The term Gentile (from Latin gentilis, by the French "gentil", female: "gentille", meaning of or belonging to a clan or tribe) is used by English translators for the Hebrew, גוי (goy) and נכרי (nokhri) in the Hebrew Bible and the Greek word ἔθνη (éthnē) in the New Testament.

The term gentiles is derived from Latin, used for contextual translation, and not an original Hebrew or Greek word from the Bible. The original words Goy and Ethnos refer to "peoples" or "nations". Latin and later English translators selectively used the term gentiles when the context for the base term "peoples" or "nations" referred to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible.

Following Christianization of the Roman Empire, the general implication of the word gentile became "non-Jew".

Latin etymology[link]

Gentile derives from Latin gens (from which, together with forms of the cognate Greek word genos, also derive gene, general, genus and genesis). The original meaning of "clan" or "family" was extended in post-Augustan Latin to acquire the wider meaning of belonging to a distinct nation or ethnicity. Later still the word came to refer to other nations, 'not a Roman citizen'. After the Christianization of the empire it could also be used of pagan or barbarian cultures.

In the Bible[link]

In Saint Jerome's Latin version of the Bible, the Vulgate, gentilis was used in this wider sense, along with gentes, to translate Greek and Hebrew words with similar meanings when the text referred to the non-Hebrew peoples.

The most important of such Hebrew words was goyim (singular, goy), a term with the broad meaning of "peoples" or "nations" which was sometimes used to refer to Israelites, but most commonly as a generic label for peoples. Strong's Concordance defines goy as "nation, people, usually of non-Hebrew people, or of descendants of Abraham, or of Israel, or of a swarm of locusts or other animals (fig.) Goyim = 'nations'." Strongs #1471^[1]

In the King James Version, Gentile is only one of several words used to translate goy or goyim. It is translated as "nation" 374 times, "heathen" 143 times, "Gentiles" 30 times, and "people" 11 times. Some of these verses, such as Genesis 12:2 ("I will make of thee a great nation") and Genesis 25:23 ("Two nations are in thy womb") refer to Israelites or descendants of Abraham. Other verses, such as Isaiah 2:4 and Deuteronomy 11:23 are generic references to any nation. Typically the KJV restricts the translation to "Gentile" when the text is specifically referring to non-Hebrew people. For example, the only use of the word in Genesis is in chapter 10, verse 5, referring to the peopling of the world by descendants of Japheth, "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."^[2]

In the New Testament, the Greek word "ethnos" is used for peoples or nations in general, and is typically translated by the word "people", as in John 11:50 ("Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not."). The translation "gentiles" is used in some instances, as in Matthew 10:5–6 to indicate non-Israelite peoples:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.^[3]

In that instance, Gentiles becomes a reference to pagan cultures of the period.

Altogether, the word is used 123 times in the King James Version of the Bible,^[4] and 168 times in the New Revised Standard Version.^[5]

Early Christianity[link]

The Greek ethnos where translated as Gentile in the context of Early Christianity implied non-Israelite. There was a question among the disciples whether receiving the Holy Spirit through proselytization would be restricted to Israelites or whether it would include the gentiles (the Greco-Roman population of the Roman Empire), as in Acts 10:34–47:

And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?"^[6]

Attached to this question was the circumcision controversy in early Christianity, i.e., does a Gentile need to follow all of the Mosaic Laws. The position of the Judaizers was that this was a necessity for salvation, taking Christianity to remain fully within Judaism, including obedience to the Torah Laws. Paul of Tarsus who argued against the Judaizers, on the point that circumcision was necessary for salvation. The Council of Jerusalem decided to give the new converts four things that had to do in order to be able to assemble at the Synagogues every Sabbath to hear Moses read, (Acts 15:1-29). This was done with the understanding that those new believers would go to the Synagogues to hear the Law read every Sabbath and would conform to God's Law after hearing it read to them every Sabbath. This was called the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:19–29), which may parallel Jewish Noahide Law.

Modern usage[link]

As in the King James Bible, from the 17th century onward Gentile was most commonly used to refer to non-Jews. This was in the context of European Christian societies with a Jewish minority. For this reason Gentile commonly meant persons brought up in the Christian faith, as opposed to the adherents of Judaism, and was not typically used to refer to non-Jews in non-Western cultures.

