Assyria and Germany in Anglo-Israelism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Anglo-Israelism, and some currents of US Christian fundamentalism influenced thereby (Worldwide Church of God), the idea has been advanced that modern Germans are partly descended from the ancient Assyrians, or, more metaphorically draw parallels between the militarism of the German Empire and the Assyrian one.

Contents

[edit] British Israelism

The idea can be traced to Edward Hine, an early proponent of British Israelism, deriving the Anglo-Saxons from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.[1][2] John Wilson, the intellectual founder of British Israelism, had considered that not only the people of Great Britain, but all the Germanic peoples were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes. Hine took a more particularist view, deciding that only the British nation fulfilled the prophecy for Israel — he acknowledged an ethnic affiliation between Britons and Germans, but thought this reflected what he considered was a close relationship between the ancient Israelites and their neighbors the Assyrians (who had taken the Ten Lost Tribes into captivity in Assyria). Likewise, Britain and Germany's status as two great powers of the modern age he considered reflective of the ancient glories of the Kingdom of Israel and of Assyria.

Hine believed that all of the ancient peoples mentioned in the Bible must also be present in the modern world, in order for the prophecies concerning them to be fulfilled. If a people was "lost" to the ages, it meant simply that the people must have migrated to a new region, changed their ethnonym, and forgotten their history. Hine considered the Assyrians as such a "lost" people (unlike for example, the Egyptians), and he made no mention in his writings of the modern Assyrian community in the Middle East — a community that was largely unknown to Europe in his time.

Although Assyria is portrayed as one of the great enemies of Israel in the Bible, Hine took pains to explain that he did not consider Germany to be an enemy of Britain, and his writings do not betray any anti-German feelings. Later writers in his tradition, however, have often set Germany in the Biblical role of Assyria as an enemy to Britain.

British Israelism compared the militarism of the German Empire with that of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as narrated in the Bible, by analogy establishing Britain, as the threatened party, with the Kingdom of Israel. After World War II, the comparison was also extended to the brutality towards the Jewish population.[3]

[edit] Precedents

The comparison has an early precedent in Jerome, who compared the Germanic invaders of his day to the threats to the Kingdom of Israel described in the Bible, quoting Psalms 83:8, "Assur also is joined with them" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, letter 123, section 16):

The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni and—alas! for the commonweal!—even Pannonians. For "Assur also is joined with them."

The idea has also some backing in German legend, although the 14th century "Austrian Chronicle of 95 Seigneurs" connects the Dukes of Austria with the Jews rather than the Assyrians in order to give them the prestige of biblical ancestry, in much the same way as would be repeated in later British Israelism. The Austrian Chronicle states that Central Europe had been subjected by the Assyrians and that Jews exiled by Sennacherib were carried into Eastern Europe along the Danube River. Beginning in ca. 707 BCE, according to the Chronicle, the Jews overcame a certain King Gennan who then converted to Judaism; consequently, the Jews intermarried with the local rulers in the regions of Austria and Hungary, the pagans were subdued and the whole country was Jewish until ca. 227 CE.[4]

Another German legend, first recorded in 1105 in the Gesta Treverorum, makes Trebeta son of Ninus the founder of Trier. Also of medieval date is the inscription at the facade of the Red House of Trier market,

ANTE ROMAM TREVIRIS STETIT ANNIS MILLE TRECENTIS.
PERSTET ET ÆTERNA PACE FRVATVR. AMEN.
("1,300 years before Rome, Trier stood / may it stand on and enjoy eternal peace, amen.")

being mentioned in the Codex Udalrici of 1125. A 1559 painting of Trebeta as the founder of Trier was destroyed in a 1944 bombing raid.[2] Leonardy (1877)[5] provides an epitaph dedicated to Trebeta by his son Hero in German hexameters.

[edit] Worldwide Church of God

Further information: Worldwide Church of God, Armstrongism, and Ambassador College

Herbert W. Armstrong in Chapter 5 of his Mystery of Ages (1985), "The Assyrians settled in central Europe, and the Germans, undoubtedly, are, in part, the descendents of the ancient Assyrians." (p. 183). In this, Armstrong draws upon the opinions of Herman L. Hoeh, published in his 1963 Compendium of World History.[6]

Such suggestions are informed by Jerome's simile with Psalms 83:8.[7]

Hoeh (1963) draws on Verstegan (1605) and Johannes Turmair (1526) to conclude that Deutsch really derives from Tuisto, whom he in turn identifies with Shem:

Tuitsch or Tuisto: Chief of thirty-two dukes. Noah gave him all the land between the Don River and the Rhine or what was called Grossgermania. This is the beginning of the 'neolithic' settlement of Europe. Tuitsch is, according to all ancient German commentaries and chronicles, a son of Noah. But which son? Noah adopted Tuitsch's children as his own. The ancient Germans understood the name Tuitsch to be the title 'Teacher.' He was therefore the great patriarch of his family who taught the divine will to his children. Tuitsch is the father of Mannus (who is the Assyrian Ninus). The son of Mannus, Trebeta, is the same man who is called the son of Ninus in classical writers. The son of Mannus or Ninus — Trebeta — built Trier, the first town of Germany. Since the Bible calls this Ninus (who built Nineveh), Asshur, Tuitsch is therefore Shem! (Hoeh 1963 vol. 2 ch. 2)

[edit] German Assyria in prophecy

Even though there are theories about Anglo-Saxon Israel and German Assyria being able to live together in peace, most of those who express themselves on websites such as www.thetrumpet.com agree in the following claims:

-The Nations of Western Europe, together with North America, are the lost tribes of Israel. They share a similar mind and are noble and moral peoples. They love freedom and justice, that's why they are addicted to democracy and 'western values', including Protestantism. Some tribes are referred to as "God's chosen people", that's why they are at the center of great global events. In prophecy, their fate is to become victims so they finally "learn the lesson" and are purified from their sins.

