Benjamin Roden
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
leader and the prime organizer of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
.
Born in Bearden
Bearden, Oklahoma
Bearden is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 140 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bearden is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Roden spent his childhood on a farm, graduated from high school, and attended Oklahoma Teachers College. He spent a short time teaching in a country school. For many years he was employed in the oil fields in Oklahoma and in Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. On February 12, 1937, Roden married Lois Irene Scott
Lois Roden
Lois Irene Scott Roden was a president of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, an apocalyptic Christian sect which her husband, Benjamin Roden founded. The sect began in Texas in 1955 as a succession to the Shepherd's Rod movement led by Victor T...
. They had six children.
Religious adherence
In 1937, Ben and Lois joined the Christian ChurchChristian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
, and were active and faithful members. Not long after they learned about the seventh-day Sabbath. In response to his newly found understanding of the Sabbath, Roden and his wife sought out a nearby Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
in Kilgore, Texas
Kilgore, Texas
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk Counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the home of Kilgore College, and was also the childhood home of famous classical pianist Van Cliburn...
, and were baptized in 1940. As one of the laity, Ben was one who shared his faith with others, and as a result of his labors, a Seventh-day Adventist church was raised up in Odessa, Texas, of which he was the head elder for several years.
In 1946, the family accepted the teachings of The Shepherd's Rod
Shepherd's Rod
The Shepherd's Rod is a message believed and adopted by Davidian Seventh-day Adventists or Davidians, and authored by Victor T. Houteff . Davidians have claimed themselves a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church but the majority were disfellowshipped because they follow the interpretations by...
, and together they tried to share this message with others in the Seventh-day Adventist church. For a short time in 1953, Roden and his family resided at Mt. Carmel Center, west of Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, which was under the leadership of Victor T. Houteff
Victor Houteff
Victor Tasho Houteff was a religious reformer and author.Houteff was born in Raicovo, Bulgaria, and as a child baptised as a member of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. As a young man, he was engaged in the mercantile trade...
, founder of the Center and of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association, popularly known as The Shepherd's Rod
Shepherd's Rod
The Shepherd's Rod is a message believed and adopted by Davidian Seventh-day Adventists or Davidians, and authored by Victor T. Houteff . Davidians have claimed themselves a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church but the majority were disfellowshipped because they follow the interpretations by...
(or The Rod).
The Branch
Although moved by the unexpected death of Victor Houteff in 1955, Roden believed The Rod teaching that truth must be continually progressive and God's people were to march onward with it. Later that year, he said that he was told to give a message to Florence Houteff and the Executive Council of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist, but was hesitant to do so. Roden stated that, because of his reluctance, one night while he was in bed, the Lord picked him up by the pajama tops and told him to write a letter as he had been made to do. He said that after he had written the letter, he told the Lord, These are not my words, I cannot sign this. He said that the Lord then told him to sign it "The Branch." Roden stated that he was later shown from the Bible and Church writings that this name was Jesus’ new name. Roden taught that the change of Christ’sChrist
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
name was reflective of the change of His work as represented in the prophecies which reveal His new name. Thereafter he worked to share with others what he believed God had revealed to him.
Roden also taught that the name "The Branch" was to be the new name of his Church. Thus the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
was organized. He taught that eventually the names "Davidian" and "Seventh day Adventists" would be dropped, leaving the name of the Church, "The Branch."
Doctrines
One of the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists is that on October 22, 1844, God, the Father, and JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
moved from the throne from which they ruled the universe to the judgment throne in the Most Holy Place
Most Holy Place
This article provides a comprehensive list of significant religious sites and places of spiritual importance throughout the world.-Bahá'í faith:...
of the heavenly Sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
in order to fulfill the antitypical Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
wherein they were to go through the books of records in order to judge the people's deeds to determine their rewards or punishments. They teach that this investigative work was to begin with those who were already dead in order to decide who was to come up in the resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
of the saints, and those who were to later come up in the resurrection of the wicked. They also teach that eventually the judgment would pass on to those who were living in order to determine who would be translated without seeing death at Christ's second coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
, and those would be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Roden told the Adventist and Davidian churches that the judgment has passed from the dead to the living on 20 October 1955.
Benjamin Roden assumed control of the group, and renamed it the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists. He proclaimed himself to be King David's successor. After his death in 1978, his wife, Lois Roden took control. She had been receiving visions that God is both male and female, and that the third person of the trinity (the Holy Spirit) is female, and our heavenly Mother. She later taught that there is a fourth member of the Godhead, a Daughter (the Holy Ghost), and that Christ and the Holy Ghost are the "two anointed ones" (Messiahs - Christs) of Zechariah 4:14, and that the Holy Ghost will appear in Her feminine form prior to Jesus' second coming. A power struggle developed between Lois and her son George
George Roden
George Roden was a leader of the Branch Davidian sect, a Seventh-day Adventist splinter group, and the former husband of Amo Bishop Roden. In 1987, he was evicted from the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas by his rival David Koresh...
.
Vernon Howell
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...
joined the Branch Davidians in 1981 and was quickly in good graces with Lois, the head of the church. She died in 1986 and Howell was left in control. By 1990 he had changed his name to David Koresh and had settled with more than a hundred followers in a compound called Mount Carmel, ten miles outside of Waco, Texas. Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tried to execute a warrant for Koresh's arrest on February 28, 1993, as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal weapons and child abuse. A shoot-out ensued that left ten dead: four BATF agents and six Branch Davidians. Koresh and his followers remained in their compound and a confused state of negotiations went on for 51 days, ending on April 19, 1993 when the compound burned to the ground, killing Koresh and 74 followers, including 21 children.