Elisha praying for Shunammite Woman's So

“Elijah Perry Raised from the Dead”

William Branham alleged that at least ten different people were raised from the dead during his ministry. (A list of all ten people can be viewed here.)

One of the ten people was a good friend of his named Elijah Perry who allegedly died from

tuberculosis (TB).

Despite the “miraculous” nature of the alleged event, William Branham referred to it in only five of his 1,205 sermons, which were recorded over an eighteen-year period from 1947-1965. (All five references he made to it can be read on the page below.)

The below story is the most comprehensive and specific one he told of “Lige” Perry being raised from the dead,

“How many ever remembers when Lige Perry was raised from the dead that morning? Some of you over here. You've seen it in the paper here many times. I see Sister Wilson and them raising their hands. I was standing there when that man died. He lives right out here now, comes to church once in a while, testifies of it.

He had been dead several hours. He died with hemorrhages of the lungs, and he was so bloody all over. And I walked away. I was just a young preacher in those days. And Sister Jackson used to be a member of the church here. And a Methodist preacher's wife.... I forget what that man's name was now. Shaffner, Brother Shaffner and Sister Shaffner. They were some relation to the Wisehearts. And she was standing there at the bedside, and I started to move away.

And he was just bloody as he could be, where he'd died, and his eyes had turned back, and his throat bulged out. And they pulled a sheet over his head, and his wife was out there. They were crying, and trying to get addresses to call the loved ones.

We had been very good buddies, fished on the river. You know how we did so much together. And he got hurt out here, a railroad ... riding spider, why, it mashed his lungs in. He was bleeding ... he bled ... he took TB from it, and died.

I started to move away this way, and then I felt that hand again. I turned back, it would get off of me. And before I knowed what I was doing, I was laying on top of that man, with my lips against his lips. I was as bloody as he was, laying there on that man, crying out to God. And I felt something come up around the side of my ear. It was his hand. You've heard him stand right here and testify of it, see, how he.... And he come back to life. And that's been about twenty-five years ago, or maybe thirty. Living today, right out here on the curve. And he come here not long ago, was testifying of it in the church.” “The Uncertain Sound” (60-1218).

His story of “Lige” being raised from the dead is clearly an extraordinary one that he led people to be believe was true. However, it is questionable whether the event ever occurred for the following reasons.

William Branham's story about “Lige” Perry contains elements that are remarkably similar to two accounts in the Bible.

One such account is the one below from 2 Kings 4:32-37 which describes a boy being raised from the dead after Elisha the prophet “lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth”,

32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord.

34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

Was it a matter of mere coincidence that William Branham claimed that he “was laying on top of that man, with my lips against his lips” just as Elisha did before the boy was raised from the dead? Or did William Branham take the idea from the Bible and incorporate into his story about “Lige” Perry?

In another version of his story, William Branham also portrayed himself as “laying on” Elijah Perry's body's in his bed and calling out for his spirit,

“The doctors knew he was dead. I went to offer sympathy to the family. And starting out of the house, the wife seemingly crying of the man. And as I started out the door, a human hand, seemingly, touched me by the arm. And I felt it hold me. And as I started forward, I could not move. When I turned back, the hand left me.

I went to the bedside and looked down upon the man. There was a Methodist minister's wife in the room, and another sister. And I started to have prayer. When I come to myself, I was laying on this man's body, the dead man, had a sheet over his face for at least a half hour. My face was laying right against him, and I was calling out into the spirit land, “Brother Elijah.” His name was Elijah. “Brother Elijah.” Calling out into the land for his spirit, not knowing what I was doing...

In a few moments, I laid still, calling. I felt that man's hand coming up around my ears. The man is working on the Pennsylvania Railroad tonight, alive.” “The Angel Of God” (48-0304).

By claiming that Elijah Perry raised from the dead after “laying on this man's body” in a bed,

and calling out for his spirit, it is clear that his story also resembles the following account of Elijah the prophet in I Kings 17:17-24,

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

Elijah the prophet praying for dead boy.

22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

Additional reasons why William Branham's claims about "Lige Perry" being raised from the dead are questionable.

