FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Christian Identity
What is Christian Identity?
Christian Identity is the historical position that the descendants of ancient Biblical Israel are the Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Scandinavians, Germanic tribes, and kindred groups which inhabit Western Europe and North America. Christian Identity identifies the lost tribes of Israel. This position is also known as Israel Identity, Anglo-Identity, British-Israelism, and Anglo-Israelism.
Is Christian Identity a cult, sect, denomination, or a political or religious movement?
No. For a more detailed answer avail yourself to the pamphlet The Anglo Israel Belief. It is simply acknowledging that the descendants of Israel are today known as Anglos, Saxons, Germans, Scandinavians, etc.
Is Christian Identity orthodox?
Entirely. Orthodox simply means right thinking.
How many Christian Identity members are there worldwide?
To be Christian Identity is to recognize the connection between Biblical Israel and the nations that traditionally comprise Christendom. No one is a member and there is no organization to join. However, there are tens of thousands of people that recognize that the nations that traditionally make up Christendom are descendants of Biblical Israel. You can read about some of the famous people that did. Read the article The Christian Faith in Historical Perspective which explains how modern Christianity is composed mostly of descendants of Israel.
Did Richard Brothers start Christian Identity or British Israelism?
No. Read The True and Noble Origins of the Anglo-Israel Message for more information. Perhaps the clearest example is that of The Declaration of Arbroath 1320 AD in which the Scottish people’s identity with Israel is acknowledged.
“They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea”
Why don’t the descendants of Israel speak Hebrew today?
Because the Hebrew known and spoken today is Masoretic Hebrew which is not what the ancient Israelites spoke. When the tribes were taken into captivity they lost their original language. The old Hebrew language fell into disuse by the time of the Christ, which is why Jesus quoted from the Old Covenant in Greek - the Septuagint (LXX).
Is there a Bible translation that teaches Christian Identity?
Any Bible translation will teach the same prophetic truths, however, some Bibles have notes which teach contrary to the historical facts of the migration of Israel. For instance, the Scofield Bible was written for the purpose of promoting futurism and Christian Zionism. The key to the Christian Zionist movement is the belief that Israel is the group of people claiming to be the exclusive modern descendants of Israel but calling themselves by a shortened form of the name of the fourth son of Jacob.
Many people that hold the historical position of Christian Identity prefer the Ferrar Fenton translation. Others hold to the position that the either the Geneva Bible or the King James Version is superior to all other English Bible translations. Still others believe that the Masoretic Text is a forgery and therefore prefer a version which uses the Greek Septuagint for the Old Covenant Scriptures, such as Charles Thomson and Sir Lancelot Brenton’s translation.
Who is Israel today?
Christian Identity teaches that the descendants of ancient Biblical Israel are the people known as Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Scandinavians, Germans, etc. Therefore Israel is not exclusively the group of people claiming to be the exclusive modern descendants of Israel but calling themselves by a shortened form of the name of the fourth son of Jacob. Some who hold the historical position of Christian Identity believe that the group calling themselves by a shortened form of the name of the fourth son of Jacob are actually descendants of Israel while the great majority of those holding the historical position of Christian Identity do not.
The reformed faith teaches that Israel today is the church. Those not holding to reformed theology generally teach that Israel is the group calling themselves by a shortened form of the name of the fourth son of Jacob. The reformed view of Israel is referred to as Spiritual Israel. Because of the prominence in prophecy of Israel, one’s view of who Israel is has many ramifications. Many who hold the historical position of Christian Identity believe in Spiritual Israel. Because of the prominence of the view that Israel is the group calling themselves by a shortened form of the name of the fourth son of Jacob, when many people discover the historical position of Christian Identity they simply apply their prophecy concerning Israel to the Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, Germanic tribes, and kindred groups.
Therefore according to theology, Israel could refer to the church or to a group of people with physical lineage to ancient Israel. The debate concerning membership of Israel is a question of membership by being a member of one of the Covenants of Scripture or membership by physical lineage.
Does Christian Identity violate I Timothy 1:4 and Titus 3:9?
Read Adam Clarke’s Commentary on I Timothy i.4.
Other Christian Identity FAQ’s
National Israel and Judah by Christian Assemblies International.
