Brit Am/British Israelism-some views: by Eric (TubalCain)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone was a patron of British Israelism. She was a member of the British Royal Family and wife of the Governor General of Canada during World War II. The Governor General is the representative of the King [at that time George VI] who has supreme power over the government of Canada-not the Canadian Prime Minister, although the role is largely ceremonial-but not always!-these days. A short while ago , the British government,for example, issued a statement that was critical of the toppling of statues of Queen Elizabeth II by protestors in Canada.
There was a Prime Minister of New Zealand, Wlliam F. Massey, who believed in BI. Massey University in New Zealand is named after him.In his autobiography, Lord Bertrand Russell reported that the groundskeeper at his family estate told him that the English were the lost tribes. He did not record his belief or lack of belief. Russell was a athiest.
Robert Graves [his wife was a friend of Isobel Hawking, Mother of physicist Stephen W Hawking (1942-2018)] recorded so many points of connection between Celtic, Hebrew and Mycenaean culture that he made a statement in "The White Goddess" that he was not a British Israelite. Nonetheless,his works "The Greek Myths Vols. 1 and 2" and "The White Goddess" provide ample evidence that probably he did actually believe,at least to some extent.
Two University libraries that I visited,one in Canada and one in the US, had books on British Israelism on their shelves. In Canada, there was a book by Rev. Poole on the subject,out on the stacks as recently as the late 1980s. In the US, I found a book in a dusty annex of a Judaica collection of the library - the book was old and similar to Poole's 19th century book. It looked as if the books were hidden away and forgotten.
Psalm (NASB) 25:
14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His Covenant.
Psalm 25:14 shows that the covenant is a "secret". I have never at any time seen any agency publically discussing British-Israelism or the covenant "Berith or Br'ith" promise. On the 6 O'Clock news the journalists will never discuss it for example. It is like mankind is sleep walking. Even the mere knowledge of the "Nation and Company of Nations" covenant promise is known to only a few scattered individuals.
Some [definite] detractors: Sinclair Lewis, a Nobel laureate in literature, lampooned the idea in his novel "Babbitt" written in the 1920s. He mentions a civil war veteran who read one book in his life-the bible -and believed the English were the lost tribes. Isaac Asimov,in his guide to the Bible "The Old Testament" very briefly mentions the idea. Asimov, given his general views on religion - he was an athiest, predictably dismissed the idea of Israelites becoming Scythians as fanciful. Asimov was a very famous writer of science fiction and books explaining science. I read that a Rabbi said "those who believe in that [British-Israelism] are more lost than the Lost Tribes". The ghost of the idea and its probable truth nonetheless persists...