LDS Church usage[link]

In the terminology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon) the word Gentile takes on different meanings in different contexts which may confuse some and alienate others. Members of the LDS church regard themselves as regathered Israelites, and so sometimes use the word Gentile to refer to all non-members. According to John L. Needham of Utah State University, "Mormons in the American West applied gentile, as an adjective as much as a slur, to nearly everyone and everything that did not adhere to their faith or desert kingdom." Because they had suffered persecution, the word gentile was "a call to circle the wagons socially and politically around the fold".^[7] In such usage Jews may be colloquially referred to as "Gentiles" because they are not members of the LDS Church. However, the traditional meaning is also to be found in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, in the statement that it is written to both "Jew" (literal descendants of the House of Israel) and "Gentile" (those not descended from the House of Israel or those of the tribe of Ephraim scattered among the "Gentiles" throughout the earth). Needham writes that Mormons have "outgrown the term."^[7]

In order to avoid confrontation and pejorative connotations, Latter-day Saints in the 21st century avoid using the word Gentile in everyday matters, preferring "non-member". Gentile is usually reserved for discussions of scriptural passages.

British Israelism[link]

In British Israelism, which claims that the Anglo-Saxon nations are direct descendants of the lost tribes of ancient Israel, the word gentiles is used to refer to all nations which are non-Jewish. Some schools of British Israelism consider that most nations of western and Northern Europe are tribes of Israel.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up gentile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentile
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Gentiles

Joel Chernoff is an American Singer-songwriter and a founding member of the music group Lamb.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• [1] - official website of Lamb and Joel Chernoff

This article about a United States singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

William Marrion Branham
Born	April 6, 1909 (1909-04-06) Cumberland County, Kentucky
Died	December 24, 1965 (1965-12-25) Amarillo, Texas
Cause of death	Car accident
Resting place	Jeffersonville, Indiana

William Marrion Branham (April 6, 1909 – December 24, 1965) was a Christian minister, usually credited with founding the post World War II faith healing movement.^[1] While many Pentecostal Christians welcomed his evangelistic and healing ministry, and some considered him to be a Prophet, a minority have accorded him an even higher status, believing that his ministry and teachings were supernaturally vindicated by God.^[2] Some observers refer to this as "Branhamism," however, adherents prefer the name "Message Believers." He believed Christians needed to return to the original apostolic faith of the Bible, often referring to Malachi 4:5–6 and Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

William Branham was born in 1909 in a log cabin in Cumberland County, Kentucky, near Burkesville. ^[4] The first of nine children of Charles and Ella Branham, he was raised near Jeffersonville, Indiana. William Branham's family was nominally Roman Catholic but he had minimal contact with organized religion during his childhood. His father was a logger and an alcoholic, and William Branham often talked about how his upbringing was difficult and impoverished.^[5][6]

Branham claimed that from his early childhood he had supernatural experiences including prophetic visions. He said that in his early childhood, while walking home from getting water from the creek, he heard the voice of the Angel of the Lord who told him 'never to drink, smoke or defile his body, for there would be a work for him when he got older'.^[7] On one occasion during his teenage years, he remembered being approached by an astrologer telling him that he was 'born under a special sign' and that they predicted an important religious calling for him. Later he compared the incident to Paul's experience with the damsel with a spirit of divination in Acts 16.^[8][9]

Leaving home at nineteen, William Branham worked on a ranch in Arizona and also had a short career as a boxer, reportedly winning 15 fights.^[10] At the age of twenty-two^[11] he had a conversion experience and later was ordained as an assistant pastor at a Missionary Baptist Church in Jeffersonville.^[12] When he disagreed with the pastor about the role of women preaching, William Branham held a series of revivals on his own in a tent. Later, the meetings moved to a local hall until they were able to construct a building in 1933 which the congregation named 'Branham Tabernacle'.^[13]

Public ministry[link]

From accounts by William Branham's family, it is evident that he had been conducting healing campaigns at least as early as 1941 when he conducted a two-week revival in Milltown,^[14] and his 1945 tract "I Was Not Disobedient Unto the Heavenly Vision'^[15] shows that his faith healing ministry was well established by this time.

