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:Part of William Branham’s 1933 prophecy was that Mussolini would rise to power, become a dictator, invade Ethiopia, and come to a disgraceful end. According to the vision, the invasion of Ethiopia would be his last. By 1933, Mussolini had already been a dictator for at least 8 years (he had already risen to power). His invasion of Ethiopia ended in May 1936 and was immediately followed by involvement in the Spanish Civil War starting in July 1936. During WWII, Italian troops helped Germany conquer France, and invaded Sudan, Kenya, British Somaliland, Egypt, Belgium, Greece, and the Soviet Union. | :Part of William Branham’s 1933 prophecy was that Mussolini would rise to power, become a dictator, invade Ethiopia, and come to a disgraceful end. According to the vision, the invasion of Ethiopia would be his last. By 1933, Mussolini had already been a dictator for at least 8 years (he had already risen to power). His invasion of Ethiopia ended in May 1936 and was immediately followed by involvement in the Spanish Civil War starting in July 1936. During WWII, Italian troops helped Germany conquer France, and invaded Sudan, Kenya, British Somaliland, Egypt, Belgium, Greece, and the Soviet Union. | ||
'''[[Hitler and WWII]]''' | '''[[Hitler and WWII]]''' | ||
William Branham mentions that this vision was “Thus Saith the Lord”, and that he wrote it down in 1933. This creates a problem as he identifies the Maginot Line, and says the vision occurred 11 years before it was fulfilled. | :William Branham mentions that this vision was “Thus Saith the Lord”, and that he wrote it down in 1933. This creates a problem as he identifies the Maginot Line, and says the vision occurred 11 years before it was fulfilled. | ||
'''[[Russia and the three ...isms]]''' | '''[[Russia and the three ...isms]]''' | ||
:Part of William Branham’s 1933 prophecy was that the three major “isms” of the world (Fascism, Nazism or Communism) would roll into communism, and then Russia would wind up in Catholicism. He prophesied that Communism would then burn the Vatican, and bring a persecution that would send Jesus Christ to the earth again. | :Part of William Branham’s 1933 prophecy was that the three major “isms” of the world (Fascism, Nazism or Communism) would roll into communism, and then Russia would wind up in Catholicism. He prophesied that Communism would then burn the Vatican, and bring a persecution that would send Jesus Christ to the earth again. | ||
*Unless Communism returns to Russia, an “ism” will not burn the Vatican. | :*Unless Communism returns to Russia, an “ism” will not burn the Vatican. | ||
*It makes no sense for Communism to wind up in Catholicism, and then burn the Vatican. | :*It makes no sense for Communism to wind up in Catholicism, and then burn the Vatican. | ||
*In 1955 and 1961, William Branham said that these three isms were the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13. In 1965, William Branham said the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13 was the doctrine of the Trinity. It is unlikely that both explanations are correct. | :*In 1955 and 1961, William Branham said that these three isms were the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13. In 1965, William Branham said the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13 was the doctrine of the Trinity. It is unlikely that both explanations are correct. | ||
'''[[Driverless Cars]]''' | '''[[Driverless Cars]]''' |
Revision as of 01:25, 16 February 2013
This article is a formal apology for publishing and distributing false doctrine.
Dear Reader, From the start, the purpose of Believethesign.com has been to provide evidence to support truth. Having grown up in a Message Church, the truth being supported was naturally that William Branham was Elijah the Prophet in fulfillment of Malachi 4:5 and Revelation 10:7. In the fall of 2011, we changed the main scripture reference of the website to “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) in order shift the focus of the site clearly onto Jesus Christ. The driving force behind this change is that we have uncovered a number of significant issues with the evidence supporting William Branham’s prophetic ministry, as he proclaimed it. At the same time, we have not found any significant issues with the evidence supporting the healings and word of knowledge that brought attention to William Branham’s ministry. In 1963, William Branham said:
What you now read on Believethesign.com should be an accurate historic account of William Branham’s life. By bringing to light supportable evidence, we hope that you find yourself in a better position to separate any pits from the pie. However, there is another analogy that concerns us even more. In 1965 William Branham said:
While our responsibility is simply to present the truth in love, our concern is that fifty years later, the beauty of William Branham’s ministry has been consumed by impurities that were always present in his ministry. Some of these items are described in the pages that are linked from this page (just click on the colored headings to go to the detail pages). Why it took so long for these things to surface is not clear. If you find that the evidence on this site has misled you in the past, we apologize. Thankfully, humble pie is always fresh.
