“Boy Raised from the Dead in Finland”
Among William Branham's most significant claims were the ones he made about a boy being raised from the dead when he and the four other men pictured here were in Finland during a missionary trip in April of 1950.
They were Jack Moore (top left), Gordon Lindsay (top right), Ern Baxter (bottom left) and his brother Howard Branham (bottom right).[1]
He claimed that the “angel of the Lord” showed him a “vision” two years before the trip, which foretold a boy being killed in an accident and being returned to life after he prayed for him, as follows,
“One morning at about 3 A.M., I was awakened out of my sleep to find that the angel of the Lord was in the room to show me a vision. By the spirit I was transported in the vision to a scene where an accident had just happened. I saw that a little boy of about eight or ten years of age had been killed. He had light brown hair and his clothes looked very ragged and torn. Some men were taking the child to a hospital or funeral home.
It was at that moment that the angel of the Lord told me to kneel and pray that the child's life would return to him. That I did, and life was restored and he lived. Now this vision is to come to pass in the future. I have told it to hundreds of people all the way from Canada to Florida. Many have written it on the fly-leaf of their Bible.”[2]
Even though the alleged “vision” foretold tragedy to just one young boy, William Branham later claimed it was fulfilled when two young boys experienced tragedy as he and his party traveled through Kuopio, Finland.
He claimed that they witnessed two young boys being struck by a shabby old, green, two door 1935 model Ford that was traveling “sixty or seventy miles per hour” around a bend on a cobblestone road (close to the 75 mph maximum speed of that car.)[3]
In June of 1950, his first known story about the incident was published on page M of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here, Therein, he specifically stated that one of the two young boys was killed and returned to life after he prayed for him in their car, but they did not know that the other boy had been struck by the car until they arrived at the hospital, as follows,
“Brother Jack Moore picked him up and brought him back into the car with us. We saw that he was dead. I looked at the little boy and thought I recognized him. Then I remembered that he was the little boy I had seen in the vision, who was eight or ten years old, with light brown hair and who was poorly dressed. I held him to my body and began to pray. Suddenly his life came back to him.”
Arriving at the hospital, we were surprised to learn that the car had struck another little boy, and had knocked him to the other side of the road. We had not seen him because he was hidden from our view, and another car had picked him up and rushed him to the hospital. After two days he was still unconscious.”
However, he directly contradicted his claim that they did not know the other boy had been struck by the car until they arrived at the hospital by stating the following,
“And well, we stopped. Brother Gordon Lindsay, Brother Hall's brother-in-law, was along, Brother Ern Baxter, and Brother Jack Moore, and several of the brethren; and we stopped. And Mrs. Isaacson; she may be right in this meeting tonight; she lives out in here somewhere. Are you here, Sister Isaacson? She was my Finnish interpreter. And so, they got out of the car to look at the little boy and come back. We'd seen an accident had happened. They come back and they said… I said, "What was it?" They said, "Oh, come out and look, Brother Branham. It's a little boy was killed. There was another one killed too; they done–they done taken him to the hospital."” “From That Time” (60-0716).
“And on my road down I seen where a American-made automobile had struck two little children, hit one under the chin and knocked him over against the tree, and crushed his brain against the tree—the fender. And the other one ... run right over the other little boy and rolled him up under, and he kicked him way out across the road, and he was laying dead, with some coats over him.” “The Presence Of The Lord Jesus” (55-0612).
“We got in the cars and started down the hill. As I looked off over the mountain, I seen people running way down, many miles, and I seen a car turned over. I said, “There must be an accident.” So about twenty minutes later, we came to the accident. Some of my brethren, Mr. Moore, Mr. Lindsay, and many of them, they got out of the car, and they looked what had happened. Two little boys, one about nine, one about five, had started to cross the road, and an American-made Ford had—had come around the bend real fast.
If any of you have ever been to Finland, if any of you has ever visit Finland, there’s very few cars. They’re very poor people, but very fine people, real Christians, devout.
And I noticed, and one little boy, when they started to separate, the car turned sideways to the right side of the road, and the fender hit one little boy under the chin, and threw him across the road, and slammed him up against a tree, and there he dropped. The other little boy went—went under the car, and the car rolled him up, and kicked his little body way up in the air, and he fell over in a grass patch. So they had taken the first little boy, he was breathing, they took him to the hospital. And so the other little boy they had laying there, and they—they had a coat over him.” “Sir, We Would See Jesus” (55-0828E).
In addition, his claim that they did not know that the other boy had been struck by the car until after they arrived at the hospital is further contradicted by Jack Moore, who stated that both boys appeared to be dead when they arrived on the scene of the accident, as follows,
“On our way down from this mountain we witnessed a sickening sight. A car just in front of us ran over two little school boys about 10 or 11 years old, knocking them down and out. The car left the road. We stopped our car and looked upon the terrible scene. Both boys appeared to be dead, lying perfectly still.”[4]
Thus, it is evident from all of the above that William Branham actually knew that both boys had been struck by the car and were in serious condition, but he apparently decided to pray for only one of them. (There is no known account of him praying for both boys at the time. In addition, the parents of the boy who he said was “thrown across the road” and “slammed against a tree” were upset that he did not show similar regard for their son, as is evident below.)
Footnotes:
[1] Although Ern Baxter and William Branham's brother, Howard, were part of the missionary trip, William Branham said they were not at the scene of the accident,
“Quite a while, a few minutes, fifteen minutes before we got to the scene. The little boy was laid out, dead. Brother and them went over there and looked at him. I couldn't look at the child. It--it just...
Brother Lindsay came back. Many of you know Brother Gordon Lindsay. Brother Baxter, I don't think... No, he wasn't at the scene. Brother Baxter never went up with us. He was taking a walk, he and my brother. And when I got there, I...Brother Lindsay come back crying. Brother Moore come back crying, Sister Isaacson, the interpreter...”
