“Cults”
William Branham taught that religious cults are wrong and advised people to leave them if they belonged to them.
He identified specific types of cults and many common characteristics of them in his sermons.
In particular, he identified larger church groups, denominations and organizations as being cults because they believe that they alone are right and people are lost if they do not belong to them, as follows,
“People say, “Now, you’ve got to belong to this or that, an organization, a certain organization. If your name isn’t on our book, you’re lost.” Now, that’s cult. See? That’s cult. See?” “Questions And Answers On The Seals” (63-0324M).
“And the people are seeking to hear the Word of God and failing to get It. Because every fellow’s built him a fig tree, and got his own organization, his own cult, or his own ideas, and no one else will listen. And he’s right, and nobody else is right; and they won’t have fellowship one with the other. And that’s why the poor American people’s mind are so disturbed; they don’t know what is right. “The Seal Of The Antichrist” (55-0311).
“What’s the matter with these big churches today? Their unbelief has provoked God. Hallelujah! He is able of these stones to rise children to Abraham. He tried to give the Gospel to them, and they hardened their hearts. They cult themselves, and they made little denominations, “And we believe this and nothing else,” and God couldn’t move in. Where they at today? Setting on a sideline.” “Hebrews, Chapter Three” (57-0901M).
As is evident in his last statements above, William Branham regarded it to be impossible for God to “move” in such cults. As follows, he also identified them to be “spiritually dead” and to have driven away the Holy Spirit,
“Many sincere person go join an organization, or a group, or a cult of some sort, and there they die, spiritually. You can’t tell them nothing. They get that stuff drilled into them, 'Why, these bishops said this. And this said this, this said this.' You show them right here in the Word of God where it’s THUS SAITH THE LORD. 'But our pastor…'”
“Trying To Do God A Service Without Being The Will Of God” (65-0718M).
“You started a little cult in your church; the Holy Spirit flew away. You broke away from your church and pulled off with some little cult; the Holy Spirit flew away. The Holy Spirit’s not a Author of confusion. It’s to unite the big Body of Christ together: one Spirit, one purpose, one accord. That’s when the Holy Spirit come on the day of Pentecost.” “The Lamb And The Dove” (57-0325).
So strongly did he speak against religious cults that he even said that people who belong to them are “prostitutes”, as follows,
“You might not be a prostitute, but you may be a prostitute on a higher more—level. Prostitution don’t mean sexually every time. You can prostitute your time. You can prostitute your faith, go out and join some cult, or some old sold—cold formal church; you’re a prostitute. You are. You’re just as guilty as she was. But the same Lord Jesus that forgive her, has the same pleading mercy for you tonight.” “The Worst Sinner In The City” (56-0218E).
He also taught that all cults begin as a result of “honest-hearted people” who are “hungry” and longing for God, as follows,
“Oh, what started any cult? It was hungry children trying to find something to eat. And if you lazy bunch of preachers won’t give them the Gospel, they’ll eat out of a garbage can. That’s right. I lay it onto you preachers. That’s right. If you won’t give the children the Bread of Life, they’ll take some kind of a scum out of a garbage can and eat it.”
“God Keeps His Word #1” (57-0306).
“Now, this… No one ever knowed of God but what longed to see God. There’s just something in the human heart that calls out to see God. And I’ve often made that statement that every cult that ever raised in the world, are nothing in the world, but hungry children seeking bread. And if the preacher doesn’t give him the Bread of Life, the devil will give him a garbage can to eat out of. So we got to give them the Bread of Life, the Word of Life.” “God In His Word” (57-0323).
“Now, hungry people… You know what every cult in the world today is from? Every cult in the world raised up today, because of hungry children. That’s what made the heathens in the heathen land worship idols: hungry children. That’s what made fanatics go across the country: hungry children trying to look into the Word, to find out if this is right, or if that’s right. Every cult sprang from that. And today, many things through that, honest-hearted people hungering and thirsty for God… For there’s something in a man or a woman all the way back from the origin tells them that there’s Eternal Life somewhere. Some seek it in an idol. Some seek it in a shrine.” “The Fundamental Foundation For Faith” (55-0113).
William Branham also said that all churches are cults and specifically identified the Assemblies of God, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists and latter-rain church as religious cults, as follows,
But now, you see, if you would take that same woman…Where did she wind up at? See? She moved right around. She heard, no doubt; turned the radio on, many times. The Voice of God has been speaking, many times. Well, now, see, she comes over into this cult here, a clan. All churches are clans. Everything, that’s exactly right, they’re just lodges where people group together as membership. And she comes over here; well, that fits her just right. Now if you go to telling her what she has to do, she won’t listen to you. You show it to her in the Bible; she won’t listen to It.” “And Knoweth It Not” (65-0815).
