- 8 hours ago
John Collins and John McKinnon examine the famous 1950 Houston photograph showing a bright light above William Branham’s head. They compare the claims later associated with the image—including scientific proof, government recognition, and supernatural vindication—with George J. Lacey’s reported findings and the photograph’s copyright record.
The discussion explores how an observed light became identified as an angel, the Pillar of Fire, and Jesus Christ, and how those interpretations were used to support Branham’s prophetic authority. They also consider stage lighting, spiritualist art collections, religious persuasion, doctrinal interpretation, and the broader influence of supernatural claims on later ministries.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
04:29 The Famous 1950 Houston Halo Photograph
11:19 What the Historical Record Actually Establishes
16:35 The Angel, the Light, and Prophetic Authority
20:33 How the Photograph’s Claims Grew Over Time
25:27 From Stage Light to Supernatural Vindication
32:36 Comparing the Halo to Ordinary Stage Lighting
41:21 The “Hall of Religious Art” Claim
49:39 Another “Pillar of Fire” Photograph
54:36 Why the Halo Photograph Mattered to the Ministry
______________________
Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K
______________________
– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham
– Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBSpezVG15TVG-lOYMRXuyQ
– Visit the website: https://william-branham.org
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– Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wmbhr
– Buy the books: https://william-branham.org/site/books
The discussion explores how an observed light became identified as an angel, the Pillar of Fire, and Jesus Christ, and how those interpretations were used to support Branham’s prophetic authority. They also consider stage lighting, spiritualist art collections, religious persuasion, doctrinal interpretation, and the broader influence of supernatural claims on later ministries.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
04:29 The Famous 1950 Houston Halo Photograph
11:19 What the Historical Record Actually Establishes
16:35 The Angel, the Light, and Prophetic Authority
20:33 How the Photograph’s Claims Grew Over Time
25:27 From Stage Light to Supernatural Vindication
32:36 Comparing the Halo to Ordinary Stage Lighting
41:21 The “Hall of Religious Art” Claim
49:39 Another “Pillar of Fire” Photograph
54:36 Why the Halo Photograph Mattered to the Ministry
______________________
Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K
______________________
– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham
– Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBSpezVG15TVG-lOYMRXuyQ
– Visit the website: https://william-branham.org
– Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamBranhamOrg
– Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@william.m.branham
– Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wmbhr
– Buy the books: https://william-branham.org/site/books
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:31Hello, and welcome to another episode of the William Branham Historical Research Podcast.
00:35I'm your host, John Collins, the author and founder of William Branham Historical Research
00:40at william-branham.org, and with me I have my co-host, researcher, and friend, John McKinnon,
00:46author of Godhead and Their Own Words, Voices of Oneness Preachers of the End-Time Message.
00:51John, it's good to be back and to talk once more about the end-time message as it relates
00:56to what we see today in modern charismania.
01:00I've been on a journey of research that I had no idea it would take me to where it is
01:06now,
01:06and there are a lot of people who are on that same journey and had no idea that it was
01:13going
01:13to lead them from the bridge, from Branhamism, into the mess that you see today in the church.
01:19But what's interesting is I came to learn that it's building blocks of mass and deception.
01:26A building block, meaning a person will come and they'll make some fantastic claim that their
01:31ministry is the next thing to God, and they will say, it's vindicated.
01:35I can't tell you how many times I heard that.
01:38He's a vindicated prophet.
01:40And whenever I began examining all of these so-called vindications, they're like, well,
01:46which one vindicates them?
01:47They're all, almost all faults.
01:49And the biggest one of which we'll talk about today, I'll let you introduce and talk about
01:54that.
01:55But that's the story that has continued over and over and over.
02:00It just continues to build upon fiction.
02:03And so you'll hear ministers today like Benny Hinn points back to this vindication that we're
02:09going to be talking about today, and they will say, it's vindicated.
02:14He's a vindicated prophet of God, and therefore we have our ministry.
02:18William Branham, same thing.
02:21He experienced the third dimension where God used him in such ways.
02:25I have videos of it, and I sit and tremble watching that man being used.
02:30Details about people.
02:31I mean details.
02:33William Branham is his name.
02:37William Branham was preaching, my dear, when a halo appeared over his head preaching in
02:42Louisiana.
02:43But it's a building block of fiction, and I'll be asking the question many times today, what
02:49actually was proven?
02:50What actually was vindicated?
02:52Because as we're going to be examining, there's so many problems with these so-called
02:56vindications.
02:57And if you want to understand the ministries of today, sadly, you have to go all the way
03:03back through all of these layers of building blocks of fiction and get right to its core.
03:08And it's not that all paths lead to Branham, but it's that there are so many ministries
03:13that are built upon Branham.
03:15And Branham is just one of several people who, I hate to say it, I've come to the conclusion
03:21he was a charlatan like many of the others, building his own fictional ministry, and others
03:26used him as a stepping stone.
03:28So we're going to be talking about the stone that others stepped upon.
03:31Thank you for coming back.
03:33Well, John, it's great to be back again and explore these things we've been looking at
03:37surrounding William Branham's ministry of the end times and try to understand things
03:41that were presented to us as a truth, but were not always appearing as they were on the
03:46surface.
03:47And that's what I'd like to explore a little bit.
03:49Things are not always what they seem, and not always, in truth, what they appear to be
03:55on the surface.
03:56A lot of times we're told, you know, really what to believe because it benefits others
04:01rather than being able to examine the actual facts ourselves.
04:04And this is going to be a great discussion today.
04:06I'm excited about it because we're going to explore probably one of the most famous incidents
04:11in the message.
04:12I think I'm going to say some things that's probably not been heard before, get into some
04:16of the particulars about this incident to push back this fog surrounding it so we can
04:20see a little clearer.
04:21I didn't want to start the series, you know, with this today, but it developed fairly quickly
04:27because there's just so much information out there.
04:29And so I'm going to begin with the famous halo picture taken over William Branham's head.
04:35And today we're looking at the photographic anomaly around him.
04:39There's others, of course, but specifically this 1950 Houston photograph that really became
04:45the centerpiece of the claim in quotes, the only supernatural being ever photographed in
04:51history.
04:52And that was scientifically proven.
04:54And we're going to explore that statement a little bit, too.
04:58So it's the only one that's ever been captured on film, according to William Branham.
05:03But on the surface, it really looks like ironclad proof because he's got a light over his head.
05:09He's got an expert that examined the photograph.
05:12He's got a copyright in Washington, D.C. that he claims and the repeated assertion that science
05:17itself had endorsed it as a pillar of fire and supernatural being.
05:21But when you line up the actual documents that's available, the expert's language that was in
05:26the written document, the copyright record and the later claims, you know, a very different
05:31picture emerges here.
05:33Branham consistently took, throughout his ministry, you know, ordinary or limited facts and inflated
05:40them, combined them with unrelated ideas, and presented this together as an undeniable,
05:46supernatural confirmation of various things in his ministry.
05:50The same pattern shows up also in how he handled the scripture.
