“Baby Raised from the Dead in Mexico”
William Branham claimed that five different people were raised from the dead through his healing ministry, as follows,
“Remember, there was only about three people raised from the dead by Jesus Christ; and we have on record, doctor's record, five.” “Is This The Sign Of The End, Sir?” (62-1230E).
“And that's five straight times, by doctor's examination that five people, being dead, being by the grace of God through a vision called their life back to them again. And that's signed doctor's statements.” “A Greater Than Solomon Is Here” (62-0725).
“The God that I seen bring the dead back, after being dead for hours; the doctor pronounced “dead,” and write a statement to it, five different times.” “Awakening Jesus” (63-0117).
Of the five people he claimed were raised from the dead, he spoke most extensively about two. They were, a young boy from Finland in 1950, which can read about here, and a baby boy from Mexico in 1956.
Like his stories about the boy from Finland, the ones he told about the baby boy from Mexico,
also contain numerous contradictory and unbelievable claims, as is evident below.
According to him, he was holding an open-air meeting in Mexico City in 1956 where there were so many people that he had to enter the arena by climbing up a ladder on the outside and descending by rope to the inside of it.[1] In another story, he stated that they let him “down a wall, on a ladder, to the platform.”[2]
He claimed that the throng of people at the meeting that night was so great that it numbered in the tens of thousands, but he directly contradicted himself by claiming that there were “thirty”, “forty”, “fifty” and “seventy-five” thousand people in attendance.[3]
Footnotes:
[1] “There was so many around that arena they had to take me over, and climb up a ladder on the outside, and put a rope
around my arms, and let me down, to get to the platform in the back of it, so many people around.” “Perseverance”
(62- 0520).
[2] “They let me down a wall, on a ladder, to the platform.” “A Super Sign” (62-0708).
[3] “Standing there, thirty thousand people about, just standing, leaning against one another since early that morning, all
day in the rain and everything, just to hear the Gospel.” “Abraham's Covenant Confirmed” (61-0318).
“And that was before, oh, my, thirty, forty thousand people.” “The Flashing Red Light Of The Sign Of His Coming” (63-0623E).
“When they seen, several thousands of those people saw, maybe fifty or seventy-five thousand at one gathering, saw
that little dead baby come to life, women fainted, people threw up their hands and screamed.” “In His Presence”
(62-0909E).
In the context of there being tens of thousands of people at the meeting in Mexico City, there likely would have been hundreds of people with infirmities who desired and warranted prayer. However, William Branham said that he limited the number of people for whom he would pray to only about “fifteen or twenty a night” for the following reason,
“And he'd done give out all the prayer cards, and they didn't have no more. I'd only give him about fifteen or twenty a night, because that's all I could get to, because.... If you give them a card, they don't understand like you—you can't talk to them. So they was ... I give them about ten, or fifteen, whatever. That's all I'd give out. Well, they didn't have any more prayer cards.” “Perseverant” (63-0802).[4]
Because only about “fifteen or twenty” people were allowed to be prayed for that night, an underlying problem existed for anyone else who desired or needed prayer.
William Branham indicated that one such person who was to be excluded and not allowed to be prayed for in the prayer line that night was a young Mexican woman whose baby boy had died that morning from pneumonia.[5] In that regard, he stated that she could not be prayed for because it would cause a riot, as follows,
“And said, "And that little woman has climbed through them ushers. She's got a dead baby wrapped up in a blanket. She wants you to pray for it." And said, "She climbs over the top of their shoulders, runs between their legs." And said, "We just have to get back there and kick her off the platform (See?), 'cause I can't let her up here without a prayer card, 'cause it'll cause a riot (You see?), 'cause them people's stood there that long waiting for a prayer card."” “A Greater Than Solomon Is Here” (62-0725).
So difficult had the problem of not giving enough prayer cards out become that William Branham even resorted to deceiving the woman into thinking that she received prayer from him for her baby by using his associate, Jack Moore, to pose as him instead, as follows,
“And brother Jack Moore (Many of you all may know him, from Shreveport, Louisiana, some of you might've heard him. He's a very fine man.), he was on the platform. And I said, "Brother Moore, that woman wouldn't know me. Go over and pray for the baby, wherever it is over there, and she'll never know the difference."
He said, "Okay, Brother Branham."” “A Greater Than Solomon Is Here” (62-0725).
“And I said, 'Well, Brother Jack, go down and pray for the baby.' I said, “She'd never know the difference between me and you.” And she just run under them men's legs and jump up on top of their backs, and walk with that dead baby. A little, pretty little girl, just about this high, maybe her first baby. And she looked to be in her twenties, very attractive girl. And so I said, 'Go pray for her, Brother Jack, because she'll never know who is who.' And me standing back there speaking through an interpreter, she wouldn't know whether I was the one praying for the sick, or he was.” “Influence” (63-1130B).