“As I’ve told you that every cult and every religion began in Genesis, everything we have. The Assemblies of God began in Genesis. The Baptist began in Genesis. I can prove it. Yes, sir. Every cult, even we have, I can prove it, it begin in Genesis.”
“The Mark Of The Beast And The Seal Of God #1” (61-0216).
“Did you know how the Millerites, before they came Seventh-day Adventists, what they did up here? In 1919, got their wings, (you all seen it in the Courier paper), and got up here to fly away, that morning. That was taking Daniel’s seventy of weeks. Uh-huh, Millerite. Then, later on, by Mrs. Ellen White, which was their prophetess, turned around and called themselves Seventh-day Adventists. And now they’ve changed their name to The Voice of Prophecy. See? Three different names for the same cult.”
“Gabriel's Instructions To Daniel” (61-0730M).
“They formed a little cult, called “the latter rain,” moved up into Canada, and out into California, but it fell through.” “As I Was With Moses, So I Will Be With Thee” (60-0911M).
He also specifically stated that a person needs to be called out of all the church denominations and organizations in order to be part of the Body of Christ, as follows,
“God’s people is His called-out people. I believe they’re in every denomination. They could be Catholic. They could be Protestant. They could be Jewish. They could be any kind of a church. But the real Church is the mystical Body of Jesus Christ.
Now, you cannot organize the mystical Body of Christ. Now, every person that comes to Christ, comes out of the world, comes into Christ, comes into His mystical Body. And you are a member of that Body when you are brought into this Church, called-out and are baptized into this mystical Body. You get it? Not Methodist, not Baptist, not Pentecostal, not Nazarene, not Pilgrim Holiness, not Catholic; but the Body of Jesus Christ. We’ll pick that up a little deeper in other questions, in a few minutes, as we go on into the deeper parts of it. But, the Body of Christ is the Church.”
“Five Definite Identifications Of The True Church Of The Living God” (60-0911E).
William Branham claimed that his church group was not a cult:
“But we are thankful with the--for the privilege of knowing by any--beyond any shadow of doubt, God has chose us in this last days, and has proven it by the signs in the heavens and in the earth; and every one of them coming right straight back to the Word to prove that it's so: this age that we live in, the message and how it is. We're not a cult. We're not a bunch of fanatics. We are servants of God, that's been called by the Holy Ghost. You'll have all kinds of names tacked to you, but that don't mean it's so.” “Power of transformation” (65-1031M).
William Branham also claimed that he did not want to impress or influence people to believe that he was “some kind of cult” or the Lord Jesus, as follows,
“Now look. Now, remember, let everybody rest surely now. I hope I haven’t impressed you to make you think that I’m some kind of a cult or something, that I would be that Person, the Lord Jesus. You don’t believe that, do you? Surely you don’t. I am His servant. I am a sinner that’s been saved by grace. But, in this, the hour has come to where He has given a gift.” “Then Jesus Came And Called” (64-0417).
He even prayed for God to help him so that he would not be a fanatic and “lead some group or cult out into a desert somewhere”, as follows,
“I pray for mercy, Lord. Have mercy on me; help me. It makes me nervous, Father. I pray that You’ll help me. I—I don’t want to seal my life…All my work here would be out here some fanatic to lead some group or cult out into a desert somewhere. Don’t let my name have to go down like that, Lord. I fought hard for this. I’m sincere in it as I can be. God, don’t let it happen. Help me some way. I don’t know what to do; I’m just depending on You, but You help me. I’ll do anything You tell me to do.” “Questions And Answers #1” (64-0823M).
Ramifications of William Branham's teachings:
Based on all of the above, it is clear that William Branham taught against religious exclusivity (i.e. religious groups organizing themselves around a set of ideas and beliefs, which caused them to believe that they alone had the Truth and were going to heaven).
From his statements, it is also clear that he regarded all such groups to be cults that are not only “spiritually dead”, but are impossible for God and the Holy Spirit to “move in.”
And he asserted that people need to be “called out” and leave the denominations in order to be part of the Body of Christ.
By making all of those statements, he actually demonstrated that he believes that he alone is right and “nobody else is right”, which he identified to be the very characteristic of “religious cults.”
When his ministry is closely examined, it is evident that his teachings are replete with claims and assertions, which clearly indicate that he believed he “he’s right, and nobody else is right” and he alone had the Truth.
In fact, he even outright declared the apostles' gospel message of Jesus Christ to be null and void and led people to believe that they instead need to receive his “message of the hour” to have Eternal Life by stating the following,
“The Word, the Word in the days of the apostles does not work in this day.” “Shalom” (64-0112).
“The same thing is today, it's God manifested in flesh, the Message of the hour, the Light of the day. We can't have them other messages back there; they've done been lived up; we live in a glare of a light.” “The Identified Christ Of All Ages” (64-0617).
