British Israelism (sometimes called Anglo-Israelism) is the belief that the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Scandinavian, Germanic and Dutch peoples of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States are the direct lineal descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, and that the British Royal Family are directly descended from the line of King David. 

This belief has been accorded little scientific proof or significance; its significance stems largely from its cultural significance as a concept, and as an idea historically accepted and propounded. Proponents assert that national favour with God is based on a nation's status as an Israelite nation while individual salvation remains based on a personal relationship with God.

Due to the amorphous nature of this idea over the years, there has rarely been a central head, recognised leadership, or organisational structure to the movement. This has led to a diverse set of professions and beliefs ancillary to the genealogical claims.

Growth and spread of belief

Although British-Israelists will cite various ancient manuscripts to show an ancient origin for British Israelism, the belief appears to have gained momentum since the English Revolution and especially during the "Restorationist" movement (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). John Sadler published The Rights of the Kingdom in 1649.

It was only in the late 1700s, however, during a religious climate of Millenarianism that it became a distinct ideology thanks to the preaching and writings of two men, Richard Brothers and John Wilson. Other books from this period detailing this theory were Ezra Stiles' The United States elevated to Glory and Honor, published in 1783, and Richard Brothers' A Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times, published in 1794. Also cited as an original work is Rev. John Wilson's Our Israelitish Origins which was originally published during the 1840s. Brothers was certainly the first of the two to begin to expound his version of British-Israelism, but many have suggested he lacked credibility due to his alleged mental illness and extreme tendencies. Wilson, on the other hand, developed the idea using scriptural references and his own reasoning.

Wilson's ideas were to be refined, and new ideas developed, well into the second half of the nineteenth century. Wilson had already begun to spread his message by public lecture, but no formal organisations or movement was formed under his leadership. British Israelism was seen as amusing to some, fascinating to others, but it did not seem to develop any sort of organisational structure until the latter half of the nineteenth century at the hands of Edward Hine and Edward Wheeler Bird.

In 1919 the British-Israel-World Federation was founded in London near Buckingham Palace. During this time several prominent figures patronized this organisation. Perhaps one of the most notable of these members was the Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, William Massey. This organisation continues to the present day, with its main headquarters located in Bishop Auckland in County Durham. It continues to maintain local chapters throughout the British Isles and internationally.

Modern adherents

The late Professor Roger Rusk (1906 - 1994), brother of former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, was a prominent teacher of British Israelism. He spent 13 years as a public school teacher, and 28 years as a professor at the University of Tennessee, where he became Emeritus Professor of Physics. He was also a member of American Physical Society and the Tennessee Academy of Science.

The British Israel belief is also held by Pastor Arnold Murray of the Shepherd's Chapel, a registered non-profit organisation in the State of Arkansas. His teaching is broadcast regularly by satellite.

Some groups that follow the original teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong adhere to this doctrine. Armstrong was the founder and Pastor-General of the Radio Church of God from its foundation around 1934, through its renaming in 1968 as the Worldwide Church of God, until a week before his death in 1986. Armstrong wrote in chapter 5 of his Mystery of Ages (1985), "The Assyrians settled in central Europe, and the Germans, undoubtedly, are, in part, the descendants of the ancient Assyrians." (p. 183). In this equation of Assyrians and Germans, Armstrong draws upon the opinions of Herman L. Hoeh, published in his 1963 Compendium of World History.[3]

On the fourth page of his book, The United States and Britain in Prophecy (1980), Armstrong maintained that this theory is a master key to understanding Biblical end-time prophecy. The current Worldwide Church of God has abandoned this doctrine and offers a detailed explanation of the doctrine's origin and abandonment at their official website. [4]

In Britain, the theology of British Israelism has been taught by a few small Pentecostal churches including the (now-defunct) Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship, an early offshoot of the Elim Pentecostal Church (which, however, does not hold to the British Israel doctrine). In London the Orange Street Congregational Church[5] also teaches a form of British Israelism. In Australia the Christian Revival Crusade, founded by Leo Harris, once but no longer teaches this theology. However, its prominent offshoot the Revival Centres International and its own various offshoots continue to teach the doctrine.

Some have suggested that the references made in the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 to the ancient nation of Israel imply that the authors of the Declaration believed in a racial connection between the Scots and the ancient Israelites.[citation needed]

Due to the expansive nature of the British Empire, believers in British Israelism spread worldwide, but it is most prevalent in the Commonwealth nations, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Belize. Nations with large populations of British and Northern European descendants such as the United States, South Africa, Ireland, and Argentina also contain groups of believers in British Israelism. Although no comprehensive database exists, it is now possible that there are more who embrace this belief outside of Britain than within it.