“Brother Jack Moore and I have a lot of things in common. I don’t want to say we
look alike, because he is such a handsome man. But one thing about Brother Moore,
we both part our hair the same way. [Brother Branham and congregation laugh—Ed.] We have a lot of things in common. I thought, “She never did know me,” had to let me down on some ropes and things, to get in. So I sent him down to pray for the little baby.
I thought, 'Well, they won’t, she’ll never know the difference.'” “Why?” (63-0626).
William Branham also claimed that the mother of the dead baby was so difficult that hundreds of ushers could not stop her. Like the numbers of people in attendance, he provided contradictory numbers of the ushers, as follows,
“And the little sister standing out there, a little Catholic girl with the baby in her arm, and three hundred ushers couldn't keep her off the platform.” “A Paradox” (62-0128A).
“Said, "We got around one hundred fifty--two hundred ushers standing there, and she just tears right on through them." And said, "We've throwed her off the platform three or four times." And said, "We just can't do nothing with her."” “Perseverance” (62-0520).
“I think of that little Mexican woman that night down there in Mexico, with that little, dead baby. You heard the story, in the Businessmen's.... Standing there, preaching, trying the second night. Billy come to me, said, 'Daddy, I've got better than six hundred ushers standing right there. They can't keep a little woman. Her baby died this morning at nine o'clock, a little Mexican woman.'” “A Super Sign” (62-0708).
From all of the above, it is evident that William Branham caused a significant problem in the meeting by limiting the prayer line to only about “fifteen or twenty” people who had a prayer card, regardless of how serious or critical the need was.
Even though he said the woman's baby had died, and he alleged that more people were raised from the dead through his ministry than Jesus Christ's, he refused to make any exception for the woman and pray for her child. Instead, he sought to appease the woman and make her feel like he actually prayed for her by sending Jack Moore to do so in his place. In other words, William Branham did not have any real interest in personally trying to help her, but only in stopping her from disrupting the meeting, as is also evident in these statements of his,
“I said, "Brother Jack, go over there and pray for her. She don't know me. So pray for that baby, and that'll stop her."” “A Paradox” (62-0128A).
In addition, he went so far as to suggest that the woman leave with the dead body and come back to have him pray for it the next night (24-hours later). He did so by telling his son, Billy Paul, to tell the woman come back “maybe tomorrow”, as follows,
“I said, "Well," I said, "just make her stay back, 'cause if she gets ahead that'll start every one of them doing that." And I said, "We can't do that. Tell her just get in line, maybe tomorrow. We're going to be here yet tomorrow. Give her a prayer card."” “Perseverant” (64-0305).
In the context of him refusing to seek God's intervention, but acting only with the intent to “stop” the woman and turn her away that night, William Branham led people to believe that the “Lord Jesus Christ” nevertheless came on the scene and showed him a “vision”, which
indicated that woman's baby would be returned to life. In his stories, William Branham even portrayed the “vision” as occurring at the precise moment that Jack Moore was going to pray for the woman (thereby forestalling the need for Jack Moore to act deceitfully and pose as William Branham), as follows,
“Brother Moore started down there, and I looked up and saw a vision. And there I seen a doctor shake his head and say to her, “The baby's dying.” And the baby actually had died. And that was the day before he told it.” “Shepherd Of The Sheepfold” (56-0403).
“And Brother Moore started down, and I looked out here in front of me, and a vision come of the little baby raising up.” “God Projecting His Love” (57-0806).
“And I said, "I was speaking about our Lord..." And I looked out, and I seen a little dark-faced Mexican baby standing before me, no teeth, just gooing and laughing. I--I looked again. I said, "Wait a minute, Brother Moore. Tell her to bring the baby here."”
“Perseverance” (62-0520).
“I said to Brother Moore, "You go down and pray for the baby," See? Sent Brother Moore down... And so, when Brother Moore started to go down, I looked out in front of me, and I saw a little baby--little Mexican baby setting before me, just gooing and laughing.
I said, "Wait, maybe I'd better go down."
And so the little blanket was wet. They brought her; and as soon as she come, she begin crying out, "Padre, padre."
I said, "Just a moment, lady." She couldn't speak English. And she had the baby under a blanket. Put my hands upon the little baby, and I said, "Lord Jesus, just a few moments ago You showed me a vision. Is this that little baby that You showed me? Been dead since that--this morning, and there it was sitting, laughing?" And when I begin to pray, the little fellow begin to kick and scream underneath that blanket. And I said, "Now, don't write it up till you go let the doctor sign the statement that the baby died this morning at nine o'clock." And he did.
Now, what is it? God is Life. He is Life, Eternal Life to those... Called back the spirit of that dead baby into that little fellow's body...” “Jesus Christ the Same Yesterday, and Today, and Forever” (61-0118).
As is evident above, William Branham persuaded people to believe that the baby was miraculously returned to life despite his apparent dishonesty and the conditions that were hostile and directly opposed to the mother.
