Benjamin Roden

Benjamin Lloyd Roden (January 5, 1902 – October 22, 1978) was an American
Benjamin Roden
religious leader and the prime organizer of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day
Adventist Association.[1] Born January 5, 1902
Bearden, Oklahoma
Born in Bearden, Oklahoma, Roden spent his childhood on a farm, graduated from
Died October 22, 1978
high school, and attended Oklahoma Teachers College. He spent a short time
(aged 76)
teaching in a country school. For many years he was employed in the oil fields in
Scott and White
Oklahoma and in Odessa, Texas. On February 12, 1937, Roden married Lois Irene
Hospital
Scott. They had six children.
Temple, Texas
Residence Waco, Texas
Citizenship American
Contents Education Oklahoma Teachers
Religious adherence College
The Branch Occupation Author, Sabbath
Doctrines
teacher, Seventh Day
References Adventists Reformer
External links
Known for Founder of "The
Branch"

Religious adherence "The Branch"

leadership 1955-1978
In 1937, Benjamin Roden and his wife Lois joined the Christian Church, and were
Seventh Day
active and faithful members. Not long after they learned about the seventh-day
Adventist Reform
Sabbath. In response to his newly found understanding of the Sabbath, Roden and
Movement
his wife sought out a nearby Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kilgore, Texas, and
were baptized in 1940. As one of the laity, Ben was one who shared his faith with Spouse(s) Lois Irene Scott
others, and as a result of his labors, a Seventh-day Adventist church was raised up in Children George Buchanan
Odessa, Texas, of which he was the head elder for several years. Roden
Ben Lloyd Junior
In 1946, the family accepted the teachings of The Shepherd's Rod, and together they
Roden
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 John Scott Raymond
Waco, Texas, which was under the leadership of Victor T. Houteff, founder of the Roden
Center and of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association, popularly known as Samuel Shayne
The Shepherd's Rod (or The Rod). Roden
Jana Vee Roden
The Branch Rebecca Kathleen
Roden
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 Parent(s) James B. Roden &
to march onward with it. Later that year, he said that he was told to give a message Hattie V. Pool
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’s
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 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 Jesus moved from the throne
from which they ruled the universe to the judgment throne in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary in order to fulfill the
antitypical Day of Atonement 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 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, and those would be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Roden told the
Seventh-day Adventist Churchand Davidians 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,[2] and that the Holy Ghost will appear in Her feminine form prior to
Jesus' second coming.[3] A power struggle developed between Lois and her sonGeorge.

Vernon Howell 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 the New Mount Carmel Center, 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.

References
1. Pitts, William L. "Davidians and Branch Davidians"(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ird01).
Handbook of Texas - Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
2. The Bride of Christ, p. 8-14. http://www.the-branch.org/Holy_Ghost_God's_Daughter_Lamb's_Wife_Lois_Roden
3. The Bride of Christ, p. 16. http://www.the-branch.org/Holy_Ghost_God's_Daughter_Lamb's_Wife_Lois_Roden

External links
Benjamin Roden's literature and studies
"Benjamin Lloyd Roden". Davidian Seventh Day Adventist. Find a Grave. Aug 24, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2012.

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This page was last edited on 15 October 2018, at 15:38(UTC).

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