“Who Hath Believed Our Report?” (51-0719).
[2] June, 1950, “Special Branham Overseas Edition” of “The Voice of Healing”, page M, here.
[3] “Three Witnesses” (51-0728), “At Thy Word” (51-0928), “Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203), “Sir, We Would See Jesus” (55-0828E).
[4] See Jack Moore's testimony on Page 8 of the June 1950 issue of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
William Branham's contradictory claims of where he saw the “vision”:
William Branham contradicted himself further by claiming that he saw the aforesaid “vision” in at least three different locations.
As is evident in his statements below, which are published on page M of the June 1950 special edition of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here, he claimed he saw the “vision” after being awakened out of his sleep and finding the “angel of the Lord” in the room,
“One morning at about 3 A.M., I was awakened out of my sleep to find that the angel of the Lord was in the room to show me a vision. By the spirit I was transported in the vision to a scene where an accident had just happened. I saw that a little boy of about eight or ten years of age had been killed. He had light brown hair and his clothes looked very ragged and torn. Some men were taking the child to a hospital or funeral home.”
He directly contradicted himself by also claiming that he saw the “vision” while riding on a train from Georgia to Florida, just after he left his mother's house, as follows,
“The first It came to me I was on a train. Just left my mothers house, was going to Miami, Florida, to have a meeting there in a tent. I was going to help out, there's back about three years ago, I guess, something like that. A minister was there holding tent meeting; I went to stay with him for two nights. And on the road down I had a vision of a little boy. Now, watch your Bible here, of a little boy that would be about eight years old, and the little boy would have a boyish, a little bobbed like hair and dressed very poorly. And his little.... Was going to have an accident, and his little foot would be run through his sock. He had on, very odd dressed child. I said, “He'd be killed in an accident. And he will be laying by the side of the road dead when I find him. But the Lord God is going to give him his life back again.” And I made that statement at the platform before about seven thousand people that night.” “At Thy Word” (51-0928).
“When I was up.... Just by the way, the vision that really led that great meeting in Finland just recently; that vision come when I was in Georgia, passing here on a train. I seen a little boy being raised from the dead. I went down in Miami and there predicted it before thousands of people.” “The Presence Of The Lord Jesus” (55-0612).
“I knelt down just the way the vision told me, and prayed for the little lad, and said, 'Lord God of heavens and earth, over in the homelands, You showed me this vision while passing through Georgia one night.'” “The Presence Of The Lord Jesus” (55-0612).
He further contradicted himself by claiming God showed him the “vision” while he was in Florida (not Georgia), as follows,
“And I said, "Heavenly Father, over in the homelands of America, You showed me this little boy in Florida, about two and a half years ago. And You give me the vision, and all these things were just exactly the way You said they would be.” “Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203).
“And so I was, had a vision in Miami, Florida, and many of you people here tonight probably have this wrote in your Bible. And I seen a real hilly country, and a little boy was killed by an accident. And he was about eight or ten years old; he had a funny cut hair, brown eyes, fat face, and very poorly dressed. And he was run over or something; he was all disfigured up. And I seen the Lord Jesus send His angel and bring the life back to that boy. “Three Witnesses” (51-0728).
William Branham's contradictory claims of where he was when he prayed for the boy and life returned to him:
As is evident below, William Branham's claims varied so significantly that he portrayed himself as being in entirely different locations when he prayed for the boy and life returned to him. His claims of where the events occurred are not only contradicted by his own stories, but they are contradicted by the testimonies of Jack Moore and Finnish pastor Vilho Soininen, which follow.
In William Branham's first known story of the boy being raised from the dead in the June 1950 special edition of “The Voice of Healing” magazine on page M here, he specifically stated that Brother Jack Moore brought the Finnish boy back into the car with them. It was there William Branham said he prayed for the boy and life came back to him. As he states therein,
“Brother Jack Moore picked him up and brought him back into the car with us. We saw that he was dead. I looked at the little boy and thought I recognized him. Then I remembered that he was the little boy I had seen in the vision, who was eight or ten years old, with light brown hair and who was poorly dressed. I held him to my body and began to pray. Suddenly his life came back to him.”
In 1950, Jack Moore likewise stated that the boy was carried into the car where William Branham prayed for him and he returned to life. Jack Moore did so in his eyewitness account below, which was published on Page 8 of the June 1950 issue of, “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
“On our way down from this mountain we witnessed a sickening sight. A car just in front of us ran over two little school boys about 10 or 11 years old, knocking them down and out. The car left the road. We stopped our car and looked upon the terrible scene. Both boys appeared to be dead, lying perfectly still. We hurried to pick up one and another car carried the other. As I lifted the lifeless form into the back seat where Bro. Branham and Sister Isaacson were sitting, I knew that it was too late to help... his pulse was gone. But as we drove on towards the city, we lifted hearts and voices in prayer, and after a bit we heard Bro. Branham say, "His pulse is beating again."... And I immediately remembered the vision he told us about in Miami, Fla., of a little boy being raised from the dead. He hadn't known when or where it would be, but he knew what the little boy would look like. By the time we reached the hospital, the little fellow had regained consciousness and was crying. He was soon sent home, and the other boy is well on the way to recovery. Bro. Branham had a vision about him and said he would live.”
Pastor Vilho Soininen of Kuopio, Finland also stated that the boy was carried into their car where William Branham prayed for him and he returned to life. He did so in his eyewitness account below, which was published on pages 173-175 of the 1950 book of Gordon Lindsay, “William Branham: A Man Sent From God” here.