Had such a “miraculous” event occurred, it certainly would have been one of the most spectacular experiences and highlights of William Branham's life and ministry. However, it was so sparsely mentioned by him (against his propensity to highlight his “supernatural” experiences) that is doubtful that the alleged event ever occurred.

So extraordinary of an event would it have been that it would have gained widespread attention and likely been publicized in newspapers not only by local media outlets, but by national and international ones, as well. Although William Branham claimed that it was “in the paper”, no story of it was evidently ever published by any media outlet. (Extensive research has been done of his ministry and no story about it has ever been uncovered.)

There apparently is also no evidence that the story was confirmed to be true by any of the people named in it (including “Lige” Perry and the women who William Branham claimed were present at the time).

In addition, there evidently never was any corroboration from any doctors despite William Branham's claims below,

“Said, that's three times that I've seen the dead pronounced dead by doctors and raised up again.
One of them testified over this pulpit when I was first here, second time here, Mrs. Hattie Waldrop. You remember? Phoenix, Arizona. Died with cancer of the heart and colon. The next was a lady, or a man, rather, in my city by the name of Lij Perry, killed in an accident, taken laid out by the doctor, died.” “Testimony” (53-0510).

Without any evidence from any person or source to corroborate that such a “miraculous” and extraordinary event happened, William Branham's claims remain unfounded.

Moreover, it is doubtful that it ever happened because the stories he told of six 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:

Baby Raised from the Dead in Mexico

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

Woman Raised from the Dead in Jonesboro

William Branham's references to Elijah Perry being raised from the dead:

How about Paul, when he come over in Macedonia. And when he was on the shipwreck, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him that night and told him He'd given them all into his hands. Certainly. It's always... Paul never worshipped the Angel.

John the Revelator, after the whole Book of Revelation was written, then John said, “I fell at the feet of the Angel (Is that right?) that showed me these things.” He said, “Worship God.” He was of his fellow men and of the prophets. See?

Notice. God always sends down the supernatural upon the natural. Like upon the brazen serpent, the pool, and so forth. Even Jesus Himself: He never took credit for healing anybody. Is that right? He said, “It's not Me that doeth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me.” [Blank.spot.on.tape.]

The doctors knew he was dead. I went to offer sympathy to the family. And starting out of the house, the wife seemingly crying of the man. And as I started out the door, a human hand, seemingly, touched me by the arm. And I felt it hold me. And as I started forward, I could not move. When I turned back, the hand left me.

In a few moments, I laid still, calling. I felt that man's hand coming up around my ears. The man is working on the Pennsylvania Railroad tonight, alive.

“The Angel Of God” (48-0304).

“I was going into the room, two Finnish soldiers behind me and two in front of me pushing me along. And I went into the room, and they... The auditorium was packed. Oh, my. And up and down the streets, and they had tents around everywhere. And I've got some of the chief men of the city, which we'd call mayor, wrote up in their books, signed by his own name, witness of the power of Almighty God to raise the dead.

Now, that's three times that I've seen that done. Maybe I can get to it later when Mrs. Hattie Waldorf here in Phoenix, and Ralph Perry at home. Now... That I mean's been pronounced dead, laying out... This boy, when I started in...”

“Who Hath Believed Our Report?” (51-0719).

So I said, "Well, I can't make her little boy well." And so she told her.
And she said, "Well, you raised the other little boy up from the dead. And my little boy is not dead yet."
Said, that's three times that I've seen the dead pronounced dead by doctors and raised up again.
One of them testified over this pulpit when I was first here, second time here, Mrs. Hattie Waldrop. You remember? Phoenix, Arizona. Died with cancer of the heart and colon. The next was a lady, or a man, rather, in my city by the name of Lij Perry, killed in an accident, taken laid out by the doctor, died.

Hattie was raised up from the dead, living today, worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad. And the next was this baby over here. This lady out here from Kennett, Missouri. I know a lot of them thought she was dead; she might've been. The night the little blind colored girl was healed back there behind the place. You remember the...?... when I was here the last time. Now, she might've been dead; I don't know. I think she was in a coma. She come on down testified, plumb to California about her healing: cancer. Maybe setting here tonight, for all I know. And so, but I don't know whether she was dead or not; I couldn't say. “Testimony” (53-0510).

