Serpent seed

===William Branham===
{{further|The Message of William Branham}}
[[File:Rev._William_M._Branham_in_Kansas_City,_1947.jpg|thumb|William Branham]]

[[William M. Branham]] (1909–1965), a prominent American Pentecostal minister in the 1940s and 1950s who had links to the KKK,<ref name ="cbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/street-preacher-cult-william-branham-1.4302531|title=How a dead U.S. evangelist inspires London's reviled street preachers|date=25 September 2017|author=Andrew Lupton}}</ref> also promoted the serpent seed doctrine.{{sfn|Schamber|2000|p=11}} Branham taught the belief that the [[Serpent (Bible)|serpent]] had sexual intercourse with Eve and their offspring was [[Cain]].{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=98}} Branham also taught the belief that Cain's modern descendants were masquerading as educated people and scientists,{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=113}} along with the belief that Cain's descendants were "a big religious bunch of illegitimate bastard children"{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=125}}{{sfn|Moriarty|1992|p=50}} who comprised the majority of society's criminals.{{sfn|Kydd|1998|p=174}} He believed that the serpent was the [[Transitional fossil|missing link]] between the [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] and man, and he also speculated that the serpent was possibly a human-like giant.{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=124}} Branham believed that the serpent was transformed into a reptile after it was cursed by God.{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=124}}

According to Steven Hassan, "Branham's sermons lay the foundation to believe that black people are the inferior race."<ref name = "tre">{{cite web|title=The Racist Effects of William Branham's Message Churches|publisher=Freedom of Mind Institute|url=https://freedomofmind.com/the-racist-effects-of-william-branhams-message-churches/|author=Hassan, Steven|author-link=Steve Hassan|date=September 28, 2021|access-date=2021-09-28}}</ref> Branham used the term "hybrid" to describe anything he believed to be tainted by the serpent.<ref name = "tre"/> Branham accused Eve of producing a "hybrid" race, and he provided a way to trace the hybrid line of the Serpent's Seed to Africans and Jews through [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] the biblical progenitor of the African peoples, King [[Ahab]], [[Judas Iscariot]], [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]], and the future [[Antichrist]].{{sfn|Barkun|1997|p=162}}{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=124}}<ref name = "ptu">{{cite web|url=https://prophecytoday.uk/study/resources/item/2314-review-preacher-behind-the-white-hoods.html|title=Review: Preacher Behind the White Hoods|publisher=Prophecy Today UK|date=September 9, 2021|access-date=2021-09-12|author=Lennie, Tom}}</ref>

{{blockquote
|text=Now, Noah and his sons, which come out, Ham, [[Shem]], and [[Japheth]], come out in the righteous line. How did the [serpent's] seed ever get over? The [serpent's] seed come over in the ark, just like it did in the beginning, through the woman, their wives. They carried the seed of Satan, through the ark, just as Eve packed the seed of Satan, to give birth to Cain, through the woman. ... Notice this now. And out of there, then, come Ham, Ham with his wife, and them. He had a curse put on him.
|source=The Serpent's Seed, September 28, 1958
|author=William Branham
}}

{{blockquote
|text=What good would a white woman want to have a baby by a colored man making him a mulatto child? It's not sensible. ... If I was a colored man, or a brown man, or a yellow man, or a red man, I would be just as happy about it. Yes, sir. I sure would. That's the way that my Maker wanted me and that's the way I am. Right. Why does man want to tamper with anything for? When man gets into it, he ruins it. Let it alone the way God made it. Let a man be what he is; by the grace of God let him be. But he has to cause great fusses now calling our… causing riots, and big fusses, and everything else across the nations, and across the world just because he wanted to stick his head out about something. That's the ignorance of the man. That's right; hybrid again. Instead of leaving it the way God wants it, he wants to make his own way. He has to do something about it, you know. He has to make his own self a name. God be merciful to him. It's a pitiful thing.
|source=But It Wasn't So From The Beginning, April 11, 1960
|author=William Branham
}}

{{blockquote
|text=God is a segregationalist {{sic}}. I am too. Any Christian's a segregation. God segregates His people from all the rest of them. They're... They've always been a segregation. He chose a nation. He chooses a people. He is a segregationalist {{sic}}. He made all nations. But still, a real genuine Christian has to be a segregationalist {{sic}}. Separating himself from the things of the world and everything, and come into one purpose, Jesus Christ.
|author=William Branham
|source=Who Do You Say This Is?, December 27, 1964
}}

[[Michael Barkun]] wrote that Branham was the most significant proponent of the racial teaching outside of the [[Christian Identity]] movement and directly influenced their theology. Branham's teachings on serpent seed was particularly significant to the development of Identity's view of the Jews as the seed of the Devil through Cain. Branham's 1958 introduction of serpent seed teaching coincided with [[Wesley A. Swift|Wesley Swift]]'s introduction of demonic origin of the Jews through the serpent the same year.{{sfn|Barkun|1997|pp=160-162}}

