Leaving the Message Episode 2 - The Rapture of the Elite
- 3 years ago
The cult following of William Branham is a doomsday cult. What is a doomsday cult? There are two main criteria used to define a doomsday cult, and those criteria are common among all doomsday cults. 1) A doomsday cult will present theology or ideologies with final destruction as their basis and 2) the doomsday cult will offer a means to escape that final destruction to their members.
When the infamous Jim Jones of Peoples Temple convinced almost a thousand people to commit mass suicide with cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, the word "cult" was given new meaning. Defined in simple terms, a "cult" is simply a small group of people with a common set of beliefs, usually led by the person or persons advocating for those beliefs. The early Christians were the "cult following of Jesus Christ". After the Jonestown Massacre, however, people in the modern era suddenly recognized the fact that cults could be dangerous. November 18, 1978, was the infamous "doomsday" for many members of the Peoples Temple cult, but Peoples Temple itself did not necessarily meet the criteria of a "doomsday cult" leading up to 1978. Research suggests, however, that while Jim Jones was working with William Branham and Joseph Mattsson-Boze, Jones was involved in a doomsday cult that may have influenced the Massacre. Multiple sources, including Jones' own handwriting, confirm that Jones was a leader in Branham's "Message" cult.
A "doomsday cult" is a group of people following a central figure who is intently focused upon the End of Days, usually one involving very frightening destruction. doomsday cult leaders often predict a specific date on which they declare the world will come to an end, but the date itself is not the reason their following is considered a doomsday cult; the predicted timeline is only an attribute of a doomsday cult. It is the result of the doomsday focus over time. When the central figure begins to realize that members of their have doubts concerning the doomsday focus, they must have an answer. To keep members interested in their doomsday focus, especially after years of maintaining that focus, leaders of a doomsday cult give members an incentive to continue. "Stay with me, and you will see that on this date in the future, the world will end". Members are held captive until that date. After the doomsday prediction has failed, the group either disbands or the cult leader presents a new date of destruction. William Branham was most famously recognized for his 1977 doomsday prediction, but 1977 was just the result of several other failed predictions given by Branham and leaders in the Post WWII Healing Revival. If the articles in Branham's Voice of Healing publication and newspaper advertisements are any indication, Branham's "doomsday message" was widely popular among the revivalists. Why?
When the infamous Jim Jones of Peoples Temple convinced almost a thousand people to commit mass suicide with cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, the word "cult" was given new meaning. Defined in simple terms, a "cult" is simply a small group of people with a common set of beliefs, usually led by the person or persons advocating for those beliefs. The early Christians were the "cult following of Jesus Christ". After the Jonestown Massacre, however, people in the modern era suddenly recognized the fact that cults could be dangerous. November 18, 1978, was the infamous "doomsday" for many members of the Peoples Temple cult, but Peoples Temple itself did not necessarily meet the criteria of a "doomsday cult" leading up to 1978. Research suggests, however, that while Jim Jones was working with William Branham and Joseph Mattsson-Boze, Jones was involved in a doomsday cult that may have influenced the Massacre. Multiple sources, including Jones' own handwriting, confirm that Jones was a leader in Branham's "Message" cult.
A "doomsday cult" is a group of people following a central figure who is intently focused upon the End of Days, usually one involving very frightening destruction. doomsday cult leaders often predict a specific date on which they declare the world will come to an end, but the date itself is not the reason their following is considered a doomsday cult; the predicted timeline is only an attribute of a doomsday cult. It is the result of the doomsday focus over time. When the central figure begins to realize that members of their have doubts concerning the doomsday focus, they must have an answer. To keep members interested in their doomsday focus, especially after years of maintaining that focus, leaders of a doomsday cult give members an incentive to continue. "Stay with me, and you will see that on this date in the future, the world will end". Members are held captive until that date. After the doomsday prediction has failed, the group either disbands or the cult leader presents a new date of destruction. William Branham was most famously recognized for his 1977 doomsday prediction, but 1977 was just the result of several other failed predictions given by Branham and leaders in the Post WWII Healing Revival. If the articles in Branham's Voice of Healing publication and newspaper advertisements are any indication, Branham's "doomsday message" was widely popular among the revivalists. Why?