William M. Branham

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Lore & Background

William M. Branham was born near Burkesville, Kentucky, on April 6, 1909, the oldest of ten children. He claimed that at his birth a "Light come whirling through the window, about the size of a pillow, and circled around where I was, and went down on the bed." He told his publicist Gordon Lindsay that at age three he heard a "voice" speaking to him from a tree, telling him "he would live near a city called New Albany." That year his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Branham said he grew up in "deep poverty," often lacking adequate clothing, and that his family was involved in criminal activities. His father owned a farm near Utica, Indiana, and worked for O. H. Wathen, owner of R. E. Wathen Distilleries, a supplier for Al Capone's bootlegging operations. Branham told audiences he helped his father with illegal liquor production during Prohibition. In March 1924, his father was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison. That same month, at age 14, Branham was shot in both legs in a firearms incident; he later told audiences it was a hunting accident. The Indiana Ku Klux Klan paid his hospital bills, an act he recalled gratefully in 1963: "the Ku Klux Klan, paid the hospital bill for me, Masons. I can never forget them." He left home at 19, worked on a ranch in Phoenix, and began a boxing career. He returned to Jeffersonville in June 1929 for the funeral of his brother Edward, who had shot and killed a man and then died of a sudden illness. Branham said that was the first time he heard a prayer. After a gas accident at work, he heard a voice that led him to seek God. He converted at the First Pentecostal Baptist Church of Jeffersonville, pastored by Roy Davis, a founding member of the second Ku Klux Klan and later its National Imperial Wizard. Davis baptized Branham using the Jesus name formula of Oneness Pentecostalism and six months later ordained him as an Independent Baptist minister. On June 11, 1933, while baptizing converts in the Ohio River, a bright light descended and a voice said, "As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so your message will forerun His second coming."

Reader's Guide

Branham's significance lies in his role as the initiator of the post-World War II healing revival, which set in motion the broader charismatic movement. He claimed an angelic visitation on May 7, 1946, commissioning his worldwide ministry, and launched his campaigning career in mid-1946. His fame spread rapidly as crowds were drawn to his stories of angelic visitations and reports of miracles. His ministry spawned many emulators and set in motion the healing revival that became the modern charismatic movement. At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, "the neo-Pentecostal world believed Branham to be a prophet to their generation." His inter-denominational meetings were the largest religious meetings ever held in some American cities. He was the first American deliverance minister to successfully campaign in Europe, reaching global audiences with campaigns in North America, Europe, Africa, and India. His stage presence remains "a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement." However, from 1955, his campaigning and popularity began to decline as Pentecostal churches withdrew support for primarily financial reasons. By 1960, Branham transitioned into a teaching ministry. He developed an alternative theology mixing Calvinist and Arminian doctrines, with a heavy focus on dispensationalism and his own unique eschatological views. His post-revival teachings were deemed increasingly controversial by charismatic and Pentecostal contemporaries, who disavowed many doctrines as "revelatory madness." His closest followers accepted his sermons as oral scripture and referred to his teachings as "The Message." Despite his objections, some followers placed him at the center of a cult of personality during his final years. Branham claimed he had converted over one million people during his career. He died following a car accident in 1965. His teachings continue to be promoted by the William Branham Evangelistic Association, which reported that about 2 million people received its material in 2018.

Did You Know?

• Branham claimed that at his birth a 'Light come whirling through the window, about the size of a pillow, and circled around where I was, and went down on the bed.'
• At age three, Branham said he heard a voice from a tree telling him he would live near a city called New Albany; his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, that same year.
• The Indiana Ku Klux Klan paid Branham's hospital bills after he was shot in both legs at age 14 in March 1924.
• Branham said the first time he ever heard a prayer was at his brother Edward's funeral in June 1929.
• Branham's pastor and baptizer, Roy Davis, was a founding member of the second Ku Klux Klan and later became its National Imperial Wizard.

The Rise of a Healing Prophet

In the spring of 1946, Branham reported an encounter with an angel on May 7 that he said commissioned him to a worldwide ministry, and within months he was on the road leading inter-denominational healing meetings. His fame rapidly spread as crowds were drawn to his stories of angelic visitations and reports of miracles happening at his meetings. At their peak, his gatherings in certain American cities were the largest religious assemblies those communities had ever hosted. Branham became the first American deliverance minister to mount a successful campaign on European soil, and his ministry eventually stretched across North America, Europe, Africa, and India. His physical command of a stage — the pacing, the voice, the theatrical intensity — earned him a reputation that observers still describe as "a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement." By the mid-1950s the neo-Pentecostal world regarded him as a prophet to their generation, and he himself claimed to have turned more than a million people toward faith. Yet by 1955 the momentum was already shifting as Pentecostal churches withdrew their support for primarily financial reasons, and within five years he had largely stepped back from the circuit into a teaching role.

A Theology Apart

Where his Pentecostal and charismatic peers anchored themselves in the Full Gospel tradition, Branham charted a distinctly different doctrinal course. He wove together elements of Calvinism and Arminian doctrines, layered in a heavy focus on dispensationalism, and built around it a set of eschatological convictions that were entirely his own. During the height of the healing revival, the broader movement was comfortable embracing his restoration theology. But as his post-revival teachings grew more idiosyncratic, the same colleagues who had once cheered his platforms began to distance themselves, dismissing much of what he said as "revelatory madness." His most devoted listeners, by contrast, treated his sermons as spoken scripture and enshrined the body of his words under the label "The Message." In his final years, despite his own objections, a personality cult crystallized around him among those closest to his teachings, a development that complicated the already fractious relationship between his legacy and the wider charismatic family.

A Childhood Forged in Hardship

Branham entered the world near Burkesville, Kentucky, on April 6, 1909, the eldest of ten children in a household he later described as one of "deep poverty," often lacking adequate clothing. His father's work for O. H. Wathen, owner of R. E. Wathen Distilleries in Louisville, tied the family to the bootlegging economy of Prohibition, and young William said he was pressed into helping with the illegal production and sale of liquor. The criminal entanglement ended in March 1924 when his father was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison. That same month a firearms incident left Branham shot in both legs at fourteen, with two of his brothers also critically wounded. The family could not afford hospital care; members of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan stepped in to cover the bills, an act of assistance Branham remembered with striking gratitude decades later: "the Ku Klux Klan, paid the hospital bill for me, Masons. I can never forget them." He left home at nineteen, found work on a ranch in Phoenix, and built a brief boxing career. His return to Jeffersonville in June 1929 was prompted by the funeral of his brother Edward, who had been charged with murder before dying of a sudden illness. It was at that funeral, Branham said, that he heard a prayer for the first time.

Echoes Beyond the Grave

Branham's life ended abruptly on December 24, 1965, in a car accident, but the infrastructure of his influence outlived him by decades. Christian historians have credited him as "a principal architect of restorationist thought" for charismatics and have identified him as the "leading individual in the second wave of Pentecostalism." His ministry spawned a wave of emulators and, more broadly, set the conditions for the healing revival that would evolve into the modern charismatic movement. He also left a mark on the emerging world of televangelism, where his style of direct, unmediated address to a mass audience found later echoes. The William Branham Evangelistic Association, which carries forward his recorded sermons and written materials, reported in 2018 that roughly two million people had received its publications. Whether one views his theology as prophetic insight or as the controversial edge of a charismatic tradition, the scale of his continuing readership testifies to a legacy that has never fully receded from the landscape of American religion.

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