“On Friday afternoon a remarkable and startling incident took place which meant much to Brother Branham and to those of us who happened to be its witnesses. Three carloads of us made an unforgettable trip to nearby Puijo Observation Tower situated on a beautiful scenic elevation. The outing was one of the most precious I can remember, because of the blessing of God upon us. Then as we were returning from Puijo, a terrible accident occurred. A car ahead was unable to avoid striking two small boys, who ran out into the street in front of it, throwing one down on the sidewalk, and the other five yards away into a field. One unconscious boy was carried into a car just ahead of us and the other, Kari Holma, was lifted into our car and placed in the arms of Brother Branham and Miss Isaacson who were sitting in the back seat. Brothers Moore and Lindsay were in the front seat with me.
As we hurried to the hospital, I asked through Miss Isaacson, the interpreter, how the boy was. Brother Branham, with his finger on the boy's pulse, answered that the boy seemed to be dead, since the pulse did not beat at all. Then Brother Branham placed his hand over the boy's heart and realized that it was not functioning. He further checked the boy's respiration and could detect no breath.
Then he knelt down on the floor of the car and began to pray. Brothers Lindsay and Moore joined in prayer, too, that the Lord would have mercy. As we neared the hospital, about five or six minutes later, I glanced back, and to my surprise, the boy opened his eyes. As we carried the boy into the hospital, he began to cry, and I realized that a miracle had taken place.
The other boy had been brought in a little earlier and was still unconscious. As I was taking my guests back to their hotel, Brother Branham said to me, 'Do not worry! The boy, who was in our car, will surely live.'
At that time Brother Branham had no assurance that the other boy would live, but on Sunday evening he assured me on the basis of a vision which he had seen early Sunday morning, that he, too, would live. At the exact time that Brother Branham was telling me this at his hotel, the boy lay dying at the hospital. The boy, who was in my car, Kari, was dismissed from the hospital in just three days.”
Despite William Branham, Jack Moore, and Vilho Soininen all stating in 1950 that the miracle took place in their car on the way to the hospital, William Branham told many contradictory stories in the years that followed of it happening outside their car at the accident scene. As is evident in them below, he even went so far as to allege that the boy returned to life and jumped to his feet in front of hundreds of people at the accident scene.
In the story he told on July 19, 1951, he claimed that they were all outside gathered around the dead boy when he prayed for him and the boy screamed and jumped on his feet, as follows,
I said, "Brother Moore, look in your Bible."
Said, "What do you mean?"
I said, "Look on the fly leaf, you and Brother Lindsay. THUS SAITH THE LORD, there's the boy that I seen in America. That boy will be alive in a few minutes." You'll never know how you feel when you know where you're standing. That's right.
Said, "Is that the boy?" Brother Moore looked over the fly leaf in his Bible where many... I asked hundreds and hundreds of people to write it in there. He said, "Brother Branham, that's the description exactly."
I said, "That's the boy." All right. They gathered, knelt down. I said, "O Eternal God, way in my homelands in America, one night You visit me and showed me this rocky country and this little boy. And here he lays here dead, waiting for his father and mother to come to hear this sad news." I said, "You Who separated me from my mother's womb and sent me to see these visions, now, Almighty God, speak; and death, you go hold him, I call for his life in the Name of Jesus Christ Who showed the vision."
And the little boy screamed, jumped on his feet, and is as normal and well as anybody there is setting in the building here tonight. That touch came in like a streak of fire.
“Who Hath Believed Our Report?” (51-0719).
On July 28, 1951, William Branham also claimed that they were all outside gathered around the dead boy when he prayed for him and the boy jumped to his feet,
I said, “Now, I remember, I knelt to this side in the vision when I prayed.” You have to do just as you seen it. And I knelt down; they all gathered around. I said, “Now, watch, 'Thus saith the Spirit of God,' this boy's life will return to him.”
And there he'd been dead; they'd taken his pulse and everything; he was gone. So, and all mashed up like that. And I knelt down and I said, “Heavenly Father, many thousands of miles across the sea in that lovely nation where I come from, America,” I said, “down there that night when You moved into that room in that lovely place and told me that this would be; and I testified of it and stood and said that You'd bring it to pass. And now, Thy servant sees the day that is to be fulfilled.” I said, “I thank Thee, heavenly Father, for the power of vision, and I thank Thee for all Your goodness. And now, Eternal God, Author of life and giver of all good gifts, I ask You to bless this scene with Your presence.”
And when the Angel of the Lord begin to move down, I said, “Oh, holder of this boy's spirit, death, according to a vision that God has already showed that you cannot hold this child; therefore, I call for his little soul to return to him in the name of Jesus Christ.”
And no more than I said that, the boy jumped to his feet just as normal and well as he could be, just as perfect and normal and whole as he could be. That's wrote throughout Finland, everywhere; its scattered abroad to I tell you. That was in the evening time; the other boy, I'll get it tomorrow night. “Three Witnesses” (51-0728).
Then on June 7, 1953, William Branham contradicted the 1950 stories further by claiming that they were all outside the car where the people all had to be quieted before everyone knelt down to pray and the boy “raised up” and was “screaming and jumping, and running all over the place.”
I said, “Now you all make them keep quiet.” And so they begin to quieten them. And I said, “Way over in the homeland, the Lord has spoke a vision that this boy was going to be raised up. We've got it written on the flyleaf of our Bibles.”
They interpreted out. And I heard some of them kind of laughing at one another, like that. No wonder; the boy had been laying there thirty minutes—dead.
I said, “If it isn't so, then you call me a false prophet.”
So, we knelt down, had the people bow their heads. I said, “Heavenly Father, You who told me this, You are a true and living God. And I know that Your words will not fail. And there, I ask You, Lord, to confirm Your word to Your servant. And this is the boy that You said shall rise. So, therefore, 'Death, let him loose.'” And the boy raised up, screaming and jumping, and running all over the place. “A Testimony” (53-0607E).