05:54He would take two pieces of unrelated texts or events in scripture and mill them together
06:00and make a whole new meaning out of it that really served his ministry.
06:04And as we go through this series, I'm going to show how he uses the same technique to modify
06:09scripture.
06:10It's very subtle.
06:11And when you trust someone that's telling you the truth, your discernment's dampened to
06:15the point that that's what happened when William Branham was alive.
06:18His followers thought the things were the truth.
06:22But it's almost gotten worse today for the followers that remain if they're not examining the
06:27scriptures very closely.
06:29You know, they're less discerning now than they were back then, it seems.
06:32It's a huge problem, and I don't have any confidence that it's going to correct itself
06:36anytime soon.
06:38But something else will have to happen to pull them out and to bring people back to proper
06:42discernment.
06:43But the technical term I want to use for this, and it's sort of loosely used, it's a Hegelian
06:49dialectic.
06:50So you start out with a thesis on one side, and then you go with the antithesis of that
06:55on the other side.
06:57And once you bring them together, you form what is called the synthesis of the event.
07:02And that's sort of how I'm going to apply this loosely in what, you know, William Branham
07:06did.
07:07And we'll walk through how this operated with this photograph and why it mattered so much
07:12for the overall credibility of his message.
07:15You know, things do not appear as they seem.
07:17So let's dig into this a little more as we go along.
07:20William Branham's ministry is famous for using any photograph that appeared like there was
07:24something supernatural going on and play it up as God having his picture taken with the
07:31prophet or the pillar of fire appearing in the camera and exaggerating the claims.
07:35And the most famous one is the 1950 halo picture and was actually examined.
07:41But Branham's claims of what the examination said were way out of proportion with what the document
07:46actually says.
07:47I'll never forget whenever I first discovered James Randi's book, The Faith Healers, I was
07:52actually looking not for Branham, but I was looking for some of the other examples.
07:56And I was trying to determine at that point in time, was Branham a charlatan?
08:01Did he match what the others are doing?
08:02And I got the book and I read and I'm reading through, you know, these examples.
08:07James Randi got famous going to these faith healer revivals and pointing out some of the
08:13things that they're doing that he did in his own magician stage act.
08:17And there's different techniques.
08:18There are things that people really don't think about because when you go to one of these
08:22revivals, you're not thinking a stage act or a stage magician's trick.
08:27You're instead thinking about, I'm coming to hear God and this person is connecting me to
08:32God.
08:32That's usually your mind shuts off all critical thinking.
08:35Well, James Randi went into it understanding because he could recognize the magician's tricks
08:41that were being used to distract the crowds.
08:44And there's different ones.
08:45You can read the book.
08:46I won't go into great detail.
08:47But the biggest one is sleight of hand.
08:50They will have something that's just so miraculous or so, I hate to use the word, but so absurd
08:57because there are many absurd claims by these revivalists.
09:01But instead of letting you focus on the absurdity, your mind would have immediately rejected that.
09:07They'll take something else and they'll throw it off into another corner.
09:11So your mind is actually going to the other thing.
09:14Whenever I read that and I'm going through Randy's examples, suddenly, lo and behold,
09:20Branham's name, he actually went to one of Branham's meetings and I didn't believe it.
09:24I started researching what he said about the meeting, the revival.
09:28You don't find it much on recording and it's one of the early recordings.
09:32But I went back through the recordings and I thought, Randy's lying.
09:36So I start going through the newspaper accounts to try to find and piece together the things
09:41that Randy was saying.
09:41Were they true?
09:42And sure enough, I find the newspaper articles where there is the boy who goes to see the
09:47faith healer.
09:48We know now the faith healer is Branham and you can connect those dots to the newspaper
09:53and the timeline.
09:54Well, he goes to see the faith healer.
09:56He goes to be healed and the boy doesn't get healed.
09:58And it talks about all of the different things that are happening to the boy.
10:01I've got some of that research published on the website.
10:04Well, Branham threw it into a distracting area because he said the boy came back unhealed and
10:11Branham said, well, you must have smoked a pack of cigarettes and therefore you're not healed.
10:16And so people are now thinking, well, the healer failed, but suddenly the distraction comes.
10:23Oh, cigarettes.
10:24Well, that must be it.
10:25And it actually worked.
10:27And I started looking through some of the claims by Branham, Bosworth, some of the others.
10:32And that's really what they were doing.
10:33In fact, FF Bosworth published a book that was like this type of distraction saying that
10:39you could keep your healing if you believed and did not doubt and did not sin.
10:44Well, who's without sin?
10:46That's really the catch here.
10:47They were throwing something so distracting that people weren't thinking about the fact
10:52that they're claiming all of these people were healed and they're not.
10:55Well, now take it a step further.
10:56We have levels of distractions, which we're getting into today.
11:00The photograph itself was a distraction from an event, which I'll talk about later.
11:05But then the proof of that claim turned into a vindication of the prophet.
11:11And then there were further distractions thrown.
11:12So there are cascading levels of sleight of hand that's happening here.
11:16And for me, that's a huge problem.
11:19Thanks, John.
11:20I like how you framed that.
11:21And it perfectly segues into what I'm fixing to talk about.
11:25So let's start with what can be established from the record rather than the later storytelling.
11:30So in January 1950, during a meeting in Houston, a photograph was taken that showed a bright
11:35light above William Branham's head.
11:37The negative was examined by George J. Lacey.
11:41Lacey's core finding was just straightforward.
11:44The light struck the lens.
11:45There was no double exposure or retouching.
11:48And a mechanical camera does not record pure psychology.
11:53That much we do know.
11:55But what William Branham did regarding this photo actually exposes the many techniques
11:59that he used to persuade people to his way of thinking.
12:03And it's used extensively when he twisted the meaning of scripture as well.
12:06In both incidents, he does it the same way.
12:09And these techniques are effective and can be applied to really any situation.
12:14First, you take bits and pieces of two unrelated events and combine them into a synthesis which
12:20benefits and supports the ministry, being of the supernatural.
12:24With regard to scripture, he does this and his doctrine the same.
12:28But let me give you the famous example here.
12:30And watch how this argument develops.
12:33You know, even in a scriptural example.
12:37So, watch how this argument goes.
12:40First, he establishes a position that everyone in the New Testament was baptized in the name
12:46of Jesus Christ.
12:47And then the argument moves to the opposite side and challenges churches that follow the
12:51wording of Matthew 28, 19.
12:54Arguing they're using the wrong baptismal formula.
12:57And then finally, the two sides are being brought together in a conclusion that there's
13:02only one legitimate way to be baptized.
13:04The baptism must be performed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
13:08Now, you see what he did there?
13:10He took something and said people were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in the book of Acts.
13:14Well, that's true, but they were baptized differently at different times.
13:18Sometimes it was just called the name of the Lord.
13:21Sometimes it was called the name of Jesus Christ.
13:23Sometimes the name of Christ.
