Editing British Israelism (section)

==Claims and criticism {{anchor|Claims and criticism}}==
British Israelism has been criticized for its poor research and scholarship. In the 1910 edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica,'' an article which summarizes the theology of British Israelism contains the statement that: "The theory [of British-Israelism] rests on premises which are deemed by scholars—both theological and anthropological—to be utterly unsound".<ref>''The Encyclopædia Britannica''. 11th edn. 1910. Vol. II, page 31.</ref> Current scholarship is not consistent with the claims of British Israelism, with scholars drawing attention to its "historical and linguistic inaccuracies" in addition to its links to antisemitism.<ref name="Brackney 2012"/> Hale (2015) refers to "the overwhelming cultural, historical, and genetic evidence against it."<ref name="Hale2016">{{cite book |last1=Hale |first1=Amy |editor1-last=Parker |editor1-first=Joanne |title=The Harp and the Constitution: Myths of Celtic and Gothic Origin |date=2016 |publisher=Brill Academic Pub |isbn=9789004306370 |language=en |chapter=Reigning with Swords of Meteoric Iron: Archangel Michael and the British New Jerusalem}}</ref>{{rp|181}}

===Research standards===
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. [[Tudor Parfitt]], author of ''The Lost Tribes: The History of a Myth'', states that the proof cited by adherents of British Israelism is "of a feeble composition even by the low standards of the genre."<ref name=Parfitt2003/>{{rp|61}}

===Historical linguistics===
Some proponents of British Israelism have claimed that numerous links exist between [[historical linguistics]], [[Biblical Hebrew|Ancient Hebrew]], and various European place names and languages.<ref name=Parfitt2003/>{{rp|62}} This can be traced to the works of John Wilson in the 19th century. The self-trained Wilson [[pseudoscientific language comparison|looked for similarities in the sounds]] of words and argued that many Scottish, British, and Irish words stemmed from ancient Hebrew words. Wilson's publications inspired the development of British Israel language associations in Europe.<ref name="Quarles">{{cite book |last=Quarles |first=Chester L. |title=Christian Identity: The Aryan American Bloodline Religion |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7864-8148-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5BzY2eeyngC |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>{{rp|33}}

Modern scholarly linguistic analysis conclusively shows that the languages of the British Isles ([[English Language|English]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]]) belong in the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family, while Hebrew belongs in the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] language family.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warf |first=Barney |title=Encyclopedia of Human Geography |article=Language, Geography of |year=2006 |location=Thousand Oaks CA |publisher=SAGE Publications |pages=270–275}}</ref> In 1906, T. R. Lounsbury stated that "no trace of the slightest real connection can be discovered" between English and ancient Hebrew,<ref>{{cite book |last=Lounsbury |first=T |title=History of the English Language |year=1906 |pages=1, 12–13}}</ref> while in 1993 Michael Friedman refuted claims that Hebrew was closely related to [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] and [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] when he wrote that "the actual evidence could hardly be any weaker".<ref name=Quarles/>{{rp|33}}

Others have addressed the specific word relationships proposed. Russell Spittler (1973) says of the "disputable" etymological claims made by the British Israelists that they "have no ample basis in linguistic scholarship and are based on coincidences only."<ref name=Spittler/> William Ingram (1995) would present arguments made by British Israelism as examples of "tortured etymology".<ref name=Ingram/>{{rp|121}}

===Scriptural interpretation===
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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cottrell-Boyce |first=Aidan |title=Israelism in Modern Britain |date=2020-08-31 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-17236-2 |language=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy3tDwAAQBAJ&dq=British+people%2C+according+to+this+theory%2C+are+descendants&pg=PT30}}</ref> Dimont (1933) argues that British Israelists misunderstand and misinterpret the meaning of these scriptures.<ref name=Dimont1933>{{cite book |last1=Dimont |first1=Charles T. |title=The legend of British-Israel |publisher=Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge |location=London |year=1933 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|5–7}}

One such case is the distinction that British Israelists make between the "Jews" of the Southern Kingdom and the "[[Israelites]]" of the Northern Kingdom. They believe that the [[Bible]] consistently distinguishes the two groups.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} Dimont says that many of these scriptures are misinterpreted because after the captivities, the distinction between "Jews" and "Israelites" was lost over time.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