On December 3, 1953, William Branham not only claimed that they were outside the car, but that he told the people they could “pin a sign” on his back “as a false prophet” if the boy wasn't “alive in the next few minutes.” He also claimed that all of the “Finns” were “screaming and carrying on” after the boy raised from the dead (and not just the boy as he claimed previously),
They said, "You mean he's going to live?"
I said, "If that boy isn't alive in the next few minutes, you pin a sign on my back as a false prophet." I said, "That's the boy, and he's going to live."
Said, "How can he live? Look at him mashed up."
I said, "You see if he doesn't live." I said, "Make every one be quiet now." They wanted to get him up. I said, "I know just how the Lord told me to kneel." I knelt to pray for this little lad. And I said, "Heavenly Father, over in the homelands of America, You showed me this little boy in Florida, about two and a half years ago. And You give me the vision, and all these things were just exactly the way You said they would be. And now, as Your servant, I act in Your place, that You said, 'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. As freely as you receive, freely give.' Then acting upon Your Word and upon Your spoken Word by a vision, I say to death that holds this child, 'You can't hold him any longer. Turn him loose in the Name of Jesus Christ.'"
The boy jumped to his feet like that and began screaming and running as hard as he could, and all them Finns standing there all the screaming and carrying on, you never heard in all your life. That little boy jumped up, didn't know what had happened, run around. “Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203).
On August 28, 1955, William Branham changed the story further to include the following two “Thus Saith the Lord” proclamations,
I said, “Looky there. Look at these trees.” I said, “That’s the boy that I saw two years ago.” I said, “THUS SAITH THE LORD, if this little boy isn’t on his feet alive in five minutes, then I’m a false prophet.” Oh, my. I said, “Stand still.” And I told the audience. They didn’t believe it. I could see them touching one another. And so they made…
The interpreter was telling me what they were saying. Said, “Now we know he’s a fanatic.” But that didn’t stop it.
I turned around, just the way the Lord told me, and I said, “Heavenly Father, You Who cannot lie, in the homeland two years ago, You showed me this boy. And You showed me he was to come to life.” I said, “O God, now hear the prayer of Your servant. And death, you can’t hold him any longer. Give him back his life, for THUS SAITH THE LORD, he shall live again.” And the boy screamed, jumped on his feet, not even a bit sick or nothing, just as perfect as he could be. “Sir, We Would See Jesus” (55-0828E).
Despite William Branham, Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen all asserting in 1950 that the dead boy was brought into and returned to life inside their car, William Branham also claimed on April 21, 1956 that he was not only outside the car, but that he fixed himself, “the way it was in the vision”, as follows,
I said, "If that child," through the interpreter; I said, "If that child isn't on his feet, alive in the next five minutes, I'm a false prophet. Now, stand still now and see the glory of God."
I fixed myself in position, the way it was in the vision. I said, "Heavenly Father, You Who has now promised this over in the homelands two years before, and has brought this to pass... Now, being that all the communist are around, and they're denying Your only Son; and as Thou has foreordained this to be, and has showed me this vision in the homeland; therefore, I ask for his spirit to return again in the Name of Jesus Christ."
The little boy leaped to his feet, and screamed, begin to running all around just as perfectly normal and well as he could be. “What Visions Are” (56-0421).
In the following excerpt from the story William Branham told on January 27, 1957, he also specifically claimed that there were hundreds of people standing around the little dead boy and the boy not only raised and leaped to his feet, but was praising God,
I feel just like it was that day when that, after two years, that little boy in Finland was supposed to be raised from the dead. How many of you read the story? Standing around the little dead boy laying there, hundreds standing around, and I said, “THUS SAITH THE LORD. I saw a vision of that baby, and five minutes from now he will be on his feet, or I’m a false prophet.” There he raised and leaped to his feet, praising God, living yet today. He’s Christ. He can’t die, and remain Christ. “Blind Bartimaeus” (57-0127E).
Then on January 12, 1958, his story changed further from praying for the deceased boy in their car to praying for him “before five hundred people”, as follows,
There before five hundred people I could, surely, with the assurance that God keeps His Word, could say to them, “It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD; that little boy will be on his feet a living in the next five minutes.” There was everything that the Lord had showed in the vision two years before, which many of you still have it in your Bibles. Something foretold that would come to pass, the grace of God to us. And then when praying for the little lad, and his bones broken… He was thrown thirty feet in the air, after he’d been rolled under the wheels and slammed into the middle of the street, with his blood from his mouth, his ears, his eyes set, and no heartbeat for over thirty minutes. In five minutes time the little lad was jumping and racing around, praising God. It was the Presence of the Lord upon the hill, saying, “Something’s fixing to happen.” “His Wonders To Perform” (58-0112A).
On July 16, 1960, he changed his story from “there were five hundred people” to “three hundred people” who were standing at the scene with “Brother Moore and them.” He also changed his claim that he told the people that they could “pin a sign on him as a false prophet” to “you can take me out of Finland” if the boy wasn't alive in five minutes,
I looked back again, and they'd done covered his little face up. And there was about three hundred people standing there. . . .
So I said, "I know the boy." And Brother Moore and them standing there. I said, "Look in your Bibles, Brother Lindsay, on the fly leaf…" You know what I asked you people (when I come through here, was Portland there) to it write on the fly leaf of your Bible. I seen it on a train going to Florida. And I said, "I wrote… I said, 'THUS SAITH THE LORD, a little boy (described how he looked) would be raised from the dead.'"
And he looked on the fly leaf of the Bible, and Brother Moore said, "That's the boy."
