An Interview with John Collins on The Message, the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones, and William Marrion Branham’s Mental Health (Part Six)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/06/01

Abstract

John Collins is an author and the Founder of William Branham Historical Research. His new book is entitled Preacher Behind the White Hoods: A Critical Examination of William Branham and His Message. He discusses: the coinciding development of Jim Jones, The Message, and the formation of the Peoples Temple; Jim Jones; things that happened to some of the followers of Jim Jones; the mental health of Branham; psychotic episodes and mental illness of Branham; and the prophecy of the ‘final text’ revival and its interpretation, by some, as a possible resurrection.

Keywords: ​Joel’s Army, John Collins, Latter Rain, Manifest Son of God, Manifest Sons of God, Manifested Sons of God, mental health, NAR, preacher, New Apostolic Reformation, The Message, visions, white hoods, William Branham Historical Research, William Marrion Branham.​

An Interview with John Collins on The Message, the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones, and William Marrion Branham’s Mental Health (Part Six)[A]^,[B]

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Jim Jones joined The Message around the time of the formation of the Peoples Temple. Why is this non-coincidental?

John Collins: This is a subject that can be very difficult to explain, depending upon the audience.  There are those who are familiar with William Branham and his faith healing ministry who are unaware of the “Message” religious cult following that grew with him through various stages of his ministry.  Some of those stages used different stage personas.[1]  There are those who have escaped (or are still a member of) Branham’s cult following who are not aware that their specific version of the cult had previous or later attempts, with different stage personas and (to some extent) different sets of beliefs.  Unfortunately, leaders in the “Message” religious cult that exists today are the ones largely responsible for creating the “historical William Branham”, and the version that has been created bears very little resemblance to the version that documented history records.  These “histories” certainly do not mention the differences between stage personas.

I do my best to explain this in my book, Preacher Behind the White Hoods: A Critical Examination of William Branham and His Message.  To fully understand the relationship between Jim Jones, Peoples Temple, William Branham, and the “Message”, one must also understand the histories of each of these entities as well as how and why they intersect.  One must also understand how and why some of those histories have changed, why they were re-written, and the strategy behind the alteration.

William Branham did not simply have one “Message”, whether referring to the group of people or his collection of doctrine.  Most of the history that exists today has been written based upon his claim to have been given the “gift of healing” by an “angel” in May of 1947.[2]  Later versions of his stage persona made this claim, erroneously connecting that date to the formation of the Nation of Israel, which occurred May 14, 1948. ^[3]  Those familiar with that version of the stage persona are unaware that documentation exists[4] for much earlier “healing revivals”, having different stage personas, supernatural stories, and doctrine.  It should come as no surprise, since the first few seconds of Branham’s earliest audio recording still available for sale starts with the words, “We’re getting some new gadgets for recording”[5], and that his April, 1947 sermon pre-dates his claim to have received the “gift” in May of 1947.

In 1947, William Branham’s healing revivals in Canada became a catalyst for a movement that would later become known as “Latter Rain” and would nearly split modern Pentecostalism in half.  It was during this time that Branham began publishing his “The Voice of Healing” newsletter promoting himself and other “divine healers”, calling for unity among all of the revivalists.  What resulted is a movement that became known as the Latter Rain Revival, Voice of Healing Revival, or simply “Healing Revival”.[6]  Those who leaned towards the Latter Rain movement and its doctrine included William Branham[7] and many of his associates, promoters, campaign team and business partners.  Ministers and evangelists in that camp referred to their specific style of sermon as the “Latter Rain Message”,[8] and eventually the “Message”[9]

Not everyone approved of the Latter Rain movement, however, due to its extreme doctrinal teachings and practices.  When the Assemblies of God sect of Pentecostalism severed ties with many of its own churches[10] and officially declared the movement as Scripturally unsound, those involved with Latter Rain were forced to choose sides.  Men and women who worked closely with William Branham, such as A. W. Rasmussen and Joseph Mattsson-Boze, sided with Latter Rain.  Those opposing this movement viewed those men and women as heretical.  So much so that some churches forced the removal of their pastors over the Latter Rain division, and Rev. Jim Jones was one of those impacted.

