Mysticism in the Message

While most Christians would consider mysticism to be incompatible with Christianity, and base this criticism on key passages in the Old and New Testaments pointing to mysticism as one of the lowest forms of an ancient evil — in some cases punishable by death — many new Christians are open to the idea. In the New Apostolic Reformation, mysticism is often favored over doctrine, and leaders of the NAR use their powerful influence, money, and power to spread that mysticism to the general Christian public. So much so that it is sometimes difficult to explain the difference between Christianity and mysticism to new converts.

Many NAR leaders use William Branham as their example, and rightfully so. Branham was an architect of the movement, laying the foundation that many ministries are based upon. In the mythology that Branham created, mysticism was the thread that held it together. He claimed, falsely, that newspapers reported a "Mystic light above a Baptist ministry" when he started and claimed that fortune tellers were all aware of his 1909 birth year when he changed his identity. He claimed that "fortune tellers" and "mystic lights"[4] followed him around, even claiming that the 1963 cloud formation resulting from a missile detonation was a "mystic light". He claimed that his famous Houston Photograph had captured that "mystic light". Even his instruction to move to Tucson was allegedly given to him by a mystic fortune teller which he called a "Magi"; Branham’s fortune apparently was to be successful in the West and not in the East.

Christian researchers, who come in contact with this information, often ask the question, "Was William Branham reading from a different bible?" The Bible has several passages condemning fortune telling and those who seek fortune tellers. Interestingly, Branham claimed that the first Bible was the Zodiac, and specifically the Zodiac signs such as Virgo and Leo. His early church had a pentagram above the door where congregants entered. The “signs” of Branham’s true religion were always visible in his ministry, but because he claimed to be a Christian, and people believed him, his ministry became a foundation for the New Apostolic Reformation.

Zodiac:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/zodiac

Pentagram above the door:
https://william-branham.org/site/resource?key=0e7c8a80-6546-429a-a550-4c81cf3f6b81&parent=branham_tabernacle