting condition as we’re in today, how can faith rest itself? You got to come back to the Bible, back to the truth. And when Jesus, a carpenter’s Son, physically speaking, when He come to the earth here that’s all He was known of, and the day that when John baptized Him, God a vindicated Him. God spoke from the heavens. John saw Him coming in the form a dove, and said, “'''This is My beloved Son in Whom I’m pleased to dwell.'''” The right translation there is, “In whom I am pleased to dwell in.” Jesus immediately anointed with God, '''He was just a man till that time, but now He becomes the God-man.'''<ref>William Branham, 55-0806 - Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever, para. 30</ref> | ||
:''He said, “For My…” That’s the reason people couldn’t understand Him. Sometime it was Christ speaking… or was the Son speaking. Other times it was the Father speaking. '''He was a dual Person. He was one Man, the Son. God was in him, which was tabernacling in Him.''' But what did He do? Did He go around saying, “I’m the Healer.” Very contrary, He said, “I’m not the Healer.” He said, “It isn’t Me that doth the works; it’s My Father that dwelleth in Me.”<ref>William Branham, 56-0429 - Jehovah-Jireh, para. 53</ref> | |||
:''God was in Him. '''He was a man, but He was a—a dual Person. One, He was a man; the Spirit in Him was God.'''<ref>William Branham, 59-1129 - Let Us See God</ref> | |||
:'''''The Spirit left Him''', in the Garden of Gethsemane. '''He had to die, a man'''. Remember, friends, He didn’t have to do that. That was God. '''God anointed that flesh, which was human flesh'''. And '''He didn’t…If He’d a went up there, as God, He’d have never died that kind of death; can’t kill God.''' But He didn’t have to do it.<ref>William Marrion Branham, 65-0418M - It Is The Rising Of The Sun, para. 241</ref> | :'''''The Spirit left Him''', in the Garden of Gethsemane. '''He had to die, a man'''. Remember, friends, He didn’t have to do that. That was God. '''God anointed that flesh, which was human flesh'''. And '''He didn’t…If He’d a went up there, as God, He’d have never died that kind of death; can’t kill God.''' But He didn’t have to do it.<ref>William Marrion Branham, 65-0418M - It Is The Rising Of The Sun, para. 241</ref> | ||
These comments by William Branham are clearly heretical. Jesus was no less God when he died on the cross than in any other point in his life. Jesus was | These comments by William Branham are clearly heretical. Jesus was no less God when he died on the cross than in any other point in his life. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. | ||
The Nestorian heresy, from the 5th century, effectively holds Jesus as having two persons as well as two natures in Christ. But if this were so, then when Christ sacrificed his life on the cross, it was not the person who is also divine, the Son of God, who died for us. In this case, the atoning sacrifice of Christ would have no divine value and could not be efficacious for our sins. Only if one and the same person, who is both God and man, dies on the cross for our sin can we be saved. For unless Jesus is both God and man he cannot reconcile God and man. But the Bible says clearly, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). | The Nestorian heresy, from the 5th century, effectively holds Jesus as having two persons as well as two natures in Christ. But if this were so, then when Christ sacrificed his life on the cross, it was not the person who is also divine, the Son of God, who died for us. In this case, the atoning sacrifice of Christ would have no divine value and could not be efficacious for our sins. Only if one and the same person, who is both God and man, dies on the cross for our sin can we be saved. For unless Jesus is both God and man he cannot reconcile God and man. But the Bible says clearly, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). | ||