After Jones lost his chance at becoming head pastor of the Laurel Street Church in Indianapolis and shortly before Peoples Temple was formed, Joseph Mattson-Boze offered Jim Jones an ordination certificate into the Independent Assemblies of God.  This was one of the “Latter Rain” sects that promoted William Branham, and plans were made for Branham himself to launch Jones’ career as a “faith healer” at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis in June of 1956.  Though their union would only last for a little over one year and two major events, one in 1956[11] and one in 1957,[12] Jones would continue to defend the “Message”[13] and preach[14] William Branhams[15] “Manifest Sons of God” doctrine well into the 1970s.  This doctrine was the notion that the Son of God would be made manifest physically in the form of a “prophet”, which Branham alleged to be.  It should come as no shock that Jones referred to himself as The Spoken Word[16]after Branham’s death in 1965.

Understanding the timeline of the intersection of these men is critical to understanding the impact it would have on Jim Jones and Peoples Temple.  Starting in 1953, William Branham began attempting to distance himself from the Latter Rain movement[17] while still holding to key elements of the Manifest Sons of God theology it produced.  Specifically, Branham focused upon his own deity claims based upon this theology.  The notion of a “prophet god”[18] was a key element to Branham’s version of this theology, and Branham claimed that he was “God’s Voice” to the people.[19]  Those familiar with Jim Jones and his version of the Manifest Sons of God theology will find it eerily similar, but unfortunately it wasn’t until recently that Branham’s association to the Manifest Sons of God theology has gained national attention.[20]  Interestingly, sermons with the title “Manifested Sons of God” were renamed, apparently to conceal all traces of Branham’s connection to Jim Jones.[21]

2. Jacobsen: Who was Jim Jones?

Collins: When the word “cult” is mentioned, images of Jim Jones and Jonestown immediately begin to surface.  Phrases like, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” have become commonplace due to his legacy; almost a thousand people were convinced to willingly commit mass suicide at Jones’ command by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in November 1978.  It was one of the greatest tragedies in the modern world.

Jim Jones was a Pentecostal minister from Indiana who rose to limited fame in the Post WWII Healing Revival.  With the help of William Branham and Joseph Mattsson-Boze, Jones’ “Brotherhood Healing” campaigns[22] gained him quick recognition in the revival circuits.  Locally in Indianapolis, Jones was recognized for his work supporting impoverished African Americans and advocating for Civil Rights.  Ironically, this conflicted with William Branham’s position and his close ties to white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.  Whether because of this or some other reason, Jones migrated Peoples Temple to Redwood Valley, California.

Like William Branham, Jones referred to himself as God’s Voice to the People, referring to his own sermons as the “Spoken Word” [23] or “Living Word”.  William Branham had claimed shortly before his death in 1965 that God would return to earth in the form of a human “prophet”,[24]  and Jones claimed that he, himself was the “Manifested Son of God”[25] from William Branham’s theology.  Also like Branham’s authority over his cult following, this theology gave Jones the ultimate authority over his own cult following.

3. Jacobsen: What happened to some of the followers of Jones?

Collins: In July 1977, the Peoples Temple cult staged a mass exodus from California to Guyana.  This was the same year[26] as one of William Branham’s doomsday predictions,[27] and the prediction that is most remembered.[28]  Peoples Temple members followed Jones, their “prophet leader” to the South American jungle seeking utopia.  On November 18, 1978, over nine hundred people took their own lives in murder/suicide, the vast majority of them by willingly drinking cyanide-laced poison.