I said, "That's him." I said, "Now…" And I told all the people (I had Mrs. Isaacson) I said, "Now, tell them, 'Be reverent.'" I said, "If this little boy isn't on the scene alive in five minutes from now, then you can take me out of Finland; I'm a false prophet." See? I said, "The little boy's going to rise up from the dead right now." Been dead about thirty minutes.
And so… Was waiting for the father and mother, and I was thinking how they must have feel–how they would feel to come to see their little boy crushed and laying on the road like that. His little tongue was hanging the side of his mouth, blood running out of his ears, and everything. So, I knelt down just the way the vision showed, laid hands on the little boy, and as soon as I laid hands on him, I said, "Heavenly Father, in America ten years ago, You promised me the life of this child, that it would rise again." Now, death cannot hold it when that vision's speaking." I said, "Death, return his life in the Name of Jesus Christ."
The little boy jumped up and screamed…?… his foot. He was just as normal and well as any child could ever be. “From That Time” (60-0716).
On December 30, 1962, William Branham changed his story further to include the following claim that “people got to fainting” after the little boy raised up,
I said, “Death, you can't hold him any longer; God has spoken! Come back; give him up!” And the little boy raised up and looked around like that; the people got to fainting and everything. “Absolute” (62-1230M).
It is important to note that all of William Branham's claims of the deceased boy jumping up, running and screaming at the accident scene are completely contradicted by Pastor Vilho Soininen's testimony in which he specifically made it known that it wasn't until they “neared the hospital” that the boy opened his eyes,
“As we neared the hospital, about five or six minutes later, I glanced back, and to my surprise, the boy opened his eyes. As we carried the boy into the hospital, he began to cry, and I realized that a miracle had taken place.”[5]
Jack Moore's testimony is consistent with that testimony of Pastor Soininen since it too makes it known that the boy regained consciousness by the time they reach the hospital,
“By the time we reached the hospital, the little fellow had regained consciousness and was crying.”[6]
Footnotes:
[5] Lindsay, Gordon. “William Branham: A Man Sent From God”, (1950), p. 174, which can be viewed here.
[6] “The Voice of Healing” (June 1950), p. 8, which can be viewed here.
William Branham's claims about the other boy who was struck by the car:
Additional unbelievable aspects of William Branham's claims, which are related to the other “little boy”, are found in the subsequent part of his story on page M of the June 1950 special edition of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
In that story, it is further evident that he initially prayed only for the boy who appeared dead and not for the other boy who was first brought to the hospital. Therein, he even makes it known that the other boy's parents were upset that he did not show similar regard for their child, as follows,
“But with sadness the other parents looked at me and said, "What about our boy? Is he going to live?" I replied that I could not say. But they answered, "You have told the other parents that their boy would live; can't you say something for our boy?" But I said that I could say nothing until the Lord showed me. Then they began to weep.”[7]
Therein, William Branham's apparent additional excuse or reason for failing to offer assistance to their boy was that he and his party did not know that he had also been struck by the car “because he was hidden from their view.” However, the statements of his, Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen above from 1950 directly contradict that excuse or reason because they reflect that all three men actually knew the serious state of both boys at the accident scene.
(As Jack Moore stated, “Both boys appeared to be dead, lying perfectly still.”)
William Branham claimed that the “vision” the “angel of the Lord” showed him two years prior showed tragedy occurring to only one boy. Thus, the alleged “vision” did not provide the true or full picture of what actually would occur. And since only one boy was represented in the “vision”, William Branham apparently had no interest in praying for the other boy when
the accident happened even though he was gravely injured. (As is evident on the last page below, none of his contradictory prayers contained any request for God to help that boy. There is also no indication that he ever prayed for the boy in the aforesaid testimonies of Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen.)
Because the other boy was not included in the original “vision”, William Branham
apparently believed that the boy could not be healed as a result of prayer and faith alone, but only if God showed him a second “vision.”
In that regard, he stated that he made the following known to his interpreter after the boy was already in the hospital,
“I then said to Sister Isaacson, "I can do nothing until God shows me what to do. That is what Jesus said in John 5:19. I can only pray."”[8]
So detrimental was it for the boy to have not received the same benefit of a “vision” and prayer like the first boy, that he worsened and nearly died the next day. As William Branham stated,
“The report came from the hospital the next day that he was just barely alive, and life seemed to he going fast.”[9]
Despite the boy being near death the next day, William Branham claimed it was not until the following evening that the “angel of the Lord” reappeared to him and showed him the necessary second “vision”, as follows,
“The following evening, after returning from the service, I was in my hotel room. The angel of the Lord came into my room. Before me were placed two Easter flowers, one leaning to the south and another to the north. That is just the way the boys' bodies fell when the car struck them. The one toward the north was the one they took up dead, and the Lord healed. The other one to the south was the smaller lad, who was still unconscious these three days. Then the flower toward the north sprang up at once. strong and alive, but the other one toward the south was fading away and dying fast. The angel made me to understand that the vision represented the two boys. Then he showed me two pieces of candy which had just been given me before I came into the room. The angel said, "Take one piece and eat it." I did, and it tasted good. Then he said to me, "Take the other piece." But the second piece did not taste just right, and 1 started to take it from my mouth. But the angel seemed to say, "If you do that the other boy will die." So I quickly ate the other piece. Then the flower was alive again in the other vision.”[10]
Thus, it became clear that the second boy would live and not die because William Branham ate the second piece of candy.
