Howard Rand, also known as Howard B. Rand and Howard Benjamin Rand (June 13, 1889 – October 17, 1991) was a lawyer, inventor, and three-time candidate for Massachusetts state office on the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

ticket, He headed the former

Anglo-Saxon Federation of America The Anglo-Saxon Federation of America is a British Israelite group founded by Howard Rand in 1930. History Beginnings In 1928, Howard B. Rand, a lawyer and Bible student, began organizing for the British-Israel World Federation and started cond ...

, a British Israelist group. He served from 1937 to 1968 as editor of its affiliate Destiny Publishers, which put out ''Destiny'' magazine (distinct from the magazine of the same name about Black culture).

Early life and career

Rand was born in

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

in 1889. He was raised as a British Israelite, and his father introduced him to

J. H. Allen John Harden Allen (1847 – May 14, 1930) was an American minister associated with the Church of God (Holiness), and British Israelism. He came from Illinois, later moving to Missouri in 1879. Originally a pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church ...

's work ''Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright'' (1902) at an early age. He later graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor's degree in law, becoming a successful lawyer but also worked as a construction worker and had other business interests. Rand was also a prolific author of books on

British Israelism British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is the British nationalist, pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendant ...

, Bible studies, and pyramidology (most published by Destiny Publishers). Rand published ''The Bulletin'', later renamed'' The Messenger of the Covenant''. More recently it has been renamed ''Destiny'' and issued by Destiny Publishers.

Anglo-Saxon Federation of America

In 1928, Rand began organizing for the London-based British-Israel World Federation. He eventually established his own British Israel organization, the

, in Detroit in 1930. Prior to its foundation, Rand had met with prominent British Israelites such as

William Pascoe Goard William Pascoe Goard F.R.G.S (17 January 1863 - 9 February 1937) was a Methodist minister and prominent British Israelite of the first half of the 20th century. Life William Pascoe Goard was born in Cornwall, England. After studying law in Lond ...

for advice and meetings. He later acquired

C. A. L. Totten Charles Adiel Lewis Totten (February 3, 1851 – April 12, 1908) was an American military officer, a professor of military tactics, a prolific writer, and an early advocate of British Israelism. Early life Charles Totten was born in New London, ...

's book archive through the Totten Memorial Trust.

Influence on Christian Identity

Rand is considered the key transitional figure between

and Christian Identity, but he is not credited as the actual founder of the Christian Identity movement. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

also lists Rand as a prominent influential figure behind Christian Identity. He first coined the term "Identity". Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke has summed up Rand as the catalyst figure behind Christian Identity as "a vital link between British-Israelism and its later American variant, Christian Identity, for he not only consolidated the movement in the United States but also opened it to the right-wing and anti-Semitic influences". While standard British Israelite teaching was that the Jews are descended from the tribe of Judah, Rand claimed that they were instead the descendants of Esau or

Canaanites {{Cat main, Canaan See also: * :Ancient Israel and Judah Ancient Levant Hebrew Bible nations Ancient Lebanon 0050 Ancient Syria Wikipedia categories named after regions 0050 Phoenicia Amarna Age civilizations ...

. Eventually, in Christian Identity this would shift even farther to become the belief modern Jews were descendants of Satan. Paradoxically, while early British Israelites such as

Edward Hine Edward Hine (10 February 1825 – 15 October 1891) was an influential proponent of British Israelism in the 1870s and 1880s, drawing on the earlier work of Richard Brothers (1794) and John Wilson (1840). Hine went as far as to conclude that "It i ...

and

John Wilson John Wilson may refer to: Academics * John Wilson (mathematician) (1741–1793), English mathematician and judge * John Wilson (historian) (1799–1870), author of ''Our Israelitish Origin'' (1840), a founding text of British Israelism * John Wil ...

were

philo-semites Philosemitism is a notable interest in, respect for, and appreciation of the Jews, Jewish people, Jewish history, their history, and the influence of Judaism, particularly on the part of a Gentile, non-Jew. In the aftermath of World War II, the ph ...

, Christian Identity emerged in sharp contrast to be strongly

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Rand did not teach any violence or hatred towards other races, but these acts would later emerge as the focus of the Christian Identity movement. In fact, Rand was a pacifist and his ideas have been described as a "peaceful missionary imperative."

Works

Books

* ''Behold He Cometh'' * ''Words of Wisdom'' * ''Study in Revelation'' (1941) * ''Digest of the Divine Law'' (1943) * ''Study in Jeremiah'' (1947) * ''Primogensis'' (1948) * ''Documentary Studies, Volumes I'' (1947) * ''Documentary Studies, Volumes II'' (1947) * ''Documentary Studies, Volumes III'' (1947) * ''Joel's Prophetic Message and Warning'' (1956) * ''Study in Daniel'' (1962) * ''Study in Hosea'' (1963) * ''The Hour Cometh'' (1966) * ''Marvels of Prophecy'' (1967) * ''Gems of Truth'' (1968) * ''Study in Isaiah'' (1996, published posthumously)

References

External links

"All Patriots 'Know' That Moses Wrote the Constitution" Atlantic Monthly OCT 29, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Howard British Israelism Christian Identity 1889 births 1991 deaths People from Haverhill, Massachusetts University of Maine alumni American centenarians Men centenarians Massachusetts Prohibitionists Writers from Massachusetts Pyramidologists