13:26It was never, the formula was never exactly Lord Jesus Christ.
13:31And then you have Matthew 28, 19, where Jesus said, be baptized in the name of the Father,
13:36Son, Holy Spirit.
13:37Now, he didn't say Lord Jesus Christ there.
13:40But the Hegelian pattern is recognizable here.
13:44You establish one position and introduce the very opposite.
13:47And then you arrive at a conclusion that resolves this tension by giving it one exclusive authority.
13:53So now there's only one way forever to be baptized, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
13:58And it resembles a dialectical pattern.
14:01So the way he presented being baptized involves creating a false opposition between Matthew 28, 19,
14:07and Acts 2, 38.
14:09And then he resolves that conflict by giving Acts passages exclusive interpretive authority.
14:15You start with a thesis statement on one hand and the antithesis, which is the opposite,
14:21and then the synthesis gets you where you really want to go.
14:24So in many cases, truth and error are mixed together, and it really doesn't get us to the truth.
14:30But William Brown didn't seem to care about this as long as it was building up the image
14:34of him being a prophet in front of the people or his authority.
14:39So I'm going to build upon this thought that we just introduced as we get into this
14:44and go with the example of how he made the leap from the light appearing in the photo
14:49as it being a supernatural being or the angel of the Lord.
14:52You talk now, John.
14:53And that's exactly where I was headed with this, and you beat me to it.
14:57But what happens is that these supernatural experiences become credentials.
15:02That's why they have to fight for them so hard.
15:05I took a step back from all of this whenever I left the movement, and I was thinking,
15:09what does it matter if there was a halo?
15:11What does it matter?
15:12Can I still connect to God without the halo?
15:14That's really the question that I began to ask myself, and I realized that the danger
15:20is not really believing that the supernatural things can happen.
15:23That's what the movement claims.
15:25It's supernatural.
15:25These things happened.
15:27Therefore, we affirm them, and we believe William Brown to be a prophet.
15:30The danger is not believing that the thing can happen.
15:33The danger really comes whenever that event, whatever it is, becomes evidence that the particular
15:40person has a special authority over you.
15:42Because if you question the leader after that point, questioning the leader becomes the
15:47equivalent to questioning God.
15:49For me, that's really problematic, because the man is not God.
15:53And when you leave, you begin to unravel that, and you say, well, they worship Branham.
15:58Well, Branhamite would say, no, we didn't worship Branham.
16:01We just believe that God worked through him.
16:04But yet, if you question Branham, to them you're questioning God.
16:08And therefore, there's this circular reasoning that happens.
16:10No, he's not God, but you're questioning God.
16:13And once you establish that circular reasoning, you can't break from it.
16:18The only way to break from it is to just tear down the whole belief system.
16:21And that's what I had to do.
16:23Sadly, I had to tear it all down and start rebuilding my entire belief system, because
16:29it was all centered around the person whose supernatural experiences became the credentials.
16:34I totally agree, John.
16:36This was all about, you know, building up the man to be special.
16:39You know, the so-called revival was all about sick people who were mostly Christians coming
16:44up to a man to get something from God, rather than salvation.
16:49It sounds a lot like Hinduism in some ways, because there's a guru, there's a man.
16:56The man of God actually becomes the guru, and you must approach him if you want the blessing
17:00or the healing gift to be applied to you.
17:03Christianity is about a direct approach to Jesus to get to the Father, because doesn't
17:08the Bible say we have access by one spirit unto the Father?
17:12Not some holy man on earth to get you in that connection with God.
17:17You know, we already have it if we're Christians.
17:19So we're going to continue on with a few quotes on how he described the angel and his ministry
17:23real quick here.
17:25In 1956, and why are people so tossed about in January the 1st, he said, talking about
17:30the angel, and he said, the man which was talking behind me walked around in front of
17:33me, dressed in Palestinian clothes and a turban on his head.
17:36He had a white robe.
17:38He said, Brother Branham, that's it.
17:40He said, I said, I know I didn't do right.
17:42And he said, now the first time I spoke with you and put your hands on the people and told
17:46them what was wrong with them, and the second pull, why when you did, you would know the
17:50secrets of the heart, and I made you a seer before the people.
17:54And so he talks about this, the angel is actually saying, I made you a prophet in front of the
17:59people because of this discernment.
18:01In 1953, a sermon called Prayer Line, he said about seven years ago, May 7th, 1946, Greensmill,
18:08Indiana, there was an angel coming to the room where I was at, a man walking.
18:13In 1954, the angel of the covenant, here's where he first mentions about the light in
18:20the picture.
18:20He said, now, at the day of the judgment, when you secrets of the heart shall be disclosed,
18:25the Almighty who's present, the angel that you see in that picture, isn't standing two
18:29feet from where I am now.
18:32So, he talks all about this picture after it happened in 1950, and this is just one example.
18:37But he always refers to that light in the picture as the angel.
18:41And he even refers to it later on as being Jesus Christ, and even the angel that led the
18:47children of Israel out of Egypt.
18:49In Deep Call to the Deep, he says this in 1954, the one that's videoed, actually.
18:56He said, do you believe me to be his prophet?
18:58The reason I say that, the angel of the Lord told me, get the people to believe you, and
19:02if they won't believe you, you will know the very secrets of the heart.
19:05And this is kind of interesting what he says next.
19:08He says, and they'll have to believe it then.
19:11So, I interject here with this sermon, and maybe the way he was thinking, that if the angel
19:17said they'll have to believe it, you know, that wasn't God, because God's not saying,
19:21you've got to believe it because I do this certain thing.
19:23God is inviting people to believe, but he's not making them believe or saying they have
19:28to believe it.
19:29God never said he would do anything where you would have no choice but to believe.
19:33He invites you, but he never said he'll do something that would be so irresistible to
19:38all humans they would have to believe.
19:40Now, I think this was coming from the mind of William Branham and thinking that if he
19:43displayed the discernment, he could capture the world.
19:46There is a quote to that effect where once he said he could have the world at his feet
19:50if he used his gift in that way.
19:52I think it shows that he thought his gift would be accepted along with his doctrine, even
19:57if it went beyond scriptural authority, and he would become the greatest prophet of all
20:02time.
20:03So, in 1955, in the healing of Jairus' daughter, February 27th, he said,
20:09on down through life it kept appearing.
20:11One day, under the appearing of this light, came forth an angel.
20:14He told me I was to pray for sick people.
20:17So, that's just a few examples of how he described the angel, described him as a light and a man,
20:23and said he was the angel of the Lord, and even said he was Jesus Christ.
20:28So, listen to how this claim over the photograph grew over time.
20:32You know, within months, and then even about 100 times over the next 15 years that he mentioned
20:39this, he stated Lacey, George A. Lacey, had declared it the only supernatural being ever
20:45photographed in all the world's history.
20:46That Lacey was the head of the FBI, the picture hung in the Government Hall, Religious Hall
20:52of Art in Washington, D.C., and that the United States government itself had scientifically
20:57certified it being supernatural.
