View source for Russia and the three ...isms

__NOTOC__
{| style="width:800px"
|[[Image:Reichstag flag.jpg|right|thumb|250px|U.S.S.R. flag on the German Parliament (Reichstag) in Berlin.]]
William Branham told about a series of eight prophetic visions he experienced in June 1933, before the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. established diplomatic ties on November 16, 1933.  In the fourth vision, William Branham witnessed Fascism and Nazism being swallowed up into Communism.  A voice in the vision instructed William Branham to "watch Russia".  As part of this vision, William Branham said that Communism would destroy the Vatican.  The U.S.S.R. disolved into 15 independent nations in December, 1991.  As a result, unless Communism comes back to power in Russia, this vision can be classed as having '''failed.'''

=The problem with the prophecy=

In the Laodicean Church Age book, William Branham says, “Now let me say this. Can anyone prove any of those visions wrong? Were they not all fulfilled?”  Almost 80 years after 1933, we now have the benefit of hindsight in our ability to confirm the accuracy of these prophecies and we find a number of problems:

#Facism, Nazisim and Communism did not unite into Communism
#Communism in Russia has fallen from power and is unlikely to regain its former status.
#Communism did not destroy the Roman Catholic church.  in fact, it could be argued that the Roman Catholic church was instrumental in the toppling of Communism from power in Eastern Europe.

==Communism will destroy Catholicism==

William Branham states that:

*’’One ism will dominate the world and will burn the Vatican City.’’	
*’’Communism will burn the Vatican city.’’
*’’ They'll all wind up out of Russia, in Communism." And it will destroy Catholicism. See if it don't!’’
History, however, has shown that Catholicism was instrumental in the fall of communism.  Lech Wałęsa has said that “The pope started this chain of events that led to the end of communism” and Mikhail Gorbachev has said “The collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without John Paul II.” 

==Communism winding up in Catholicism==

William Branham stated that “ Communism will burn the Vatican city” and "Keep your eyes on Russia. She'll all wind up in Communism. And then it'll all wind up finally in Catholicism.”  
This creates a problem because if Communism winds up in Catholicism, it will be Russian Communist Catholics that will eventually burn the Vatican.  

==Three Unclean Spirits==

Up until 1964, William Branham taught that the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13 were the three isms of his 1933 prophecy. <ref>’’Those three great isms is the unclean spirits that went out of the mouth of the false prophet.’’ (May 1, 1955, Chicago, Illinois)</ref>  However, he abandoned this interpretation in July 1965 in favor of teaching that the doctrine of the Trinity was the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13. <ref>’’Where was trinitarianism born at? Remember, "three unclean spirits," individual spirits. Are you getting it? Notice, they look back to the Nicaea Council where the trinity doctrine was born at, not in the Bible…. at Nicaea, Rome," when them three unclean spirits went out of the dragon, the false prophets, and so forth. [when they said] "We believe there is a trinity of Gods."  (July 25, 1965, Jeffersonville, Indiana).</ref>  
If you believe that William Branham was an infallible teacher and prophet, you will have to choose which of these interpretations is correct…or more importantly, which one is wrong.  

==Changes in the prophecy over time==

The prophecy was written down, so each retelling of it should have been consistent.  Changes include whether an ism would burn the Vatican, whether communism would wind up in Rome, and whether these isms represented the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13 – none of which made it into the Church Ages book. 
 
