(Editor’s note: John Collins is a regular contributor to the Jonestown report. His collections of articles for this site may be found here. For more information about this research, read Preacher Behind the White Hoods: A Critical Examination of William Branham and His Message, available on Amazon.com. More information about Rev. Branham prepared by John Collins may be found at the informational website, https://william-branham.org.
(Author’s note: Special thanks to Rev. Charles Paisley and Christian Gospel Church for his research and contributions which made this article possible.)
In June of 1957, Rev. Jim Jones issued a warning and a prophecy of death – the Pentecostal version of a “death curse” – to famed evangelist and faith healer William Branham. Gathered at the luxurious Claypool Hotel on the northwest corner of Illinois and Washington streets in Indianapolis,[1] Branham approached Peoples Temple Members Archie Ijames, Jack Arnold, and Jim Jones to defend himself against a rising number of ministers and evangelists who had suddenly turned against him. Jones was a leading figure in Branham’s “Message” sect at the time, and Branham must have been sure that Jones would stand by his side. Branham apparently put full confidence in the leaders of Peoples Temple and vented his frustration, assuming his words would remain confidential. According to Jones, Branham confided to Jones and the elders of Peoples Temple as witnesses that he (Branham) did not “believe a thing in that Bible hardly,” but expressed that “it’s the way to make a living.”[2] Jones did not keep the statement in confidence, however, and in the Biblical “mouth of two or three witnesses,”[3] Ijames and Arnold were used to confirm Jones’ condemnation of Branham’s hypocrisy. Jones joined with the other ministers in rebuking Branham and condemning him to die.
At the time, Branham could have never predicted that Jones would sever ties and remove Peoples Temple from affiliation with his “Message” sect. The evangelist had helped lift Jones from his role as a relatively unknown faith healer into an overnight sensation4 when he headlined Jones’ “Nation Wide Ministers Convention” at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis two years before.[5] Jones rose through the ranks of the “Message” into a leadership role, officially ordained into the sect by Joseph Mattsson Boze.[6] After his success at the Indianapolis convention, Jones started hosting Branham’s healing revivals in other states and helping to spread Branham’s “Latter Rain Message,”[7] the religious doctrine for which the sect was named. The leader of Peoples Temple was a frequent face at “Full Gospel” churches devoted to Branham’s sect, such as the Laurel Street Tabernacle[8] and the Branham-affiliated Bloomington Full Gospel Tabernacle.[9] Jones, along with Mattsson-Boze and Assemblies of God Indiana District Superintendent Roy Wead, had worked tirelessly to defend Branham against those who opposed Latter Rain[10] in the past, and there was no reason to assume that they would not continue. This time, however, when Branham confided in Jones that “you can’t preach the truth about that Bible,” Jones decided it was time to part ways and started moving Peoples Temple away from Branham on the path eventually leading to the Disciples of Christ.[11]
For decades, the curse that Jim Jones prophesied against William Branham has been shrouded in mystery. The reasons behind Peoples Temple abruptly departing from “Full Gospel” Pentecostalism to the Disciples of Christ were also largely unknown until recently. After combining research collected from a leading member of one of the many splinter groups of Branham’s “Message” cult of personality, and realizing that Jones himself had ministered to churches dedicated to that splinter group, we now have a better understanding of this period of Peoples Temple history.
Though the Latter Rain Revivals that united Branham with Jones were extremely popular from 1948 to 1952, their acceptance in many churches was in strong decline by 1957. In 1949 the Assemblies of God declared the Latter Rain movement to be heretical[12] causing a large number of supporting churches to withdraw their participation. As the resolution was enforced in Assemblies of God Churches throughout the nation, other churches in fellowship with the Assemblies were also forced to decide in favor or against Branham and his revivals. Indiana became a “rogue district that was too tolerant,”[13] but the support of Indiana was not enough to sway the increasingly negative perception of the Latter Rain Message. In 1953, at an advertised “Branham-Baxter” revival in Connersville, Indiana[14] Branham’s long-time supporter and campaign manager, Rev. W. J. Ern Baxter[15] — the “Baxter” half of the Branham-Baxter revivals[16] — left abruptly after a few days and then refused to show for most of the eleven-day schedule.[17] Baxter’s absence apparently became more frequent, and Branham was uncomfortable leading the revivals alone.[18]William Branham and his son, Billy Paul Branham, were forced to lead the revival meetings without prominent members of his staff.[19] According to Branham, he had been constrained over differences in doctrine between himself and his campaign team, and he expressed his newfound liberty to speak without reservations.[20] Baxter later explained that he disagreed with Branham’s doctrinal teaching and that “the fruits of [Branham’s] teaching ministry [were] not good.”[21]
Baxter was not the only person in Branham’s inner circle to abandon him. His inner circle was imploding as well. Gordon Lindsay, Branham’s other campaign manager[22] and editor of his The Voice of Healing publication,[23] also started severing ties. Along with Lindsay, several other long-term supporters turned against Branham over doctrine.