Father God, You seen every hand; seven, or eight, ten hands went up. They're now emptying out all their fears and unbelief. They're now claiming Thee as their all-sufficient One, as their Lover, as their Saviour, as their Healer. All doubts and fears they're desiring to be taken from them. I pray that You'll grant it, Lord, by Your great grace. Let it happen just today.
You could speak life to a fish, speak life to a little dead boy, speak life to "Lij" Perry laying there dead and his hands crossed; speak life to a little dead baby yonder in Mexico; spoke life yonder in Lazarus after being dead four days; how much more can we take our stand today on the Rock of His eternal Word, and look beyond this shadow of doubt to Him that said, "I am the Resurrection and Life."
May faith take its resting place now on Him, that solid Rock, Christ. And may they receive everything that they've ask for. Hear our prayers as we pray in Christ's Name. Amen. “Believe from the Heart” (57-0623).

How many ever remembers when Lige Perry was raised from the dead that morning? Some of you over here. You've seen it in the paper here many times. I see Sister Wilson and them raising their hands. I was standing there when that man died. He lives right out here now, comes to church once in a while, testifies of it.

And I started to walk away from the bed, and I felt somebody lay their hand on me. I thought it was Sister Shaffner. And when I turned, there was nobody around me. And then I started.... It left me when I turned around, and Brother Lige was laying there dead. We had been very good buddies, fished on the river. You know how we did so much together. And he got hurt out here, a railroad ... riding spider, why, it mashed his lungs in. He was bleeding ... he bled ... he took TB from it, and died.

Now, that's where Canada called up, and wanted to know. One time I'd testified of it in Canada, when I first started the meetings. They called Mr. Coots, the undertaker, and asked if there'd been a man raised out of the parlor as dead. I've got the clippings yet. It said, “We've heard of many miracles being done,” Mr. Coots said. And said, “Mr. Branham is a personal friend of mine, and all kinds of things has happened. But we have no record of anyone being raised out of the dead, especially in this funeral parlor.”

The Canadians had misunderstood it. And the next day, the.... My! The paper was lined up. He said hundreds of people called from everywhere, and Brother Perry, in there himself, testifying to the resurrection of his body over there, and protesting the thing that he had put in the paper. And so, then it was understood it wasn't there. It taken place in his home, where he was laying dead. They had never taken him to the funeral parlor yet.

Then I read the other night of where Irenaeus, I believe it was, or St. Martin that laid his body across his friend after being hung (now that's history), and laid on him for an hour. And the man come to life.

And I see in the Bible where Elisha laid his body across a dead baby's body, and it come to life. I think of the little boy yonder in Finland, when he was laying there dead, laying on the side of the road. “The Uncertain Sound” (60-1218).

Brother George Wright, how are you, brother? [Brother Wright says, "Oh, good. Sure."--Ed.] Bless you, Brother Wright! Certainly. ["Brother Elijah is back there."] Oh, is that right? Brother Elij' Perry, he said, is back here. Where you at, Brother Elij'? I haven't seen him in a long... Why, my, goodness. Now, we ought to have a real meeting here again: Elij' Perry, George Wright, and some of them old timers that used to be here when you almost had to hold the shutters on the place, with our hands, the wind blowing. Good seeing you. Mother, Sister Wright with you? Sister Wright in? She's back there too. Yes, sir. Well, I'll...?... Sister Perry, I see them all now. Well, that's really fine. Good to be in. It's good to set in these places. It's good to be together. “Ashamed” (65-0711).

And I look at Lij Perry sitting back there and Mrs. Perry. It seemed like yesterday they were a little black-headed couple out there living next door to me, when we had the old boat Wahoo, and down on the river and fished at night—see them both white-headed. You know, it says one thing; it's a little buzzer that comes on: “You ain't got much more time!” See? “Ashamed” (65-0711).