Preacher Behind the White Hoods: A Critical Examination of William Branham and His Message

by John Collins

An in-depth look into the creation of the Post WWII Healing Revival focusing on the historical perspective of William Marrion Branham, who has been credited by some as the evangelist who both initiated and led the movement. Examine the origins of the evangelist, the men who created him, and the men who influenced his doctrine from his early years as a Southern Indiana minister in the river city of Jeffersonville, Indiana, to his career as an internationally recognized faith healer. From his involvement with the Kardashian family in California to his politically-charged sermons supporting the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, William Branham lived a fascinating and unbelievable history connected to the collaboration, influence, and power of recognized public figures and events in American history. Some of those public figures made the F.B.I.’s Top Ten Most Wanted List as they entered the Healing Revival while others became respected ministers of the Gospel. Learn how a handful of men with one common goal orchestrated the events leading to some of the darkest moments in American history. These men pursued their goal through a strategy conceived decades before, while they were secretly planning in the shadows of the night. What was their objective? The “Americanization” of the United States. The research is filled with over a thousand footnotes, resources, and quotes from the transcripts of William Branham, Jim Jones, Roy Davis, Congressman William D. Upshaw, and many others. Over a decade of research packed into one book, Preacher Behind the White A Critical Examination of William Branham and His Message walks you through the events of William Branham’s life story. Rather than retelling the many versions of the "life story" used to create his stage persona — this book examines the events in the life of the historical William Branham.

Genres: Nonfiction

485 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2020

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a capable work about the duplicity of Pentecostal "healing" revivalist William Marion Branham (1908± - 1965) and dismantles dozens of his strange lies which underlie the belief system of his Message. It also provides a strong argument concerning the motives behind the lies. Along the way I learned quite a lot about the history of the KKK in the 20th century.

This book exhaustively shows the difference between Branham's stage persona and reality. The book meticulously links Branahm's life and career to Roy E. Davis, the Imperial Grand Wizard of the Original Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. In this, due to his careful research over 10 years, Collins succeeds. Surprisingly, the author also unearths a link between William Branham and Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple.

The book is an important work for any Christian trying to understand loved ones tangled up in the Message. Moreover, it is a powerful tool for truth. This polemic against the false prophet is supported by overwhelming evidence (over 1,000 footnotes). The author was born into the cult, being the grandson of the Rev. Collins. Rev. Collins took over pastoral duties at Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and was pastor there for about 50 years. John Collins left the cult as an adult.

The book is imperfect as a literary work. Collins wraps the book in an autobiographical frame. But since he was not alive during the life of William Branham (who died in 1965), it's a strange arrangement. The reader finds themself reading a 'story' about Collins researching Branham. In an attempt to make this exciting, the author uses the word "suddenly" a lot. Whatever you think is 'a lot', double that. As in, "suddenly I realized..." or "suddenly I wondered about...". In addition you will be reading "it was time for me to look into...." segues many times.

Finally, in his zeal to expose the definitely racist, definitely false prophet, Collins sometimes writes sentences that are meant to associate two people in the mind of the reader simply by proximity of words in the sentences. This was most blatant during the Jim Jones sections. Jim Jones was engaged in activity A while William Branham was involved in activity B. Okay, cool, but putting two names next to each other does not mean very much. There was real overlap of the two men, but Collins overreaches a bit in the association in my opinion.

[Eleisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book positively gripping. While the author, at times, seems to leap to assumptions or exaggerate the significance of certain links, the research is compelling. I think it is a must-read for any former Message believer or any believer who is in doubt.

[Josh Cutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone now well into what will be a life-long recovery from my time in The Message, I eagerly ate this up. I didn't read this like I read most books, to be honest; it was a far more cathartic experience for me than it was an intellectual experience.

Upon reflection, I think the author makes quite a few speculative leaps and offers some questionable insinuations that don't really "prove" much -- but the work here succeeds in raising reasonable doubts about Branham's motives and affiliations, and frankly, that's really all you need to do when you're writing about someone whose followers accord him near-divine status. Simply showing Branham's human, all-too-human tendencies made this a book I will never forget, and I'm grateful for it.