4. Jacobsen: Is the claim, by Branham, that he was mentally unstable relevant here? 

Collins: Without a patient to examine, it is difficult to accurately diagnose mental health.  Much speculation has been presented in the case of Jim Jones, however, some of which would seem relevant.  According to Professor Gary Maynard, Jones appeared to suffer from acute Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) during the last stages of his life, and likely suffered from at least eight – if not nine – characteristics of NPD throughout his life.[29]  This disorder would have produced such violent and paranoid delusions and tendencies that when combined with Branham’s dangerous theology, could have been the underlying cause for the Jonestown Massacre.  Had Jones been properly treated with strong medication and intensive therapy, the disaster could likely have been prevented.

William Branham, on the other hand, has not had the same level interest or speculation by mental health experts.  Since Branham died before a similar tragedy within his own cult following occurred, there haven’t been many – if any – studies performed as to his mental stability.  There has, however, been some speculation among former members of his cult following due to the fact that William Branham himself frequently admitted to suffering from mental health issues.  Not to mention the similarities between Branham’s and Jones’ grandiose delusions and deity claims.

According to Branham, he suffered from mental health issues since childhood, and mental health continued to decline with a major event approximately every seven years.

I’ve been a neurotic all my life. As a little boy there was something struck me, that scare me, about every seven years it would happen to me. Brother Jack remembers when I first started, come off the field for a year; something just happened.

Branham, William. 1965, Nov 28. On The Wings Of A Snow White Dove

That being said, we do not have the exact diagnosis or even a patient to examine.  We cannot fully trust that his own description covers the full extent of his suffering, or if those descriptions themselves were the result of an altered state of mind.  It is clear by the examination of his sermon transcripts that delusions of grandeur became progressively worse during the latter part of his life, which would appear to match the decline in mental health for Jim Jones.  Towards the end of his ministry, Branham began to insinuate that he was the return of the prophet “Elijah” from the Old Testament, as did Jones.[30]  Branham also alleged that this “Elijah” (himself) was the “Lord Jesus Christ”.[31]

It is difficult to predict what might have happened had William Branham not died in 1965, but if prominent leaders in his religious cult and campaign team are any example, the path to destruction may not have been so different from Jones.  Branham’s proto commune called “The Park” in Prescott, Arizona, which operated under the rule of Leo Mercer, made national news after it was alleged that physical and sexual abuse resulted in a cult member’s killing spree.

Leo Mercer, a self-proclaimed minister, ran the park.  After Brother Branham’s death in 1965, Mercer gradually became more authoritative, employing various forms of punishment.  He would ostracize people from the community and separate families.  Children were beaten for minor infractions like talking during a march or not tying their shoes. Mercer would punish girls by cutting their hair, and force boys to wear girls’ clothing.  There was also evidence that Mercer sexually abused children.[32]

Similar to the final days leading up to the Jonestown Massacre at the Jonestown compound,[33] the “Message” compound in Prescott, Arizona became militant.  Children were marched around the compound military-style and trained to believe that those outside the commune would be destroyed while those inside suffering abuse would be “saved.”

Education was not valued in the church, and many children dropped out of school.  Boys were expected to marry and have children at age 18.  Children were taught they would either go to heaven or burn forever.  People outside the church were considered “atomic fodder” who would die, while believers would be saved.[34]

5. Jacobsen: What does the description of squirrels running through his stomach – so to speak – in psychotic episodes state about William Marrion Branham? Is mental instability or mental illness – though something to be empathic about – a serious problem, especially in religious leaders of prominence and influence?

Collins: Throughout his ministry, William Branham gave very few descriptions of his battle with mental health.  Other than stating that an episode occurred approximately every seven years, one might assume that he simply struggled with mild depression or anxiety.  Shortly before his death, however, he described one of his “neurotic” episodes in full.[35]

And I remember when I finally thought I had enough money to go to Mayos’ for an examination; they said, “They’ll find what your trouble is.” Wife and I, and Becky back there…Sarah was a little, bitty fellow. I just entered my healing ministry. And we took off to Mayos’.

