Anglo-Saxon Federation of America
The Anglo-Saxon Federation of America, founded in 1933, is the oldest and largest group in the British Israelite movement.
In 1928, Howard B. Rand, a lawyer and Bible student, started conducting a small Anglo-Saxon group in his house. In 1933, he met W. J. Cameron, the founder of the newly created Anglo-Saxon Federation, and himself started the Anglo-Saxon Federation of America.
The group asserts that the Bible contains the past, present, and future history of Israel.
The group also believes that the Bible determines exactly which group should take the name "Israel" based on which nation or race best fulfills the promises God made in the Old Testament. The Bible states that Israel was to be a powerful nation located to the northwest of Palestine that holds a great heathen empire in domination, is the chief missionary power in the world, and is immune to defeat in war. The Bible also mentions a group which split itself off from the parent "Israel" to become a great nation in its own right. The federation concludes that the only nation which meets the above criteria was Great Britain, and, by extension, the United States which separated itself from Great Britain later.
By the 1930s and 1940s, several groups affiliated with the federation could be found throughout the United States. However, by the mid-1970s, most of the group's membership had either died or left the group. Its magazine, Destiny Magazine, ceased publication in 1969, with the foundation publishing from that point a much more modest monthly newsletter.
The group still remains active, publishing books and accepting new members.
See also
References
- Lewis, James R. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998. ISBN 1-57392-222-6.