The Branch Davidians are an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventists. 17 August 1959 was a significant date in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It marked the birth of Vernon Wayne Howell — later to change his name to David Koresh.
Davidian Seventh-day Adventists
Like so many religions, splits had appeared in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1930 a group of Adventists set up a reform group known as the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. Most of these members had been disfellowshipped from the Church because of their beliefs. In particular they believed in the End Time and that biblical prophecies were already coming true in preparation for the second coming of Jesus. See Box 1 for more on the beliefs of the Davidians. When the founder of this movement, Victor Houteff, died in 1955 a further split took place. The Church was based at Waco in Texas, USA. Houteff’s followers could not agree over who had the true spirit of prophecy to lead the movement.
Box 1 Beliefs of the Davidians
See RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 30–33 for the main beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Additional beliefs of the Davidians are as follows:
• Prophecy is so important that the leader of the Church must possess this gift. They do not accept that there will be another prophet until the time of a ‘special resurrection’.
• At this time the Church will be purified of the tares (see Matthew 13:24–30).
• The saints will return to Israel and Christ will establish his kingdom there with 144,000 elect who will follow him. After a short time Christ will return in clouds of glory and take the living and resurrected saints with him to heaven. For 1,000 years they will determine the judgement for those who are unrepentant and during this time the earth will be dark and the home of Satan and his angels.
• All diets must be strictly vegetarian as in the Garden of Eden.
Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists
Some of the followers remained as the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church but the majority followed the new leader, Benjamin L. Roden. They founded the Branch Davidian Seventhday Adventists and took over the property at Waco. Roden ordered the Church to celebrate the Eucharist daily at the third and ninth hours.
When Roden died in 1978 the leadership was taken over by his wife, Lois, and she claimed a new prophecy of her own: that the Holy Spirit was feminine in gender. In 1979 she began publication of Shekinah, a magazine to promote her ideas. See Box 2 for more on the variant beliefs of the Branch Davidians.
Vernon Howell
When he was 22, Vernon Howell joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He fell in love with the pastor’s daughter and claimed that he had woken up to find his Bible open at Isaiah 34:16a, which proved that he should be married to her:
‘Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without its mate.’
Box 2 The variant beliefs of the Branch Davidians
• The observance of all biblical feast days and practices that were kept by the early Church.
• The judgement of the living began in the heavenly sanctuary in 1955.
• The twice daily observance of the Eucharist.
• The true gift of prophecy of both Ben and Lois Roden.
• The family is created in the literal image and likeness of the Godhead.
• The feminine aspects of the family are understood to represent the Holy Spirit.
The pastor threw him out of the Church and in 1982 Howell moved to Waco and joined the Branch Davidians. The Church was now based at the Mount Carmel Center, 10 miles from Waco. He played the guitar and sang at services at the Center. Towards the end of 1982 the administrative building at the Center was destroyed by a fire, which also destroyed the printing press used to publish Shekinah.
Later Howell admitted starting the fire, claiming an instruction from God, and said that he had been told to tell Lois Roden that:
‘The Lord has commanded concerning you:
‘Your name shall be perpetuated no longer; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the cast image. I will make your grave, for you are worthless.’
Nahum 1 :14
In 1983 Lois allowed Howell to prophecy and teach his own message to the Church. Her son, George Roden, was intended to be the next leader and, seeing Howell as an interloper, George drove him and his followers away from the Center at gunpoint. With 25 followers he set up another church at Palestine, Texas, where they stayed for 2 years living in tents. During this time Howell travelled to Israel, where he claimed to have had a vision telling him that he was the modern-day Cyrus II of Persia (c. 600 BCE).
‘Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him! Let him go up.’
2 Chronicles 36 :23
THE PASTOR THREW HIM OUT OF THE CHURCH AND IN 1982 HOWELL MOVED TO WACO AND JOINED THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS.
Lois Roden died in 1986 and her place was taken by George, who challenged Howell to raise the dead and had a corpse exhumed for the experiment. In 1989 Roden murdered Wayman Dale Adair with an axe after Adair claimed to be the true Messiah. Roden was placed in a mental hospital, leaving thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes by the Church. Howell and his followers raised the money and moved back to the Mount Carmel Center.
IN DISPUTED CIRCUMSTANCES, THE BUILDINGS CAUGHT FIRE. THE ENTRANCES HAD BEEN BARRICADED AND 76 MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, INCLUDING KORESH AND 17 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 7, WERE KILLED.
David Koresh
On 15 May 1990 Howell filed a court petition to change his name to ‘David Koresh’. The petition was granted on 28 August of that year. Koresh saw this as giving him a spiritual link to King David and to Cyrus (Koresh is a transliteration of Cyrus). Although Koresh was now the recognised leader of the Branch Davidians, he did not appear to adhere to the moral teachings and practices of the Church.
During his time as leader Koresh had multiple wives, drank alcohol, ate meat and traded in firearms. Many questions have been raised over the techniques he may have used to ‘brainwash’ some of his followers. It is difficult to ascertain the truth about what happened at the Mount Carmel Center. Many of the accusations made against Koresh came from former followers who left the Church.
Koresh claimed a special revelation that he should father 24 children by particular women in the community. These 24 would then become leaders during the millennium following the return of Christ. Many claims of child and sexual abuse appeared in the media. Koresh’s doctrine of the House of David led to ‘spiritual marriages’ with both married and unmarried women, as well as one with a 15-year-old girl.
A former Branch Davidian, Jeannine Bunds, said that Koresh annulled the marriages of all people in the Church and then had exclusive sexual access to these women and also to young girls. She also claimed that she had delivered seven of 15 children that Koresh fathered in the Church. However, FBI director William Sessions stated that the organisation had no evidence of these accusations.
The Waco raid
As a consequence of the continuing allegations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided the Mount Carmel Center on 28 February 1993. Four agents and six Branch Davidians were killed. The FBI took over and established contact with Koresh, who had been severely injured by a gunshot wound. There was a 51-day standoff, during which the FBI used loud music, floodlights, bulldozers and grenades.
Finally, the US attorney general approved an assault to remove the Branch Davidians by force. Tanks were used to punch holes in the walls of the Church and fill it with tear gas. In disputed circumstances, the buildings caught fire. The entrances had been barricaded and 76 members of the Church, including Koresh and 17 children under the age of 7, were killed.
Koresh had encouraged his followers to think of themselves as ‘students of the Seven Seals’ rather than as Branch Davidians. However, during the siege one of his followers announced that Koresh now wanted them to be called ‘Koreshians’.
Branch Davidians today
Some of the survivors of the Waco raid still follow Koresh today and are awaiting his resurrection. The nine who were convicted for offences concerned with the initial raid have all been released from prison. The church has been rebuilt and is the home of a community called Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness. Its 12 members live in mobile homes on the site. Their leader, Charles Pace, who joined the Church in the 1970s, is a former supporter of George Roden.
‘I came back here after the slaughter and I feel that the Lord has anointed me and appointed me to be the leader…. I don’t claim to be a prophet. I’m a teacher of righteousness, that’s the only thing I claim…. The United States has to fall in order for the One World Order to be set up…. Especially if there’s war in the Middle East, that’s when they’re going to see Branch Davidians start scrambling to find out what the truth is, and where they need to be.’
Charles Pace, see www.tinyurl.com/mvafh n2
‘If the FBI believed they were dealing with members of a cult who were not in their right minds, then why would the FBI put so much pressure on them and then ultimately carry out an assault which just confirmed David Koresh’s prophecies?’
Catherine Wessinger, Loyola University, New Orleans
Jon Mayled is the author of many religious studies textbooks.