In December of 1953, Branham was listed as a speaker at the Voice of Healing Convention in Chicago, a gathering named after the evangelist’s newsletter. Prior to the convention, however, its leaders of the convention issued Branham an ultimatum concerning his heretical doctrine and ultimately barred him from speaking.[24] This led to a very controversial argument between Gordon Lindsay and The Voice of Healing.
Lindsay had unexpectedly come in contact with some very controversial information, when, in October of 1950, he received a letter from Rev. Roy E. Davis, who said that he was the one who had ordained Branham into his first Pentecostal assembly[25] This was contrary to the story given by Branham’s stage persona used in his revivals and his “Life Story” accounts that Lindsay himself had been publishing.[26]
Davis was well-connected in the revival circuits, not for his religious doctrine or preaching so much as who he was. At one time, he had been the second-in-command of the Ku Klux Klan under William Joseph Simmons, the founder of the 1915 white supremacy group.[27] Davis was also well-known for his leadership role in the Knights of the Flaming Sword, a similar group that he and Simmons had started.[28] Davis was also widely famous for his religious radio program, “Jack and Granny,[29] his connection to the famous fundamentalist leader of the Calvary Baptist Church in New York, John Roach Stratton, and his revivals held with the Ku Klux Klan’s supreme religious chaplain, imperial kludd[30] Rev. Caleb A. Ridley.[31] On top of all of this, Davis had a criminal record that included convictions for sexual misconduct and felony sex crimes, prison sentences in two state penitentiaries, and a very long trail of charges in multiple states.[32]
Davis’ letter to Lindsay, though seemingly harmless at the time, proved to be Branham’s undoing. Learning that the leader of the “Message” sect was not honest about himself in his “Life Story” books, articles, and recordings would itself have raised concerns for Lindsay, but learning of his deep association with leaders of white supremacy would have been appalling.
In February of 1953, The Voice of Healing publication announced a new list of editors,[33] and by July,[34] Branham had been removed from the newsletter he had created to advertise his ministry.[35] When he was barred as a speaker at the 1953 Voice of Healing Convention in Chicago, the situation was far more complex than simply a difference in religious opinion. Many of the ministers and evangelists at the convention had built their ministerial platforms on top of Branham’s religious foundation. If people were to find out that this foundation was based on fiction, and that fiction was associated with the domestic terrorism of the white supremacy groups, it was not only Branham’s ministry that would suffer. Every ministry connected to him would also suffer.
Jim Jones appears to have been fully unaware of this history. A strong supporter of Civil Rights and equality, Jones had professed a strong hatred for the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana.[36] When Jones advertised his first joint campaign with William Branham in 1956, he advertised the “Peoples Temple Interracial-Interdenominational” through the Indianapolis Recorder, the city’s Black newspaper[37] with morning services at Peoples Temple and evening services at Cadle Tabernacle.[38] Had he known of Branham’s deep roots in white supremacy, Jones would never have invited Branham to be the featured speaker at a convention he hosted, let alone join Branham as a leader in the “Message” sect.
Indeed, from Jones’ initial perspective, William Branham – like him – was a victim of persecution. The Temple leader had fought hard to protect the African American members in his community, and basked in his status as a “freedom fighter” and a defender of the helpless. But he had also faced opposition from some of his peers for his efforts for integration and racial equality. Branham, having lost most of his major supporters and campaign team, would have appeared to be in desperate need of support, and it was that need that would not have been lost on Jones.
Increasingly, though, the tension between Branham and other leaders of the postwar Healing Revival was no secret, discussed openly as it was by both among ministers of the revivals and in publications. Rev. Mattsson-Boze of the Philadelphia Church in Chicago made the issue even more public when he demanded that Gordon Lindsay and the Voice of Healing revivalists explain why Branham was not permitted to speak at the Voice of Healing Convention. Using his Herald of Faith magazine as the vehicle for debate throughout 1954, Mattsson-Boze waged a very public battle with The Voice of Healing. Mattsson-Boze began with “An Open Letter to the Voice of Healing[39] Lindsay responded, though indirectly in an article in The Voice of Healing,[40] which led to a second open letter from Mattsson-Boze.
After the public debate between leading Pentecostal newsletters, William Branham was mysteriously absent from the 1954 lineup of evangelists at The Voice of Healing convention in Philadelphia.[41] His name was mentioned at the 7th Annual Voice of Healing convention in Dallas in 1955, but with the disclaimer: “(May Be Present).[42] Branham declined to attend, however, choosing instead to be in San Fernando, California during the revivals.[43] Rather than collaborating, then, he chose to go it alone without the support of his entire peer group.
