Recruiting New Members
- 4 years ago
William Branham's "Message" cult leaders often recruit new members by misleading unsuspecting candidates through misrepresentation of William Branham's doctrinal stance. When new members are recruited, doctrinal statements from earlier versions of his Stage Persona are used while doctrinal statements from later versions are concealed. Websites such as themessage.com use welcoming, non-denominational slogans such as "No creed but Christ; no law but love; no book but the Bible.".
In earlier versions, William Branham's persona was "interdenominational" or "nondenominational", not "anti-denominational". When William Branham's Stage Persona was re-branded in 1948 for compatibility with the Latter Rain Movement, Branham published a newsletter entitled, "The Voice of Healing: An Inter-Evangelical Publication of the Branham Healing Campaigns". (ex: The Voice of Healing, Apr 1948)
Dear brother, sister, there’s only one Church, and that’s the body of believers out of every church, that are truly believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the only Church there is. We do not come into the Church—into the Church of God. We become into this fellowship; the Baptist fellowship, the Methodist fellowship, the Catholic fellowship, the Presbyterian fellowship. We become in there by a working agreement, like the unions have in the churches. But in the Church of the living God, we do not come in by letter, by—by handshake, by water baptism. But the Scripture says, “By one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body.” A Christian, regardless of what fellowship we’re connected with, we are borned a Christian by the Spirit of God, and we become believers on His Name.
Branham, William. 1951, July 27. The Church Of The Living God
Now, now we find out, then, that when we brought down the next article we have here, finding out, that—that, the reason we are a nondenominational. And we believe that there is born-again Christians, sainted people, in Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and what-more. We believe that God’s Church is that Seed that’s mixed down through this realm down through here, and it come in by what we spoke of last night, and we’ll further discuss it, predestination. Not that God predestines anything to be, but, by foreknowledge He can predestinate, for He knowed all things.
Branham, William. 1958, Sept 28. The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit
In earlier versions, William Branham's persona was "interdenominational" or "nondenominational", not "anti-denominational". When William Branham's Stage Persona was re-branded in 1948 for compatibility with the Latter Rain Movement, Branham published a newsletter entitled, "The Voice of Healing: An Inter-Evangelical Publication of the Branham Healing Campaigns". (ex: The Voice of Healing, Apr 1948)
Dear brother, sister, there’s only one Church, and that’s the body of believers out of every church, that are truly believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the only Church there is. We do not come into the Church—into the Church of God. We become into this fellowship; the Baptist fellowship, the Methodist fellowship, the Catholic fellowship, the Presbyterian fellowship. We become in there by a working agreement, like the unions have in the churches. But in the Church of the living God, we do not come in by letter, by—by handshake, by water baptism. But the Scripture says, “By one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body.” A Christian, regardless of what fellowship we’re connected with, we are borned a Christian by the Spirit of God, and we become believers on His Name.
Branham, William. 1951, July 27. The Church Of The Living God
Now, now we find out, then, that when we brought down the next article we have here, finding out, that—that, the reason we are a nondenominational. And we believe that there is born-again Christians, sainted people, in Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and what-more. We believe that God’s Church is that Seed that’s mixed down through this realm down through here, and it come in by what we spoke of last night, and we’ll further discuss it, predestination. Not that God predestines anything to be, but, by foreknowledge He can predestinate, for He knowed all things.
Branham, William. 1958, Sept 28. The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit