Worldwide the Unchosen Church: Brief Interview with Dr. J Gordon Melton

In this brief bonus interview, we're joined by American religion scholar Dr. J. Gordon Melton.

How first, second, and third-generation converts of the church have different views on the Church of God.

Two Biblical Cases against British-Israelism

 

Two Biblical Cases against British-Israelism

By Neodromos

 

While there is extensive criticism of British-Israelism (BI) from sources external to the Bible such as archaeology, theology, history, and genetics, there are also arguments against BI that are internal to the scripture. The external arguments based on academic disciplines may be regarded by supporters of BI as humanistic rather than spiritual, scientific rather than theological, imaginative rather than inspired, or natural rather than divine. So there is a need to identify where the Bible speaks on this topic. Two Biblical arguments are sketched out in this essay to augment that large corpus of academic evidence that shows that BI is without a credible foundation.

Paul the Benjamite

In Acts 21:38, a Roman military officer, probably a centurion, mistakes Paul, who is a Benjamite, for an Egyptian. In a conversation with Paul, the centurion makes the following statement and Paul responds:

“Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia…”

The centurion knows nothing of Paul's background so the misidentification is based on appearance. The picture that accompanies this essay is from the Fayum Mummy Portraits collection. The picture dates from around the time of Paul. It is worthwhile to look at these remarkably realistic portraits on the web. They depict Greeks living in Egypt, Egyptians, and people of mixed Greek and Egyptian ancestry. Consistently, they are darkly pigmented people with curly or very curly hair. The centurion is saying that Paul has the same characteristics as the man portrayed in this Mummy Portrait.   

Yet Armstrongism asserts that the tribe of Benjamin settled in Norway and the modern descendants of the tribe of Benjamin are the Norwegians. Herman Hoeh wrote this in his article titled “Location of the Tribes of Israel” published in 1957:

“Benjamin constitutes Norway and Iceland. The Icelandic people are in reality a colony of Norwegians.”

Actually, thanks to genetics, we now know that the Icelanders are a mix of mostly Norse men and Irish women.  Would that make them Benjamites or Danites, Hoeh might ask. We are all familiar with the fair people of Scandinavia. And there is no way that a centurion, familiar with people of different nations in Europe and the Middle East, is going to address a man who looks like a Northman and ask him if he is an Egyptian. Paul was a Benjamite and was darkly pigmented with curly or very curly hair. He could be mistaken for an Egyptian from North Africa. Paul looked that way because Benjamites looked that way.  Benjamites were Middle Eastern Hebrews. Other people in this class are the Mizrahi Jews or the Bedouins who trace their ancestry to Ishmael and Joktan the son of Eber (progenitor of the Hebrews).   Both Ishmael and Joktan are Hebrews and their descendants predominantly have the same genetic haplogroup. It is instructive to Google up some photos of Mizrahi Jews from Syria or Yemen and also some Bedouin Arabs. Some scholars believe that the Mizrahi Jews of Syria are most like the Jews of Palestine in the time of Jesus.  The fact that you will not find a Scandinavian countenance among these people (unless they are of mixed ancestry), is evidence that BI is not in agreement with this Biblical scenario involving Paul and the centurion. The sample size is small but it is recorded in an important place, and the fact that the BI theory does not explain the empirical data means that the theory is wrong. 

Note:  Genetics would confirm the Biblical account from the point of view of haplogroup. Paul would have been haplogroup J mostly likely – the haplogroup of the Hebrews. The Egyptians would have been haplogroup E. Both peoples are olive-skinned with dark hair (Mediterranean type) and bear resemblance to each other. Paul could easily have been mistaken by the centurion for an Egyptian.  The Scandinavians, on the other hand, would be haplogroup R1b or R1a or I. A person of haplogroup J (a Jew) ancestry and one of haplogroup R or I (a Norse) ancestry, without much admixture in either case, could not be confused. If Paul appeared to be Norse, the centurion would have asked him if he were a Northman.

The Pirating of the Kingly Line and Throne of Israel

Jeremiah purportedly transplanted the Kingly line and throne of Israel to the British Isles. But the Bible has much to say about such an undertaking. The following laws were given in Deuteronomy concerning the role of a King:

“And it shall be, when he (the King) sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them …” (KJV, Deut 17:19)

This statement points to some constraints on Biblical Kingship as to geography, liturgy, and legislation.  We also the following statement from Deuteronomy 28, the cursings chapter:

”The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.” (Deut 28)

This was given to the people of Israel as one of the prominent curses that might be visited on them for sin. We may summarize these scriptures as follows:

1) The throne of the King is located in the ancient nation of Israel.  He will govern from this location. He is connected to the land or territory of Israel - the Promised Land – a land important to God. 

 

2) He is to know and do the laws found in the book held by the priests and Levites.  This would be the Torah containing laws, statutes, ceremonies, and sacrifices.   He has a clear connection to the law and its implementation through the priests and Levites.  He is tied to Israel’s liturgical infrastructure. 

 

3) This connection to the law and priestly functions necessarily includes the King’s explicit connection to the Temple where the liturgical laws are to be carried out. 

 

4) If Israel sins, one of the great curses that will befall the nation is the removal of the King and the people from the land to which they are connected.  This necessarily entails the loss of the Temple and its priestly infrastructure. 

Against this Biblical backdrop, we have the odd and disconsonant theory in BI that Jeremiah saved the Kingly line and throne by transplanting both to the British Isles in a rescue operation. These Torahic laws assert that because of sin the Kingly line and throne will be lost not transplanted to flourish elsewhere away from land, law, and Temple. When Christ returns, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) in the Biblically recognized land of the throne and Temple. He will not drop into Edinburgh Castle to be seated on the alien Stone of Scone, which was probably quarried around Perthshire, among Gentile foreigners. The BI theory amounts to nothing less than the capture and Gentilization of the Judaic heritage concerning the Kingship and the throne of Israel.

Conclusion

Paul was not a Scandinavian. And the BI theory concerning the transplantation of the Kingly line and throne to the British Isles is a blatant and discordant departure from otherwise harmonious policy statements found in the cited Old Covenant laws and the prophecy in Zechariah 14. There are no doubt other places in the Bible where British-Israelism cannot be rationally accommodated. I have presented only two.  And these two cases internal to the Bible should be added to the conclusive findings from external sources such as archaeology, theology, history, and genetics that BI is a theory in search of credible evidence. 

 

 

Latest Podcast of Worldwide The Unchosen Church : Blessed and happy is the man, but what about the woman?

In this episode, we talk with Heather, Dawn and Lisa about how the expectations set for women by the WCG and its offshoots affected their future careers, marriages, and relationship to sex. An honest and authentic look at how conservative churches often affect women, this show is not to be missed. 

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

A special thanks to Lisa Metzel Bonnet, Heather and Dawn (who prefer to remain unnamed), for contributing to this episode.

 

ExUCG Member Debunks British Israelism

 

Ken Young, an exUCG member has written a book debunking the British Israelism myth that currently occupies the minds of many Church of God leaders and ministers.

I'm an unofficial bootee from the United Church of God, mainly because of a documentary I made about HWA in 2017. Though I had reservations about COG doctrines before this, the manner in which I was disfellowshipped resolved the matter for me. Since Christ's disciples may recognize each other by their love one for another, my eviction proved to me, once and for all, that I had NOT been attending "God's church". This convinced me I needed to go back and "prove all things".

After several years of intense study, I have gathered enough scriptural evidence to completely debunk British-Israelism, mandatory tithing, and many of the COG's other carnal-minded doctrines. I have put all this evidence in a handful of ebooks which I would like to make freely available to everyone.

Because of the times we live in, and the COG messages I have heard, I believe there is more danger of the churches of God using fearmongering to extort money from sincere but naive Christians now than perhaps ever before. CrossedWord.net

Are the United States and Britain Israel?

A refutation of major arguments which support "Anglo-Israelism", the "identity" movement, racism, and other carnal-mindedness.

This book is written for all those who, like me, were once associated with the Worldwide Church of God, or any of its “splinter groups” (or COG's) who adhere to Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings. For decades, he taught that the US and much of Europe were collectively the lost tribes of Israel. In his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy he called this idea the “master key” to unlock all bible prophecy. And he claimed God revealed this information to him personally, as one of a select number of “restored truths”:

“Another thing restored to us is our own roots, our identity, who we are. We [within the USA] are the tribe of Manasseh of the lost ten tribes of Israel, and no other Church on earth knows it. That knowledge has been restored into this Church, and God restored that to me 53 years ago.” (Armstrong, MOTPCE) 

 

However, “Anglo-Israelism”—or “British-Isralism”—did not originate with Armstrong. His work is clearly influenced by Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birthright, written in 1902 by J. H. Allen, a preacher in the Church of God (Holiness). In 1874, Edward Hines first published Forty-Seven Identifications of the British Nation With the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel; and still earlier, in 1840, John Wilson published Lectures on our Israelitish Origin. 

