British Israelism, Anglo Israelism . . . pretty much the same stuff. Some of the more radical elements in our society have latched onto a version of it that morphed into the Christian Identity Movement
The Hebrew Roots Movement is preaching the same stuff with an Hebraic twist.
Jim Staley teaches his version in 'Identity Crisis', a rather widely shared video and one that is a gateway for some folks into the Hebrew Roots Movement.
The fact is that there are no 'Lost Tribes' of Israel. It's a made up doctrine based on MUCH twisting of Scripture resulting in at best an elitist and at worst a racist theology.
I've written a thorough article on the Hebrew Roots side of the Lost Tribes doctrine here:
Gateways into the Hebrew Roots Movement – An Examination of ‘Identity Crisis’ and Related Teachings of Jim Staley
An excerpt:
The Totten Reference:
Staley also makes mention of
“Prof. C.A.L. Totten (1851-1908) of Yale University” citing the quote as
“One of the most amazing quotes that you have ever seen and that I have ever seen” (again with the hyperbole).
Totten was a proponent of
British Israelism, which over time has morphed into beliefs ranging from the Two House/Ephraimite theology (basically British Israelism with a Hebrew Roots twist and is what Staley is teaching here), to the distinctly more racist
Christian Identity Movement.
Both ends of the spectrum
like to quote Totten:
“His name still surfaces from time to time in Christian Identity literature . . . usually as ‘Prof. Totten of Yale’. While Identity writers disdain intellectuals and academics [note that Staley does this, as well], they seem pathetically grateful for any instance in which the halo of academic prestige shines on their ideas. In Totten’s case, however, the tie to Yale was tenuous indeed.
“In 1868, the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale was designated Connecticut’s land-grant college. While that carried financial benefits for the institution, it also obligated Sheffield to provide military instruction for its students. Yale was able to secure a waiver of the drill requirements and was obliged only to provide senior students with a mandatory course of lectures in ’military science’. These proved unproductive, and in 1877, Sheffield adopted a slightly different plan in cooperation with the United States Engineering School, whose officers were to provide six lectures each year on strategy, ordnance, fortification, and similar topics. One of the early officers detailed to this position of professor of military science and tactics was a lieutenant in the artillery named Charles Totten, who held the post from 1889 until 1892.
“Totten’s course appears to have been more successful than earlier military training programs at Yale, but his affiliation with the university was not substantially different from that of Reserve Officer’s Training Corps later on.”
So in reality, Totten was not at Yale as a theologian, but a giver of 24 lectures over 4 years at Yale regarding military science.
Totten has no designation after his name indicating that he was ever a true professor at all, let alone a designation that gives him credibility as a theologian.
Billing him as a ‘Yale Professor’ gives Totten and his views acedemic weight and authority that he does not in reality have. Not to diminish the man and his accomplishments, but C.A.L. Totten was neither a theologian nor a professor.
Yet the theological quote from Totten, whose modern-day designation would have been the equivalent of a Yale R.O.T.C. instructor, is “One of the most amazing quotes that you have ever seen and that I have ever seen” according to Staley.
Here is the quote as seen in the ‘Identity Crisis’ video:
“I can never be too thankful to the Almighty that in my youth he used the late Professor Wilson to show me the difference between the two houses. The very understanding of this difference is the KEY by which almost the entire Bible becomes intelligible, and I cannot state too strongly that the man who has not yet seen that (the house of) Israel of the Scripture is totally distinct from the Jewish people, is yet in the very infancy, the mere alphabet of Biblical study, and that to this day the meaning of seven-eighths of the Bible is shut to his understanding.”—Professor C.A.L. Totten (1851-1908) of Yale University
And I hate to beat a dead horse, but
John Wilson was not a professor either.
So we have Jim Staley quoting a ‘professor’ (Totten) who was not a professor who referred to another professor (Wilson) who was also not a professor. Jim Staley is just preaching an updated version of British Israelism with a full Hebraic twist and a recalibrated definition of Gentile, referring to professors who really aren’t professors to give his claims credibility.
-JGIG