In May 1946, William Branham received an angelic visitation, commissioning his worldwide ministry of evangelism and faith healing.^[16] His first meetings as a full time evangelist were held in St Louis, Missouri in June 1946. Professor Allan Anderson of the University of Birmingham, has written that “Branham’s sensational healing services, which began in 1946, are well documented and he was the pacesetter for those who followed”.^[17] Referring to the St Louis meetings, Krapohl & Lippy have commented: "Historians generally mark this turn in Branham’s ministry as inaugurating the modern healing revival".^[18]

During the mid 1940s William Branham was conducting healing campaigns almost exclusively with Oneness Pentecostal groups.^[19] The broadening of Branham's ministry to the wider Pentecostal community came as a result of his introduction to Gordon Lindsay in 1947, who soon became his primary manager and promoter.^[20] Around this time several other prominent Pentecostals joined his ministry team including Ern Baxter and F. F. Bosworth.^[21] Gordon Lindsay proved to be an able publicist for Branham, founding The Voice of Healing [1] magazine in 1948 which was originally aimed at reporting on Branham's healing campaigns.^[22]

In June 1947, the Evening Sun newspaper of Jonesboro, Arkansas reported that "Residents of at least 25 States and Mexico have visited Jonesboro since Rev. Branham opened the camp meeting, June 1. The total attendance for the services is likely to surpass the 20,000 mark". Several newspapers carried reports of healings in the meetings"^[23] His success took him to countries around the world. According to a Pentecostal historian, "Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world."^[24]

In Durban, South Africa in 1951 he addressed meetings sponsored by the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Holiness Church, and the Full Gospel Church of God. Meetings were conducted in eleven cities, with a combined attendance of a half million people. On the final day of the Durban meetings, held at the Greyville Racecourse, an estimated 45,000 people attended and thousands more were turned away at the gates.^[25] Many healings were reported in the local newspapers.^[26]

U.S. Congressman William Upshaw, crippled for sixty-six years, publicly proclaimed his miraculous healing in a Branham meeting in a leaflet called "I'm Standing on the Promises".^[27] Branham also claimed that God's miraculous intervention healed King George VI of England through his prayers.^[28] A young boy raised from the dead in Finland in April 1950, Branham said, was the fulfilment of a vision he had told audiences during his campaign meetings.^[29]

From the mid 1950s onwards William Branham taught that neither Oneness theology nor Trinitarianism were correct, but that God was the same Person in three different offices – in the same way that a husband can also be a father and a grandfather.^[30] As he began to speak more openly about doctrine, such as the Godhead and serpent seed, the popularity of his ministry began to decline.^[31]

Supernatural intervention[link]

Shortly after being ordained, William Branham was baptising converts on June 11, 1933 in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville. He described how people along the bank saw a bright light descend over where he was standing, and that he heard a voice say, "As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so your message will forerun His second coming."^[32]

William Branham says that his evangelistic healing ministry started one night during his search for personal meaning. In May 1946, an angel in the form of a man appeared, saying: "Do not fear. I am sent from the presence of the Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar birth and misunderstood life has been to indicate that you are to take a gift of Divine healing to the peoples of the world."^[33]

Church ministers working with William Branham in his meetings, testified that he was able to reveal the thoughts, experiences, and needs of individuals who came to the platform for prayer. ^[34] Walter Hollenweger, a noted Pentecostal historian who worked as translator for Branham in one of his campaigns in Switzerland, wrote, I am not aware of any case in which he was mistaken in the often detailed statements he made. ^[35] Branham claimed that this knowledge (which he called discernment) was given to him through visions.^[36]

January 24, 1950 in the Sam Houston Coliseum

On the night of January 24, 1950, an unusual photograph was taken during a speaking engagement in the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas. A photograph, the only one of its film roll that developed, shows an apparent halo of light appearing above Branham's head.^{[37] [38]} A copy is held in the Library of Congress photograph collection.^[39]

Branham regarded his series of sermons on the Seven Seals (Rev 6:1–17 and Rev 8:1) in 1963 as a highlight of his ministry.^[40] He said a cluster of seven angels met him on Sunset Mountain in Arizona to commission the opening of the Seals,^[41] which he believed was in fulfilment of a vision he had told his church several months earlier.^[42] Two men who were nearby at the time related hearing a loud noise like an explosion and seeing an unusual cloud rising into the air.^[43] Branham interpreted an unusual cloud formation resembling the head of Christ which had been photographed several days earlier over Flagstaff, Arizona,^[44] (featured in Life and Science magazines ^[45])as vindication of his experience, claiming the cloud was formed by the seven angels who met him at Sunset Mountain.^[46]

Death[link]

On December 18, 1965, William Branham and his family (all except his daughter Rebekah) were returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana from Tucson, Arizona for the Christmas holidays. About three miles east of Friona, Texas (about 70 miles south-west of Amarillo on U.S. Highway 60), just after dark, a car travelling west in the eastbound lane struck Branham's car head-on.^[47] The driver of the car was intoxicated and died at the scene, as did the other front seat passenger. Branham lived for 6 days after the crash, but died on December 24, 1965, at 4:49 PM at the Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo.^[48]