21:00He often added that every other picture taken that night came out blank, and that the negative
21:06flew to Washington that same night.
21:08It was so important they had to get on a plane and fly it to Washington.
21:12And the photograph belonged to some photographer's association, while he himself wanted nothing
21:17to do with selling it, you know, even while he sold it at his meetings.
21:21But the original 1950 copyright entry is in a catalog of copyright entries.
21:27It's far more modest than what he's saying here.
21:30It says, light over William Branham's head, halo light just above hit, copyright by Theodore
21:37Kipperman, Douglas Studios, Houston Registration, JU-6331, 3rd of March, 1950.
21:44There's no language of a supernatural being here, and the later Library of Congress catalog
21:48simply preserves that copyright claim.
21:51It's not an endorsement of content of the photo or actually what it meant.
21:56You know, William Branham made all that up.
21:59The copyright registration only creates a public record of who owns the picture.
22:03It doesn't certify there's any phenomena happening or any supernatural being present in the photo.
22:09I have talked in multiple various ways about this photograph, because this is the central
22:13claim that this was a vindicated prophet of God by the entire movement and movements that
22:19followed him.
22:20You have Benny Hinn, who says, a halo came down and hung above his head.
22:25The New Apostolic Reformation looks to this as the event that vindicates the entire movement.
22:30Without this halo photograph, none of it exists, and I still ask the question, well, what is
22:36actually proven here?
22:37Because what has happened is they've used the halo photograph to show that this was a sign
22:43that can be interpreted as authority.
22:47And in the examinations of the photograph, there are just so many huge problems with it.
22:52We have problems with the lighting, and I've compared it to other lighting in various photographs
22:58that look very similar to what he had, right down to, we have testimony by the person who's
23:03holding the camera, and he says there are issues with the camera.
23:06There is a huge, substantial amount of questions that can be asked about this, and if there's
23:12that many questions, how can you say that this now becomes a sign for you to take
23:17authoritarian control?
23:19In my opinion, there's nothing there.
23:21Even if there was something there, you can't make that leap.
23:25So what I have, what I've come to terms with is that there is a pattern that is established,
23:31not just with this halo photograph.
23:33Almost every supernatural event was used in the same way, and not just with Branham.
23:38You can follow this pattern from Branhamism to IHOPKC to any group that you see that is built
23:46upon Branhamism.
23:47They used the same pattern.
23:48There are five steps that you go through.
23:51Phenomenon.
23:52Something happened.
23:53We don't know what it is yet.
23:55We have not really investigated it.
23:58It could be natural, but we're going to instead say it was a supernatural event.
24:03That's step one.
24:05Step two, the interpretation of that event.
24:08The supernatural part.
24:09Like you said, there's nothing in the documentation by the examiner that this is even a supernatural
24:16photograph, but they interpreted it as such.
24:20So now you have shifted from the phenomenon that happened to we're going to add our interpretation
24:26of what happened and then validation.
24:28The evidence is presented.
24:30The very fact that we have that report comes from the fact that Branham used the report as
24:35his validation.
24:36Evidence that something happened, but that evidence isn't about the interpretation.
24:40You're jumping from step three, validation, all the way back to step one.
24:44We have an event that is unexplored.
24:47Step four, now because we have validated it and we have validated our interpretation, which
24:53is disconnected, now we're going to take authority.
24:56And the sign is what vindicates the messenger.
24:59That's essentially how we believed it.
25:01And once that authority is established, now comes the doctrine.
25:06He has the authority.
25:07He has the vindication.
25:09The vindication is of the interpretation, not the actual phenomenon and its examination.
25:15But we're going to claim that we have the authority to now adjust, create, and interpret
25:21doctrine.
25:21And the interpretation carries this weight that no other person on earth can carry.
25:27That's what happens.
25:28So, I want to say a few more things about how this Hegelian principle worked in this instance.
25:34The thesis, in 1950, the photograph was explained to be a light in the auditorium, which struck
25:39the lens by the expert, lens of the camera, by George A. Lacey said that.
25:45He said the light did strike the lens, which is true.
25:48That's your thesis.
25:49In the thesis, William Brown states other things which are true, like the mechanical lens of
25:54the camera cannot take something that's not there.
25:58And he had also been saying he's seen a light in the meetings, which is the angel of the
26:02Lord.
26:03So, Branham presents himself as an ordinary minister whose ministry is accompanied by unusual supernatural
26:10signs.
26:11Now, on the other side of that, he needed this photograph to be the pillar of fire to be
26:17proof of his ministry.
26:19So, the antithesis is that God was appearing on stage, coming down, having his picture
26:24taken.
26:24And William Brown claimed that it was the same angel that led the children of Israel out
26:29of Egypt, the same one that met Moses in the burning bush.
26:34So, he goes on the far other side and said, this was very God coming down to stand with
26:39me and have his picture taken.
26:41Now, when he synthesized this too, you know, the photograph and the interpretation become
26:47the, his interpretation become a tension, because you're wondering, can I really believe
26:52this is supernatural?
26:53It's an ordinary appearance of the man on one side and then an extraordinary claim associated
26:58with this minister on the other.
27:00So, to resolve this tension of the ordinary photograph of a man with a floodlight above
27:05his head taken together is presented as evidence of something supernatural, which vindicates his
27:11ministry, to the point, even now, people bow down to this picture.
27:16So, these two opposites are brought together by interpreting this unusual light or halo as
27:22divine confirmation of his prophetic calling and his authority.
27:26The photograph becomes more than just a photograph.
27:30It becomes part of the evidence and archives used to validate a supernatural identity and
27:36authority attributed to him.
27:38And it was around 1950 in February that he said it was a supernatural being, which was Jesus
27:44Christ.
27:45So, here in 1950, God and his people, February, just a month after this photograph was taken,
27:51he said, now it's scientifically proven that God is with us people.
27:57His picture is here to prove how many seen this picture.
28:00Now, it's used, it used to be they'd say God can't be proved scientifically.
28:04The old skeptics that said that can't get by with it no more because it's scientifically proved
28:10that there is a supernatural being and this supernatural being is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, His
28:16Spirit.
28:18And July 14th of 1950, if I word, you know, he puts the blame on Lacey as saying it was
28:26the only one supernatural being ever photographed.
28:29So, he himself is not attributed to saying that.
28:32He said the first time, Mr. Lacey, he said it was the first time in all human history that
28:38a supernatural being was ever photographed.
28:40So, you see how slick this is?
28:43He'll attribute statements to others.
28:45So, it's not he himself saying something that's untrue.
28:48So, he can stay out of it, but he can attribute it that somebody else said it, and then he
28:53can say it over and over again as if it were true from then on out and not even mention
28:57Mr. Lacey's name.
28:58Have you ever wondered how the Pentecostal movement started, or how the progression of
29:04modern Pentecostalism transitioned through the latter reign, charismatic, and other fringe
29:09movements into the new apostolic reformation?
29:12You can learn this and more on William Branham Historical Research's website, william-branham.org.