-Germany and Italy, on the other hand, are not closely related to the other European nations:

-Babylon's (Italy's) role is to poison the peoples of the world with false beliefs, through the roman catholic church, and to assist the Assyrians (Germans) in their desire of world conquest.

-The Assyrians (Germany) are designed by God to punish the peoples of Israel. They are satan's mercenaries(even though they themselves ignore this detail), powerful and clever and full of hate for Israel. The will for power of their political and military leaders knows no bounds, and they reject western values and true Christian moral. Thus they are the perfect opponent for the tribes of Israel, and designed to be their greatest nightmare.

-Assyria (Germany) is the perfect example of what a nation should NOT be. God uses it to purify and to promote the values of Israel, by opposing them to Assyria's evildoing.

-Assyria (Germany) was defeated several times, but it always managed to rise back to power, which is a prove of its evil and mystic nature. In times of weakness, it might appear to blend in with the other nations around it, but in the end it is always showing it's true face.

-Assyria (Germany) takes control over its neighbour nations, building a horrible Empire which it will use in its plan for world domination. It will do so by tricking them or by using it's military power. In a final World War, the madness and hunger for power of its political and military leaders will cause great destruction everywhere in the world. It's favorite target are the two Chosen Nations of Israel (the United States of America and the United Kingdom).

-Assyria (Germany) itself is completely unable to change and to understand that what it does is evil. On the contrary, it is arrogant and believes itself to be the chosen people, and thus to be always right. Combined with their immense power and brute force, the Assyrians (Germans) are unstoppable and won't come to reason until God decides it.

-In the end, after punishing Israel with Assyria, God will destroy the power of the Assyrians. By doing so, he demonstrates that evil will always be punished and that HIS values are far superior. The survivors of Israel realize that if they had followed God's word more closely, Assyria would never had a chance. Assyria will finally repent. Punished by God himself, it is finally able to realize its mistakes. From that day on, it will use it's immense power to serve God and the other nations.

These claims are "backed" by Germany's World Wars and Genocide of the European Jews at the beginning of the 20th century and it's key role within the European Union today. It's connection with Italy and the Catholic Church ("The False Church") is supposed to appear in the interpretation of the European Middle Ages and Hitlers pact with Mussolini (a "pope" of fascism) and the Vatican in WWII. In Addition, they give an intriguing (but not always that convincing) interpretation of biblical texts and the History of the ancient world (ex: supposed migration of the Assyrians from the Black Sea into Central Europe, etc.). This argumentation is supposed to easily seduce a mostly Anglo-Saxon and Protestant public, presenting Germany (+the EuropeanUnion) and the Catholic Church as "the prefect ennemies" of all rightful people since ancient times, in a way that this public realizes even more what is its place in the world and the great plans of the Creator. In the same time, knowing that a great part of their American public claims to be of German descend (and to be quite proud about it), and that some great German personalities (such as Goethe, Schiller,Beethoven, etc.) are well known to everyone, those who teach this view of Germany/Assyria admit that the Germans are a great people, that God will forgive them in the end and that their skills will help one day to build Paradise on Earth. All the Germans (and all those who are descended from Germans) need is a strong moral leader who makes them appreciate the values of God and Israel.

thetrumpet.com (etc) teaches to keep a close eye on Germany, for it is supposed to prove its real nature a final time in the following years or decades. Many political events in Germany and German decisions on the international level are subject to interpretations which fit in with the general teaching about Germany's supposed role in Bible prophecy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Edward Hine. The British Nation Identified with Lost Israel. “The last account we have of Israel was when they were in the land of Assyria; but they were not alone there, the Assyrian people were with them, who were purely Gentiles. Now both Israel and this Gentile people are lost, and yet both have to be found”
  2. ^ Mattias Gardell (2003). Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Duke University Press, 371f.. ISBN 0822330717. 
  3. ^ Julia M. O'Brien, Nahum and Atrocity, Continuum International Publishing Group (2002), ISBN 1841273007, p. 115, quoting Craigie (1958).
  4. ^ Yair Davidiy, "Lost Israelite Identity" (1996)
  5. ^ Johann Leonardy, Geschichte des Trierischen Landes und Volkes, 2nd ed. 1877, p 21.
  6. ^ vol. 2, ch. 1: "If the Germans admitted to themselves and the world who they really are, all the world would recognize in Imperial Germany the reconstituted Assyrian Empire — once the terror of all the civilized world!" [1]
  7. ^ Hoeh, "Germany in Prophecy!" (1962). Also in Hoeh (1963) vol.2 ch.1.: "Jerome, who lived at the time when the Indo-Germanic tribes were invading Europe, provides this startling answer ... Yes! Jerome said so! But how did he know? He saw them! He was an eyewitness to their migrations from Mesopotamia and the shores of the Black and Caspian seas!"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

British Israelism
US Christian fundamentalism
Languages