British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is a doctrine based on the hypothesis that people of Western European descent, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The doctrine often includes the tenet that the British Royal Family is directly descended from the line of King David.
Though the central tenets of British Israelism have been refuted by modern genetic, linguistic, archaeological and philological evidence (see Research Findings below), the doctrine continues to have a significant number of adherents. The movement has never had a head organisation or a centralized structure. Various British Israelite organisations were set up across the British Commonwealth and in America from the 1870s, and many such organisations are active today.
Read more about British Israelism: History, Offshoots of British Israelism, Support, Reactions, Politics, Notable Adherents
Famous quotes containing the word british:
“The British are a self-distrustful, diffident people, agreeing with alacrity that they are neither successful nor clever, and only modestly claiming that they have a keener sense of humour, more robust common sense, and greater staying power as a nation than all the rest of the world put together.”
—Quoted in Fourth Leaders from the Times (1950)