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Branhamism Discussion of distinctive doctrines of William M. Branham.


View Poll Results: Is the serpent seed doctrine a "damnable heresy"?
Yes. It's a perverse false doctrine that should be strongly rejected. 61 78.21%
No. Its an doctrinal error, but it's pretty harmless. 10 12.82%
No. I believe the serpent seed doctrine is biblical truth. 4 5.13%
I'm not sure. 3 3.85%
Voters: 78. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old 05-28-2008, 01:16 PM
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Is The Serpent Seed Doctrine A "Damnable Heresy"?

The Serpent Seed doctrine has been much discussed around here the last few days.

Various NT writers warned about those who would introduce heretical doctrines into the church. Peter in particular warned (in 1 Pet 2:1) about men bringing "damnable heresies" in to God's people.

Which leads to this simple question: is the Serpent Seed doctrine one that should be considered a "damnable heresy"?
...or should it be considered just a mild and fairly harmless doctrinal error?

What say ye?
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:20 PM
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

Yes beyond a shadow of a doubt.
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:21 PM
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Matthew 7:6


 
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

The essentials of the serpent seed doctrine can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branhamism#Serpent.27s_Seed_Doctrine
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Daniel 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever.

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Old 05-28-2008, 01:24 PM
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

I think that if causes one to doubt the efficacious work of the Jesus' sacrifice -- Then yes.

I also think that it is quite perverted. Can you imagine trying to teach your little kids about the fall it were the case?

Thanks TR this thread ought to be interesting.
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If ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:24

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No real problem exists over the use of "The Name" in everthing else done in the Church. Why then should there exist great controversy over the use of the "The Name of the Godhead" in water baptism?
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:35 PM
Dr. Vaughn
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

TR - if it has to do with ones eternal salvation, then yes it is a damnable heresy...

If it has to do with an understand of an OT event that disagrees with mainstream understanding... then you tell me... is it Heresy?

If it is, then Post Trib, Pre Trib or Mid Trib is heresy... that has more to do with eternal salvation than Serpent Seed
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:36 PM
Dr. Vaughn
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

Imagine trying to eplain the fall like this

Hey our loving God... cursed Eve and all of her children for eating an Apple when told her not to......

Now, give that to a child
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:41 PM
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Steve Epley Steve Epley is offline
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

The Serpent Seed doctrine taught by William Branham is not just about the original sin in the garden it embodies the doctrine of personal predestination-limited atonement-election unto damnation-unconditional eternal security-marriage & divorce-one prophet who alone has the lone interpetation of scripture.That is why I say it is damnable.
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Old 05-28-2008, 01:56 PM
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Vaughn View Post
Imagine trying to eplain the fall like this

Hey our loving God... cursed Eve and all of her children for eating an Apple when told her not to......

Now, give that to a child
Ok V

You go tell your children that they got it on and even Adam was in the mix. I will continue telling mine that sin came upon all of us because Eve was deceived and Adam disobeyed by violating God's command. Romans 3 is such a beautiful commentary of it all.
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If ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:24

Mone me, amabo te, si erro

No real problem exists over the use of "The Name" in everthing else done in the Church. Why then should there exist great controversy over the use of the "The Name of the Godhead" in water baptism?
Kevin J. Conner The Name of God p. 92
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  #9  
Old 05-28-2008, 01:57 PM
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

A breakdown of the doctrine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branham..._Seed_Doctrine
part 1 of 2

Branham taught that the fall of mankind resulted from Eve having sexual intercourse with an upright 'Serpent' (at that stage not a snake but the 'missing link' between apes and man, the serpent's current form is a result of God's curse in Genesis 3:14): Branham used the term missing link to infer the the creature was a lesser being than man but similar, not a being that was actually the pre-evolved form of man.
And the only way this serpent could plant the seed, he was the only animal next to the human being. For in the evolution of mankind, when man--God brood upon the earth... And He begin to bring up birds, and the--from birds He come to different things, then chimpanzee, and from the chimpanzee to the serpent. ('Questions and Answers', 30 August 1964) From this relationship Cain was conceived and produced. While from a scientific perspective it is unusual to have interspecies hybrids that are fertile, it is not impossible as evidenced by animals such as the Beefalo/cattalo (a cross of an American Bison and a domestic European cow) and the Wolphin (a cross between a False Killer Whale and a Bottlenose Dolphin). The result of these interspecies cross-breeds is that they produce an offspring that has to breed back into one of its parental lineages. With reference to Serpent's seed, this would mean that Cain's children would have come through Adam's daughters, and the evidence of any difference between Adam and Cain's lineages would have been diluted with each successive generation.
Versions of the serpent seed doctrine appear in a number of sects and cults, notably the 'Christian Identity Movement' where it is used as a justification for racism. William Branham was well aware of the potential racist connections of the doctrine and the racial tendencies of the world in general (the Ku Klux Klan paid for his medical bills after he was shot in the leg as a child) but he tried not to carry any of these racist interpretations into his teachings:
I just was talking about Martin Luther King on this great disaster that they're having in the south, with the--the colored people. I said, "If those people were slaves, I'd take my church and go south to help them people out of slavery." I sure would, because man makes slaves, not God. We're all of one blood. We all come from one tree, and that was from Adam. God, by one blood has made all nations. And whether we, our colors are brown, or black, or yellow, or red, or whatever it might be, we are all creatures of the Almighty (See?), and there shouldn't be any differences in us. ('He Cares, Do You Care?', 21 July 1963) William Branham supported the doctrine of the serpent seed with various scriptures including:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.(1 Corinthians 11:2b,3) Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.(Proverbs 30:20) she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked;(Genesis 3:6b,7a) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;(Genesis 3:16) Branham identified the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as being Satan, and the tree of life being God himself.
William Branham said that one basis for his assertion that Eve had sexual intercourse with the ‘serpent’ was in Eve’s claim that the serpent had ‘beguiled’ her (3:13 in the King James Version) ‘beguiled’ actually meant sexually ‘seduced’ or ‘defiled’ rather than ‘deceived’ (which most contemporary translations give). The original Hebrew word is ‘nasha’ ("naw-shaw") which literally means to lead astray or to mentally delude with a secondary meaning to morally deceive.
William Branham also focused on Adam’s willful decision to join Eve in her sin (e.g. Romans. 5:12-19, 1 Corinthians 15:21,22) as a type of Christ taking on our own sin for our redemption.
Adam took her back. He knew exactly what he was doing, but he did it any way. She was a part of him, and he was willing to take her responsibility upon himself. He would not let her go. So Eve conceived by him. He knew she would. He knew exactly what would happen to the human race, and he sold the human race into sin that he might have Eve, for he loved her. (['Ephesian Church Age', William Branham]) The serpent seed may seem difficult to reconcile with the Biblical claim that God had decreed that man should "Be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28); however, God's curse to Eve in Genesis 3:16 (which came after the first commandment) was that her sorrow and her conception would be multiplied (insinuating a conception had already taken place, and that while God's initial commandment to multiply had not changed, the method of fulfilling that commandment was now to take a different route). Prior to the curse Adam and Eve "were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25).
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Daniel 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever.

