Was William Branham God’s Voice?
On May 5th, 1951, William Branham said in his discourse called My Commission, "I am God's Voice to you”.. A question we must ask in light of a statement like this is, "Is William Branham "God's voice" to us?"
To be able to answer this question we must first understand that from the beginning God spoke to us through many different people over a period of time and recorded His perfect message to us into a book, that is a collection of books, known as the Bible. (2 Tim. 3:16, Heb.1)
Since many have come along and claimed to speak for God without verification, the way we must test such claims is by comparing them to what God has already said in His Word. Indeed, it is commanded. (1 Thess. 5:21, 1 John 4:1-3, Rev. 2:2, Acts 17:11)
Below are irresolvable points of conflict in what William Branham taught over and against what God has spoken in the Bible. The question we must ask is, If William Branham was God's voice to us today, why did his words contradict God's words on essential points of Biblical doctrine?
On The Nature Of God
Branham said, “...not one place in the Bible is the Trinity ever mentioned...It’s Catholic error and you Protestants bow to it.”, and “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is offices of one God. He was the Father; He was the Son; He is the Holy Ghost. It’s three offices or three dispensations,...”- Conduct, Order, Doctrine Q and A, 182. 10, Ibid., 392.
He further states, “Father, Son, Holy Ghost is absolutely three titles of the person of God manifested in three different ways or three attributes of Himself.” - Questions and Answers on The Seals 03/24/63
William Branham also boldly exclaimed, claiming to be speaking for God, "Trinitarianism is of the devil!”... “I say that Thus saith the Lord!” - Revelation Chapter Four #3 01/08/61
Again, he says, “You put Him a third person, second person, or any other person besides God, you’re lost.” – The Anointed Ones At The End Time 07/25/65m para55.
Interestingly, Branham himself taught that God was 3 persons of the trinity in The Testimony Of Jesus Christ 08/09/53, which would make him lost and of the Devil for his first many years while preaching & claiming prophecy.
But Scripture teaches...
The one being of God is shared eternally & equally at once by three persons (not 3 different ‘modes’ at varying times, but 3 different ‘who’s’ at the same time ) See passages - John 1:1-3, Mark 1:9-11, Matt. 28:19, 1 John 5:7, Gen. 1:26; 19:24, Psalm 110:1, Matt. 22:41-44. The church fathers held to this view until it was attacked around A.D. 200, leading Tertullian to write and respond concerning the true nature of God over and against heretical teachings and founding the word ‘Trinity’ in his writings Against Praxeas. This was also before the establishment of Roman Catholicism. To be clear the doctrine of the Trinity did not originate from the Roman Catholics of today!
Scripture gives serious warnings about false prophets and teachers leading people astray after other gods, other gospels, and other Jesus’ in passages such as Deuteronomy 13, 2 Corinthians 11 and Galatians 1. The point being that to believe in a god and in a jesus contrary to the one revealed in Scripture is to believe in an idol that cannot save anyone.
Note: because the correct definition and view of God is so clear and essential in Biblical revelation, the early Christians marked definitions of God that deviated from Scriptural teachings as heresies. Some such heresies were known as modalism and Sabellianism. What William Branham taught about God falls into the heresy of modalism, which is what Tertullian fought against, as mentioned above.
On The Nature of Salvation
Did the Way of Salvation Change?
Branham taught, "The word of Moses’ time did not work in the days of Jesus’ time. The Word in the days of the apostles does not work in this day. It’s a promised Word for this day.”- Shalom 01/12/64
And
“The believers of this age has to believe This, what he promised today. Just the same as they had to come into the ark, to be saved; go out to Egypt to be saved; they have to come into Christ, to be saved now, into the Word Message.”- God's Chosen Place Of Worship 02/20/65 Par. 91.
But Scripture says…
As Peter preached the gospel on Pentecost he said, ".. for the promise is for you and for your children and all those who are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to himself."- Acts 2:39
Jude said in his letter to the first century Christians, ".. I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."
It was even the same Gospel preached in the Old Testament to Abraham that Paul writes about in Galatians 3:8.
Contrary to what Branham taught, the apostles were emphatic that the Word proclaimed, the Gospel proclaimed in both the Old and New Testament, is the same Word sufficient for all time. It still works today! It's still the "power of God unto salvation for all who believe". Therefore, Branham taught a transient gospel, a gospel contrary to the unchanging, absolute gospel received in Scripture and must be rejected as false.
How Are We Saved?
Branham taught that the way to salvation was through his message, “The Word that fell on the Day of Pentecost will not work this day. No sir. That was for Pentecost. This is for the Bride, going Home of the Bride. We got something different.”- The Invisible Union Of The Bride Of Christ 11-25-65 para. 324
"There's only one evidence of the Holy Spirit that I know of,
and that is a genuine faith in the promised Word of the hour."- Questions and Answers #2 08-23-64E
Branham also taught that water baptism is necessary for salvation, “So on the day of Pentecost, he wrote the prescription. Let’s see what he wrote. Doctor Simon Peter, let’s see what your prescription is for salvation… Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of You in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remissions of your sins….. That’s the Prescription.”- Five Definite Identifications Of The True Church Of The Living God. 09-11-60E
But Scripture says...
