23 Facts About British Israelism

British Israelism is the pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendants" of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel.

Central tenets of British Israelism have been refuted by archaeological, ethnological, genetic, and linguistic research.

Anglo-British Israelism has been attributed to Francis Drake and King James VI and I, who believed he was the King of Israel.

Extent to which the British Israelism clergy became aware of the existence of the movement may be gauged by the comment which Cardinal John Henry Newman made when he was asked why he had left the Church of England in 1845 in order to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Between 1899 and 1902, adherents of British Israelism dug up parts of the Hill of Tara in the belief that the Ark of the Covenant was buried there, doing much damage to one of Ireland's most ancient royal and archaeological sites.

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British Israelism published The Bulletin, later renamed The Messenger of the Covenant.

Post-Imperial era brought about a change in orientation for British Israelism Israelists, reflected in a corresponding change in the social class to which their membership predominantly belonged.

Key component of British Israelism is its representation of the migrations of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Further, British Israelism Israelists find support in the superficial resemblance between King Jehu's pointed headdress and that of the captive Saka king seen to the far right on the Behistun Rock.

Bede had linked the Picts to the Scythians, but British Israelism Israelists suggested that he had confused the two tribes of Scotland, and that it was the Scotti who were one with the Scoloti of Herodotus.

Adherents believe that these blessings have continued down through the ages to modern times, with the British Israelism Monarchy being identified as the continued blessing upon Judah, and both Britain and the USA as recipients of the national birthright blessing.

British Israelism has been criticized for its poor research and scholarship.

Critics of British Israelism note that the arguments which are presented by promoters of the teaching are based on unsubstantiated and highly speculative, amateur research.

Some proponents of British Israelism have claimed that numerous links exist between historical linguistics, Ancient Hebrew, and various European place names and languages.

Adherents of British Israelism cite various scriptures in support of the argument that the "lost" Northern Israelite Tribes migrated through Europe to end up in Britain.

One such case is the distinction that British Israelism Israelists make between the "Jews" of the Southern Kingdom and the "Israelites" of the Northern Kingdom.

British Israelism Israelists believe that the Northern Tribes of Israel lost their identity after the captivity in Assyria and that this is reflected in the Bible.

Parfitt suggests that the creation of British Israelism was inspired by numerous ideological factors, which included: a desire of its adherents, many of whom were from ordinary backgrounds, to prove that they had a glorious ancient past; emerging pride in Western imperialism and colonialism, and a belief in the "racial superiority of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants".

Separately, the mythology of British Israelism has been characterized as fostering "nationalistic bellicosity" by historians.

British Israelism was rapidly growing in England when the United States-based Latter Day Saint movement sent its first missionaries to England.

The British Israelism-Israel-inspired self-identification of Anglo-Saxon peoples with the Jewish nation and the promises made to them by their god would significantly contribute to the belief held by several prominent proto- and early-pentecostals that they would play a central role in the end times.

British Israelism's was a more expansive view of the Lost Tribes than Dowie's, encompassing not only Anglo-Saxons, but Scandinavians, Danes, High Germans, and even Hindus and Japanese, who, according to Parham, had acquired the blood of Abraham through intermarriage and hence, they were eligible to take part in his end-time drama.

British Israelism had several Jewish adherents and it received support from rabbis throughout the 19th century.