“The Word that fell on the Day of Pentecost will not work this day. No, sir. That was for Pentecost. This is for the Bride, going Home of the Bride. We got something different.” “The Invisible Union Of The Bride Of Christ” (65-1125).
“You've got to take the Message of the hour... Then you either receive That or reject It. That's Eternal Life, leadership of the Holy Spirit, leading His Church.” “Leadership” (65-1207).
“Oh, Word believers, give in to my message!” “Birth Pains” (65-0124).
“You must believe God and believe Christ, and believe the Holy Ghost. Then after believing all of them, God wants you to believe me.” “Gifts And Callings Are Without Repentance” (50-0300).
And according to his teachings, only people who accept and believe his “message” will receive the most high standing and be part of the “Bride” of Jesus Christ, but the people in the church organization cults will have to go through the Great Tribulation for rejecting his message, as is evident below.
“The first thing, was, that the sleeping virgin had to go through the Tribulation period for purification. She had to be purged of her sins of unbelief and rejecting the Message. This, she was done in the Tribulation period. We see they wind up over here in Revelation 7, between the 6th and 7th chapter here, that she had been purged, and she had been given her robes. Now, she is not the Bride.” “The Seventh Seal” (63-0324E).
“Notice, my brethren. Listen. When the Bridegroom came, the sleeping virgin woke. And the--the sound come, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." Is that the day we're living in? And the sleeping virgin rose, the Methodists, and Presbyterians, Catholic, and all coming to. "Oh, give us some of this oil. We see it."” “Influence” (63-0112).
“I believe that the church goes through the Tribulation period, church organization, but the Bride does not. Would you choose a woman you had to purify before you married her? See? Christ’s Bride is chosen, and She is Elected. And She is God’s Bride, the Bride of Jesus Christ.
The sleeping virgin coming in, trying to buy Oil. That is at that time when the Bride went in, and the rest of them was left here. Did you ever think what happened? They went right ahead preaching and thinking they were getting souls saved, and everything, and did not know it. They knew nothing about it. The church will go on, thinking souls are being saved, and everything else, and the Church is already (the Bride) sealed away. Don’t know it! Certainly. That’s exactly what the Scripture said. Noah went into the ark, and God sealed it out. Truly. And the time will come when men and women will cry to God, and even think that they’ve got something, when they haven’t. That’s exactly right.” “The Token” (64-0208).
When William Branham's alleged “message” is tested for truth and authenticity, as has been thoroughly done on this website, it is clear that he was no more correct in his doctrines and teachings than the very denominations he claimed are cults and “spiritually dead.”
Because he influenced people away from the larger groups (i.e. the church denominations) and led them into a smaller group and following of his own, which he assured would receive Bride status, he ultimately became the founder and leader of a cult himself. . .regardless of how many denials he made such as, “I hope I haven’t impressed you to make you think that I’m some kind of a cult or something, that I would be that Person, the Lord Jesus.”
What people should do if they are in a cult:
William Branham was correct that people in religious cults believe that they are “right, and nobody else is right.” Every group believes that they are more right and justified than the next group and William Branham's group of followers certainly is no different. Because significant untrue and off-base teachings, doctrines and ideologies are followed by people in every group or cult, they all ought be abandoned along with the cult itself for the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
William Branham recognized the divisive nature of cults and was correct in the following regard,
“If you joined up with some cult that tries to keep you away from fellowship with other brethren, leave the thing.” “Return And Jubilee” (62-1122).
He was also correct in stating that “every cult has a founder who is dead”, but Christianity has an empty tomb and Jesus Christ lives,
“I’m a missionary. I’ve preached pretty near in every nation under the heavens, seven times around. And I have seen all kinds of religions, stood before witch doctors and
every cult, I guess, there is, as far as I know. And yet, every one of them, Buddha, Mohammed, Sikhs, Jains, whatever it might be, they all have a founder, and every founder is dead. They can mark his grave, and there he lays. There’s his bones.
But, Christianity, there is an empty tomb. He lives. And the good thing about it, we—we…He proves that He’s alive. He, He is here now. See? Now, that’s the thing that a Christian can rest upon, that we know that all the rest of the tombs are full. But this one, there’s an empty tomb. “He is not here, but He is risen. And we’re going to tell the brethren this good news.” And He is here, same yesterday, today, and forever.”
“Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever” (63-0604).
Accordingly, it should be concluded that like all of the cult founders, William Branham
“is dead.” People “can mark his grave”, as they've done, “there he lays” and “there's his bones.” “The Lord Jesus Christ is alive” and “that’s the thing that a Christian can rest upon,”
From the information on this website, it is even more evident that only the true gospel message of Jesus Christ can be rightly upheld.
As Apostle Paul stated,
“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2 (KJV).