The timeline of Branham’s tension with his campaign managers coincides with Jim Jones’ formation of Peoples Temple. 1953, the year that Branham was ousted from the Voice of Healing Publication and refused at the Voice of Healing Convention, appears to be the same year that Jones joined the “Message” sect. December 1953 is the first year yet identified in which Jones held services at the Laurel Street Tabernacle. Laurel Street Tabernacle was one of the Indiana Assemblies of God churches sympathetic to the healing revivals and was dedicated by Branham sympathizer and AOG District superintendent Roy Wead.[44] Jones held multiple healing revivals at the Laurel Street Tabernacle that were advertised as “miracle services.”[45] On April 4, 1955, Jones registered the Wings of Deliverance.[46] In May 1955, Mattsson-Boze connected Jones to Branham by phone and by mail, giving Jones instructions on how to bypass Branham’s mail handlers.[47] Shortly thereafter, Jones announced that Branham would be coming to Peoples Temple,[48] and Joseph Mattsson-Boze began touring with Jones at revival meetings.[49] While working with Mattsson-Boze, plans were made to organize the “Christian Fellowship Convention,” which was apparently in competition with the Voice of Healing Convention. Peoples Temple began advertising the Christian Fellowship convention as the “Brotherhood-Healing Crusade,” from June 11 to 15 at the Cadle Tabernacle.[50] The Voice of Healing magazine gave the competition very little real estate on their pages for advertisement. Branham was listed only in the schedule, and only as a speaking engagement — not an international convention of ministers.[51] Thanks to the rally for support by Joseph Mattsson-Boze and Jim Jones, however, Gordon Lindsay and the Voice of Healing evangelists were no longer necessary to his agenda, and Branham’s ministry continued to find support.
Jones and Mattsson-Boze had successfully salvaged the otherwise failing ministry of William Branham. Though it must have seemed to the outside looking in that Jones needed Branham to lift him into popularity during the June 1956 revivals at the Cadle Tabernacle, it was actually the other way around. Those who subscribed to Mattsson-Boze’s newsletter would have been aware; the newsletter challenged those who had cast Branham out of their circles. Still, the vast majority of participants in the healing revivals were unaware of the internal divisions within Branham’s campaign team. Branham needed both new leadership and a new support staff in the revivals in order for his career to survive. In February of 1956, Jones was ordained into the “Message” as a Latter Rain minister and evangelist by Joseph Mattsson-Boze,[52] joined forces with Mattsson-Boze to organize a group of Branham supporters, and started began spreading “The Message.”[53]
From early in his ministerial career until 1957, Jones strongly supported Branham and the healing revivals, hosting meetings not only in Indianapolis but in other states as well. At a meeting in Chicago, Illinois, however, Jones’ support suddenly ceased after Branham’s ties to white supremacy were widely exposed to the public. Three hundred ministers challenged Branham over his doctrinal teaching of “Serpent’s Seed,”[54] which was the notion that the Serpent from the Biblical Garden of Eden mated with Eve, the mother of all living, to produce a second and evil bloodline.[55] This doctrine was widely known among white supremacists[56] and extremists[57] as the Christian Identity doctrine, made popular by Rev. Wesley A. Swift.[58] According to the doctrinal teaching, the bloodline was nearly eradicated in the Great Flood described in the book of Genesis but reemerged through the bloodline of Noah’s son Ham, which many white supremacists claimed to be the black race.[59] While white supremacists were very public in their descriptions of the color of the skin for each of the two bloodlines, Branham omitted race from his publicly taught versions of the doctrine and instead trained certain leaders in his sect privately to teach that the “evil seed” was identified by people with black skin.[60] According to Branham publicist Lee Vayle, the biblical Serpent was “as black as the ace of spades.”[61]
Branham’s subtle introduction of the Christian Identity doctrine into his revivals could only be understood through the combination of other doctrines, such as his “Hybreeding” doctrine. According to Branham, interracial children were “mulattos” that were “hybrid” and “illegitimate,” and the two bloodlines should be kept separate.[62] It was difficult to conceal, however, due to the widespread awareness of the Christian Identity doctrine. In response to the three hundred ministers who had challenged him over the doctrine, Branham claimed that he introduced the racist doctrine “under anointing” and those who disagreed were “mixed-up theologians.”[63] The group of ministers responded in kind, with an open letter rebuking Branham for what they considered to be a mistake that would soon lead to his own destruction. Both the ministers and the letter repeatedly warned Branham that he was soon to die.[64]
This open letter apparently pushed Jones into a corner that he could not easily escape. To support Branham in the white supremacy doctrine would be to deny all of the work that he had done in the Indianapolis communities in support of racial equality. To reject Branham over the doctrine would be to reject the “Message” itself — according to Branham’s “Message” theology, the “Message” and the “Messenger” were one and the same.[65] Jones eventually decided to reject both Branham and his “Message” and joined the ministers who attacked Branham. Shortly thereafter, Jones placed his own death curse on Branham, with Archie Ijames and Jack Arnold Beam as his two witnesses.