29:19On the books page of the website, you can find the compiled research of John Collins, Charles
29:25Paisley, Stephen Montgomery, John McKinnon, and others, with links to the paper, audio,
29:31and digital versions of each book.
29:33You can also find resources and documentation on various people and topics related to those
29:39movements.
29:40If you want to contribute to the cause, you can support the podcast by clicking the
29:45Contribute button at the top.
29:47And as always, be sure to like and subscribe to the audio or video version that you're listening
29:52to or watching.
29:53On behalf of William Branham Historical Research, we want to thank you for your support.
29:58So let's break this down for people who have not been involved in Branhamism like you and
30:04I, but who heard about the light, because there are numerous people.
30:08Cheno Ross was never in Branhamism.
30:10He was in Hobart Freeman's sect, and Hobart Freeman talked about the halo, and he believed
30:15that something happened.
30:17Let's break it down for people.
30:18There is a light.
30:20Definitely, if you look at the photograph, there's a light.
30:23That's an observation.
30:24We see the light.
30:25We can look at the photograph.
30:27Anybody who's passing it around, and they apparently sold these things, and people would
30:31pick it up, and it's vindication because I see this light.
30:34It's an observation.
30:35The light of supernatural is the interpretation by the person who is claiming supernatural authority.
30:42It comes from nowhere else.
30:44It comes directly from the person making the claim, this light is supernatural.
30:48He will put the words in somebody else's mouth, like you said, that claims that it's
30:53supernatural, and people, if they want to argue this, they're not having to argue with the
30:58person making the claim to build themselves up.
31:01They have to instead argue with the other person who they can't even access.
31:05That's really important here.
31:06The light is an angel.
31:08That's another interpretation.
31:09That's an interpretation being made by the person who's trying to build himself up.
31:14The angel is a pillar of fire, or the angel is Jesus.
31:17That's another interpretation.
31:18So you have cascading levels of interpretation, and all of it is built around the observation,
31:24which is unproven.
31:26So people are having to make this leap only because the person making the claim to build
31:30themselves up is making this claim.
31:32So you make all of these leaps that you wouldn't naturally make.
31:37If you were talking to anybody on the street who came up to you and said, I had a light
31:41above my head, and it was the pillar of fire, and an angel, and it was God, and it vindicated
31:46me to take authoritarian control over you, you would simply walk away from this person.
31:51You wouldn't want anything more to do with them.
31:54But because it's in a religious setting, and because people have shut down all critical
31:58thinking, they suddenly believe it as though it's truth.
32:02And then now he has credentials.
32:04I can pick up the photograph, I can hang it in my church, I can hang it in my wall
32:09in my
32:09house, people do this, I can carry it around in my pocket.
32:12I remember in the 80s, they used to print these, and they would laminate it, and you
32:16could put it in your wallet.
32:17And now I can show other people, he's a vindicated prophet of God.
32:21Well, every single person who does this, whether it's the church or the individual in the
32:24wallet, they're all pointing to the interpretation.
32:28They're not actually pointing to the event that can be proven or disproven.
32:33That's really the key to understand here.
32:35So the synthesis of these two, of him claiming it was only a supernatural being ever photographed
32:40in the world, which was proved by science, where it cannot be denied, that's what he came
32:46out with this, out of the two extremes.
32:49He attributes statements from other people, said the only picture of a supernatural being
32:55ever photographed.
32:56He spoke that 99 times from 1950, one month after the Houston photo, all the way to 1965.
33:04And in the end, he gets the mileage he needs out of these two extremes, and the people are
33:09led to believe it is the angel of the Lord in the meetings, rather than just a stage light
33:14above his head.
33:15I want to show a similar picture that was taken probably around 1965.
33:21It's a photograph of Paul McCartney with a stage light above his head.
33:27You know, why would you want to use this photograph to say it's a supernatural being?
33:31It looks the same, basically, as the light above William Branham's head.
33:35No supernatural significance was ever attributed to it, because everyone knows it was just stage
33:41lighting that was taken along with the photo.
33:44In fact, if I show you the broader photo here, it shows the light above most of the Beatles'
33:49heads on stage in the same manner in that slanted angle as it was shown above William Branham's
33:55head.
33:56So, if we were to believe that William Branham's photo of a light above his head is supernatural,
34:01then what are we to do with the other pictures taken of men and women on stage with light above
34:05their head?
34:07You know, they were not promoting Christianity here, but they were promoting their rock music.
34:11Does this mean that God came down, Jesus Christ came down to these men?
34:16You know, not any more than the famous halo photograph.
34:19If George Lacey examined the Beatles' photograph, he could write the same letter certifying that
34:25he wrote for William Branham's photo, because it's the same phenomenon of stage lighting exposing
34:30the film.
34:31So, the photo of William Branham on a stage where a stage light just happens to be taken
34:35above his head, even though it's a religious meeting, it's not a rock concert.
34:41It has nothing to do with it being an angel.
34:43And it matters because the ministry's authority rests heavily on visible and audible and photographic
34:50signs.
34:51If the central photographic sign was systematically overstated, then the pattern of combining
34:57these unrelated pieces to produce the stronger claim becomes key to understanding how other
35:03teachings were constructed in his ministry.
35:06Things that appear airtight on the surface, scientific proof, government recognition, the
35:12only photograph of its kind ever, turn out on examination to be carefully built on synthesizing
35:19these two extremes.
35:21He goes on further, and as far as 1965 and the sermon of marriage and divorce, he's built
35:27himself up to be like a Moses figure, and even says it in this way.
35:32He said, I was called when I was just a little boy, and in this was a visible, audible sign
35:37giving me a pillar of fire hanging in a bush at seven years old.
35:41And now it's had the picture taken, many times, hangs in Washington, D.C. as a copyright
35:46in the Religious Hall of Art.
35:48And we'll get to that in a minute.
35:50As the only supernatural being that was ever scientifically proven to be photographed, same
35:54pillar of fire, exactly the same look, and in every way that brought Israel out of Egypt.
36:01So as he was playing this up, this was around 1955, he says this about Mr. Lacey.
36:08He likes to dramatize things a little bit.
36:10So he said, Mr. Lacey said, as if he were looking out into the audience, he says, whose name
36:15is Reverend Branham, he said, I said, mine.
36:18He said, stand up.
36:19He said, as long as there's a civilization, your picture will never go out of existence.
36:23He said, that's the only time a supernatural being was ever photographed.
36:28He said, the light struck the lens.
36:29It's the truth like that.
36:31So he played this up here, dramatized it a little bit, and might have even put some words
36:35into Mr. Lacey's mouth as being the only time a supernatural being was ever photographed.
36:41Now, it may be true that's going to be a famous photo.
36:43It may be, it's also true the light struck the lens.
36:46But I wonder about this other statement that he attributes to Mr. Lacey.
