Confirmed: Branham Failed To Heal Hope Branham
The timeline for William Branham's "faith healing" stage persona has just been re-written ... again. This time confirms the failure of William Branham to heal his first wife, Hope Branham, and possibly explains the reasons why Branham altered his "Life Story" accounts concerning both Hope and his Pentecostal background. It would be the most significant failure to heal in his career.
The timeline for William Branham's "faith healing" stage persona has just been re-written ... again. This time confirms the failure of William Branham to heal his first wife, Hope Branham, and possibly explains the reasons why Branham altered his "Life Story" accounts concerning both Hope and his Pentecostal background. It would be the most significant failure to heal in his career.
We were notified this morning by researchers that another advertisement for William Branham's "Billie Branham Pentecostal Tabernacle" has been identified that was missed when scrolling through the Jeffersonville Public Library microfiche. The article is in the Jeffersonville Evening News newspaper dated September 19, 1936. And this find is significant.
In later versions of his stage persona, William Branham claimed that he was not given the "gift of healing" until May of 1947. We knew that this was not correct, because the very first recording of a healing revival that is available on branham.org is dated April 1947, and it mentioned getting "new gadgets for recording" which suggests a much earlier healing ministry.[1]
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.[2]
We also knew that it conflicted with the 1944 and 1945 versions of Branham's stage persona, wherein Branham described his 1945 Healing Revival. In the pamphlet, I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision, Wiliam Branham described a different way in which he received his "gift of healing" — by vision instead of by "angelic visitation" — and described the timeline of starting his healing revivals as early as 1936.[3]
This was problematic when compared with the "Life Story" accounts of later versions of William Branham's stage persona. Branham claimed that God smote his first wife and daughter in the 1937 flood due to his avoiding the "Pentecostal Call", and that it was after the 1937 flood when he decided to go around the "holy rollers". According to that timeline, Branham was given his alleged "gift of healing" much later.
The name of the church being advertised in the Jeffersonville Evening News article from 1936, the "Pentecostal Tabernacle", is sufficient evidence that Branham's tales on the recordings were nothing more than fictional attributes of his stage persona. But the text of the advertisement of the healing revivals is significant. Branham was participating in Pentecostal "healing revivals" during the time that Hope Branham was dying with tuberculosis.
Hope Branham was diagnosed with tuberculosis in January 1936, according to her death certificate and contrary to later versions of Branham's stage persona. According to the latest version of his stage persona, Branham refused to participate in the Pentecostal revivals at the request of his mother-in-law. This newspaper article confirms that Branham was not only participating with the Pentecostal revivals, he hosted them at his own Pentecostal church. Worse, according to the timeline, he was doing so during the last few months of her life as her body was being consumed by the deadly disease. According to the timeline of her illness, Hope would have been in the healing revival to be "healed" by Branham and the other healing revivalists.
Olur Revival is still going on. We have had 57 conversions this week. Tuesday night had 26 conversions and 18 people healed. Come and see for yourself. We will Baptize several Sunday night. Good music: Old time preaching with old time Salvation. Everybody welcome.[4]
Sadly, while Branham and Rev. Olur were claiming to be healing people, Hope was dying. And the attempts to heal Hope failed, which is confirmed by her death certificate. Hope Branham was one of the early victims of Branham's healing stage persona.
The article can be viewed here:
https://william-branham.org/site/resource?key=472513a5-3099-48d8-950d-295d83db75c2&parent=billie_branham_pentecostal_tabernacle
References
[1] Branham, William. Faith Is The Substance. 1947, Apr, 12. Faith Is The Substance (47-0412). "1947/12/04 Faith Is The Substance We're getting some new gadgets for recording William Branham We're getting some new gadgets for recording."
[2] Branham, William. The Great Coming Revival And The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit. 1954, Jul, 18. The Great Coming Revival And The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit (54-0718A). "1954/18/07 The Great Coming Revival And The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit The Great Coming Revival And The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit (54-0718A) William Branham The Great Coming Revival And The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit (54-0718A)."
[3] Branham, William. 1945. I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision. " For over three years He performed mighty miracles. Then one day He called me to take the Gift and to evangelize for Him. Many of my dear friends begged me not to leave them and I stayed. Because of this, the Gift was taken from me for more than five years. Though I cried and prayed earnestly for the people, it just did not seem to work. This is an account of the fulfillment of a vision given Rev. William Branham by our Lord Jesus Christ. Then one year ago, while I was standing in my yard the Spirit came to me again; I was told that God had forgiven me and that a double portion of the Power to heal would be given me. In this book are some of the things He did on my first trip for Him. Do you see, dear ones, if Healing would have been of myself people would have been healed during the five years when the Gift was gone. I suffered for many other things during that five years". "Branham, William. 1945. I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision. " For over three years He performed mighty miracles. Then one day He called me to take the Gift and to evangelize for Him. Many of my dear friends begged me not to leave them and I stayed. Because of this, the Gift was taken from me for more than five years. Though I cried and prayed earnestly for the people, it just did not seem to work. This is an account of the fulfillment of a vision given Rev. William Branham by our Lord Jesus Christ. Then one year ago, while I was standing in my yard the Spirit came to me again; I was told that God had forgiven me and that a double portion of the Power to heal would be given me. In this book are some of the things He did on my first trip for Him. Do you see, dear ones, if Healing would have been of myself people would have been healed during the five years when the Gift was gone. I suffered for many other things during that five years"
[4] Pentecostal Tabernacle. 1936, Sep, 19. Jeffersonville Evening News. "1936/19/09 Pentecostal Tabernacle Jeffersonville Evening News Jeffersonville Evening News."