References
[1] Browne, Tiffany Benedict. 2019, May 15. Accessed 2022, Jul 14 from https://historicindianapolis.com/how-the-claypool-hotel-began. How the Claypool Hotel Began. “Of all the hotels in Indianapolis, the Claypool Hotel was our superstar for decades. It was the place to go for club or company banquets, pre-wedding dinners or anniversary parties, and after the 1903 debut, it was the only place to stay if you were a visiting celebrity. A whole book could easily be written about the Claypool, but let’s look at its inception. Henry Lawrence began a 10-year contract managing the famed Bates House on May 1, 1897, while he still had three years left to fulfill at the Spencer House as manager. The very name ‘Bates House’ was synonymous with Indianapolis, soon after it first opened on the northwest corner of Illinois and Washington streets in 1853.”
[2] Jones, James. Q612 Transcript. Accessed 2021, Aug 10. “Billy Graham came right to us – Ijames [Archie Ijames], Jack [Jack Arnold Beam], and me – in Claypool Hotel, said I don’t believe a thing in that Bible hardly. But he said, it’s the way to make a living. Billy Graham, who I prophesied his death– Billy Branham rather– I said he’d lose his head. His head was cut off in Texas. [Author’s note: Branham died in an automobile accident on Christmas Eve 1965 in Texas, but was not decapitated.] He said you can’t preach the truth about that Bible.”
The meeting at the Claypool described by Jones was recorded by Branham (1956, October 2. Father, The Hour Has Come (56-1002A)), in which he acknowledged Jones’ presence. “Happy to see, today, is our host pastor [Brother James Jones] from Indianapolis, back there. … And many other friends that’s setting around. It certainly is a privilege, today, to speak to such a host of people, who I am expecting to live an Eternity with, in Glory. And have the privilege today to be standing to speak to you and fellowship with you around the Word of God. And it certainly is a privilege to do this.”
[3] 2 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV). “This will be my third visit to you. ‘Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'”
[4] Reiterman, Tim. 1982. Raven. “Creating an image meant creating publicity, and that meant a bold move. Soon after the move to his new church, he organized a mammoth religious convention to take place June 11 through June 15, 1956, in a cavernous Indianapolis hall called Cadle Tabernacle. To draw the crowds, Jim needed a religious headliner, and so he arranged to share the pulpit with Rev. William Branham, a healing evangelist and religious author as highly revered by some as Oral Roberts or Billy Graham.”
[5] 1956, Jan 21. Peoples Temple Full Gospel. The Indianapolis Star. The Temple will be host to William Branham soon. See also, Jones, Jim. 1956, Apr. The Open Door. “NATION WIDE MINISTERS CONVENTION: Special Speaker William Branham. Date June 11-15, Indianapolis, Indiana. Location Cadle Tabernacle.”
[6] For more info, see The “Full Gospel” Origins of Peoples Temple.
[7] Handwritten Notes of Jim Jones. Accessed 2022, Jul 14. “God sent you to Peoples Temple and you must not release yourself. I know there are things about the Message that you may not see but it is God.”
The Latter Rain Message is discussed at https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/latter_rain_message (Accessed 2022, Jul 14).
[8] “The ‘Full Gospel’ Origins of Peoples Temple.”
[9] Paisley, Charles. 2022, Apr 18. Accessed 2022, Jul 14 from https://christiangospelchurch.org/william-branham-and-jim-jones/. William Branham and Jim Jones. “I was very shocked to learn that Jim Jones was much closer to us than I ever realized. Raymond Jackson had left out a lot of details when he shared his story with us. Jim Jones lived in Bloomington Indiana when he attended University – very near a Message church I was familiar with. In talking with some old timers, I was able to confirm Jim Jones had briefly attended the Bloomington Full Gospel Tabernacle when he lived there as a teenager – a church I had visited many times. A former pastor of the Bloomington church explained to me that the Full Gospel Tabernacle was located in a storefront in downtown Bloomington at the time. The church has since relocated to a different facility in Bloomington.”
[10] Wead, Roy. 1955, March. Revival in our Day. The Voice of Healing. “I pray that somehow God will lead these brethren, help them to do something to take care of that tremendous need. Somebody is going to do it. It is divine order. It is in God’s plan that every individual shall be reached by this glorious Message. If we don’t do it, God will do it through somebody else.”
