British-Israelism the dominant evangelical mideast paradigm

Okay, so suppose that, somehow or another(even if it's ASB), Palestine remains under British rule post-WW2. And, due to anti-American and/or Communist influence in the Zionist and/or arab nationalist movements, the USA regards it as paramount to its own interests for Paletine to remain under British rule. (And of course, the British, for the most part, are happy to agree).

Could this lead to an upsurge in the popularity of British Israelism among conservative US evangelicals, similar to the support for Zionism that exists in those churches in the real world? I'm thinking that in OTL, we've already got Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church Of God preaching a modified version of British Israel, and if British Palestine becomes an important American asset, it might not take too much for a purer form to take hold in the revival tents and megachurches.

(I would assume, in this scenario, that the more secular Brits are snickering at the deluded Americans, even as the welcome whatever support they can get. Much the way liberal Zionists must regard their fundy Christian counterparts.)

Or is British Israel just too theologically deviant, even for people who could be convinced that the Book Of Revelation is about modern Europe?

Leadership

Overoceans

It is an interesting premise. Actually a lot would depend on who you got to support this idea. It would have to be a "name" evangelical leader or leaders in the 40's and 50's. In addition you would need several "theologians"- and I use the term very loosely as in my opinion British-Israelism is based on a LOT of faulty assumptions and word-twisting from the Bible - who are evangelical to provide support for this view.

You can expect a lot of friction with Jewish groups in the U.S. and Britain over this idea. They will clearly label it and its followers anti-Semitic. If it catches on in mainline churches then a lot of those in the Zionist movement will decry it and several groups like the Jewish Defamation League will likely declare it is an attempt to demonize the Jewish people and usurp their place as the Chosen People.

Geon

British-Israelism is based on a LOT of faulty assumptions and word-twisting from the Bible

Yeah, that might be a major stumbling block to widespread acceptance.

There is a modicum of plausibility to Christian Zionism, because the stuff in Revelation kinda sorta does line up with the modern world, eg. the Beast has seven heads, Rome has seven hills, Rome is still an important city in Europe today, therefore the Beast is the EU. So, it sorta makes sense, in a pseudo-intellectual kinda way.

But to agree with Armstrong, that, for example, Dunsmore(in England) means "more Dans"(as in, the tribe of Dan), well, you wouldn't have to look too hard to find a linguist, even an evangelical one, who could refute that pretty quickly and credibly. So, a large part of the evangelical community would have to be hermetically sealed from the intellectual world, even more than today.

You can expect a lot of friction with Jewish groups in the U.S. and Britain over this idea. They will clearly label it and its followers anti-Semitic. If it catches on in mainline churches then a lot of those in the Zionist movement will decry it and several groups like the Jewish Defamation League will likely declare it is an attempt to demonize the Jewish people and usurp their place as the Chosen People.

Indeed. Conversely, though, given that a good chuck of the evangelical community is of British(or at least British Isles) descent, British Israelism might have an automatic ethnic appeal among them. As opposed to Christian Zionism, where you have to rationalize support for non-Christian Jews moving en masse to Israel, by holidng out the promise that eventually the will either convert or be destroyed.

Of course, British people aren't all believers either, but it might be easier to sell them as such, to people who make lazy assumptions about how ethnicity lines up with religion.

I think to what extent a resurgent British Israelism is seen by Jews as a threat might depend on how powerful Zionism is in this time-line. If Zionism wanes or dies out, and the British Israelites focus their attention mostly on supporting British rule in Palestine, not attacking Jews in the US, many secular Jews might just regard them as theologically eccentric, but useful for helping to maintain American power and influence in the middle east.

Religious Jews, on the other hand, especially in Paletine, might have a major problem with them.

Complete ASB and there's a forum for that. No way the British will keep Israel/Palestine mandate. Britain was clear- no matter who takes over they were leaving. The one thing Jews and Arabs would have in common was kicking the British out, sooner rather than later they would work together to kick out the British and deal with each other afterwards. Neither the Jews or the Arabs would be supporting British rule after 1948 no matter how "pro-" one side or the other the British area. It's not a coincidence that India/Pakistan split along religious lines the same year as Israel did.

overoceans said:

Okay, so suppose that, somehow or another(even if it's ASB), Palestine remains under British rule post-WW2. And, due to anti-American and/or Communist influence in the Zionist and/or arab nationalist movements, the USA regards it as paramount to its own interests for Paletine to remain under British rule. (And of course, the British, for the most part, are happy to agree).

Could this lead to an upsurge in the popularity of British Israelism among conservative US evangelicals, similar to the support for Zionism that exists in those churches in the real world? I'm thinking that in OTL, we've already got Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church Of God preaching a modified version of British Israel, and if British Palestine becomes an important American asset, it might not take too much for a purer form to take hold in the revival tents and megachurches.

(I would assume, in this scenario, that the more secular Brits are snickering at the deluded Americans, even as the welcome whatever support they can get. Much the way liberal Zionists must regard their fundy Christian counterparts.)

Or is British Israel just too theologically deviant, even for people who could be convinced that the Book Of Revelation is about modern Europe?

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