36:52In Branham's halo photograph, it illustrates this pattern because it begins with an ordinary
36:58man, introduces extraordinary contradiction about it, that the supernatural light was associated
37:04with him, and it resolves it by interpreting that light as divine confirmation of his ministry.
37:10The ordinary and the supernatural brought together in a new conclusion that the photograph provides
37:16evidence that Branham possessed a unique divine calling.
37:20And that's why he always tried to get across to the people that I was uniquely called, you
37:24know, for what I'm doing.
37:25So the important question, however, is whether the synthesis is actually justified by the
37:30evidence, or whether the interpretation of the photograph does create the conclusion
37:35that it's used to prove.
37:38The issue is not merely what the photograph shows, but how the interpretation of what it
37:42shows is used to establish his prophetic authority.
37:46In the end, it was about his authority over the people, and his authority to interpret the
37:50Bible as he wished.
37:51He wanted to publish doctrines and push doctrines onto the people, and the only way to get them
37:57to accept it was to demonstrate that he was being led by a supernatural being, and that
38:04being none other than Jesus Christ.
38:07And why did he want people to accept his doctrine when things were contrary to Scripture?
38:13And that's really beyond me.
38:15So we think about, why could it have been?
38:18Could it have been that he believed that accepting him and his doctrine was the only way to salvation?
38:25Maybe.
38:26Was he just trying to push and implement Roy Davis' vision and doctrine onto the people about
38:33his vision of America and the churches they were building?
38:38And that includes all the doctrines that came along with it.
38:41Was he trying to make the latter rain doctrine the dominant theology in the Pentecostal world
38:46through this?
38:47Or was he just trying to make himself a name and a legacy that would carry on from generation
38:52to generation?
38:53You know, we will probably never know the answer to those questions, but they're interesting
38:57to think about and ponder.
39:00And I will tell you right now, that is a gift and a curse.
39:03There are so many questions, man.
39:05If you take any of these supernatural claims, I don't care which one it is, halo or not,
39:10if you take any supernatural claim and then look at what was claimed and read everything
39:17that you can, listen to everything that you can, document what you see, document what they
39:21say, write it down, put in order, in bullet points, they said this, they claimed this, they
39:27claimed this.
39:28Take all of those things and then go back to the actual event and examine what evidence
39:34does exist.
39:36In almost every case, you're going to find out that the two just simply do not match,
39:41which raises questions.
39:43But here's the problem.
39:44Branham was a building block.
39:46Like I said, you can't say that because of this halo photograph, Bethel exists.
39:51You can't say that any of the different groups that are spun off of this exists because of the
39:55halo photograph.
39:56But what it did is actually stronger and more important to your study.
40:01This movement started to characterize themselves by these apostles and prophets who were doing
40:09the same thing.
40:09They were following that same pattern that I mentioned.
40:12And here's where it gets a little bit comical.
40:16Branham created the strategy.
40:17He did the claim.
40:19He introduced the claim.
40:21The claim was over an event and people were distracted from it.
40:25Well, others started copying this.
40:26And in the beginning, that's okay.
40:29We're all apostles and prophets in this Lateran thing.
40:32If you study the early version of Branhamism, that is clearly what he's wanting.
40:38He wants everybody to share in this so they can build an organization of a religious movement.
40:44That's what is happening, whether he wants to be organized or not.
40:47Later on, he starts to condemn everybody he helped create.
40:52And that gets a little bit comical.
40:54Look at Oral Roberts.
40:55Oral Roberts was a big part of the ministry in the beginning.
40:58Later, he starts railing Billy Graham and Oral Roberts because their ministries are starting
41:03to take off and thrive.
41:04Well, that's all because he helped establish the pattern that many, many people were using
41:10to build themselves up into a big name.
41:13Well, what happens when the big name passes your big name?
41:16And that's where it gets both comical and sad at the same time.
41:21John, that's exactly right.
41:22You know, we can ponder over these things for many years as we've done.
41:27And, you know, these things are so true.
41:29They only build up a man.
41:31You know, they don't exalt Jesus Christ many times.
41:34And it's only used to try to support what a man is trying to push upon the people.
41:40But now I want to go into this statement.
41:41This is an interesting point here that he made about the picture being in the Hall of Religious
41:45Art.
41:46I found some interesting things, you know, in this as I was kind of doing some research
41:51in this.
41:52You know, where did he get the idea of being a Hall of Religious Art?
41:56Nothing like that exists, which is sponsored by the U.S. government in Washington, D.C.
42:01But William Branagh makes it seem like this picture was put on display by the government
42:05and endorsed by the U.S. government.
42:08But that's far from the truth.
42:09The picture was placed only in the Library of Congress like every photograph that photographers
42:14want to keep the copyright on.
42:17But here's where he says in 1959, in November, from the beginning, it wasn't so.
42:21He said, it's signed by the government.
42:23The only supernatural being was ever photographed in all the world history, history of the world.
42:28They got it right here on the picture now hanging in Washington, D.C. in the Hall of Religious
42:33Art.
42:34However, you know, that was never a Hall of Religious Art associated with the U.S. government.
42:38I know many of us in the message went to Washington, D.C.
42:43I myself did to try to find this Hall of Religious Art because I wanted to see for myself.
42:50And when I inquired about it, you know, there was no such thing.
42:53And I'm sure other message believers have done the same thing.
42:56But actually here, there's a connection between what he's saying here and spiritualism.
43:02And I want to show this real quick.
43:05There's actual spiritualist museums and collections with spirit art, artifacts, portraits, historical
43:12exhibits.
43:13They exist elsewhere, most notably in the Hett Art Gallery and Museum at Camp Chesterfield,
43:20Indiana, dedicated in 1954, which holds one of the largest collections of precipitated spirit
43:27paintings and related materials.
43:30But what is accurate here when he talks about Washington, D.C.?
43:35There's the National Spiritualist Association.
43:38It was incorporated in Washington, D.C. on November 3rd, 1893.
43:43And the original Certificate of Incorporation stated that the principal office would be located
43:48in the city of Washington, D.C.
43:52So that's a connection there.
43:54He's mentioning Washington, D.C.
43:56Spiritualist organizations.
43:57Now, they didn't have a Hall of Religious Art at that organization in Washington, D.C.
44:02But we know spiritualist camps did have their art galleries.
44:08Now, I'm going to get to something else here in a minute.
44:10But here he says it again in 1953 in Expectations.
44:15He said, a lady here has got a book.
44:17Bring me that yellow book, will you, sister, there?
44:19Wished I would have brought some of those pictures.
44:21How many ever never did see it?
44:22Let me see your hand.
44:23Never seen a picture of the angel.
44:25Here it is.
44:26This is by the American Photographer Association.
44:30Hangs in the Religious Hall of Art in New York City.
44:34The only supernatural being we're ever taken in all the world's history.
44:37You can see the Pillar of Fire.
44:39Now, what's interesting here in 1953, he states,
44:43it was hanging in New York City or New York in the Hall of Religious Art.
44:49And if you look at all the quotes prior to that and even after that,
44:52he talks about it being in Washington, D.C.