[11] 100 Events in History of Peoples Temple. Accessed 2022, Jul 15. 1960 Peoples Temple accepted into Disciples of Christ denomination.
[12] Minutes and Constitution. Assemblies of God. Twenty-Third General Council. “RESOLVED, 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 23rd General Council disapproves of the so-called ‘New Order of the Latter Rain.'”
[13] Roy H. Wead and the history of the Assemblies of God. Accessed 2021, Nov 1 from https://dougwead.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/roy-h-wead-and-the-history-of-the-assemblies-of-god. “There were sometimes conflicts. Some national denominational leaders saw Indiana as a rogue district that was too tolerant. Healing evangelists that were banned elsewhere were welcome in Indiana.”
[14] Plan Old Fashioned Revival. 1953, Mar 5. Palladium-Item. “A union community-wide old fashioned revival will be held at the Roberts Park Amphitheater May 31 through June 10 by Rev. William Branham of Jeffersonville and Rev. W. J. Ern Baxter of Vancouver, Canada. Two services will be held daily at 2 p. m. and 7:30 p. m. The public is invited to attend.”
[15] Branham, William. 1949, July 18. I Was Not Disobedient To The Heavenly Vision (49-0718). “At this time they’ll want you to meet my Canadian manager anyhow. This is Reverend Ern Baxter from British Columbia, which will be in the Canadian meetings, seeing that it’s to go across Canada and overseas.”
[16] Spiritual Crusade: Conducted by Internationally Famous Evangelists: BRANHAM-BAXTER. 1952, Aug 9. Battle Creek Enquirer. “Rev. W. J. Ern Baxter.”
[17] Branham, William. 1953, June 8. Demonology, Physical Realm (53-0608A). “Brother Baxter, I don’t know where he’s at. He’s gone somewhere.”
[18] Branham, William. 1953, June 4. The Angel Of The Lord (53-0604). “Always will miss…I miss Brother Baxter. We’ve been together so long, Brother Baxter and I, till he just seems like he’s just become a part of me. I miss him when I go to at the platform. I’ve had some services recently by myself, and I look around for him. He’s been my—not only my co-worker, but my pal.”
[19] Branham, William. 1953, June 8. Demonology, Physical Realm (53-0608A). “This is the first time I’ve ever did it in any of my meetings since I’ve been on the field. This is a new time. Brother Baxter is gone; and—and Brother Bosworth’s in India, or, Africa; and Brother Baxter, I don’t know where he’s at. He’s gone somewhere, and the rest of them’s out and gone.”
[20] Branham, William. 1953, June 8. Demonology, Physical Realm (53-0608A). “I love my management. I have some lovely brethren, Bosworth, Baxter, Lindsay, Moore, all, has got five of them, Baron von Blomberg. They’re just very fine men. But there’s just something about, when you get a group of men together, one has one thing, one has another. Sometime that’s contrary to what I think myself. So I—I—I feel like I’m just free now. We can just have a big time, just roll up our sleeves, and just dive in and eat. I think about rolling up your sleeves and having a—a big time.”
[21] New Wine Magazine, “New Wine Interviews Ern Baxter,” Christian Growth Ministries, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, pp. 4-7, 22-24.
[22] Branham, William. 1947, December 7. Experiences (47-1207). “Brother Lindsay was the campaign manager of the campaign in the north from the Assemblies of God.”
[23] The Voice of Healing. (List of editors) 1948, June. The Voice of Healing. “William Branham … Publisher. Gordon Lindsay … Editor”
[24] Mattsson-Boze, Joseph. (As J.D.M.B). An Open Letter to the Voice of Healing. 1954, Mar. The Herald of Faith. “The questions we have asked The Voice of Healing concerns the great injustice that was done to Rev. William Branham in The Voice of Healing Convention in Chicago during the month of December. Rev. Branham was invited to address the Convention. He was announced, and people anticipated his coming. However, when arriving at the Tabernacle, Rev. Branham was denied the privilege of addressing the Convention unless he would bow to the ultimatum given him.”
[25] Davis, Roy E. Wm. Branham’s First Pastor. 1950, Oct. The Voice of Healing. “I am the minister who received Brother Branham into the first Pentecostal assembly he ever frequented. I baptized him, and was his pastor for some two years. I also preached his ordination sermon, and signed his ordination certificate, and heard him preach his first sermon.”
[26] Branham, William. 1951, April 15. Life Story (51-0415A). “And I remember one day then I wanted to go on a little fishing trip up at Mishawaka, Indiana. That was my first time to ever come in contact with any Pentecostal people.”
