Complete in this issue
T H E C U L T OE-
Anglo-Israelism
B Y LOUIS T. T A L B O T
O ne of the strangest, most amusing, as well as one of the most tragic interpretations of God’s Word which has been projected before the minds of God’s people in recent years, is Anglo-Israelism or British-Israelism, which are one and the same. Anglo- Israelism is better known and has a wider sweep than British- Israelism. This strange system of biblical interpretation originated about the second half of the 19th century and is supposed to answer a question which is not a question at all: "Where are the lost ten tribes of Israel?” The ten tribes are not lost physically and never were. But Anglo-Israelism supposes that they were actually lost and that its system of teaching answers the question as to where they are and what has become of them. This so-called answer to that supposed question is one of the most fantastic speculations that has ever been presented to Bible students. This speculation is that the lost ten tribes are none other than the British people! According to the Anglo-Israelite theory, the inhabitants of the British Isles and the United States of America are intimately connected, Britain being of the tribe of Ephraim and the United States of the tribe of Manasseh. Those who adhere to this theory also teach that these nations, England and the United States, are in themselves the lost ten tribes of Israel and accordingly are heirs to the promises of God.
In propounding this theory, Anglo-Israelism declares that with the first captivity, the members of the ten tribes of Israel (the kingdom of the North) were carried away into the valley of the great river of the Assyrians. Later a second expedition made captives of Judah, the people of the South. At the time of the restoration only the victims of the latter captivity (Judah) were returned to Palestine. These people go so far as to say that the tribe of Judah was the only part of Israel in Palestine at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry and consequently were responsible for the cruci fixion of Christ. The others regained their freedom from the Assyrians and pushed their way westward, preserving their identity as they moved, and giving the name of their tribes to certain cities which they founded and to certain rivers which they crossed. The Anglo-Israelites claim that the tribe of Dan gave its name to the DANube, DarDANelles and to DANmark. Reaching England, they found, among other cities, the one that bears the name DANelagh. How it came to pass that Dan was the only tribe which left traces of its movements is something which the Anglo-Israelites have not explained. This is not the only item they have not accounted for, which will be evident as we unfold the errors of this system. The United States of America is brought into the picture because their progenitors emigrated from Britain to this
C O N T IN U ED
FEBRUARY 1957
23
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