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The House of Israel 79

the strange and subtle teaching of these men, which began presumably to support the ridiculous claim that the
in the early 1880s, was beginning to find acceptance movement “has pronounced Imperialistic views”:
throughout the Church. Taking their cue from an early Au-
gustinian precept, and basing their argument on those pas- “BRITISH ISRAEL THEORY. The theory that the
sages of Scripture which were somewhat obscure, they British people is ultimately descended from the ten Is-
argued that the Kingdom of God was not a literal or earthly raelite tribes which were taken captive into Assyria in
kingdom over which Christ [and YEHOVAH God] would 722-721 B.C., and thereafter wholly disappeared from
rule at His return: it was, they said, a kingdom which ex- Hebrew history. It was found in conjunction with pro-
isted either in the hearts of men or in the realms of Heaven. nounced imperialistic views; and though the numbers
The plain and unmistakable words of Scripture, which had and influence of those who defend it are small, they of-
been accepted by Christians for more than a thousand ten hold it with a persistence and enthusiasm which re-
years, were so cleverly spiritualized away that they were fuse to give a dispassionate consideration to objections
now seen to mean something quite different from what Je- urged against it. The theory meets with no support
sus had intended. from serious ethnologists or archaeologists.

By destroying the Scriptural concept of the Kingdom of “For a criticism, see H.L. Goudge, The British Israel
God on earth, this teaching did something more than Theory (1922).”
merely discredit the Christian Israel hypothesis: it intro-
duced to the Church another gospel which, by degrees, has This false and erroneous view of the Identity move-
been accepted almost without question. And that is the po- ment is reflected in every book of reference published
sition today. A substantial majority of modernist clergy- during the last 55 years. And this vilification has
men have accepted the view that the Kingdom of God on prompted at least one sensation-seeking writer to de-
earth is a doctrine only which, because it cannot be ac- scribe the movement as one of the many “isms” that
cepted as literal by them, must therefore be discarded or threaten to destroy the peace of the world!
replaced by an unreal kingdom which can only exist in
Heaven or in the hearts of men. As a result, the message of In the realm of religious controversy, it is difficult to
the Church has, over the last fifty-five years, become more imagine a more stupid campaign. Indeed, one would
and more muted. And, in the process, there is almost com- have to go back to the days of the Inquisition in order to
plete silence about the long expected return of Jesus Christ find a parallel to a situation in which clergymen should
[and YEHOVAH God the Father] to take up His [their] be guilty of attacking committed and dedicated Chris-
Throne[s] upon earth. The Second Event is no longer tians because they believe truth. Yet, the Identity
preached from the pulpit: it is a subject which the man and Christian is not discouraged, because he can recognize
woman in the pew is not encouraged to explore. in these blind shepherds the people to whom our Lord
referred in his many parables of the Kingdom. These
To ministers who have been subverted by this strange Pa- are the people whom Jesus described as “Seeing, they
pal aberration, the Christian Israel vision of a literal King- see not and hearing, they hear not; neither do they un-
dom ruled, as described in Scripture, by the King of Kings derstand” (Matthew 13:13). Identity Christians cannot
[YEHOVAH God] and administered by [Yeshua the Mes- be discouraged because they know that God’s words,
siah and] His “saints,” is anathema. They will have none of through Isaiah, are addressed to each of them person-
it. The opposition to this concept, which is often without ally: “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my
scruple, has become concerted. Here, for example, is how servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and be-
the prestigious Oxford Dictionary of the Christian lieve me” (Isaiah 43:10).
Church describes Identity Christians, using the title
adopted by an organized group in the United Kingdom, -- Reginald H.W. Cox

The Berean Voice November-December 2002