*1953: Three isms will wind up in one ism, which will burn the Vatican City. <ref> ''And I said, "There'll be three great isms, Communism, Fascism, and Nazism." And I said, "They'll wind up in one ism, and that one ism will dominate the world and will burn the Vatican City." You remember me saying that years and years and years ago. And just exactly that way.'' (March 26, 1936, Jeffersonville, Indiana)</ref>
*1954: Three isms will head into one ism (the king of the north), that will bring a persecution that would send Jesus Christ to the earth again.  <ref>''There'll be three isms. And they'd all heap up in one ism, and that ism will bring forth a persecution that would send Jesus Christ to the earth again." That's exactly so. That was Communism, and--and Hitler and--and Nazi, and so forth; and how that Fascism of Mussolini, and Hitler, and Stalin. I said, "One of them will take the place of it. I don't know which one it'll be, but I believe it'll be the king of the north."'' (January 3, 1954, Jeffersonville, Indiana)</ref>
*1955: Three isms are three unclean spirits, that will wind up in Communism, that will burn the Vatican City. <ref>''Going to Sunday school one morning, I was caught away in a vision. And I said, "Now..." Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I said, "Now, there's going to be three great isms. Which is now in existence. One of them is in Rome, which is--is Fascism, and one of them is in Germany which is Nazi--Nazism. And the other one is in Russia, which is communism." I said, "Those three great isms is the unclean spirits that went out of the mouth of the false prophet, and the dragons, and so forth that will unite themselves together, speaking things that they should not, and they'll all beat at one another, until they'll finally wind up in one ism. And I predict that that will be communism. And communism will burn the Vatican city.'' (May 1, 1955, Chicago, Illinois)</ref>
*1960: Three isms will wind up into Communism. <ref>''Predicted! I said, "And there's three isms: the Nazi, and the Facism, and Communism." I said... (How many in here remembers?) I said, "Keep your eyes on Communism, it'll all head up in there."''(December 8, 1960, Jeffersonville, Indiana) </ref>
*1960:  Three isms would wind up in Russia, the King of the North.<ref>''Then the three isms: Nazism, Facism, and Communism, would all wind up in Communism." And how many in here remembers me just keep having you stand, just say it over, I'd tell you, "Watch Russia! Watch Russia, the king of the North! Watch Russia, king of the North! Watch Russia, king of the North!"? How many has heard me just say, just wave that over, over? The old-timers, you see, back in the early part of the church. Just stand there and wave it over and over, "Watch Russia, the king of the North! See, what he would do, for all those isms will heap up into Russia.'' (December 11, 1960, Jeffersonville, Indiana) </ref>
*1961: Three isms will wind up in Communism, which will all wind up into Catholicism. <ref>''I wasn't against Germany; it was the Nazism. I wasn't against the Italians; it was against the--the Fascism. And remember, I made another prediction in that time--just a prediction, and many of you old-timers remember it. I said, "There's three isms" trying to take a hold of the world today: Fascism, Nazism, and Communism." And what'd I say? They would all wind up in Communism. Now, I just had you all to repeat it over: "Keep your eyes on Russia." You remember that? "Keep your eyes on Russia. She'll all wind up in Communism. And then it'll all wind up finally in Catholicism. Remember, it'll all wind up in Catholicism in the end time. That's exactly right. That's at the battle of Armageddon, right over in here when Christ comes Himself.'' (August 6, 1961, Jeffersonville, Indiana). </ref>
*1961: The three unclean spirits are the three isms.  <ref>''The three unclean spirits is the three isms. Let me type it for you now and you'll see where it--where it started, where it begin. See? There was communism, fascism, nazism. They were spirits. Communism is a spirit. It gets on you. See? It's a spirit.'' (August 8, 1961, Tifton, Georgia)  </ref>
*1962: Three isms will come into communism, and communism will burn Rome. <ref>''There is three isms has rose up. Nazism, fascism, and communism." I said, "Them isms will revolve and come around into one, and it'll be communism. Watch. Communism will burn Rome." See?'' (December 30, 1962, Jeffersonville, Indiana) </ref>
*1964: Prophecy was written in a book that three isms would wind up in Communism, and destroy Catholicism. <ref>''In my book in there, that I keep wrote down. In 1933, one morning, fixing to go to Sunday school, a Baptist Sunday school where I was pastor, the Holy Spirit come and showed me down to the end time, and showed me seven things that would happen. I marked them down. It's on old yellow paper...And I said, "There is three isms; Communism, Facism, and Nazism. They'll all wind up out of Russia, in Communism." And it will destroy Catholicism. See if it don't!''</ref> (March 21, 1964, Denham Springs, Louisiana) </ref>
*Church Age Book: Three isms would be swallowed up into Communism, and to watch Russia.  <ref>''The third vision was in the realm of world politics for it showed me that there would be three great isms, Facism, Nazism, Communism, but that the first two would be swallowed up into the third. The voice admonished, "WATCH RUSSIA, WATCH RUSSIA. Keep your eye on the King of the North." ''(Laodicean Church Age Book</ref>


==1955 and 1964 retelling of the 1933 prophecy==

<mediaplayer height= 50>Faith Once Delivered To The Saints, 1955|three isms 55-0501.mp3</mediaplayer>