William Branham even went on to assert that the dying boy had ultimately awakened from his unconscious condition at the same exact time the angel visited him and showed him the “vision” of himself eating the second piece of candy, as follows,
“So this vision also shall come to pass. The boy shall live." Sister May Isaacson, the interpreter, tried to call the parents of the boy and tell them what 1 had said, but they had gone to the hospital, for it had been told them that the boy was dying. But when they arrived at the hospital, they discovered that something had happened. The lad had awakened out of his unconscious condition. When they reported this to Sister May, she asked, ''What time did this happen?" They said, "While we were watching for him to take his last breath, he suddenly became conscious. It was 10 o'clock at the time." When the doctors examined the boy, they reported that he would be all right. After checking the time of the vision, I found that it was just 10 o'clock when the angel of the Lord had come into my room. The boy is now home, healthy and happy. All praise to the power of Jesus' Name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!”[11]
However, his claims that the boy regained consciousness when the angel of the Lord had come into his room are directly contradicted by Vilho Soininen's testimony below, which states that “the boy lay dying at the hospital” at “the exact time that Brother Branham” told him that he saw a vision that the boy would live.
“At that time Brother Branham had no assurance that the other boy would live, but on Sunday evening he assured me on the basis of a vision which he had seen early Sunday morning, that he, too, would live. At the exact time that Brother Branham was telling me this at his hotel, the boy lay dying at the hospital. However, according to the statement of the doctor, that night there was a change for the better, although on the 28th of April as I write this, he still occasionally lapses into unconsciousness. (A later statement received declared that the boy had fully recovered.)”[12]
In addition, William Branham's claims that he saw the “vision” in the evening are directly contradicted by Vilho Soininen's testimony above, which states that William Branham told him that he saw it “early Sunday morning.”
Footnotes:
[7] See page M of the June 1950 "Special Branham Overseas Edition" of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Lindsay, Gordon. “William Branham: A Man Sent From God”, (1950), p. 174, which can be viewed here.
How William Branham contradicted his, Moore's and Soininen's stories of the “dead boy” being placed into their car and taken to the hospital:
In the stories that William Branham, Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen first told in 1950, all three men asserted that they removed the boy from the accident scene and brought him to the hospital.
William Branham did so by stating,
“Brother Jack Moore picked him up and brought him back into the car with us. We saw that he was dead. . . .
Arriving at the hospital, we were surprised to learn that the car had struck another little boy,”[13]
Jack Moore did so by stating,
“We stopped our car and looked upon the terrible scene. Both boys appeared to be dead, lying perfectly still. We hurried to pick up one and another car carried the other. As I lifted the lifeless form into the back seat where Bro. Branham and Sister Isaacson were sitting, I knew that it was too late to help... his pulse was gone. . . .
By the time we reached the hospital, the little fellow had regained consciousness and was crying.”[14]
and Vilho Soininen did so by stating,
“One unconscious boy was carried into a car just ahead of us and the other, Kari Holma, was lifted into our car and placed in the arms of Brother Branham and Miss Isaacson who were sitting in the back seat. Brothers Moore and Lindsay were in the front seat with me.
As we hurried to the hospital, I asked through Miss Isaacson, the interpreter, how the boy was.”[15]
Despite all three men stating in 1950 that they removed the boy from the accident scene and brought him to the hospital, William Branham later asserted in contradictory fashion that
the boy was dead and therefore could not be removed from the accident scene without orders from both the undertaker and the boy's parents, as follows,
“They had the coat over the baby; they couldn't move it. The law in Finland, the parents had to come there first and give orders to move the baby. And they went the country, and I was thinking, "How that father and mother is going to feel now when they come in and that little boy laying there dead. Out of the… come from their field from working."
“Do You Now Believe?” (53-1106).
“The doctor wouldn't have nothing to do with that, because he was dead. And the undertaker had to give the orders to take him in.
But before they could do it, a law there is, that the parents had to have something to do with it. And they went out into the fields in the country to get the parents.”
“Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203).
“This little boy was laying there and he... [Blank.spot.on.tape—Ed.] They can't move him because it's against the law to move him until the parents is looked at him; and they're gone for the mother and father.” “What Visions Are” (56-0421).
Even though William Branham said it was illegal to remove the dead boy from the accident scene without orders from the undertaker and the boy's parents, he stated in another story that he agreed to do so,
“So, they waited a little while. And they wanted to know if we would take them to the undertakers morgue. Somebody picked the other one up before we got there, and had taken it to the hospital. It was still alive, but this one was dead.
So, I said, “Well, we'll have to put him here in the back seat.” So, I said, “Well, I'll get out.” “A Testimony” (53-0607E).
There clearly is no indication from William Branham in any of his stories from 1951-1965 here that the undertaker and boy's parents actually arrived at the scene and issued the necessary orders so that he and his party could remove the boy and take him to the hospital.[16]
Thus, the first stories that William Branham, Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen told in 1950, which specifically state that they removed the boy from the accident scene, have them removing the boy illegally from the scene without the needed orders.
Notwithstanding, all of William Branham's stories after 1950 in which he portrayed the boy as being prayed for and returned to life at the accident scene are all contradictory to the initial stories of the boy being prayed for and returned to life in the car.
Footnotes:
[13] See page M of the June 1950 "Special Branham Overseas Edition" of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
[14] See Page 8 of the June 1950 issue of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here.
[15] See pages 173-175 of the 1950 book of Gordon Lindsay, “William Branham: A Man Sent From God” here.
[16] In those stories, William Branham only made claims such as, “they went out into the fields in the country to get the parents”, but portrayed the boy as being prayed for and returning to life at the accident scene without them actually needing the undertaker and boy's parents. See WMB's sermon, “Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203) for the aforesaid statements of his.
William Branham's contradictory claims about Ern Baxter:
As is evident on Page 8 of the June 1950 issue of “The Voice of Healing” magazine here, William Branham's associate, Ern Baxter, was part of his missionary group in Finland.