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God.”- Eph. 2:8
"We hold that a person is justified by faith without works of the law"- Romans 3:28
“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”- Acts 2:21. See also: (Genesis 15:6, John 1:12, Rom.10:9,13, Gal. 3:2-3, John 3:15..etc.)
The prescription for salvation according to God's word is faith alone in Christ alone, not faith plus water baptism. Acts 2:38 is not an answer to a question on how to be justified, for that answer was already provided in verse 21 of the same chapter which was to "call on the name of the Lord". To add the act of obedience of water baptism as a requirement for justification falls into the 1st century heresy that Paul accursed when he dealt with the 'circumcision party' who added a work to faith in Christ into the prescription for justification (being made right before God). This twisted teaching of Acts 2:38 was officially established by the Oneness Pentecostals in 1916.
By the Spirit, Paul says, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”- Galatians 1:8
William Branham's gospel, in several ways, is categorically contrary to the gospel in the Scriptures.
The Bible’s Criteria For Testing A Prophet
As convincing as a man with apparent signs and wonders is, Scripture warns us that signs and wonders are insufficient to determine whether or not one is teaching God’s truth. Listen to this warning: “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”- Deuteronomy 13:1-3
Following that principle, the New Testament warns us clearly that, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”- 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
The testing of a prophet or teacher is primarily and necessarily by their doctrine. The apostle John wrote, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”- 2 John 9
".. every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God."- 1 John 4:3
Namely, the Biblical Jesus.
The true Jesus as defined in Scripture is the only Christ that can truly save a sinner, not a Jesus that is a mere finite, second manifestation of a modalistic god. Nor a Jesus who was a mere man when he was crucified for sinners. Note, Branham taught that when Jesus was crucified, “The Spirit left him in the garden of Gethsemane. He had to die, a man.”... “If he’d have went up there, as God, He’d have never died that kind of death; can’t kill God.” - It Is The Rising Of The Sun 04/18/65M
We must ask how can our sin that deserves unending wrath from an eternal, just and holy God be paid for and dealt with in the death of a mere finite person? Indeed, Jesus died in His human nature, not His divine nature, but he was never not God at any moment.
Signs and miracles may complement the ministry of a true orthodox teacher of God, but they alone are not a sufficient test as seen by the Scriptures listed above.
We endeavor to inform and warn you concerning the matters addressed above. There are other matters of great concern that further demonstrate William Branham's failure to pass the test of a true prophet of God such as his bad fruits (Matthew 7) of lies about many stories including his own childhood upbringing and life story, his unfulfilled prophetic predictions, fabricated stories for vindication such as the halo photograph, contradictions throughout various discourses, his ministry ordination and ongoing association with the notorious criminal Roy E. Davis, his heretical serpent seed doctrine, and partiality concerning people of certain ethnicities and so forth.
Out of love we challenge you to study and compare the teachings above from William Branham over and against God's words in the Scriptures to examine and see if he passes the test of a true prophet and teacher of God. We encourage you to test his prophecies by looking outside of his own words for evidence of his claims. If you are interested in having more respectful discussion on these issues, we would love to sit down and talk more with you. You can contact us at aletheiaministrieslouisville@gmail.com.
So What Is The Gospel?
Lastly and most importantly, we want to inform you of the Biblical gospel, the good news & way of salvation: The triune God of Scripture had a plan before anything else existed to redeem a people for His glory. He created man originally good and in His own image, but man rebelled against Him and brought sin and death into the world. We all are children of that original man and are born sinners and unable to please God in our own strength. We sin when we lie, when we commit sexual immorality, when we get drunk, when we love other things more than God. Because of our sin we justly deserve God’s wrath. But God demonstrated His grace and love when the second person of the trinity humbled Himself by taking on a human nature in addition to who He already was, namely the divine, eternal Son of God, who always existed in fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit and died upon the cross in the place of every sinner who would put their faith in Him. He canceled the record of debt that stood against His sinful people, He forgave their sins! When we repent and trust in Christ God imputes Jesus’ perfect righteousness to us and imputes our sins to Him. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and is seated at the right hand of God the Father this very day and will in the future return bodily to judge. So what must you do to be saved? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
written by Troy Goldsmith and Jeremy Johnson: Troy is husband to Elisha, father of Jonah, Israel, Adalynn and Grace and is the founder of Aletheia Ministries. Jeremy is husband to Anna. A member of the Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville and a student of theology at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.
(this article is adapted from the William Branham tract that was edited and produced by Pastor Jerry Dorris of Reformation Church of Shelbyville. You can purchase the tract at 5solaspress.com.)