44:54and even one remote quote being in Germany.
44:57But we won't get into that.
44:59But it's interesting that he mentions New York at this time
45:02because I found something interesting as I look for this Hall of Religious Art in New York.
45:09The main New York Spiritualist Museum,
45:12which features spirit, religious, mediumistic art,
45:16is in Lillydale Museum in Lillydale Assembly, New York.
45:20Lillydale is in Chautauqua County, western New York,
45:23about an hour south of Buffalo.
45:26It's the world's largest and oldest continuously operating spiritualist community.
45:31And it was founded in 1879.
45:34It serves as the major center for the religion of spiritualism,
45:38also the home to the headquarters of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches.
45:44And the museum there that they've got is located in the corner of Library Street, East Street.
45:50It's a historic 1891-room schoolhouse.
45:53It's across from the Healing Temple.
45:55Its focus is to preserve the history of spiritualism in Lillydale
45:59through artifacts, memorabilia, photos, and especially spirit art.
46:06So, the key highlights related to art and religious spiritualist material
46:09were precipitated spirit paintings.
46:12These are the standout religious art pieces.
46:15They are portraits that mediums,
46:17especially the Bang sisters and the Campbell brothers,
46:20claim were created by spirits without human hands.
46:24Examples hang on the walls and are among the museum's prized holdings.
46:28Spirit slates, they were chalk writings,
46:31supposed to be produced by spirits.
46:33Fox family artifacts, Fox sisters, wrappings,
46:36extensive collections of spiritualist newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets.
46:40Historical photos of pioneer mediums, landmarks, and spiritualist figures.
46:47You know, could there be a connection as to why he used New York
46:49in one quote and Washington, D.C. in another?
46:52Because spiritualist art collections do exist.
46:57As I mentioned, there's the Head Art Gallery Museum
46:59in Chesterfield, Indiana, which we've mentioned before,
47:02we believe William Branham was connected to
47:04because it was only an hour from his home.
47:08And so, there was that to look at.
47:11Now, what I found most interesting here,
47:16and I won't go through the Library of Congress reading,
47:19but the Library of Congress was just registering the photograph
47:22for a copyright.
47:24And that's yet another sleight-of-hand technique
47:26that I want to go into just a bit.
47:28So, Had William Branham told all of the people,
47:31they took a picture of me,
47:33and the picture had a light above my head,
47:35and they sent it to Washington, D.C. to be copyrighted.
47:38That's the whole story, and that's the whole truth.
47:41That's if you go back and you actually read
47:43the events that are happening,
47:45you can line all of this up with recorded history.
47:48Even Voice of Healing published the statement
47:52that this photograph was being sent for copyright,
47:56and therefore, they had to delay a book.
47:58So, we can find that example.
48:00That's the whole story.
48:02Instead, what he told the people was,
48:04they came, the government came,
48:06and sent it to Washington, D.C.
48:08And then he stopped there.
48:10He didn't tell the rest of the story.
48:12So, now there's a question that forms in the mind,
48:14and that question is the sleight-of-hand.
48:17Why did they send it to Washington?
48:19Oh, my gosh, they sent it to Washington.
48:20What is going on here?
48:22Because he didn't tell the whole story,
48:24that's what happened.
48:25And that's really key to understand.
48:26He didn't technically lie.
48:28He just didn't tell the whole truth.
48:31That's how all of this begins.
48:33Well, then the question forms,
48:34and people start to grow that question
48:38into their own types of answers,
48:40and then he feeds on those answers.
48:42So, whatever they're thinking,
48:43he can have conversations with people.
48:46Well, he starts to introduce those themes
48:48into his sermons,
48:49and suddenly this is a story
48:51that grows like a snowball.
48:52It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
48:54And by the end,
48:55you're inventing religious halls of art.
48:57I mean, that's literally how this happens.
48:59So, in the very beginning,
49:01had he just been truthful,
49:03none of this would have even existed.
49:05In fact, because that photograph
49:07is so significant to, quote-unquote,
49:10vindicating his ministry,
49:11you might not even hear the name
49:13William Branham ever
49:14in any sermon by Benny Hinn
49:16or anybody who's building
49:18their ministry upon this.
49:19He would just be this no-name
49:21Pentecostal minister
49:22who was associated with the Klan figures.
49:24But instead,
49:25because that sleight-of-hand technique
49:27was happening,
49:28not just in this event,
49:30but many, many other events,
49:31the people started to think
49:33he was more than a man.
49:35I want to show one more example
49:38really quick here.
49:39There was another photograph
49:40of what's called the Pillar of Fire
49:42appearing on his shoulder.
49:44But as I show this,
49:45this happened at Souls Harbor
49:48at W.V. Grant's Church
49:49before he went in to preach.
49:51But this light wasn't really played up
49:53like a supernatural being
49:55on a photograph as the other was.
49:57This didn't appear on his head,
49:59but it was a light showing on his shoulder.
50:01But what's interesting about this light,
50:04it appears to start near the top
50:06of the left shoulder,
50:07extends downward along the lapel.
50:09It does not surround the head
50:10or body symmetrically.
50:12If it were an independent luminous object
50:14hovering beside the man,
50:16you might expect illumination
50:17on nearby surfaces,
50:19light falling across his face
50:20from that direction,
50:22or a glow extending beyond the outline
50:24of just the shoulder.
50:26The bright area also appears
50:28to follow the contour of the jacket.
50:30So you wonder why the spirit there
50:33would have followed the exact contour
50:35of the jacket outline
50:37as we show here.
50:38So the significance here,
50:41David Harrell called that 1950 photo
50:43the most famous of the healing revival.
50:45To mention,
50:46the reason it would have been recorded
50:47in the Library of Congress
50:49was just a copyright registration
50:51only on the photograph.
50:53The reason this photograph
50:54might have hung in one of those spirit camps,
50:57if it even did,
50:58who knows,
50:59he might have just been acquainted
51:00with the spirit art galleries
51:02in those camps,
51:03who knows,
51:05but it might have hung in there
51:07because they would,
51:08of course,
51:08believe it was a supernatural being.
51:10But just having a copyright
51:13in Washington, D.C.,
51:14it only establishes ownership
51:16of the image.
51:17It protects it
51:19from unauthorized reproduction.
51:20You just can't print it
51:22as much as you want
51:23and sell it.
51:24It creates a data government record
51:26of the claim work
51:27and it allows you
51:29to obtain a remedy
51:30if somebody infringed
51:31your copyright
51:33and established
51:34who the copyright owner is
51:36of the photograph
51:36when it was first published.
51:38George J. Lacey examined it
51:41in Library of Congress
51:43copyright registration
51:44or something
51:44presented together
51:45as though they constitute
51:46government verification
51:47of a supernatural nature
51:49to this photograph,
51:50but they do not.
51:52So I want to mention
51:54something I found
51:55very interesting
51:56regarding this
51:57Lillydale spiritualist camp.