In 1951, William Branham claimed, however; that Ern Baxter was not at the scene of the accident because he was taking a walk with his brother, as follows,
“The little boy was laid out, dead. Brother and them went over there and looked at him. I couldn't look at the child. It--it just...Brother Lindsay came back. Many of you know Brother Gordon Lindsay. Brother Baxter, I don't think... No, he wasn't at the scene. Brother Baxter never went up with us. He was taking a walk, he and my brother. And when I got there, I...Brother Lindsay come back crying. Brother Moore come back crying, Sister Isaacson, the interpreter...” “Who Hath Believed Our Report?” (51-0719).
William Branham directly contradicted those claims by stating that Mr. Baxter was at the accident scene with them, as follows,
“About three or four hundred people out there when we got there. I said, “I wonder what's the matter.”
They went over to find out: Mr. Moore and Mr. Lindsay—many of you know them;
Mr. Baxter, who was just here. So, they went over to find out what was the matter. And they said, “Oh, a little boy just got killed. He's laying there, dead.” Brother Lindsay come back weeping.” “A Testimony” (53-0607E).
“Mr. Lindsay, Mr. Baxter, many witnesses was along. And as we got out of the car, they did, to look. The little boy was laying with a coat over him. And another car had picked the other little boy; he wasn't dead, so they took him on to the hospital.
This little boy was laying there and he... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] They can't move him because it's against the law to move him until the parents is looked at him; and they're gone for the mother and father.” “What Visions Are” (56-0421).
“And well, we stopped. Brother Gordon Lindsay, Brother Hall's brother-in-law, was along, Brother Ern Baxter, and Brother Jack Moore, and several of the brethren; and we stopped. And Mrs. Isaacson; she may be right in this meeting tonight; she lives out in here somewhere. Are you here, Sister Isaacson? She was my Finnish interpreter.
And so, they got out of the car to look at the little boy and come back. We'd seen an accident had happened. They come back and they said… I said, "What was it?"
They said, "Oh, come out and look, Brother Branham. It's a little boy was killed. There was another one killed too; they done–they done taken him to the hospital."”
“From That Time” (60-0716).
Conclusions:
Although William Branham led people to believe that the young boy was raised from the dead as a result of God's power being manifest through his ministry, the stories about the alleged event contain far too many contradictory and discrepant aspects for them to be accepted as genuine and true.
From the above accounts that William Branham, Jack Moore and Vilho Soininen provided in 1950, it is apparent that they were attempting to get the boy who appeared dead to the hospital as fast as possible so one or more physicians could attempt to save the boy's life. Therein, it is clear that they did not entreat the Great Physician to save the boy's life at the scene of
the accident despite William Branham's claims to the contrary.
Because William Branham made it known that he “began to pray” for the boy in the car on their way to the hospital in his 1950 account, all of his later stories of the boy jumping up, running around and screaming at the accident scene after praying for him there like he did in the “vision” are unbelievable.
There certainly are no contradictory accounts in the Bible, which describe the Lord Jesus Christ or other Biblical figure as seeking to have life returned to a deceased person by the intervention of both physicians of this world and the Great Physician above.
As is evident in John 11:41-44 (KJV), the life of Lazarus was returned to him as the sole result of Jesus Christ calling on His Father above and simply commanding Lazarus to come forth, as follows,
“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”
Prayers that William Branham claimed he made at the accident scene, which are vastly different and contradictory:
Said, "Is that the boy?" Brother Moore looked over the fly leaf in his Bible where many... I asked hundreds and hundreds of people to write it in there. He said, "Brother Branham, that's the description exactly."
I said, "That's the boy." All right. They gathered, knelt down. I said, "O Eternal God, way in my homelands in America, one night You visit me and showed me this rocky country and this little boy. And here he lays here dead, waiting for his father and mother to come to hear this sad news." I said, "You Who separated me from my mother's womb and sent me to see these visions, now, Almighty God, speak; and death, you go hold him, I call for his life in the Name of Jesus Christ Who showed the vision."
And the little boy screamed, jumped on his feet, and is as normal and well as anybody there is setting in the building here tonight. That touch came in like a streak of fire.
“Who Hath Believed Our Report?” (51-0719).
And there he'd been dead; they'd taken his pulse and everything; he was gone. So, and all mashed up like that. And I knelt down and I said, “Heavenly Father, many thousands of miles across the sea in that lovely nation where I come from, America,” I said, “down there that night when You moved into that room in that lovely place and told me that this would be; and I testified of it and stood and said that You'd bring it to pass. And now, Thy servant sees the day that is to be fulfilled.” I said, “I thank Thee, heavenly Father, for the power of vision, and I thank Thee for all Your goodness. And now, Eternal God, Author of life and giver of all good gifts, I ask You to bless this scene with Your presence.”
And when the Angel of the Lord begin to move down, I said, “Oh, holder of this boy's spirit, death, according to a vision that God has already showed that you cannot hold this child; therefore, I call for his little soul to return to him in the name of Jesus Christ.”
And no more than I said that, the boy jumped to his feet just as normal and well as he could be, just as perfect and normal and whole as he could be. That's wrote throughout Finland, everywhere; its scattered abroad to I tell you. That was in the evening time; the other boy, I'll get it tomorrow night.
“Three Witnesses” (51-0728).
I knelt down; I said, “Heavenly Father, way over in the homelands in America, when You spoke to me one night in a vision, said, 'This little boy,' and here it is just exactly the way You said it. Then Lord, hear the prayer of Your servant.” I said, “Death, in the name of the Lord Jesus, according to a vision He give me in America, give back the life to this boy.”
The little boy raised up normal and well, just as normal as he could be, without a broken place on his body anywhere.
“At Thy Word” (51-0928).