Good Articles
From our perspective, the information in the following links continues to provide good evidence that the healing and word of knowledge ministries of William Branham were genuine: The following books are also good information on the healings and miracles that followed William Branham’s ministry:
The various prayers linked to the healing lines article are also accurate historic accounts. These provide evidence to the accuracy of the word of knowledge. Based on the confirmation of the testimonies above, we do not have any reason to doubt that God honored these prayers with real healing. As you can read for yourself if you look at these articles, you will find that these people were healed by believing on the name and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Problems With Prophecies
The following list contains the articles on Believethesign of prophecies made by William Branham. Beside the prophecy is a short summary of an issue that calls into question the validity of the prophecy. Some of these prophecies may still come to pass, while others cannot because they are in the past. The sad situation is it appears that William Branham was “hit some, miss some” with his prophecies. Click on headings if you want to read detailed commentary on a particular issue.
![]() Photo: The USS Arizona sinks in Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. In 1960 William Branham said, I speak this in the Name of the Lord. The president which now is, President Franklin D. Roosevelt... will cause the whole world to go to war... took America to England's tea party. That's right. Germany never picked on us; we picked on them, throwed the whole world into a war, to cause a world war.
The Voice on the Ohio River in 1933
If William Branham was not accurate with even one of his prophecies, then this calls into question his authority as an infallible prophet. While some of these prophecies may still come to pass, other have definitely missed the mark. In the end his prophetic scorecard appears to be “you hit some, you miss some”, and not something you can trust.
Doctrines
There are a number of William Branham’s doctrines on Believethesign.com that can be supported from the Bible. However, opposing views may be capable of being supported from the Bible as well, and may even constitute the better view. Additionally, a number of William Branham's significant teachings appear to have been borrowed in large part from other men. The details of our finding on this issue can be found in our article on Plagiarism. The primary purpose of this website is to provide a balanced, unbiased information on the ministry of William Branham. We therefore have a number of articles that discuss his doctrinal teachings. We have not removed them, but over time will be augmenting them with comments relating to how they relate to a more orthodox position. Some of these teachings include:
Seven Church Ages, Seven Seals, Mystery Babylon
If you are curious as to a sample of William Branham’s doctrines that we feel cannot be supported by scripture (we hope to have articles on these issues in the future), they include but are not limited to:
The Prophecy of William Branham's Death
Sometime in 1964 or 1965, a prophecy was communicated to William Branham that he would pass off the scene before the end of 1965 because of an error he would make. We have researched this prophecy as detailed by Kenneth Hagin and Gordon Lindsay’s wife, Freda Lindsay, and found that, according to Biblical principles, Kenneth Hagin accurately prophesied William Branham's death in January 1964. This should cause significant concern to anyone following William Branham's message.
Where do we stand now?
Here are some simple questions and answers that will outline the perspective of the editors of www.believethesign.com:
William Branham seemed to really, really want to be an Old Testament-style prophet. Sadly, the Old Testament prophets were not able to live up to the law that they were under. Solomon had the gift of wisdom, but ended up worshipping false gods. Samson had the gift of strength, but ended up powerless to temptation. Even Moses and David had faults that got them in trouble with God. To become an Old Testament prophet, William Branham had to start teaching the law. He began focusing on outward conformation to the “rules” in the Bible (tithing, hair, divorce), and eventually left the weightier matters. Some followers of William Branham even preach a "Third Testament" doctrine, which replaces grace with revelation. A month before his passing, William Branham was teaching that Elijah was Jesus Christ. He had defined God into the box of his own life, and appears to have started exalting himself over the church of God.
The sad part is that these people are all Christians who have simply forgotten the power of faith in Jesus’ atonement, and replaced it with faith in a gifted man. William Branham said that every man will get caught by money, power or women. For him, what originated as a gift of healing became a display of power over diseases, which seems to have ultimately led to a desire for dominion over the church through his “my way or the highway” preaching. So, William Branham’s life may more closely parallel Solomon’s life, or Samson’s life, than Elijah’s life. The main question is where do we go from here? The answer is back to the grace of the New Testament covenant. Sound strange? If so, it’s because we as message believers haven’t realized (or forgot) that it was Jesus’ blood, and not William Branham’s doctrine, that has kept us clean before God. Even though we really know that in our hearts, we haven’t let it permeate our being like the scriptures teach. So, this letter is an encouragement to get back to our first love, Jesus Christ, and the Good News of his grace. May the Lord Jesus Christ lead you in his light, Jeremy Bergen, Editor
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