William Branham was buried four months later. Some of his followers predicted he would return to life during Easter but William Branham's elder son (Billy Paul) said the interdenominational faith founded by his father did not teach this.^{[49][50][51][52]} William Branham's burial was postponed to allow his widow to attend. She was seriously injured in the accident which claimed her husband's life.^[51][53] William Branham's body was left in a sealed casket in a Tucson funeral home during that period.^[54] He was subsequently buried and services were held in Jeffersonville, Indiana.^[55] A few hundred people attended burial services where video and audio of Branham's services were played.^[55] Rev. Green has disputed some of the details reported by the media in his self-published book Acts of the Prophet.^[56]

Doctrine[link]

William Branham preached thousands of sermons, of which almost 1,200 have been recorded and transcribed.^[57] These sermons, together with a few books that he published (principally An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages) are the source for all Branham's doctrine. He believed that his theological emphases were a result of divine revelation.^[58]

Along with some other Bible commentators,^[59] Branham believed that the seven churches described in The Revelation, chapters two and three represent seven historical ages of the Christian church, from its beginning to the present time. These ages were outlined in his book An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages ^[60] as Ephesus (AD 53–170), Smyrna (170–312), Pergamos (312–606), Thyatira (606–1520), Sardis (1520–1750), Philadelphia (1750–1906), and finally Laodicea (1906–present). He further identified the "angel" of each church as a human messenger. The seven messegers he named as Paul the Apostle, Irenaeus, Martin of Tours, Columba, Martin Luther, John Wesley and at last should be Elijah. While he never explicitly claimed to be the seventh angel, his followers today believe him to be the final messenger to this the Laodicean church age.^[61]

Branham denounced the doctrine of the Trinity, and taught what he called “the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ”.^[62] He believed that God has revealed Himself in three “offices or manifestations”, ^[63] and used the examples of an actor who plays several roles by changing his mask, ^[64] and that of a father, husband and grandfather being the same person. ^[65] There is only one God with three titles: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.^[66] Therefore water baptism, which he said should be by immersion,^[67] was performed in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not using the Trinitarian formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.^[68] Although Branham spoke about the "oneness of the Godhead",^[69] he disagreed with the Oneness Pentecostalism view.^[70]

Referring to the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, William Branham wrote:

Branham believed that his ministry was to declare that God was here as in the days of Abraham. He quoted Genesis 18:9–15 as Scriptural support for this statement in that during the appearance to Abraham, God knew what was in Sarah's mind in the tent behind him.^[72] He believed this foreshadowed the gift of discernement in his own ministry, and is indicated in Luke 17:28–30. After this supernatural sign was shown to Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. In the same way, William Branham believed the discernment in his ministry was a sign of the coming judgment on the earth (usually called the Great Tribulation).^[73]

Branham vehemently believed that the Bible was the infallible Word of God. He stated that anything contrary to the Word of God was Satan's kingdom.^[74] He insisted that faith had to be based on Scripture alone, and said that, even if an angel, another minister, or any church creed presented something different, it had to be ignored. He based everything on the Word of God being fully vindicated.

Branham's doctrine of serpent seed is still regarded as very controversial.^{[citation needed]} He taught that eating the "fruit" in the Garden of Eden was taking heed of the devil's words. This resulted in a sexual union between Eve and the devil-possessed serpent, which produced Cain as a result of their union.^[75] Branham preached that the Bible says a woman is the "weaker vessel" and he taught them that as Christians, they should wear modest clothing, keep their hair uncut, not preach, and be obedient to their husbands. Men should take their role as head of the house.

Branham said he had received seven major prophecies in 1933 regarding events unfolding in the world.^[76] He predicted "that 1977 ought to terminate the world systems and usher in the millennium."