52:01When William Branham
52:02was younger,
52:03way back in the day,
52:04in probably the 40s,
52:05early 40s,
52:06maybe the 1930s,
52:08you know,
52:08after he married Mita,
52:11of course,
52:11he would travel
52:12to the Adirondack Mountains
52:14of New York
52:15to go hunting.
52:16And what I found,
52:18the location
52:19of this Lillydale Museum
52:20that has the little
52:22art gallery there
52:23in New York,
52:24was his traveling route
52:26would have been
52:27no more than a few miles
52:28from that spiritualist camp.
52:30So the times he said
52:32he loved to be up there
52:33at Lake Placid
52:34and on his way up,
52:35it's very possible,
52:37knowing that he mentioned
52:38he was in spiritualist camps,
52:39that he dropped by.
52:41And that could have been
52:42why it slipped out
52:43of his mouth
52:44the way it did
52:45when he said
52:45it was hanging
52:46in the art museum
52:47in New York
52:48or New York City
52:50because he had been
52:51right by his
52:52spiritualist camp
52:53in New York.
52:53Now, I'm not,
52:54I'm saying that's a stretch,
52:56but it's interesting.
52:58And I just wanted
52:59to bring that point up.
53:01I know, too,
53:02the people who are
53:03devout followers
53:04of William Branham,
53:05the moment they hear this,
53:06they just reject
53:06the whole thing
53:07because, no,
53:08William Branham
53:09would not be associated
53:10with going to
53:10these spiritualist camps.
53:11However,
53:12he himself did admit
53:13it on recording
53:14and he talks about
53:15going and hearing
53:17and seeing these
53:18strange and unusual things,
53:19one of which
53:20he says that
53:21a piano levitated
53:22and it played the jingle
53:23shave and a haircut
53:24two bits,
53:26which if you know
53:26the Beverly Hillbillies,
53:27it's the dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun
53:29at the end.
53:30Apparently,
53:31a piano was rising
53:32and making that noise.
53:33Well,
53:34he talks about it
53:35as though it's a true thing
53:36and it's a true spirit
53:38of evil coming to get him.
53:40Well,
53:40we find out later
53:41that Camp Chesterfield,
53:42which you mentioned,
53:43that was one
53:44of the main attractions
53:45and it was fake.
53:46It was later proven
53:47to be fake,
53:48but they had to
53:49stage act
53:49where this piano
53:51was hoisted up
53:52by chains or ropes
53:53or whatever
53:54and the audience
53:55couldn't see
53:56what was happening
53:56to make it levitate,
53:58but it would go up
53:58into the air
53:59and then play the jingle
54:00and people would just be
54:01wowed in the crowd.
54:03Camp Chesterfield
54:04is not far from here
54:05and Branham's ministry
54:06began because
54:07Roy Davis,
54:08his mentor,
54:08was claiming
54:09that he was
54:10a converted spiritualist
54:11and he knew
54:12the ins and outs
54:13of the spiritual realm.
54:14So that's really
54:15how this cascade
54:16of events happens
54:17and in those events,
54:19Branham does not
54:20tell the whole truth.
54:21He tells a partial truth,
54:23but he links it
54:24to something else
54:25and that's really,
54:26I think,
54:26the point that you're
54:26making here.
54:27He doesn't give us
54:28the whole truth
54:29in almost every case,
54:30so we have to go
54:31the further step
54:32and link
54:33and try to find out
54:34here's a fact
54:36that he mentions.
54:36What is the actual truth
54:38behind that fact?
54:39So John,
54:39what is the significance
54:40to his ministry here
54:42as we wind up?
54:44David Harrell
54:44called it probably
54:45the most famous
54:46photograph of the revival.
54:48This photograph
54:49is not just a souvenir,
54:51but it functioned
54:52as proof of the angel
54:53with the prophet.
54:55In meeting after meeting,
54:56you know,
54:57Branham could point to it
54:57and say science
54:58has itself admitted
54:59there's a supernatural being
55:01in the ministry
55:02and the being
55:03is the same one
55:04that has followed me
55:05since childhood.
55:06And that claim
55:07closed the gap
55:08between a private
55:09visionary experience
55:10and public verification.
55:12Now they were one.
55:14Once accepted,
55:15it made skepticism
55:16look like your willful unbelief
55:18against the very proof
55:20of scientific evidence.
55:22It also created
55:24a ready-made answer
55:24to critics,
55:25which is used to lead people
55:27to that same conclusion,
55:30being,
55:30I spoke of a light
55:32that appeared in my life.
55:33We now have a photo
55:34with a light
55:34with me in the meeting.
55:36We know the mechanical eye
55:37of the camera
55:38cannot be deceived.
55:39Therefore,
55:40the light is real
55:40and struck the lens.
55:42Therefore,
55:42the angel was there.
55:43Therefore,
55:44my message is vindicated.
55:46And yet,
55:47the gap
55:48between Lacey's
55:49measured statement
55:50and the absolute claim
55:51between copyright registration
55:53signed by the government,
55:54between a spiritualist hall
55:56and a religious hall of art
55:58is a blending
55:59of some truth
56:00with some falsehoods.
56:02The same method
56:03appears
56:03when two unrelated
56:05scriptures
56:06are joined together
56:06to produce a doctrine
56:07that neither text
56:09would state on their own.
56:10And we'll get into
56:11some of those later on.
56:13The result is
56:14a coherent-sounding system
56:16that's difficult
56:17to challenge
56:18from being inside
56:19the framework
56:20because every piece
56:22has been made
56:22to support
56:23every other piece.
56:24But in the end,
56:25when you can step back
56:26and examine the evidence,
56:28things do not appear
56:29as they are presented.
56:30The photograph
56:31looks like
56:32ironclad
56:33supernatural evidence
56:34until we compare
56:36the facts
56:36with its later retellings.
56:39But this same
56:40careful comparison
56:41is needed
56:41whenever a teaching
56:43rests on a fusion
56:44of separate text
56:45put together
56:47and the events
56:48into a new whole.
56:50So I look forward
56:51to exploring
56:52even more examples
56:52next time with you,
56:53John,
56:54as we talk about
56:55how you use this technique.
56:56Sounds good.
56:58Well, if you've enjoyed
56:58our show
56:59and you want more information,
57:00you can check us out
57:01on the web.
57:01You can find us
57:02at william-brannum.org.
57:04For more information
57:05about the message
57:05teaching of the Godhead,
57:07you can read
57:07Godhead and their own words,
57:09voices of oneness preachers
57:10of the end-time message.
57:11And for more about
57:12the dark side
57:13of the New Apostolic Reformation,
57:14you can read
57:15Weaponized Religion
57:16from Christian Identity
57:17to the NAR.
57:18Available on Amazon,
57:20Kindle, and Audible.
57:49Weaponized Religion
58:19Weaponized Religion
58:25Weaponized Religion
58:27Weaponized Bullet
58:28Weaponized Religion
58:28Weaponizeniovertinians
58:29Gulben Weaponized
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