See also, Branham, William. 1953, November 10. I Will Restore (53-1110). “When Doctor Davis had ordained me into the Baptist church. When he stood there a few nights with, here some time ago in a religious meeting. He said, ‘Now, Brother Branham, I’ll have you to speak for us tonight.’ That did me good. When he told me, said…I went up to Green’s Mill that night and when the Angel of the Lord appeared to me, and told me, He said…And I went and told the doctor.”
[27] Knights Flaming Sword Asked to Lay Down Arms. 1925, Jan 19. Chattanooga Daily Times. “After the banishment papers had been made out against Col. Simmons by the imperial kloncilium and signed by Dr. H. W. Evans, imperial wizard of the Klan, Col. Simmons continuing to confer the second degree of the Klan. Believing I was entitled to the honor of the second degree I went to the colonel’s home and while visiting with him was raised to the second degree and that day made his personal representative.”
[28] Knights Flaming Sword Asked to Lay Down Arms. 1925, Jan 19. Chattanooga Daily Times. “Dr. Davis said that he, personally, had enlisted most of the recruits of the organization.”
[29] Rev. Standridge Conducts Service at Soldiers’ Home. “At night the party attended the Nazarene revival in Ardmore being conducted by Rev. Roy E. Davis and daughter. They will be remembered to the citizens here as ‘Jack and Granny,’ famed radio singers of gospel songs.”
[30] Dr. Caleb A. Ridley Resigns As Pastor. 1925, Jul 27. The Atlanta Constitution. “Dr. Caleb A. Ridley, former imperial kludd of the Ku Klux Klan, tendered his resignation as pastor of the Third Baptist Church.”
[31] Jack and Granny. 1936, Dec. 3. Big Pasture News. “Two singers and musicians of renown are singing in a revival being conducted in the Nazarene church of this city, and will continue their engagement for two weeks. Jack and Granny, gospel radio singers have traveled all over America and on foreign soil singing the gospel. They have been associated with such religious celebrities as Dr. John Roach Stratton, former pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, New York; Dr. Caleb A. Ridley, former pastor Central Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, the late Billy Sunday, and several others.”
[32] Ex: “Rev. Lon Davis” in Limelight Result Sensational Disclosures: Man Who Served Baptist Churches in Adairsville and Acworth Fired as President Farmers Union – Even Ku Klux Couldn’t Stand His Ravings. 1923, July 7. Bartow Tribune. “Rev. Roy E. Davis, president of the Georgia Farmer’s Union, and former pastor of Baptist churches in Acworth and Adairsville, was removed from office.”
[33] New Associate Editors. 1953, February. The Voice of Healing.
[34] The List of Editors for the Voice of Healing for July 1953 does not include William Branham.
[35] The Voice of Healing: An Inter-Evangelical Publication of the Branham Healing Campaigns. 1948, April. The Voice of Healing.
[36] Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple. Accessed 2022, Aug 11 from https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/items/show/70. “As a teenager, Jones was convinced that his father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as Lynn had a large KKK membership. Believing in equal rights and in reaction to his father’s actions, Jones became a strong advocate for racial equality and civil rights.”
[37] Celebrating Black History: The Indianapolis Recorder. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://www.wishtv.com/news/local-news/celebrating-black-history-the-indianapolis-recorder. “The Indianapolis Recorder is turning 125 years old. In the time since the publication’s establishment, it’s been constant in it’s work to give the local African American community a voice. The once two-page church bulletin started 30 years after slavery, somehow withstanding the test of time.”
[38] Peoples Temple Interracial – Interdenominational. 1956, Jun 9. Indianapolis-Recorder. “Great William Branham Brotherhood Healing Crusade.”
[39] Mattsson-Boze, Joseph. (As J.D.M.B). An Open Letter to the Voice of Healing. 1954, Mar. The Herald of Faith. “The questions we have asked The Voice of Healing concerns the great injustice that was done to Rev. William Branham in The Voice of Healing Convention in Chicago during the month of December. Rev. Branham was invited to address the Convention. He was announced, and people anticipated his coming. However, when arriving at the Tabernacle, Rev. Branham was denied the privilege of addressing the Convention unless he would bow to the ultimatum given him.”
[40] Mattsson-Boze, Joseph. (As J.D.M.B). An Open Letter to the Voice of Healing. 1954, Mar. The Herald of Faith. “In the February issue of The Voice of Healing there is an article which possibly could be interpreted as an answer to our article, though it by no means says so. In this article, the editor of The Voice of Healing brings out the thought that The Voice of Healing’s policy is never to fight other groups. It is hard to believe that the editor of The Voice of Healing thinks that the Herald of Faith is fighting The Voice of Healing just because we ask an open question.”