British Israelists believe that the Northern Tribes of Israel lost their identity after the [[Assyrian captivity|captivity in Assyria]] and that this is reflected in the Bible.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} Dimont disagrees with this assertion and argues that only higher-ranking Israelites were deported from Israel and many Israelites remained.<ref name=Dimont1933/>{{rp|5}} He cites examples after the Assyrian captivity, such as [[Josiah]], King of Judah, who received money from the tribes of ''"Manasseh, and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel"'' (2 Chronicles 34:9), and Hezekiah, who sent invitations not only to Judah, but also to northern Israel for the attendance of a [[Passover]] in [[Jerusalem]]. (2 Chronicles 30);<ref name=Dimont1933/>{{rp|6}} British Israelites interpret 2 Chronicles 34:9 as referring to "Scythians".{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Dimont is also critical of the interpretations of biblical prophecy embraced by the movement, saying, "Texts are torn from their context, and misapplied without the slightest regard to their original meaning."<ref name=Dimont1933/>{{rp|18}}

===Historical speculation===
British Israelism rests on linking different ancient populations. This includes linking the "lost" tribes of Israel with the Scythians, Cimmerians, Celts, and modern [[Western Europe]]ans such as the British. To support these links, some adherents believe that similarities exist between various cultural aspects of these population groups, and they argue that these links demonstrate the migration of the "lost" Israelites in a westerly direction. Examples given include [[burial]] customs, metalwork, clothing, dietary customs, and more.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=UCG |title=The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy |url=http://www.ucg.org/booklets/US/archaelogical.htm |access-date=14 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205163627/http://www.ucg.org/booklets/us/archaelogical.htm |archive-date=5 December 2008}}</ref> Dimont argues that the customs of the Scythians and the Cimmerians are in contrast to those of the Ancient Israelites,<ref name=Dimont1933/>{{rp|7–10}} and he further dismisses the connection between these populations and the Saxons and Celts, particularly criticizing the then-current formulations of British Israelism that would interject Semites between the closely related English and Germans.<ref name=Dimont1933/>{{rp|10–11}}

The Scythian origin of the Scots has been referred to as mythical.<ref name=Todd1848>{{cite book |last=Todd |first=James Henthorn |title=The Irish Version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius |year=1848 |publisher=Irish Archæological Society |location=Dublin |page=xcvii |chapter=Editor's Preface |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/irishversionhis00socigoog}}</ref><ref name=Klieforth>{{cite book |last1=Klieforth |first1=Alexander Leslie |last2=Munro |first2=Robert John |title=The Scottish invention of America, Democracy and Human Rights: A History of Liberty and Freedom from the Ancient Celts to the New Millennium |publisher=University Press of America, Inc. |location=Dallas |year=2004 |page=5 |isbn=978-0761827917}}</ref> Algernon Herbert, writing in 1848, characterized the linguistic derivation of Scots from ''Scoloti'' as "strictly impossible",<ref name=Todd1848/> and Merrill (2005) referred to it as [[false etymology]].<ref name=Merrill/>

Addressing their view on the fate of the exiled tribes, Frank Boys said of their voluminous output, "All the effort to write these volumes might well have been saved on the premise that 'they were never lost,' which we believe to be the correct one."<ref name=Spittler/>

===Ideology===

[[Tudor Parfitt|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]]".<ref name=Parfitt2003/>{{rp|62}} Aikau characterized the movement as being "fundamentally about providing a rationale for Anglo-Saxon superiority."<ref>{{cite book |last=Aikau |first=Hokulani K. |title=A Chosen People, a Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawai'i |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |year=2012 |page=38 |isbn=978-0-8166-7462-6}}</ref> To [[Colin Kidd|Kidd]], its theology represents a "quasi-[[heresy]]", which serves to "blunt the universalist message apparent in the [[New Testament]]."<ref name=Kidd2006/>{{rp|204}} Its role in fostering [[antisemitism in Christianity|antisemitism]] in conservative [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Christianity]] has been noted by historians,<ref name=Pierard1996/>{{rp|57}} along with its role in fostering a feeling of "racial [[chauvinism]]" which is "not always covert".<ref name=Ingram/>{{rp|121–122}}

Separately, the mythology of British Israelism has been characterized as fostering "nationalistic bellicosity" by historians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearse |first=Meic |title=The Gods of War: Is Religion the Primary cause of Violent Conflict? |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |year=2007 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/godsofwarisrelig00pear/page/104 104–105] |isbn=978-0830834907 |url=https://archive.org/details/godsofwarisrelig00pear/page/104 |url-access=registration}}</ref> To some adherents, British Israelism served as a justification for [[British Empire|British imperialism]] and American settler colonialism ([[manifest destiny]]), along with the [[forced displacement|displacement]] of [[indigenous peoples]] which subsequently followed them.<ref name=Kidd2006/>{{rp|212–213}}