Myths Surrounding William Branham's Ministry

There are many rumors and myths surrounding the ministry of William Marrion Branham. Some started with William Branham himself, while others grew from legends heard by those who walked closely with him.

To rightly divide the Truth from the fiction, one must separate the myths from the fact. There are many sites supporting the fact, so we intend to show the myths.

The Cloud Hoax
The largest myth surrounding the message of William Branham is the Cloud Hoax, which came directly from William Branham himself. Not only was William Branham in Houston, TX when the event happened, his location afterwards was almost 320 kilometers south of the event. Read more.

George J. Lacy, Head of the FBI
William Branham claimed on several occasions that George J. Lacy was "Head of the FBI, Fingerprints and Documents Division," called in from California to examine the "halo" picture. Mr. Lacy had never been employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and his examiniation of the photograph does not give any implication of the supernatural being caught on film. Read more.

The Two Cities That Should Have Sunk
In 1965, William Branham prophesied that Los Angeles would sink to the bottom of the sea just as Capernaum did. This was to take place before his son was an "old man." Neither cities have ever been under the sea. Read more.

The Seven Church Age Revelation
William Branham's entire ministry revolves around what he claims to be "divine revelation" of the "Seven Church Ages." Followers today still believe that Branham was sent as the "messenger" to the "seventh church age," and that his revelation alone was directly from God. Most would be shocked to find that the content for his church age theology was copied from the works of Clarence Larkin. Read more.

The Angelic Commission
Most followers of William Branham are familiar with one of the versions of Branham's life story, which includes some variation of a commission from God to Branham. Though the details of the stories may vary in each personal testimony, the overall concept is the same: A great healing ministry. Yet all will ask themselves why the story changed. Why a cabin? Why a cave? Why dark hair? Why hair as white as snow? Read more.

The Holy Trinity
There are two huge myths surrounding the belief (or disbelief) of trinitarianism. Most followers of William Marrion Branham will absolutely deny that they believe in the Trinity of God, and will tell you with unfounded confidence that William Branham himself was never a trinitarian. Most followers would be shocked to know that outside of his home churches, William Branham actually supported the Holy Trinity. Read more.

Fell Paralyzed, Ran Screaming, Fell Dead
William Branham often gave a story about a person in a prayer line who questioned whether or not the gift of healing was real. For his questioning, Branham said that the poor man was struck down by God. This terrible story struck fear into the hearts of the listeners, and the thought to question was suppressed by the fear of dying. There's just one problem: The stories do not match. Read more.

The Tragedy of Donnie Morton
William Branham had a vision of the healing of Donnie Morton when he told Arthur Morton that his son would live. Though father's faith was steadfast, Reader's digest describes how the boy breathed his last breath during complications from meningitis and pneumonia. He died of Meningitis Serosa Traumatica, the same disease that caused his father to seek out the faith healer. Read more.

The Thinking Man's Filter
William Branham got a lot of mileage out of a sermon entitled "Thinking Man's Filter," and most followers believe this sermon was sent to Branham directly from God while he was in the wilderness. Why not? He claimed to have received this sermon directly from the voice of God! Very few know that the concept behind this sermon actually came from Rev. Billy Graham. Read more.

Denominationalism vs. Idolatry
The biggest doctrinal myth that was spread by the ministry of William Marrion Branham was that of the "two seeds that would deceive the very elect if possible." Though these words came directly from scripture, they were misused out of context to support Branham's political agendas. In doing so, a grave mistake was made. The evil of idolatry in the ancient world was lessened to support Branham's motivations. Read more.

King James Version Only
One of the myths that has arisen after the death of William Marrion Branham is that the King James Version is the only accurate version of the Bible, and that William Branham himself only supported the KJV. Followers would be shocked to find that the bible he promoted came from a man who denied the deity of Christ. Read more.

Driverless Eggcar
In 1956, around the time of the Heinkel Cabin Cruiser, Rev. Branham claimed to have had a vision several years earlier that cars would become shaped like an egg. Later, he changed this claimed vision into a "driverless car." Though this technology will one day come, it will not vindicate Branham's original vision. Instead, it will vindicate the magazine article he read. Read more.

Columba, Dead Man Walking
William Branham claimed that the Thyatirean Church Age lasted from A.D 606 to A.D. 1520, and that the "messenger" for the age was Saint Columba. When he copied the dates from Clarence Larkin's "Dispensational Truth" and assigned "messengers" to each age, he forgot to compare them to the lifespans of the men he claimed to be "messengers." Read more.

River of No Return
William Branham claimed to have prophesied the death of Marilyn Monroe, and told how the media missed the cause of death. Why did the "vision" convert from Pacific time to Eastern Standard? Why did it get the cause of death wrong? And worst of all, what was Branham, who called men who watched Marilyn "sex fiends" doing sitting in the theaters during one of her raunchy films? Read more.