“First Prophecy as a Baby Boy”

 

William Branham repeatedly claimed that God showed him a “prophetic vision” when he was just a “little baby boy” that foretold him living “near a city called New Albany, Indiana.”

 

It is apparent in his statements below that his stories about the “prophetic vision” changed over time and contradict each other significantly. Therein, it is also apparent that he claimed, most outrageously, that God spoke the aforesaid unusual message to him when he was only fifteen-months, eighteen-months, two-years, three-years and four-years old, as follows,

 

“Later on when I was about three years old, I remember hearing a voice speak to me and tell me that I would live near a city called New Albany” “Exhortation of Divine Healing” (51-0501).

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“Now, whether it come from the bird, from the tree, I was just a laddie boy, and didn’t know. I cannot say. God knows. I do not. But a Voice spoke to me, that I was going to live near a city called New Albany. And about a year from then, or less than a year, my father came to Indiana, and we’ve lived within four miles now, and I’ve been raised within four miles of New Albany, Indiana.” “Early Spiritual Experiences” (52-0713A).

 

“And from a little bitty—little small lad of about, I suppose, two years old, was the first time I remember of That speaking to me. And He told me I would live near a city called New Albany, Indiana.” “Palmerworm, Locust, Cankerworm, Caterpillar” (53-0612).

 

“At about fifteen, eighteen months old I had my first vision.” “Deep Calleth Unto The Deep” (53-1104).

 

“When I was eighteen months old, I remember of a Voice speaking to me and telling me that was going to live near a city called New Albany.” “Do You Now Believe?” (53-1206).

 

“One of the first things I can remember, it seems strange, but I remember when I was yet crawling. In my days when baby was crawling, they had long dresses…And the next thing I remember was God speaking to me in a vision, and telling me that I'd spend a bigger part of my life near a city called New Albany.” “God's Provided Way Of Healing” (54-0719).

 

“Now, then I remember being at this little old spring, and I had a rock and was throwing it down like that, in the mud, trying to show my little brother how strong I was. And there was a bird sitting up in the tree and he was a-chirping, turning around—a little old robin or something. And, the little robin, I thought he spoke to me. And I turned and listened, and the bird flew away. And a voice said, “You're going to spend a big part of your life near a city called New Albany.”

That's three miles from where I was raised. Went, about a year later, to the place, having no idea of ever going—New Albany. Along through life, how those things....”

“How The Angel Came To Me And His Commission” (55-0117).

 

“The first thing I can remember was the vision when I was born in the state of Kentucky, and told me I'd live in Indiana near a city called New Albany…And I wasn't but eighteen months old when the vision came.” “Abraham” (55-0608).

 

“Visions, the first thing I remember as a little baby boy was a vision. I wasn't eighteen months old when I told my mother where we'd live at, And spent my life near New Albany.” “The Darkest Hour Then Jesus Comes Along” (55-1114).

 

“When I was just a little boy, I don't know how old, I was just still crawling. I must've been not over two years old. I remember the first thing I can remember is a vision…when I was just a little boy. And it told me that I was going to live in Indiana near a place called New Albany…I was thinking I come there when I was three years old.” “The Infallible Proof Of The Resurrection” (57-0114).

 

“When I was about three or four, between three and four years old, He spoke to me. I was in the mountains of Kentucky, said, "You'll live near a city called New Albany." I've lived forty years in three miles of that city, hundreds of miles away.” “Expectations And Leadings Of The Holy Spirit” (57-0811E).

 

“I've saw visions since I was about eighteen months old. First vision I ever saw, I told my mother where we'd live, and near New Albany, Indiana.” “Door To The Heart” (58-0316).

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“As a little boy, when I was only somewhere under three years old, I'm thinking about eighteen months. You'd think, 'Brother Branham, you didn't see or remember that far.'

I do. And I remember when it spoke to me as a little boy and down through life how I described it,...” “The Queen of Sheba” (58-0107).

 

“A Voice came…and it said, "You'll live near a city called New Albany." And I've lived, from the time I was three years old until this time, within three miles of New Albany, Indiana.” “My Life Story” (59-0419).

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“When I was just about two years old, the first vision I ever remember seeing... I was playing in the backyard with my little brother, who could just crawl. And there was a voice came from a bush and said, "You will live near a city called New Albany." It... I was very much frightened, and ran into the house to tell my mother. She didn't know what it meant. But three years later, we moved near a city called New Albany, Indiana.” “Revelation That Was Given To Me” (60-0210).

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“Since I was a little, bitty boy of about two--two years old, I started seeing visions. First vision I ever seen was in a bush, and the Angel of the Lord was in there like a wind, and told me that I'd live near a city called New Albany. I was two years old, living in the mountains of Kentucky, and I spent my life within three or four miles of New Albany, Indiana…” “Abraham” (60-0803).

 

It is obvious that God never would or could have showed William Branham a vision or spoken to him about “living near a city called New Albany, Indiana” at any of the ages that he claimed God did.

 

Whether a child is fifteen-months old or four-years old, God clearly would not speak words to the child or show him any words in a “vision” that are unknown and incomprehensible to him. Simply stated, God is not the author of confusion, as the Bible states in 1 Corinthians 14:33, and would not ever confound the mind of a child with language that the child has not yet acquired and does not even know or understand.

 

The words “You'll”, “live”, “near”, “city”, “called”, “New”, “Albany” and “Indiana” are all completely unknown and incomprehensible words to children who are fifteen-months old to four-years old and therefore it would not be possible for the child to understand, recall and reiterate them in order or a sentence at a later time. Because those words would have no intelligible or comprehensible meaning to a toddler, God clearly would have not ever spoken them and conveyed such a message to William Branham, as he claimed.

 

Toddlers at eighteen months old have very limited vocabularies of about a dozen words. Words that William Branham would have spoken would have been words like “Mama”, “Dada”, “milk”, “cookie”, “oh!” and “my.”[1] At eighteen months old, speaking in sentences would have also been limited to two-word phrases such as, “All gone,” “Want ball,” or “Me up.”[1] Consequently, William Branham would not have been able to have recall and later reiterate a nine-word sentence with the words, “You will live near a city called New Albany” from God.

 

And at two-years old, a child's vocabulary is only about 50 to 75 words and the child is only just starting to string them together into phrases and sentences such as “baby sleep” and “want milk” are typical.[2] Accordingly, it is not possible for William Branham's claims to be true that after he ran into the house when he was two-years old to tell his mother what he heard in the bush, she said that “She didn't know what it meant.”

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It is further evident that God would not have spoken a nine-word message with unfamiliar words to William Branham when he was three-years old because his vocabulary as a toddler then was only about 200 or more words and he, at best, could have strung together three- or four-word sentences and not been able to recall or repeat a nine-word sentence from God.[3]

 

Although William Branham's vocabulary would have been more developed when he was four-years old, and he would have been able to speak longer sentences at that age, it is impossible for him to have been four-years old when God told him he would “live in a city near New Albany, Indiana” because his family already had been living in Indiana when he was three-years old. 

 

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