I went through the clinic. And the night before I’d find…had my finals the next morning, I just woke up and was setting there on the bed looking around. And I looked out in front of me, and there was a little boy, looked just like me, about seven years old; and looked at it, and it was me. And he was standing by an old snag tree. And on that tree…

Any of you squirrel hunters know you can rub a stick up and down on a tree like that, and it’ll scare a squirrel and run him out if he’s in the hollow.  And I was seeing there where that squirrel had been, and I thought, “What kind of squirrel is that?” and I rubbed it. And when I did, I looked over and it was me then about thirty-eight years old, the little boy was gone. So I rubbed that limb, and out of the hollow log, pole, come a little squirrel about that long, dark, almost black, and looked like little currents flying from him; little bitty beady eyes, the wickedest looking thing that I ever seen, looked like a weasel more than a squirrel.

And he looked right at me. And I opened my mouth to say, “Well…” And when I did, he…Before you could’ve batted your eye, he flew right into my mouth, went down into my stomach, and just tearing me to pieces. And as I come out of the vision, with my hands up, looking, I went screaming, “O God, have mercy! It’s killing me!”[36]

This is a serious condition worth considering, especially with regards to the leader of a religious movement.  Cult leaders claiming “prophecy” and “visions” often associate their experience with the supernatural, but very few have admitted having been in the hospital for a “neurotic episode” at the time their “vision” occurred.  It is surprising that Branham’s description of this episode have not been erased from the recordings and transcripts, but even more surprising that so few of Branham’s followers are aware that he even entered hospitals seeking treatment for mental health.

The fact that we are even discussing the question as to whether or not religious leaders of prominence and influence displaying symptoms of mental health instability is concerning is a clear representation of the nature of the problem.  There are those who find the “supernatural” appealing, so much so that they suppress their own critical analysis of the person or persons claiming supernatural powers.  When critical analysis is avoided, the door to disaster is opened.  It should come as no surprise that most of our examples for religious cult leaders are those who left mainstream religion for “independent” or “non-denominational” groups having no accountability.

6. Jacobsen: How might this relate to various claims to prophecies including the ‘prophecy’ about the final tent revival? How did several ministers interpret this, in terms of a resurrection?

Collins: I find William Branham’s “tent prophecy” to be fascinating, no matter which path of study is taken.  For everyone in Branham’s “Message” cult following, it is a “prophecy” that is clearly left unfulfilled, resulting in cognitive dissonance.  Yet each of the many sects and sub-cults within the “Message” have addressed the internal conflict in a variety of different ways.

My grandfather taught his church that the final tent revival William Branham described was a “prophecy”.  William Branham claimed that his “tent prophecy” was the result of a vision,[37] and that it was not his voice making this proclamation – it was “THUS SAITH THE LORD”.[38] After William Branham’s death in 1965, however, this presented a huge problem.  Either William Branham was a false prophet,[39] or he must resurrect to fulfill the “prophecy”.  As a result, grandpa began claiming that William Branham would rise from the dead.[40]  When Branham’s funeral was held at the Branham Tabernacle, this notion continued to spread.[41]  Over the years, this “resurrection” became a theme for Easter meetings held at Branham’s church in Jeffersonville.  Pearry Green, pastor of Branham’s satellite church in Tucson, Arizona, added fuel to the fire by making the same claim.[42]

Though I vividly remember my grandfather, aunts, and uncles discussing the “resurrection” at family events, Grandpa’s public version of his beliefs did not match his private.  Over time, Grandpa denied such a belief to non-members of the cult – especially news reporters[43] – while privately continuing to claim that Branham would resurrect for one final tent revival.  Whether because of this or not, other sects within the “Message” cult did not believe in a physical resurrection.  Both myself and former members of other “Message” sects also heard pastors who claimed that the “tent prophecy” was a “spiritual tent”, while others claimed that the “vision” was merely speculation instead of “prophecy”.

