The Death of Billy Paul Branham

After what witnesses describe as a long battle with cancer,[1] Billy Paul Branham, son of William Marvin Branham,[2] has died.[3] He passed on October 19, 2023 at 3:33 am according to his brother and current central figure of the "Message" sect, Joseph Branham. The Branham family has not held services at the Branham Tabernacle for some time and has asked members of the "Message" not to come to Jeffersonville for funeral proceedings.[4]

Billy Paul was at one time a person that I knew and respected. Even from a small child, I was always around him and knew him as "Brother Billy". He worked very closely with my grandfather at the Branham Tabernacle, and I am told by relatives that even after my grandfather strongly condemned the Branhams for what grandpa and his team of deacons alleged to be theft of church property[5] and misuse of funds,[6] Grandpa remained very close to Billy. I am told that even after starting his new church, my grandfather continued private meetings with Billy Paul. Grandpa and Billy were always very close. 

Though I did not realize the significance of it at the time, when my father was attempting to grow a "Message" community in Kansas, Billy came to help. Dad ran newspaper advertisements headlining Billy coming to town in big, bold letters, "Son of a Prophet". Billy also helped grow and excite the youth at churches near us in Kansas, and we often traveled to see him. In those years, the timing of William Branham's Los Angeles Prophecy was strongly tied to Billy's age, and those of us who attended his meetings all knew that the final destruction of Los Angeles was just around the corner. Billy frequently repeated William Branham's words to him, "Billy, I may not be here but you won't be an old man until sharks will swim right where we are standing."[7] As we traveled around to hear him speak, we'd hear Billy Paul proudly exclaim, "But I'm not an old man yet!" Over time, as Billy Paul's age began to show, that element of the story began to fade from the memories.

I had a much deeper connection to Billy, however. Billy Paul was my friend. He was also my foundation in many ways. While attending fourth-grade in school, my maternal grandfather traveled from Georgia to Kansas and gifted me my first guitar. I suddenly found myself at the center of a family controversy; William Branham was not consistent about his extra-biblical rules concerning musical instruments. He had strongly discouraged my grandfather from stringed instruments, and Grandpa (not fully understanding that the piano was a stringed instrument) strongly forbade instruments that had visible strings. My father rejected the gift and I was very discouraged. Like me, Billy Paul was a lover of music-stringed instruments or not. My private conversations with Billy encouraged me and over time, at the protest of my father and encouragement from my mother and grandfather, I began collecting stringed instruments and learning to play them. When I sent Billy a cassette tape of some songs that I recorded as a one-man-band, four-part harmony quartet, Billy Paul sent me a letter expressing how much he enjoyed it. My mother framed it, and until I left the "Message" in 2012 that letter from Billy hung on my wall in my office. I can thank Billy for the music that I produce in my videos today; without him, I would have suppressed what he considered to be my "musical gift".

Billy was also there for me at times when I needed him most. Mental health issues in the "Message" run rampant. I had severe depression while in the religion. I had family members who had what William Branham called "a nervous condition". Billy Paul understood when everyone else in my life demonized those who struggled with mental health. I will never forget the time that I met Billy for lunch at Wendy's in Jeffersonville, barely holding things together because a person very close to me was suffering from mental health issues. Billy assured me that everything would be okay, and told me that he, too, struggled at times. Billy confided in me that as a young man working with his father, there were times when he struggled so badly that he hid under his desk when people might walk into his office. But he assured me that God had the power to heal, and though times may get tough, God was faithful to be our help in times of need. I already respected Billy, but on that day, I respected him even more. While many of my peers idolized him, I suddenly realized that he was human.

That memory has helped me in many ways, still today. I now know that there are many things that Billy Paul Branham could have done to prevent what we see today in the "Message" and all of its splinter groups. He was one of the last remaining men alive who had the respect of leaders in the movement, even among the most divided splinter cells. We will never know if he gave a deathbed confession, but if he did and it was published, not a single person would remain in the Branhamite religion. Many of those leaders have the same power within their individual splinter groups, and I could have strong negative thoughts about each of them. They know the things I know. They've seen the things that I've seen. But Billy taught me a very important lesson that has guided me as I expose the wrongs that are being done and the people that have suffered and died because of those wrongs. Billy Paul Branham taught me that they, like me, are human.

John Collins
Founder, William Branham Historical Research