WILLIAM SOWDERS & WILLIAM BRANHAM
SIMALARITIES IN DOCTRINE
Disclaimer: This is
according to documents that I have in my possession that were given to us by
Lloyd Goodwin and my own recollections of the teachings from various Gospel Assembly
Churches through the years. I got the information about William Branham from
one of his follower’s Websites. If I am wrong about William Sowders, please
give me your input. I was told that Branham met Sowders in the 1930’s so it is
possible that he got some of his teachings from Will Sowders. My comparison is
not an acceptance or a denial of the truth or non truth of these doctrines but
just to see if they were direct NEW revelations as claimed or were taken from
other’s and claimed as original. In my opinion, it is not what a group believes
or teaches that makes it a destructive cult but the amount of control and
coerciveness that is used to hold people in bondage to man made systems. Sincerely,
Wanda Mason
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William Sowders (1879 – 1952) |
William Branham (1909 – 1965)
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The
young man, William Sowders, born to Charles and Florence Meeky Sowders
in Louisville, Kentucky on September 13, 1879, was Called by
God to preach HIS (Gods) gospel. He was chosen by God to bring together the
Body of Christ in this day. |
Those
who loved him call him "Brother Branham". He was born in the
hills of Kentucky in a crude log cabin, April 6, 1906. Those
present witnessed a strange hazy light hovering over him, although it was
before daylight. |
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Brother
Sowders began by running from God. Brother Sowders had been searching
for something, which only God could give him. He became a hunter and
fisherman in the small town of Olmstead, Illinois. Olmstead is where the Lord
would lead Bro. Sowders to find his Calling. |
For
a time he still resisted the call of God on his life. At the age of
fourteen he was seriously wounded while hunting and had to spend seven months
in hospital. God dealt with him then, but still he did not take heed.
Nevertheless the urgency of the call became more an more conscious to
him. |
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From the banks of the beautiful
Ohio River in Southern Illinois, the movement of The Body of Jesus
Christ was to originate in the twentieth century. Brother Sowders heard
a Voice thundering over his head said, Son, I want you to preach MY
GOSPEL! He later recalled that the voice was so loud it actually took the
life out of his body and almost burst his eardrums, especially when the Lord
voiced MY GOSPEL! |
He
was called to bring about the healing of the Mystical Body of Christ -
which is His Church. Brother Branham
was baptizing in the Ohio river and a strange Light, like a star, suddenly came
whirling down and hung over his head. A Voice spoke from the Light and said these words, "As John the Baptist
was sent to forerun the first Coming of the Lord, so are you sent to
forerun His second Coming..." |
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When
he came to himself, he looked up and a golden light was around him. He
then felt strength coming back into his body and he rose to his feet.
However, from that wonderful experience he started out from there to study GOD'S
GOSPEL. |
He spoke to me in that Great
Light telling me to preach the Gospel, pray for the sick and He would
heal them regardless of what disease they had. Obedient to His Voice I went
forth preaching and praying for the sick, and the Lord has confirmed His Word
with signs following. |
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This
man, with the divine call of God, gave up his own life, subjected his
life to Jesus, and launched into the ministry. These Pentecostal revival themes were receiving the
Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, divine healing,
and the soon coming
of Jesus Christ. In fact they were saying then, that Jesus could come any
night! About nine months after conversion, in 1912, William Sowders received
the baptism of the Holy Ghost according to Acts 2:4 under the ministry
of Bob Shelton and George Aubrey on the “Gospel Boat.” |
There was
another reason why God chose William Branham for the great
task of calling His people to the unity of spirit. The Lord knew that he
would never attempt to start another organization of his own. This he could
have done. But to such suggestion he never gave one moment of consideration.
“I began to pray for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. One day about six
months later God gave me the desire of my heart. It was then that something
swept over me and I experienced an exquisite feeling I had never known
before. |
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The oneness people stressed using the
ceremonial formula of baptizing in the name of Jesus. The Trinitarians
steadfastly uttered the words, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal
churches split over these issues. Many of the early twentieth centuries Pentecostal
groups shattered because of the friction and fury generated by the Godhead
and water baptism issues. God the Father, whom he alleged, was a Spirit (Being)
Jesus the Son, a
Heavenly Creature. He agreed with the Oneness element that the Holy
Ghost was not a person, but rather the Spirit, or essence of God. |
Though he
embraced the "Oneness" formula for water baptism - in the
NAME of the Lord Jesus Christ, William Branham's view of the Godhead is
far from the "Unitarian" concept or the concept preached by the
United Pentecostal Church. Yet, the teaching of "three persons' in the
Godhead is so ingrained in the people that to question it's validity is
immediately called heresy and branded as a 'cult'. The trinity and
oneness doctrine are both in error. The Word of God reveals the
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and every Christian must confess that
Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 4:15). |
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He advanced beyond his fellow Ministers in revealed
truth. God restored to him the many Doctrines of the early church, which were
lost during the falling away and the apostasy of the dark ages. He moved
beyond the knowledge of the Holy Ghost and the Second Coming of
Christ. Brother Sowders began to preach the truth as God gave him
on Hell; Babylon; the Body of Christ; Charity, Water Baptism
(more than & in Jesus name). In addition, Eternal Judgment; the Number
and qualifications to be part of Christ's Bride; and The Godhead. |
And God is making an "end" of the "Fullness
of the Gentiles" (Spiritual) and the "Times of the Gentiles"
(Political) - the "Fullness", covering the period of the Seven
Church Ages of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, will climax with an
"Indictment" of the religious systems of man, followed by the Rapture
of the Bride of Christ. The "Times", beginning with Babylon and
Nebuchadnezzar, will conclude with the battle of Armageddon - the ultimate
end of Gentile domination, control and influence over Israel. |
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Brother William Sowders was a “specially-called”
and a “specially-anointed” man of God, a leader and a teacher of men,
called and sustained by God to further the work of restoring God’s church in
the earth in these last days. Truly in every sense of the word, he was God’s
man for the hour. God will see that his work continues until the Body of
Jesus Christ, in its healing, reaches maturity and the last remaining
members that go to make up the Bride of Jesus Christ are made ready. |
We will also show the
fulfillment of these prophecies in a man whom God has mightily used in
this age - to deny it is to deny "manifested" Truth. God called
the man! God vindicated the man! God used the man in a ministry of restoration
to restore and reveal His Word to His Sons and Daughters. By no means
does that Ministry add to the Bible - but rather the mysteries contained in
Scripture are revealed and will ultimately give Rapturing Faith to the
Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ in this Age. |
WILLIAM SOWDERS
& WILLIAM BRANHAM
SIMALARITIES IN DOCTRINE