Taking a step back from all of this, it’s difficult to imagine that so many people have held onto this belief of a “tent prophecy” and/or a “resurrection” for so many decades.  Back when William Branham made the claim, and revivalists were gathering large crowds to attend “tent revivals”, this might have seemed probable.  In today’s world, with so many convention centers, sports arenas, and other buildings available to rent, it is highly improbable that a “tent” would be the preferred place of gathering.  Even towards the end of his life, the enthusiasm over the notion of a “tent revival” was dwindling – most people prefer the controlled climate of a properly-ventilated building with a good heating and air system.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[A]  Author; Founder, William Branham Historical Research.

[B] Individual Publication Date: June 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/collins-six; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[1] Example: Stage persona used after 1947 claimed that the “gift of healing” was given by an “angel” in May 1947.  Stage persona used in 1945 (as described in “I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision” tract) described healing after receiving a vision of “white robed” people.

[2] Branham, William.  1954, Jul 18.  The Great Coming Revival and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  “And a strange thing of that, that you might not know, the very day the Angel of the Lord called me out, May the 6th, 1947, and issued the gift to pray for the sick, was the very same day that Israel become a nation for the first time for twenty-five hundred years. Oh, I believe there’s something in it. I just can’t keep from believing that we’re near the end of time. That’s right.

[3] The State of Israel Is Born. 1948, May 14. The Palestine Post.

[4] Branham, William.  1945.  I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision.  “It was in the month of March, 1945, one morning about 3:00 A.M”

[5] Branham, William.  1947, Apr 12.  Faith Is The Substance Rev. William Marrion Branham http://table.branham.org

[6] Crowder, John.  2006.  Miracle Workers, Reformers, and the New Mystics.  “Known simply as the healing revival, Voice of Healing Revival, or Latter Rain Revival”

[7] -The Sharon Orphanage Connection Accessed 2019, May 1 from

http://abc-history.blogspot.com/2008/02/before-i-was-born-my-father-ramon-haas.html  “One of Branham’s teachings was the ability to use the “Spirit of God” to make things move on their own accord. My dad related to me he had tried this, just once, and said that things in the room moved on their own but the air had become cold, dark and heavy. It scared him and he never tried it again. After this he rejected this teaching by Branham but he maintained many other principles taught by Branham and the Latter Rain Movement and incorporated many of the Branham / Latter Rain Movement principles into the fabric of his teachings to the Assembly of the Body of Christ. In this way he carried forward some of these Branham doctrines.”

[8] Latter Rain Message at the Latter Rain Chapel.  1952, Feb 23.  Tampa Bay Times.

[9] Example: Hear the Message of the End Time.  1951, Feb 3.  Arizona Republic.

[10] 1949, Sept 9-14.  Minutes and Constitution with Bylaws: Assemblies of God, the Twenty-third General Council.  “That we disapprove of those extreme teachings and practices, which, being unfounded Scripturally, serve only to break fellowship of like precious faith and tend to confusion and division among the members of the Body of Christ, and be it hereby known that this 23^rd General Council disapproves of the so-Called “New Order of the Latter Rain”

[11] 1956, Jun 9.  Peoples Temple Will Be Host to the Great William Branham Brotherhood-Healing Crusade

[12] Peoples Temple.  1957, Jun 1.  Indianapolis Star.

[13] Handwritten Notes of Jim Jones.  Accessed 2020, May 18 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=13782.  “I know there are things about the Message that you may not see but it is God.”

[14] Jim Jones and he Malachi 4 Elijah Prophecy.  Accessed 2020, May 26 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=70743

[15] Example: Branham, 65-1127B – Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God’s Will.  “And Elijah was not…That wasn’t Elijah; That was the Spirit of God on Elijah; Elijah was just a man. Now, we’ve had Elijahs, and Elijahs’ coats, and Elijahs’ mantles, and Elijahs’ everything. But the Elijah of this day is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is to come according to Matthew the seventeen-…Luke 17:30, is, the Son of man is to reveal Himself among His people. Not a man, God! But it’ll come through a Prophet.”

[16] Jones, James.  1974.  Accessed 2020, May 28 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=28198  “That’s what I am. The Word. The Spoken Word. The Living Word.”