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  #10  
Old 05-28-2008, 01:57 PM
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Matthew 7:6


 
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Re: Is The Serpent Seed Doctine A "Damnable Heresy

breakdown of the doctrine,
part 2 of 2

Further evidence that Branham claimed for the serpent’s seed doctrine was his assertion that Cain and his descendants showed the characteristics of Satan, which were not shown by Abel, Seth and his descendants. The source of inspiration for the unnatural acts of Cain and his descendants was revealed in John 1:13, which states "Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother." In contrast to Cain's descendants, Seth's descendants were righteous, particularly Enoch who "walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). William Branham also noted that Cain was excluded from Adam's physical lineage in Jude 1:14 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam".
Branham considered that Cain and Seth's lineages are present today:
Cain's children is here in Jeffersonville tonight, and Seth's children's here in Jeffersonville tonight. As the blood stream weakens and goes out, but that lineage still hangs on. ('Questions and Answers Hebrews Part 3', 6 October 1957) In spite of William Branham's statements that God does not consider nationality in his plan of grace and salvation, Branham's critics refuse to separate his teachings from racist origins. Key evidence in their argument is the fact that Branham disliked hybrids and would frequently denounce cross-breeding, usually Branham would refer to just plants and animals, however his denunciation of cross-breeding also extended to racial purity amongst humans (e.g. ‘Questions and Answers Hebrews Part 3’, 6 October 1957 and ‘Questions and Answers’, 30 August 1964).
Critics claim that Branham said that ancestral lineage could prevent them receiving salvation regardless of how sincere their faith was. The following quote is used as evidence of this:
And now, if God being just, if all He required was worship, Cain worshiped God with just as much sincerity as Abel did. Both of them were sincere. Both of them was trying to find grace with God. They were neither one of them infidels. They were both absolutely believers in Jehovah. Now, there, that gives us something to think of. Some here tonight I've never seen, people, I've never seen you before. But you must realize this, and keep this in your mind. See? No matter how religious you are, that don't have one thing to do with it. You might live in church; you might be ever so sincere; and you're still lost. ('Questions and Answers Hebrews Part 3', 6 October 1957) However, Branham's followers attribute the preceding quote to predestination (another possibly controversial doctrine), rather than just serpent seed as is evidenced by William Branham's additional comments in the same sermon:
Cause there was no colored or white, or any other different; it was just one race of people unto the flood. Then after the flood and the tower of Babel, when they begin to scatter out, that's when they taken their colors and so forth. They're all come from the same tree...See? It's God Who chooses. It's God Who elects (See?), God Who gives mercy. The clay can't say to the potter; it's the potter over the clay. That's right. Finally, William Branham taught that the doctrine of the serpent seed was essential because it revealed why Jesus had to be born of a virgin birth and the reason why Jesus had to shed His blood:
Look at Calvary. When that blood cell was housed up, God Himself coming down, building around Himself a Blood cell in the womb of Mary. That Blood cell developed another cell, a cell on a cell. And It was born, the virgin born Son of God; God was inside of Him, the Spirit. Then at Calvary He become a blood sacrifice. And a cruel spear embalmed His body, and broke that blood cell; Out come the life breaking forth from life: water, blood, spirit. And now that man coming to Jesus Christ today, and coming through the blood, comes into the Blood cell in fellowship by the Holy Spirit, becomes a part of God, has God's Life in him, becomes a son and daughter of God. It's just as impossible for that man to be lost, as it is for God Himself to be lost." ('The Mark of Christ', 12 March 1955)
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