[41] Hear the World’s Greatest Evangelists. 1954, Oct. The Voice of Healing. Listed: Clifton Erickson, A. A. Allen, Gordon Lindsay, Richard Vinyard, W. V. Grant, A. S. Teuber, David Nunn, Morris Cerullo, Joseph DeGrado, Alton Hayes, A. C. Valdez, Jr., Tommy Hicks, Kenneth Hagin, H. E. Hardt, Stanley Karol, Rudy Cerullo, John and Olive Kellner, L. D. Hall, Bennie Harris, T. L. Osborn, Wilbur Ogilvie, Louise Nankivell, Rex Kelley, Russel Park, Raymond T. Richey, R. W. Culpepper and B. D. Bennett.
[42] Attend the 7th Annual Voice of Healing Convention. 1955, Nov. The Voice of Healing.
[43] Branham, William. 1955, Nov 10. A Hidden Life in Christ. In San Fernando, CA.
[44] The “Full Gospel” Origins of Peoples Temple. Accessed 2021, Oct 28. “Assemblies of God District Secretary T. F. Zimmerman traveled from the denomination’s headquarters in Springfield, Missouri to preach the morning services, while District Superintendent Roy E. Wead offered the dedicatory address in the church led by the Rev. John L. Price. Jack Beam, who would later become a pillar for Jim Jones in Peoples Temple, was on the board. The Rev. Lester Summerall, Assemblies of God missionary and evangelist from South Bend, Indiana, came to hold a series of nightly meetings in celebration.”
[45] ex: New Laurel Street Tabernacle. 1954, Oct 23. The Indianapolis Star. “Miracle Service – Rev. James Jones Evangelistic and Healing Service.”
[46] The “Full Gospel” Origins of Peoples Temple. “Jones had created his own business entity registered in the State of Indiana as Wings of Deliverance, Incorporated, on April 4, 1955.”
[47] William Branham’s Introduction to Jim Jones. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/william_branhams_introduction_to_jim_jones. From letter from Joseph Mattsson-Boze to Jim Jones: “We had great farewell services here in Chicago yesterday before taking off for Africa. Rev. Branham was with us and we were of course packed out. Some nightly signs and miracles took place. If you care to contact Rev. Branham, his telephone is Jeffersonville, Indiana 2-1519. Always make it person to person. His mailing address is Box 325, Jeffersonville, Indiana. Always mark it ‘Personal.’ I enclose a few lines of recommendation that you can send in his letter.”
[48] Peoples Temple Full Gospel. 1956, Jan 21. Indianapolis Star. “The Temple will be host to William Branham soon.”
[49] Eastern Fellowship Convention. 1956, Apr 21. Morning Herald. “Speakers: Rev. James Jones, Peoples Temple, Indianapolis, Ind. Rev. Joseph D. Mattsson Boze, Philadelphia Church, Chicago, Illinois.”
[50] Peoples Temple. 1956, Jun 2. the Indianapolis News. “Remember! Temple will be host to the Great William Branham Brotherhood-Healing Crusade.”
[51] Salvation-Healing Campaign Schedules of the Voice of Healing Evangelists. 1956, May. The Voice of Healing.
[52] Certificate of Ordination and Note, Independent Assemblies of God. Accessed 2022, Aug 11.
[53] Jones, James. Handwritten note to Earl Jackson. RYMUR 89-4286-1099, pp. 6-7. Accessed 2022, Aug 11. “There are things about The Message that you may not see but it is God.”
[54] Branham, William. 1961, October 15. Questions And Answers (61-1015M). “And I asked the other day in Chicago before three hundred ministers that stood over there to debate and to ask that…I…And the Lord told me, He give me a vision, and told me where we’d be and what to do. I stood before three hundred trinitarian ministers, and I said, ‘Now, if I am so wrong in this doctrine, some of you man stand up here and show me where I’m wrong by the Scripture without textbook. If there is no such a thing as serpent’s seed or something like that that I’ve been teaching, just come here and show me by the Scriptures.’ Nobody moved (see?), because it can’t be done. That’s true. Not to be different, but just it’s the Truth; it’s the Word. And there’s where…No one can debate that; that’s the Word of God; nobody can do it. See?”
[55] Branham, William. 1958, September 28. The Serpent’s Seed (58-0928E). “I want you to show me one Scripture where it ever said a apple started the thing to going now. I want you to show me that they eat apples. I’ve showed you that where Cain thought the same thing, and where his seed still thinks the same thing. 271 But the spiritual revelation of God proves, by the Bible, that it was sexual intercourse between man and woman, illegally. There is where your giants come from. That’s where your sin come from. That’s where your corruption come from. That’s where it’s come down.”