[Ruben Cervantes Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a student of revival, I look for different perspectives on key figures. William Branham is a notable figure among charismatic/Pentecostal circles. Most admit that he ended poorly since he claimed to be Elijah similar to John Alexander Dowie. However, Branham is still presented as a hero of faith since he is believed to have one of the strongest gifts of discernment and healing. Videos showcase him knowing addresses, unique conditions, and even names and dates that are simply miraculous to know (unless he had some tactic to make it appear as if he was coming up with data that he already had through some other means). In this book, there is data presented that claims that he was a conman - simply a fraud out to make money and to recruit for the KKK under Roy E. Davis. When he died, he certainly had amassed tens of millions of dollars.

The Author of this book goes for the jugular with the data presented. He was raised in the Message movement— his very own grandfather being a primary leader in the movement. This gives him tons of credibility, but also makes me squint my eyes a bit wondering if some of the research is skewed. Yet, listening to some of Branham’s sermons really affirms that he preached pretty racist ideology, and contradicted himself when it proved convenient. In some instances, the author offers accusations that are reduced to informed possibilities, but not conclusive proof. Readers of this book, will find however, that through court documents, police records, newspaper articles, and other factual data, that at the very least, Branham misrepresented much of his stories to gain credibility among his followers. The Fruit of his ministry unfortunately is not very positive. I think having other historians and scholars verify the research that this author meticulously gathered would be helpful in the proper shaping of charismatic/Pentecostal faith. It’s a real bummer of a story, but incredibly helpful perspective if indeed the data is fireproof.

[Amanda Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so interested to read this book. I'm eating up any information I can on this cult leader when I recently learnt he has quite a large following here in Malawi where I work. I had never heard of him before until my director, who actually attended some of William Branham's revivals in America when he was a boy, talked about him and the "shenanigans" that would go on in them. Sadly enough, his 'Serpent Seed' doctrine is widely believed by many here in Malawi, and I still remember the confusion I had once when one of my students was adamantly arguing that one should not baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but only in the name of Jesus Christ. I remember being so confused where he could have ever gotten such an idea and why he was so adamantly defending his position as if it were a matter of salvation. Then while reading this I realized that's a Branham teaching...now I can't help but wonder if perhaps that student is maybe in a Malawian "Message" cult. Not only that, his latter rain movement is largely behind today's "New Apostolic Reformation" movement which has recently made inroads into Malawi and seems to be creating so much division in the church. Fascinating history. The book itself was quite good, written by someone who escaped Branham's cult. A little "all over the place" and some spelling/grammar errors but still a very engrossing read.

[Anthony Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating read, narrative slow

This is essentially a report of what the author discovered in newspapers while digging into the history of the cult he grew up in. I don’t recall any grammatical or other editing errors in the book. I recommend for any ex-Pentecostals or ex-charismatics, especially those who are familiar with Branham. I knew of him from the Gods Generals series and Bethel Church, who saw him as a legitimate healing prophet who just went off the rails. This book exposes the tricks and deceits behind the miracles. And it exposes the racism and hypocrisies that early healing evangelists carried.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was wild.

Always a good time finding out the "Prophet" from the cult you were raised in was pals with the creator of the KKK and Jim Jones.

The book wasn't incredibly well written or anything, and at times I found it to be a bit dry, but I am very impressed and grateful that John Collins has done so much research on this topic and that he has made it so easy to access for the public.

https://william-branham.org/site/john...

[miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real William Branham

Very good resource for both followers and ex-followers of William Branham to know his double face. Now I know for sure that Branham was a racist as I long suspected but I gave him the benefit of doubt. I thank God for keeping me alive and gave me the wisdom to know that I was in a cult that taught another gospel and gave me the courage to get out!

[Dennis Gannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good exposure of the fake evangelists of the tent revivalist scams. Elmer Gantry comes to mind, but these evangelists were bound together by racism and were fake Christians. This book is additional proof that most of "Churchianity" is not Christianity, and the mustard seed is still very small.

[Linda Branham · Rating 4 out of 5]

probably more accurate than many of the stories - although there some leaps in forming connections. Learned more than I every knew before. I knew he was a fake faith healer - I did not know about all of the other information.

[Gerri Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Lots of research lots of digging I am sure there is still more to learn and tell It is making me think what I been lead to believe alk these years

[Alexander Proudfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, well-researched investigation into the life and background of one of the most influential leaders of Oneness Pentecostalism.