March 15, 2023

1 year ago
158

Though the Assemblies of God denounced the Latter Rain version of William Branham's "Message" cult of personality, the cult itself has many deep historical connections to the AoG. Some of the men involved in its formation, such as F. F. Bosworth, played a significant role in creating the early versions of Branham's stage persona, while other key figures, such as Roy H. Wead, continued to defend, support, and even promote Branham's cult of personality. Branham continued to preach at AoG Churches well into the 1960s. Jim Jones, who became a leader in the "Message" sect and became infamous for convincing his cult members to commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, first joined the revivals in the Laurel Street Tabernacle, an Assemblies of God church.

The Assemblies of God was the result of approximately three hundred white ministers and laymen who decided to separate themselves from the black-founded Church of God in Christ over disagreements with governance and credentials. As a result, it was a predominately white organization, and during its early years, it heavily discriminated against people with black skin. Leaders within the AoG fought to exclude blacks from participation which ultimately resulted in the approval of resolutions to deny the ordination of black ministers. In 1917, Alexander Howard, a black Pentecostal from Chicago, requested to be sent as an AoG missionary to Liberia. He was rejected because of his black skin, which resulted in the formation of the United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God in 1920 — a separate denomination that did not discriminate based on the color of skin. It was not until 2014 that a resolution was passed to merge that group back into the AoG.

This would have been appealing to Branham's mentor, Roy E. Davis, especially during his leadership of the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana and Texas.[8] Davis held public debates in Texas on behalf of the Assemblies of God, some of which targeted the multi-racial Church of Christ.

You can learn this and more on william-braham.org

Assemblies of God:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/assemblies_of_god

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