Brown Bear Prophecy: A Case Study in Failed Prophecy

In June 1962, William Branham claimed to have received a vision in which he shot and killed a “mammoth, big, brown-looking bear.” According to Branham, an earlier hunting trip that year was divinely inspired, and God had spoken through him to say that he would kill a large silvertip grizzly bear.[1] Branham did, in fact, kill a silvertip grizzly; however, there is significant uncertainty as to whether any prophecy concerning the grizzly was made prior to the hunt, as Branham first described the alleged vision only after the animal had already been killed.[2]

Following the killing of the silvertip grizzly, Branham announced that God had spoken through him again, stating that he would return to British Columbia to kill a second bear. This second animal, he claimed, would be a brown bear nearly twice the size of the silvertip grizzly he had killed earlier that year.

Coming home, the other night, or the other day, or just ’fore I come home, I was fell into a vision. And I seen some little fellows, thin, looked like young boys, or something, had on caps. And we were standing, hunting. And I had shot a mammoth, big brown-looking bear. And then they turned around and said to me, said, ‘But there is some confusion about the meeting.’ I said, ‘No matter what the confusion is, if I was supposed to go, wherever was, I’ll go anyhow, see. It doesn’t matter.’ And the vision stopped. I don’t know where that’s at. But, this is on tape. It’s going to happen. See? Just remember, it’s going to happen. It’s a vision.[3]

Now, I’m going back into the country, that you might know, when I come back next year. I’m going to get a brown bear that’s almost twice that size. You see if it’s right or not. I seen it. When we was standing, put my hands on his haunches laying on the ground, like that. And I could put my hands on his hips like that, and him laying down. Now, you find out if that’s right or not. There’s a whole lot to that. But I just happened to think, I’m supposed to be teaching Sunday school. See? Oh, friends. You all see these little visions around here? No wonder you minister brothers sometimes get suspicious. ‘Well, it might be mental telepathy. It might be psychology.’ Show me somewhere else it’s going on. What about these great psychologists, telepathists? They guess. It sometimes happens, sometimes it never. And it’s this, that, or the other. But God’s perfect and never fails.[4]

In late July 1962, William Branham returned to British Columbia for another hunting trip but did not kill the second bear.[5] After Branham’s death in 1965, the unfulfilled prophecy became a serious problem for his cult of personality, as many followers remembered the prediction and anticipated an explanation of its supposed “spiritual meaning.” In response, leaders within the movement began claiming that William Branham would rise from the grave to fulfill prophecies that had failed during his lifetime.[6] As late as 2004, leaders within Branham’s sect told followers that there was “further work for Brother Branham to do.”[7]

When questioned about the Brown Bear vision, Voice of God Recordings, the headquarters of Branham’s cult, has frequently responded by presenting video, photographs, or descriptions of the silvertip grizzly bear that Branham first killed, rather than the second bear described in the vision.[8] As a result, uninformed researchers who do not press the distinction between the two animals often assume that the second vision was fulfilled by the killing of the first bear.

In December 2021, Voice of God Recordings acknowledged to former members of Branham’s cult of personality that the Brown Bear vision had failed.

As far as we know, that brown bear was not killed.
– David Weerts, December 21, 2021, branham.org.[9]