:''Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I said, 'Now, there's going to be three great isms. Which is now in existence. One of them is in Rome, which is--is Fascism, and one of them is in Germany which is Nazi--Nazism. And the other one is in Russia, which is communism.' I said, ''''Those three great isms is the unclean spirits''' that went out of the mouth of the false prophet, and the dragons, and so forth that '''will unite themselves together''', speaking things that they should not, and they'll all beat at one another, '''until they'll finally wind up in one ism'''. And I predict that that will be communism.'''  (See the sermon [http://www.nathan.co.za/message.asp?sermonum=243 Faith Once Delivered To The Saints, 1955] for the full text of this prophecy.)

:''The third vision was in the realm of world politics for it showed me that there would be three great ISMS, Facism, Nazism, Communism, but that the first two would be swallowed up into the third. The voice admonished, "WATCH RUSSIA, WATCH RUSSIA. Keep your eye on the King of the North.''  (Taken from Chapter 9 of the Church Ages Book (the Laodicean Church Age), William Branham)

==Definitions==
'''Fascism''' is an authoritarian ideology that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the state.  The term Fascism was invented by Mussolini, who was the dictator of Italy before and during WWII.  ''Fasces'', which consisted of a bundle of rods tied around an axe, was an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrates, and symbolized strength through unity. 

'''Nazism''' was not a precise, theoretical ideology, but a combination of various ideologies and groups centered around anger at the Treaty of Versailles and what was considered to have been a Jewish/Communist conspiracy to humiliate Germany at the end of the First World War.  Nazism consisted of a loose collection of incoherent positions focused on those held to blame for Germany's "weakness": anti-parliamentarism, ethnic nationalism, racism, collectivism, eugenics, anti-Semitism, opposition to economic and political liberalism, a racially-defined and conspiratorial view of finance capitalism, and anti-communism. As Nazism became dominant in Germany, it was defined in practice as whatever was decreed by the Nazi Party and in particular by the Führer, Adolf Hitler.

'''Communism''' is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production.  Communist ideals were first penned by Karl Marx, and instituted by Vlademir Lenin and the Bolsheviks after the Russian Revolution of 1917.  By 1956, the U.S.S.R. had grown from a union of four Soviet Socialist Republics to a union of 15 republics.  

After Joseph Lenin (d. 1924) the U.S.S.R was been ruled by Joseph Stalin (d. 1953), Nikita Khrushchev (deposed in 1964), and a collective government from 1964 until Leonid Brezhnev (d. 1982) came to power in the 1970s. In the mid 1980s, the reform-minded Mikhail Gorbachev introducing the landmark policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Soviet communism. His initiatives provoked strong resentment among some conservative elements of the government.  



==The Fall of Nazism and Fascism, and the emergence of Russia==
[[Image:Communism expansion.jpg|right|360px|thumb|Expansion of Communism. 
{{legend|#880000|1920s and 1930s}}
{{legend|#FF3131|1940s and 1950s}} 
{{legend|#FE9B73|1960s and 1970s}}]]
'''The Fall of Fascism''': In July 1943, the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III and a group of Fascist leaders staged a coup d'etat against Mussolini, having him arrested.  In September 1943 Italy surrendered to the Allies, but was immediately invaded by Germany.  For nearly two years the country was divided and became a battlefield, with a puppet fascist state under Mussolini being reconstituted in the Nazi-occupied part of the country.  On April 28, 1945, Mussolini was executed by Italian communist partisans.  

'''The Fall of Nazism''': While the German army had initially had great success against the U.S.S.R, the tide turned at the Battle of Stalingrad (August 21, 1942 to February 2, 1943) during which almost 2 million Axis and Soviet soldiers were killed.  The German army retreated on the Eastern Front until May 8, 1945 when the Red Army occupied Berlin, and Germany surrendered.

'''Russia emerges from Communist U.S.S.R.''': In August of 1991 an unsuccessful military coup attempted to remove Mikhail Gorbachev from power, but instead led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Boris Yeltsin came to power and declared the end of exclusive Communist rule.  The USSR splintered into fifteen independent republics, including Russia, and was officially dissolved in December of 1991.
|-
|}

=='''References'''==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references/>
</div>

{{7 Visions}}