[56] Christian Identity. Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/christian-identity. “Christian Identity is an antisemitic, racist theology that rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s. ‘Christian’ in name only, it asserts that white people, not Jewish people, are the true Israelites favored by God in the Bible. The movement’s relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists has generally been hostile due to the latter’s belief that the return of Jewish people to Israel is essential to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.”
[57] Berger, J.M. Extremist Construction of Identity: How Escalating Demands for Legitimacy Shape and Define InGroup and Out-Group Dynamics. Accessed 2022, Apr 5 from https://icct.nl/app/uploads/2017/04/ICCT-Berger-Extremist-Construction-of-Identity-April-2017-2.pdf.
[58] For more info see Collins, John. Wesley A. Swift. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/wesley_a._swift. “Wesley A. Swift was one of the original leaders of the racist and antisemitic Christian Identity doctrine which William Branham would later rebrand as “Serpent’s Seed.” Swift either influenced or worked directly with several men associated with William Branham’s ministry, including the Rev. LeRoy Kopp who would become an icon in Branham’s “Message” sect for his interview with William Branham in the video “Twentieth Century Prophet.” Over time, Swift became an “authority on the subject of race,” and his national lectures and radio broadcasts quickly spread Christian Identity theology.”
[59] For more info see Collins, John. The Curse of Ham. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/the_curse_of_ham.
[60] Jackson, Raymond. 1975, Mar 20. The Sin of Ham. “It was the descendants of Ham who first began to go out and really it is the descendants of Ham that began to want to build an empire for themselves. {…} I can see rising in the colored people today, that same spirit of Nimrod. {…} You can’t, brothers and sisters, put all races in the same bed. God didn’t put all races in the same bed when Jesus Christ came. {…} The sad part of it is we have too many races today trying to outlive beyond what really their race is to be in the great universal earthly sphere of God’s plan for the earth.”
[61] For more information see Collins, John. Lee Vayle. Accessed 2022, Aug 21 from https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/lee_vayle.
[62] Branham, William. 1961, Apr 11. But It Wasn’t So From The Beginning. 61-0411.” In the Old Testament a child that was hybrid, borned out of holy wedlock could not even come in the congregation of the Lord for ten generations: took ten generations to breed it out. That’s four hundred years to breed out a illegitimate child; could not even come into the congregation of the Lord; hybreeding: a woman vowed to her husband and live with another man and have a baby by him: a horrible thing. Today, we have so much fussing and stewing about this segregation of white and colored and everything. Why don’t they leave it alone? Let it the way God made it. Tell me what real good, smart, intelligent, beautiful, colored woman would want to have a baby by a white man to make it a mulatto? Not sense. Many thing the colored people has is far beyond the white man. I think of that colored minister stood down there that day in Shreveport. He said, “I never was ashamed of being a black man. God made me a black man, and I appreciate my Creator making me this way. It’s the way He wanted me.” But said, ” Today, to see my people acting the way they are, then I’m ashamed I’m a black man.” God bless his loyal heart. Certainly. What good would a white woman want to have a baby by a colored man making him a mulatto child? It’s not sensible. {…}. Now, the Word that God told Eve then Satan come around and admitted that part of that Word was right, but said, “Surely this part’s not right.” {…}. See, that’s that same hybrid. The Bible spoke of them, said they’d be in the last days heady, high-minded. {…} When I got to Africa amongst my colored brethren, what did they know? Reading, writing, and arithmetic, they had no business for that.
[63] Branham, William. 1964, March 8. The Token (64-0308). “Chicago, here not long ago, when the Lord gave me a vision. I had three hundred ministers down there. I said, ‘Now I know what you…’ about serpent’s seed, and so forth, I said, ‘one of you take your Bible and come stand by my side and disprove it.’ The quietest bunch you ever heard. I said, ‘Then keep off of my back.’ See, it’s out of their school of thinking. 83 Yet, they say, ‘Brother Branham is a prophet when he is anointed, but when the anointing is off of him, oh, I don’t know.’ What a…If that isn’t a mark of a—a—a—a mixed-up theologian! The very…”
[64] CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CONVENTION Replies to ‘Open Letter’ to William Branham. 1957, July. The Voice of Healing. “It is hoped that other mis-statements in the letter were due to misinformation, but we are constrained to believe that one statement repeated several times was a serious breach. We refer to warnings of “death” and “destruction” forecast against Brother Branham, and we wonder whether the writer or writers would circulate such remarks if they had it to do over again?”
[65] Branham, William. 1965, July 18. Spiritual Food In Due Season (65-0718E). “We find out that when a man comes, sent from God, ordained of God, with the true THUS SAITH THE LORD, the message and the messenger are one and the same. Because he is sent to represent THUS SAITH THE LORD, Word by Word, so he and his message is the same.”