Branham claimed to have made several prophecies, including the Second Coming of Christ.^[78] This included a famous prophecy that "the city of Los Angeles would 'sink beneath the ocean'" and that a tidal wave would sweep inland as far as the Salton Sea.^{[79] [80]} The resulting fear caused 40 Branham followers to move out of the area.^[80] However, during his life he was more known for his healing claims.^[81]

Although William Branham encouraged people to attend the church of their choice, he also spoke strongly against religious organisations. He believed that denominationalism would prove to be the mark of the beast.^[82]

Criticism of Branham's ministry has focused not only on doctrinal differences, but on his belief in divine revelation through astronomical constellations and aspects of pyramidology.^[83]This is based on his comment that "God wrote three Bibles".^[84] He said these were the zodiac (see mazzaroth), the great pyramid and the Holy Bible. He believed the first two pre-dated any written Scripture, and they are not meant for Christians today.^[85]Branham was strongly opposed to astrological horoscopes and said fortune telling was of the devil.^[86]]

Branham distinguished between the 'church' and the 'bride'.^[87] The latter were believers who had received the Holy Spirit.^[88] Only these believers would be taken in the Rapture ^[89] Branham's followers believe he had a specific Message for the Bride, teaching that the Seven Thunders of Revelation 10:3–4 were to be revealed to gather the Bride, to give her faith, and to prepare her for the great translation faith.^[90][91]

Complete Sermons and search engines are available online. Specifically at www.Branham.org

Branham's legacy and influence[link]

In its February 1961 issue, the Full Gospel Men's Voice (now the Full Gospel Businessmen's Voice) wrote: "In Bible Days, there were men of God who were Prophets and Seers. But in all the Sacred Records, none of these had a greater ministry than that of William Branham ... Branham has been used by God, in the Name of Jesus, to raise the dead!"^[92] Branham's teachings and notoriety had a profound influence on the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. Though Branham has been dead since 1965, there are hundreds of thousands around the world who regard him as a prophet, and the fulfilment of Malachi 4:5–6.

It may be difficult to measure Branham's influence on other evangelists in his time period, but he certainly led the way in the pioneering of tent revivals, which would lead into the era of televangelism. Branham is often mentioned as the leader or first revivalist preacher of the second wave of Pentecost that swept the country after World War II^[93] (the first wave being Charles Fox Parham, William J. Seymour, and others). Among those who began around the same time as Branham, and part of the Second Wave of Pentecostalism (late 1940s to the mid 1950s), were Jack Coe, Oral Roberts and A. A. Allen. It is interesting to note that Branham was one of the first "faith" preachers and evangelists who not only preached a latter day visitation of God’s Spirit, but also emphasised faith for healing, as did Coe, Roberts and Allen.^[94]

D.R. McConnell, although a critic of William Branham's teaching, expressed this opinion about his ministry: "Branham, one of the original and greatest evangelists of the post-World War II Healing Revival. Branham worked astounding miracles of healing in his crusades. To this day his gifts of supernatural knowledge of those to whom he ministered remains unparalleled, even among modern healing evangelists".^[95]

Andrew Strom, another theologian who disagreed with Branham doctrinally, nevertheless concluded: "William Branham was another evangelist mid-way through last century who was mightily used of God for a number of years. In fact, there can be little doubt that he was endued with power to a degree that has rarely been seen since the days of the apostles."^[96]

The Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements contains these comments: "The person universally acknowledged as the [WWII] revival’s `father’ and `pacesetter’ was William Branham. The sudden appearance of his miraculous healing campaigns in 1946 set off a spiritual explosion in the Pentecostal movement which was to move to Main Street, U.S.A., by the 1950s and give birth to the broader charismatic movement in the 1960s, which currently affects almost every denomination in the country"^[97] Today, there are an estimated 500 million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in the world.^[98]
C. Douglas Weaver, an author who has written an academic biography of William Branham, concluded: "His healing gift and the power of his services are still held in awe by participants in the tradition of divine healing in America." ^[99]

Location and size of following[link]

The followers of William Branham tend to distance themselves from controversial exclusiveness and maintain their homes in their communities. There is no headquarters. These churches have no membership or members and have little, if any, organization. William Branham summarised this by saying: "We're no denomination. We have no law but love, no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible: no membership; just fellowship through the Blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unbelief".^[100]

Voice of God Recordings, the major distributor of materials related to William Branham's ministry, currently produce print, audio, and video materials in 65 languages, ships directly to 174 countries, and maintains offices in over forty countries.^[101] Cloverdale Bibleway, based in British Columbia, also conducts an extensive international outreach with Message materials.^[102]

There are numerous churches following William Branham's message in the United States and around the world.^[103] The Voice of God website claims that "upwards of 2 million people worldwide believe Brother Branham’s Message".^[104] According to Joseph Branham, more than 500,000 Message Believers are found in Africa ^[105]

See also[link]

• Latter Rain (post-World War II movement)
• Bernabe Gonzalez Garcia
• Healing Revival

References[link]