[17] Branham, William.  1953, Jun 14.  I Perceive That Thou Art a Prophet.  “And if you’ll excuse it, and please don’t think I say wrong here, that’s where in the little break-up that come amongst the Pentecostal people recently, called Latter Rain, that’s where they got off the line, right there. For a when a gift of prophecy come to a man, they declared him to be a prophet. Now, that’s wrong. There’s quite a difference between a gift of prophecy and prophet.”

[18] Branham, William. 1965, November 28. God’s Only Provided Place Of Worship.  “No leaven among you, that brings the entire fulness of the godhead bodily among you. Couldn’t do it in Luther’s age, couldn’t do it in Wesley’s age, couldn’t do it in Pentecostal age; but in the day when the Son of man will be manifested, revealed, brought back the Church together with the entire Deity of God amongst His people, showing the same visible signs, manifesting Himself like He did at the beginning when He was manifested on earth in a form of a Prophet-God. Oh! Glory! Promised by Malachi 4, promised by the rest of the Scriptures. Where you worship at? The house of God, seated (in present tense).”

[19] Branham, William.  1951, May 5.  My Commission.  “I am God’s Voice to you. See? I say that again. That time was under inspiration.”

[20] Southern Poverty Law Center, Klanwatch Project, Militia Task Force. 2008. Intelligence Report: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law.  Accessed 2020, May 28 from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2008/todd-bentley%E2%80%99s-militant-joel%E2%80%99s-army-gains-followers-florida.  “Through Cain came all the smart, educated people down to the antediluvian flood — the intellectuals, bible colleges,” Branham wrote in the kind of anti- mainstream religion, anti-intellectual spirit that pervades the Joel’s Army movement “

[21] Manifested Sons of God.  Accessed 2020, May 28 from https://www.williambranham.com/manifested-sons-of-god-60-0518 “This Message by Brother William Marrion Branham called Manifested Sons Of God was delivered on Wednesday, 18th May 1960 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A. The tape, number 60-0518, is 2 hours and 5 minutes, and consists of 2 cassettes. This message is available in book format (Adoption).”

[22] 1956, Jun 9.  Peoples Temple Will Be Host to the Great William Branham Brotherhood-Healing Crusade

[23] Jones, Jim. 1972.  Accessed 2020, May 26 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27429.  “We’re not in a praying house here, we’re in a speaking house. The Spoken Word is here. The Word is made flesh. We don’t pray and beg anymore, we don’t grovel around on our knees anymore, we can talk to God face-to-face, and we can hear God with our own ears, and with our own understanding.”

[24] Branham, 65-1127B – Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God’s Will.  “Son of man is to reveal Himself among His people. Not a man, God! But it’ll come through a Prophet.”

[25] Jones, Jim. 1972. Accessed 2020, May 26 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=85676.  “That’s my desire. I did not come this far by faith, to just end this race as being one manifested son.”

[26] Branham, William.  An Exposition Of The Seven Church Age.  “I still maintain this prediction after thirty years because, Jesus did NOT say no man could know the year, month or week in which His coming was to be completed. So I repeat, I sincerely believe and maintain as a private student of the Word, along with Divine inspiration that 1977 ought to terminate the world systems and usher in the millennium.”

[27] Doomsday Predictions.  Accessed 2020, May 30 from https://william-branham.org/site/topics/doomsday_predictions.  “Years Branham either predicted for the “day of destruction” or claimed to have been “spiritually significant” in the setup for destruction: 1948 (1948 issues of Voice of Healing, William Branham listed as “Publisher”) 1954 (54-0513 #33) 1956 (56-0212 #12) 1962 (62-0518 #112) 1975 (64-0705 #76) 1977 (61-0806 #196) 1983 (63-1229M #219) 1999 (63-1124E #320) 2000 (63-1229M #219)”

[28] Example: Bruce, Alexandra.  2009.  2012: Science or Superstition.  “William M. Branham predicted that the rapture would take place in 1977”