 

Though the COG’s seldom admit it, this idea has been floating around protestant circles for centuries. The theory first came into public perception in nineteenth-century England, at a time when the church of England (or Anglican church) was the only game in town. Today, we are accustomed to religious freedom, but back then such freedoms simply did not exist. That was one big reason the pilgrims left England to colonize the Americas. 

 

We may remember King Henry VIII created the church of England because the Pope wouldn't permit him to divorce his wife and marry Ann Bolyn. Since then, every British monarch has held the title 'Supreme Head of the Church of England'. Back then, these monarchs controlled every facet of religion in England. This is why the puritans colonized America, and why Tyndale went to Germany to publish the first mass-produced English-language Bible, as we will see later in this series.

 

Back then, it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to publish a book whose doctrines the church of England did not already agree with. In simple terms, they must had the crown’s permission to teach this doctrine. Indeed, some of the first published authors espousing this certainly claimed to be clergymen of the church of England. Thus, by definition, British-Israelism served as royalist propaganda. 

 

Most sources trace British-Israelism back to Richard Brothers, who in 1794 published A Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times. Brothers believed this knowledge made him God’s apostle of a new religion, calling himself “Prince of the Hebrews” and claiming to be a literal descendant of David. Since he believed Israel to be great Britain—and therefore his subjects—this claim led to his arrest for treason; but instead of serving a prison sentence he was ultimately institutionalized (Wikipedia, “Richard Brothers”). Have we heard any other people claiming to be God’s apostle, and the direct descendant of king David? If so, Brothers did it first. 

 

From this point onward, because of my desire for brevity and penchant for alliteration, I will refer to Anglo-Israelism proponents as either “AI-Advocates” because they support AI, or “BI-Bigots” because they are uniquely close-minded and intolerant of every other opinion on the subject. But honest AI-advocates must admit the scriptures don't support AI. There are no scriptures which explicitly state Israel migrated to Europe—so they SPECULATE and reinforce it by cherry-picking from historical accounts.

Then they make it their official doctrine! I hope we see why this is a bad idea. COG booklets on this subject focus upon the promises to Abraham, Isaac's blessing, and Israel's dispersion; but they almost never delve into the new testament. God explains many deep truths through Paul, which such booklets ignore. Instead, they give us lots of history and speculation. Generally speaking, we cannot learn much of God's word without putting many scriptures together —including those of the new testament.

See Are the United States and Britain Israel? for the complete book.

For those interested, Ken has a website up with other topics that will be relatable to Church of God members. CrossedWord.net

LCG: "...do what you know you need to do while you can. This world is going in a very bad direction …"

 

The final words of encouragement from Gerald Weston:

It is human nature to postpone difficult decisions and to think “I can change later.” I well remember growing up and hearing several of my friends say they were going to live for today until they got old and then they would, in effect, come to a deathbed conversion. The problem is that later in life it is not always so easy to make needed changes. How many I have seen over the years who ran out of time while trying to get right with God. Sickness, family entanglements, and other circumstances make it difficult at best, and how does one approach God while knowing he or she was playing games with Him? It is impossible to “fool God” with this kind of plan! 

 

I hope none of you will try to be like my young friends by postponing what you know you should do. All of you have a head start in the right direction. You believe in God. You are striving to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). You chose to be a supporter of this Work in carrying the good news of the Kingdom of God to this world (Matthew 24:14). You are doing your part in helping us “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11). 

 

I urge you dear friends and co-workers, do what you know you need to do while you can. This world is going in a very bad direction and none of us can afford to be caught off guard. Thank you for your prayers and support. God sees your faithfulness. And thank you for the kind letters we receive from you. Your encouragement is noticed and appreciated.
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston

Imagine what would happen if these guys actually found their "sabbath rest" in that dude they claim to follow?