So, we knelt down, had the people bow their heads. I said, “Heavenly Father, You who told me this, You are a true and living God. And I know that Your words will not fail. And there, I ask You, Lord, to confirm Your word to Your servant. And this is the boy that You said shall rise. So, therefore, 'Death, let him loose.'” And the boy raised up, screaming and jumping, and running all over the place.
“A Testimony” (53-0607E).
And I knelt down and prayed, and asked God to confirm His Word which He had spoken. And God Who is my Judge, in five minutes from then the little boy jumped up and was running and screaming on top of his voice, alive.
The other little lad… I just haven't the time to catch that. I will tomorrow night, on what happened to the other little lad.
“Do You Now Believe?” (53-1106).
I said, "You see if he doesn't live." I said, "Make every one be quiet now." They wanted to get him up. I said, "I know just how the Lord told me to kneel." I knelt to pray for this little lad. And I said, "Heavenly Father, over in the homelands of America, You showed me this little boy in Florida, about two and a half years ago. And You give me the vision, and all these things were just exactly the way You said they would be. And now, as Your servant, I act in Your place, that You said, 'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. As freely as you receive, freely give.' Then acting upon Your Word and upon Your spoken Word by a vision, I say to death that holds this child, 'You can't hold him any longer. Turn him loose in the Name of Jesus Christ.'"
The boy jumped to his feet like that and began screaming and running as hard as he could, and all them Finns standing there all the screaming and carrying on, you never heard in all your life. That little boy jumped up, didn't know what had happened, run around.
“Testimony (Raising Dead Boy)” (53-1203).
I said, “If that little boy isn't on his feet in the next five minutes, I'm a false prophet,” see. And we knelt down there, and all of them got back. And the main man of the city, the chief man (something equivalent to a mayor here in the States), he was standing there. They backed over, away. I knelt down just the way the vision told me, and prayed for the little lad, and said, “Lord God of heavens and earth, over in the homelands, You showed me this vision while passing through Georgia one night.” I say, “I pray to Thee, Lord God, that now that You'll confirm the Word that they might know that You're still the Lord Jesus. And that Finland might know that You're the resurrection of the dead.” And laid my hands over on the little boy according to the way He showed it. It has to be everything just the way the vision was. And I called for death to give his little life back. He jumped up, began screaming and running around.
“The Presence Of The Lord Jesus” (55-0612).
I turned around, just the way the Lord told me, and I said, “Heavenly Father, You Who cannot lie, in the homeland two years ago, You showed me this boy. And You showed me he was to come to life.” I said, “O God, now hear the prayer of Your servant. And death, you can’t hold him any longer. Give him back his life, for THUS SAITH THE LORD, he shall live again.” And the boy screamed, jumped on his feet, not even a bit sick or nothing, just as perfect as he could be.
“Sir, We Would See Jesus” (55-0828E).
When I went up there in Finland… Maybe the Swedish brother here tonight remembers
I said, "If that child," through the interpreter; I said, "If that child isn't on his feet, alive in the next five minutes, I'm a false prophet. Now, stand still now and see the glory of God."
I fixed myself in position, the way it was in the vision. I said, "Heavenly Father, You Who has now promised this over in the homelands two years before, and has brought this to pass... Now, being that all the communist are around, and they're denying Your only Son; and as Thou has foreordained this to be, and has showed me this vision in the homeland; therefore, I ask for his spirit to return again in the Name of Jesus Christ."
The little boy leaped to his feet, and screamed, begin to running all around just as perfectly normal and well as he could be. Now, that boy's name is in the book, if you want to write to him today and ask him.
“What Visions Are” (56-0421).
Oh, it's such a wonderful thing when you know what God's going to to do. I had them to gather; I knelt down and said, "Lord God…" If you would like to get the details of this from the mayor, I'll give you his address. I said, "Lord God, in the homeland You did speak of this vision. And I know in Your great predestinated will, it's already finished. So death give back this boy's life." And God Who's my solemn Judge, before this Bible this afternoon, the little fellow jumped to his feet just as normal as he was, hour before he got hit."
“A Missionary Talk” (58-0330A).
And so… Was waiting for the father and mother, and I was thinking how they must have feel–how they would feel to come to see their little boy crushed and laying on the road like that. His little tongue was hanging the side of his mouth, blood running out of his ears, and everything. So, I knelt down just the way the vision showed, laid hands on the little boy, and as soon as I laid hands on him, I said, "Heavenly Father, in America ten years ago, You promised me the life of this child, that it would rise again." Now, death cannot hold it when that vision's speaking." I said, "Death, return his life in the Name of Jesus Christ."
The little boy jumped up and screamed…?… his foot. He was just as normal and well as any child could ever be.
“From That Time” (60-0716).
Like that day in—over in Finland, when that little boy was laying dead; I said, “Brother Moore, that’s that little fellow I told you about right here in Shreveport. A little boy would be raised from the dead in a certain place.” I said, “That’s him. He’s got to come back. Death can’t hold him no more. God spoke.” I said, “Death, turn him loose.” Here he was. Amen. God can’t lie. No, no.
“The Way Back” (62-1123).
I said, “Death, you can't hold him any longer; God has spoken! Come back; give him up!” And the little boy raised up and looked around like that; the people got to fainting and everything.
“Absolute” (62-1230M).
There It was, wrote on there. There he laid, amen, just waiting the Word. I said, “If this boy isn’t alive in a couple minutes from now, then I’m a false prophet, run me out of Finland. But if he is alive, fall on your faces and repent!”
I said, “Death, you can’t hold him.” I called for his spirit according to the Word of God, “In the Name of Jesus Christ,” up he jumped. Right! See? Oh, my! Faith, see, took a hold. God said so, there it is!
“Perfect Faith” (63-0825E).