[29] Maynard, Gary.  Jim Jones and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  Accessed 2020, May 27 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=29416 “From this brief analysis of Jones’ behavior using the DSM IV-TR diagnostic criteria, it is apparent that he suffered from at least eight – if not all nine – of the characteristics at some point during his life. The question then becomes not whether he was a narcissist, but how severe was his narcissism? By the time he died, it is clear that he was suffering from an acute case of narcissistic personality disorder with violent and paranoid delusions and tendencies. Most psychiatrists would have put him on strong medication combined with intensive therapy. “

[30] Q1023 Transcript.  Accessed 2017, May 30 from http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27309

[31] Branham, William. 1965, Nov 27. Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God’s Will .  “Son of man is to reveal Himself among His people. Not a man, God! But it’ll come through a Prophet.”

[32] People v. Keith Thomas Loker.  Supreme Court of California Super. Ct. No. SCR-582212

[33] Gardner, Phyllis Ph.D, Williams John Ph.D, Sadri, Mahmoud Ph.D.  Peoples Temple: From Social Movement To Total Institution.  Accessed 2020, May 28 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=33160.  “For a variety of reasons which will be explored later, Peoples Temple evolved into a militant total institution, complete with weapons, talk of revenge against enemies and threats of revolutionary suicide”

[34] People v. Keith Thomas Loker.  Supreme Court of California Super. Ct. No. SCR-582212

[35] Branham, William.  1965, Nov 28.  On The Wings Of A Snow-White Dove.  “I’ve been a neurotic all my life. As a little boy there was something struck me, that scare me, about every seven years it would happen to me. Brother Jack remembers when I first started, come off the field for a year; something just happened.”

[36] Branham, William.  1965, Nov 28.  On The Wings Of A Snow-White Dove

[37] Branham, William.  1958, Oct 1.  Lifting Him Up Out of History.  “And then some time ago I was in a vision, and I saw a large tent. Oh, it was a mammoth, big affair.”

[38] Branham, William.  1956, Apr 3.  Look.  “One of these days I want to pitch that tent the Lord’s going to give me, right outside of this side of Chicago… those things are not mythical. In contact with the Holy Spirit…when I come under His anointing, and He takes me away and shows me things, I just got perfect confidence that it’s just exactly right, ’cause it’s never failed. And He will never say one thing outside what’s written in this Bible. That’s right. You watch it. Through the years, He’s never said one thing at any time, unless it was absolutely Scripturally based on the Bible, THUS SAITH THE LORD.”

[39] Branham, William.  1953, Nov 6.  Do You Now Believe.  “You can go to my hometown and find it one time, in all the times that It’s ever told anything, that didn’t come to pass just exactly the way It said. Now, you pin a sign on my back as a false prophet, and I’ll walk through your streets.”

[40] Evangelist William Branham.  1966, Apr 14.  The Kane Republication.  “Some remained at Jeffersonville still apparently convinced that the man they called ‘Brother Billy’ and ‘prophet-messenger’ would arise from death … the Rev. Willard Collins, associate pastor at the Branham Tabernacle there, said he was among the believers in the evangelist’s resurrection because Branham ‘had a halo over his head when he was born in a log cabin in Burksville, Ky.’”

[41] Evangelist William Branham.  1966, Apr 14.  “There were similar rumors that ‘Brother Billy’ would rise from the dead when funeral services were conducted at his Branham Tabernacle at Jeffersonville on Dec. 29.”

[42] Dead Prophet Lures Thousands.  1982, Apr 12. The Courier Journal.  “Some of his followers began saying that the services were being delayed because their prophet would rise from the dead Easter day.  The talk swelled when 700 people came to town for Branham’s burial April 11; while in town for the services, the Rev. Pearry Green, pastor of a Tucson, Ariz., tabernacle that was a member of the Braham sect, talked openly of the resurrection belief.

[43] Dead Prophet Lures Thousands.  1982, Apr 12. The Courier Journal.  “All along, local leaders of the Branham sect repeatedly said they didn’t believe any of that, and today Collins says, “It’s just not true at all, regardless of what you have heard.”

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