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20Th Century Charlatan SECOND EDITION William Branham: 20th Century Charlatan SECOND EDITION JOHN COLLINS Revision 1 Copyright © 2020 John Collins. All rights reserved. Original Version Copyright © 2015 John Collins. All rights reserved. Dark Mystery Publications ISBN: 9781512227185 2 Table of Contents About William Branham ........................................................................4 Stage Persona .......................................................................................9 Trinitarianism ..................................................................................... 12 1907 Birth Year ................................................................................... 23 Toddler Prophecy ................................................................................ 25 Bridge Prophecy .................................................................................. 27 1933 Baptism ...................................................................................... 29 1933 Prophecies .................................................................................. 32 The 1937 Flood ................................................................................... 36 Fatherless ........................................................................................... 38 Faith Healing ...................................................................................... 40 The Halo ............................................................................................. 45 Mystery Cloud..................................................................................... 47 The Church Ages ................................................................................. 50 Jehovah’s Witness ............................................................................... 53 Marks of the Beast .............................................................................. 56 Cult Rules ........................................................................................... 59 Shorts ................................................................................................. 68 The Man From Windsor ....................................................................... 70 The Tragedy of Donny Morton ............................................................. 72 Raised from the Dead.......................................................................... 74 The Driverless Egg-Car ........................................................................ 76 Los Angeles Prophecy .......................................................................... 82 Two Major Prophets ........................................................................... 86 Speaking in Tongues ........................................................................... 88 Twisted Scripture ................................................................................ 91 Creation Theology ............................................................................... 95 Physical Abuse .................................................................................... 97 Misogyny ............................................................................................ 99 Civil Rights ........................................................................................ 101 About the Author .............................................................................. 108 3 ABOUT WILLIAM BRANHAM William Marrion Branham (A.K.A. William Marvin1 Branham, 19072- 1965) was a Pentecostal3 minister from Jeffersonville, Indiana credited by some as initiating the Post WWII Healing Revival.4 The first of ten children of Charles and Ella Branham, Branham claimed to have been born in Cumberland County, KY5 and reared in the booming Southern Indiana casino town directly across the river from Louisville, KY. He was also a "doomsday prophet",6 predicting several years that he claimed to be the End of Days. When American Prohibition disrupted the thriving liquor industry of the local area, Branham's family became poor and destitute. Branham's father, employed as a driver for Otto Wathen7 of the R. E. Wathen Distilleries, was arrested for violation of the liquor laws, worsening their hardship. At the time, William was in critical condition in the Clark Memorial hospital after being shot.8 The Ku Klux Klan came to the rescue, paying his hospital bill and making an impact on his life that he would never forget.9 Shortly after the Klan was exposed for taking control of the Indiana government, Roy E. Davis came to Jeffersonville claiming to be a Christian 1 Draft Card Serial 2342. 1940, Oct 16. Clark Co. No.1 Ind. 2 Three birth years are used by William Branham and/or his parents on government documents and to newspaper reporters. The earliest and most likely of the three is 1907 3 Warranty Deed. 1936, Nov 9. Clark County Courthouse. “The Billie Branham Pentecostal Tabernacle church and their successors of Jeffersonville, Indiana, of Clark County” 4 The Healing Revival 1947-1958 – An Overview. Accessed 2020, Sept 8 from http://www.voiceofhealing.info/02_1947-1958/overview.html . “William Branham is the person universally acknowledged as the revival’s “father.” The sudden appearance of his miraculous healing campaigns in 1946, including an astonishing use of authentic spiritual gifts (notably discernment of spirits, the word of knowledge and healing) ignited the dry tinder of American Pentecostalism and fanned its flames into a mighty fire.” 5 Branham, William. 1950, Aug 20. My Life Story. “I was borned in a little log cabin, way in the mountains of Kentucky, Cumberland County, near a little creek called Renox.” 6 Example: Branham, William. 1961, Aug 6. The Seventieth Week Of Daniel. “Now, counting the time, we find that we have exactly (Listen.) seventeen years left, and we will have the same span of time given to us as God dealing with us in the power of the Holy Spirit since A. D. until 1977, the same span of time of 1954 years. God deals with us the same as He did with the Jews. See? How about that? Now, mark down in your book a little Scripture here I want to give you. Leviticus 25, begin with the 8th verse. God calls a jubilee every forty-ninth year; the fiftieth year was the jubilee. We know that. We understand that. From the first jubilee of Leviticus 25:8, in 1977 will be the seventieth jubilee, making exactly 3,430 years. Jubilee means the going up, the release.” 7 Branham, William. 1959, Apr 19. My Life Story. “Mr. Wathen kept ice out there in the country. And Father was a—a chauffeur for him, a private chauffeur. 59-0419A” 8 Branham, William. 1956, Feb 29. Being Led Of The Holy Spirit. And I remember a preacher shooting at some birds and seventh shot hit me in the leg. 9 Branham, William. 1963, Nov 10. Souls That Are in Prison Now. “ the Ku Klux Klan, paid the hospital bill for me, Masons. I can never forget them. See? No matter what they do, or what, I still…there is something, and that stays with me, see, what they did for me.” 4 evangelist and becoming a choir leader for Ralph Rader. Davis was at one time an official spokesperson for William Joseph Simmons' 1915 revival of the Klan,10 as well as a high-ranking member. He was also affiliated with other white supremacy groups Simmons created such as the "Knights of the Flaming Sword."11 Shortly after being appointed as an elder of the Rader Gospel Tabernacle, past crimes of swindling, fraud, and multiple violations of underaged sex caught up with him.12 Davis was terminated from Rader's church, and started a Pentecostal church taking several members from Rader's congregation. It was at this Pentecostal church that Davis claims to have converted William Branham into his first Pentecostal Assembly.13 According to William Branham, Davis was his mentor, the one who baptized him, imparted the "Holy Ghost," and appointed him as a minister. Shortly after, Davis was extradited by the Governor of the State of Indiana to the casino town of Hot Springs, Arkansas on charges of grand theft and connection to murder. William Branham seized the opportunity, taking control of Davis' rowdy church and forming the Billie Branham Pentecostal Tabernacle in 1936. A year later, the 1937 Flood demolished the town of Jeffersonville. The once thriving casino town nicknamed "Little Vegas" that once attracted the likes of Al Capone and John Dillinger suddenly was leveled to a desolate wasteland. Later that year, Branham's first wife Hope died from a disease she contracted in January of 1936,14 and his daughter died shortly after.15 In 1944, Roy E. Davis joined forces with former Congressman William D. Upshaw in an operation under the disguise of a children's orphanage in San Bernardino California. Soon after the orphanage was exposed for swindling thousands of dollars from the Los Angeles area and being the defendant in a highly publicized criminal lawsuit,16 Davis introduced Upshaw to William Branham.17 A year later, in 1945, William Branham began his evangelistic "healing" ministry, and Upshaw (who had witnessed been physically running since 1936) entered one of Branham's meetings as an "invalid" in a wheelchair. When Upshaw was "healed" from his "bedridden" condition, Branham's fame in the faith healing business quickly spread. By 1947, William Branham had embellished many events of his "life 10 Associated Press. 1923, Jan 13. Says Ku Klux Not Anti-Negro, Jewish, Catholic. Times Herald. 11 Associated Press. 1925, Jan 23. Fraternity Attacked as Making Money Order. Lead Daily Call. 12 Pastor Held in Mann Act Case. 1930, October
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