Footnotes:
[4] William Branham's alleged reason for limiting the number of people in the prayer line to only about “fifteen or twenty” due to an existing language barrier is apparently untrue because he stated in two other sermons that he actually did
have an interpreter that night to bridge the language barrier, as follows,
“I said, "What's the matter?" Brother Espinosa interpreted. Her baby was dead, and she was standing there crying, tears, her little eyes swelled up, little mother.” “Perseverance” (62-0520).
“And me standing back there speaking through an interpreter, she wouldn't know whether I was the one praying for the sick, or he was.” “Influence” (63-1130B).
[5] “A little Mexican woman that morning took her little baby to a doctor, just barely breathing, pneumonia choked into
its lungs. While she was in the office, the little baby ceased to breathe. The doctor put the pulmotor on him, and he
couldn't bring it back. It was dead, nine o'clock that morning. Told the mother, said, "We'd take it back..."
She said, "No, I'm going to keep the baby." And she put it in her arms and run home.” “Perseverance” (62-0520).
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William Branham claimed he had “doctor's statements”, which certify the deaths of all five people who were raised from the dead through his ministry:
As is evident below, William Branham specifically claimed that he had a doctor's statement, which certified that the baby in Mexico City had died at nine o'clock that morning,
“And the little baby, under a wet quilt (been standing there since that morning), the doctor pronounced it dead. Now, we got the doctor's statement of it, that pronounced it dead that morning at nine o'clock and then, this was that night, nearly midnight. And I, just according to what the vision said, I went, laid hands on the little baby. There it was, alive. The doctor give testimony.” “The Restoration of the Bride Tree” (62-0422).
“And the doctor signed the statement that he pronounced the baby dead at nine o'clock that morning. At eleven o'clock that night it was alive. I prayed for it there after seeing a vision, and prayed and laid hands on the little baby before about . . . oh, fifty or seventy-five thousand people. And the little baby began kicking and screaming, and come to life and is alive today, so far as I know. The doctor signed a statement by it.
And so that's about five times that I've seen such done. And so the man said to me, 'I am going to look this up to see if that's right.'
I said, 'I'll save you the trouble. Here's the doctor's statement.'”
“Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever” (61-0516A).
William Branham also claimed that doctors wrote statements, which certify the deaths of
all five people who were allegedly raised from the dead through his ministry, as follows,
“The God that I seen bring the dead back, after being dead for hours; the doctor pronounced “dead,” and write a statement to it, five different times.” “Awakening Jesus” (63-0117).
Notwithstanding all of his claims above, there apparently is not a single “doctor's statement” in existence that certifies that all five people were dead before he prayed for them, as he claimed.
Peter M. Duyzer confirms that the “five death certificates” do not exist:
A former follower of William Branham by the name of Peter M. Duyzer published a book in 2014 entitled, “The Legend of the Fall”, which identifies the unsubstantiated nature of William Branham's claims that five people were raised from the dead through his ministry, as follows,
Five Death Certificates
“Raising the Dead is one thing that WMB claimed to have done about five times and stated he had the death-certificates to prove it. In his booklet Sirs, Is This The Time, WMB stated, “[T]here was only three people raised from the dead by Jesus Christ, and we have on record (doctor’s record) five.”850
Around 1973, Ed Byskal, together with this author, was holding meetings in Lima, Ohio. Billy Paul Branham, his sister Rebekah and his stepmother, Mrs. Meda Broy Branham, attended. This author asked Billy Paul to see the five death certificates. Billy Paul replied, “Well, Brother Peter, I lent them out to someone, and I can’t remember who.” Dr. Doug Weaver told this author that he too had asked Billy Paul to see the death-certificates and received a similar response. How can such important documentation get lost? There were no certified copies made? The originals are all lost and people are just asked to believe all this?
To what extent are William Branham’s major claims of healing supported by Scripture and by reality? The major cases of Congressman Upshaw, Florence Nightingale Shirlaw, King George VI, Donny Morton and the young boy from Finland, and others, can neither be supported by WMB’s messages, nor by reality.”
Conclusions:
Although William Branham led people to believe that his prayer meetings were led by the Holy Spirit, the confusion and problems that resulted from the prayer line being limited to only “fifteen or twenty” people is certainly antithetic to how people were prayed for and healed in the Bible. Therein, it is apparent that Divine healing was not dependent on having prayer cards and no one was ever excluded from prayer because there were not enough of them. The confusion, potential riot and intended deceitful action above certainly were not the result of God or the Holy Spirit leading the meeting, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
As is the case with William Branham's other claims of supernatural events in his ministry, there apparently is no evidence to substantiate his claims that the baby boy in Mexico was
raised from the dead. In addition, there apparently is not a single eyewitness who ever independently verified that such a supernatural event occurred.
Moreover, it is doubtful that it ever happened because the stories he told of four other people raising from the dead are comprised of many false, misleading and contradictory claims, as is evident on the webpages at the following links:
“Boy Raised from the Dead in Finland”
“Edmund Way Raised from the Dead”
“Hartford Woman Raised from the Dead”
“Hattie Waldrop Raised from the Dead”
All of his claims that he made about the baby boy in Mexico during the years 1956-1964 can be viewed here.