Branham related a story in which he privately discussed the belief that blacks were descended from apes as early as 1929. Branham publicly hinted his belief in the serpent seed doctrine as early as 1953.{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=124}} He first began to teach serpent seed in 1958 at the [[Civil rights movement|height of racial unrest in the United States]]. Prof. [[Doug Weaver (author)|Douglas Weaver]] believed that Branham may have become acquainted with the serpent seed doctrine through his [[Baptists|Baptist]] roots. Branham was baptized and ordained at a First Pentecostal Baptist Church which was pastored by [[Roy Elonzo Davis|Roy Davis]], a founding member and later Imperial Wizard of the second [[Ku Klux Klan]]. Branham may also have made contact with Kentucky churches which espoused Daniel Parker's [[Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists|two-seed doctrine]].{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=125}} Professor Jon Schamber also reviewed Branham's serpent seed teachings and the role which he played in spreading the doctrine. Schamber also connected Branham's serpent seed doctrine to Russel Carter's teachings which were integrated into Christian Identity Theology and Daniel Parker's Two-Seed Theology.{{sfn|Schamber|2000|p=11}} The [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] connected William Branham to the Ku Klux Klan during a 2017 investigation.<ref name ="cbc"/> Branham's embrace of the serpent seed doctrine alienated most of the members of his [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] audience. According to Pearry Green, adherents of the broader Pentecostal movement consider Branham's version of the serpent seed doctrine repugnant and in their point of view, it was the "filthy doctrine&nbsp;... that ruined his ministry."{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=123}} No other mainstream Christian group held a similar view; Branham was widely criticized for spreading the doctrine,{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=123}} but his followers view the doctrine as one of his greatest revelations.{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=123}}

There are millions of adherents of William Branham's serpent seed teachings. Voice of God Recordings reported that about two million people subscribe to Branham's teachings through the William Branham Evangelical Association.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://branham.org/en/faq|title=Frequently Asked Questions| publisher=Voice of God Recordings |access-date=28 February 2018 }}</ref> His followers continue to promote the doctrine and as a result, they have made international news for their racial views in connection to the teaching.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/pastor-donny-reagan-rails-against-interracial-marriage-in-viral-sermon/news-story/48c7eb067ba0a7747c109f371c4b9093|title=Pastor Donny Reagan rails against interracial marriage in viral sermon|publisher=News.Com.Au}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23mx_vRCg64 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/23mx_vRCg64| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Is God Racist? Pastor Rants Against Biracial Babies at Happy Valley Church|publisher=YouTube|author=Young Turks}}{{cbignore}}</ref> According to Weaver, Branham's followers are very proud of his serpent seed teaching, believing it to be "his most original revelation". Many of his followers are unaware of the doctrine's true origin.{{sfn|Weaver|2000|p=125}} When confronted with the accusations of racism, some of his followers have denied the teaching of serpent seed has any connection to white supremacy or racism.<ref name="Blair, Leonardo">{{cite news|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/bro-donny-reagan-apologizes-church-explains-his-message-saying-hes-not-racist-he-simply-does-not-marry-interracially.html|title=Bro. Donny Reagan Apologizes; Church Explains His Message Saying He's Not Racist, He 'Simply Does Not Marry Interracially'|author=Blair, Leonardo|publisher=[[Christian Post]]}}</ref> According to  the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], "Not all Branham churches are racist or embrace the anti-race-mixing position," "but the theology clearly invites racism."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2014/tennessee-pastor-thunders-against-interracial-relationships|title=TENNESSEE PASTOR THUNDERS AGAINST INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|date=May 24, 2014|access-date=2022-04-19}}</ref>

In 2014, Pastor Donny Reagan made news in the United States for promoting Branham's racial teachings. Several news outlets labeled Reagan as the "most racist pastor in America."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/johnson-city-preachers-video-against-biracial-marriage-goes-viral/article_2e61d9e1-ddce-5336-b22c-6a731327a4d0.html|title=Johnson City preacher's video against biracial marriage goes viral|publisher=Johnson City Press|date=February 18, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Blair, Leonardo"/> Kacou Philippe, a leader of Branham's followers in Africa, was arrested in 2017 for hate speech and sentenced to one year prison after preaching in multiple African nations that blacks should be submissive towards whites. Philippe insisted decolonization of Africa was a sin, and that Africans could only prosper when in servitude to Europeans.<ref name = koaci>{{cite news|url=https://www.koaci.com/article/2019/02/05/cote-divoire/politique/cote-divoire-philippe-kacou-gracie-continue-dinsulter-alassane-ouattara_127624.html|title=Ivory Coast Kacou Philippe Pardoned|date=February 9, 2019|access-date=2022-03-21|author=Cherus, John|publisher=KOACI}}</ref><ref name = laxroic>{{cite news|url=https://international.la-croix.com/news/world/apostle-of-self-styled-only-prophet-of-god-on-earth-arrested-in-west-africa/5499|title=Apostle of self-styled 'only prophet of God on earth' arrested in West Africa|author=Lucie Sarr, Abidjan|date=July 9, 2017|access-date=2022-03-21}}</ref>