Did David Koresh Plagiarize Cyrus R. Teed?

Abstract

During the standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidians in 1993 at the Branch Davidians’ property outside Waco, Texas named Mount Carmel Center, David Koresh proclaimed that he was the Endtime Christ who would reveal the meaning of the Seven Seals of the book of Revelation. One hundred years earlier there was another Koresh, Cyrus R. Teed, who also claimed to reveal the Seven Seals from his Koreshan Unity center in Estero, Florida. David Koresh echoed many of Teed’s, i.e. the earlier self-proclaimed Koresh’s, teachings. What kind of connection, if any, existed between these two aspiring Endtime messiahs? Using primary sources, such as Teed’s magazine, The Flaming Sword, and transcriptions of the FBI audiotapes of negotiations with David Koresh and other Branch Davidians recorded during the 51-day siege in 1993, the answers emerge. Since these answers indicate a link between the earlier Koresh and David Koresh, they also raise the issue of how this information about the earlier Koresh and his theology could have been used by FBI agents to persuade the Branch Davidians to come out of the Mount Carmel Center residence and be taken into custody.