The Israelite Apologist’s Handbook

The Israelite Apologist’s Handbook was created in response to a series of unfortunate events that took place over the last few years (2019 – 2022) between a certain group of Christians known as “Urban Apologists” and Christians that identify as Israelites by bloodline. The purpose of this handbook is to prepare you for the often hostile opposition you may receive from people that are supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ, but more often than not behave like servants of Satan.

The Backstory

While it’s hard to pin down exactly who started the back and forth, what we know for a fact is that it was a small group of Urban Apologists, led by non black people, started labeling all black Christians that claim the nationality of Israel, as “moderates”. Many of them even went as far as to make the claim that any black person that identified as Israel can’t be saved no matter if they believe in Christ as the savior or not. They were preaching another gospel that bases salvation on skin color and ethnicity claims (skin doctrine).

There has been a consistent and deliberate attempt by some in the Christian church to demonize any black person that claims to be Israel, while fully ignoring any other groups of people that claim to be Israel. This new “skin doctrine” of no salvation for black people has turned into a campaign of hate, lies, deception, and threats of violence being pushed by self professed Christians. The constant back and forth eventually died down due to a shaky truce, but did not die out completely on either side of the argument.

What Is Apologetics?

“Apologetics is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called Christian apologists.” – Wikipedia

What Is Urban Apologetics?

Urban Apologetics is exactly the same as regular Christian Apologetics, but it is specifically used to target black people. At it’s core, it espouses many white supremacist ideologies and is very hostile towards anyone that doesn’t accept their religious doctrine or their narrative on the origins of descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

How To Use This Handbook

The purpose of this handbook is not to attack people of other faiths or ethnicity, but to be able to defend and share what it is you believe, against the tough questions that almost always arise. This handbook is updated regularly, so you will always have access to the most up to date information available on this site.

• Brief Overview – Each section begins with a brief overview of the content for that section.
• Quick Responses – These are designed for those moments when you are in the middle of a conversation and need answers quickly.
• Possible Follow Up Responses – These are responses that you should be prepared for, but may or may not arise during your conversations. Familiarize yourself with these so you won’t be caught off guard.
• Counter Questions – These are questions that are meant for you to ask the person you are speaking with. These questions are designed to make them think deeper about their own position.
• Suggested Viewing – These videos will help you gain a better understanding of the topic at hand. Many of these videos were made in response to encounters with Christians from the Urban Apologetics Cult, and will help you deal with situations you may encounter. These videos should be viewed in advance of engaging with anyone on the topic.

Updates To The Handbook

This handbook is updated regularly and as often as new information becomes available. If you encounter questions, comments, rebuttals, etc. that you’re not familiar with, please submit a comment below. This will help us to know what’s going on in the field and when possible, release updates to this handbook as soon as the same day.

• If you encounter any questions or topics that you think would benefit other Israelite apologists, please submit them below.
• Please provide as many details as possible so that the best and most accurate responses can be published in a future update.

Over the years many of us have witnessed several tactics the opposition likes to employ, but we have figured out ways to deal with them. The most important thing to keep in mind is that we are not necessarily trying to convince the person we are talking to, but those that may be listening and paying attention. Some people just aren’t reachable because they’ve made up their mind about what they want to believe, no matter how much evidence exists to prove them wrong.

The Inquisition

This tactic is mainly employed by religious types that want to ask question after question, while not providing answers. Here are several solutions for dealing with this type:

• Immediately ask a question after you answer their first question.
• If they do not answer your question and try to continue with another question of their own, stand your ground and don’t answer another question until your question is answered.
• No matter how loud they get or try to over talk you, do not allow them to control the conversation. Stand firm and force them to answer your questions.
• If they refuse to answer your questions, end the conversation.You are not under any obligation to answer to them at all. Having a conversation with them is a courtesy and not a requirement.

The Historically Ignorant

This type will often claim things have happened in history, such as fulfillment of Bible prophecy, but rarely provides any historical sources. Here’s how to deal with this type:

• Ask for the exact year and source to support their claims.
• Whenever they mention anything linked to history, press them for sources, especially if there’s an audience. Many people take notice when someone can’t actually back up what they say with sources. Onlookers may not say anything at the moment, but many of them will go looking for answers themselves in private.

One very common opposition statement they will make is that all of the curses in Deuteronomy 28 have been fulfilled in Christ. However, the kryptonite to this argument is Luke 21:24.

• Luke 21:24 references the curse of the sword and worldwide scattering via slavery.
• If Deuteronomy 28 was already fulfilled through Christ, why did he give signs from Deuteronomy 28 as an answer to the disciples when asked about signs of his coming and the end of the age?

This is just one example of many where they lack historically. There are many others, and as we learn more, this handbook will be updated to provide you with the best responses to clear up their inaccuracies.

Suggested Viewing

The Twister of Scripture

This type will defend doctrine vs. using common sense every time. They will tell you that everything in the Bible means something else. Black doesn’t mean black, bronze doesn’t mean bronze, and crystal clear reading of scripture doesn’t actually mean what it says. Dealing with this person requires familiarity with both scripture and history. Here is what you need to know in order to effectively deal with this type of person.

• The Law of First Mention
• How history ties into Bible prophecy.
• A basic understanding of the use of Hebrew and Greek.
• A general knowledge of the entire Bible.

If you have not read and memorized the entire Bible, this is not the person you want to engage in a debate with. They are usually well versed in Seminary interpretation of scripture and know the Bible very well, even though they interpret scripture incorrectly. They sound impressive and know enough to be dangerous to those listening.

Modern church building preachers need to get over the idea that the body of Christ is their congregation. It’s not. The body of Christ belongs to Christ and Paul summed it up best.

“For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.” – 1 Corinthians 1:11-15

Paul is dealing with denominations, which are divisions in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, the modern Christian church building preachers ignore this verse and separate themselves into divisions under men’s names like (John) Calvinists, (Martin) Lutherans, (John The) Baptists, etc. Paul goes on to say:

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1-11

Paul makes it clear that those that are divided or separated into denominations are carnal and still on milk. We know this to be true because we’ve witnessed the same message of salvation remixed 50,000 times without digging deep into the rest of the scriptures. Salvation is the first message many people receive prior to becoming a believer. The church buildings have done an excellent job planting the seeds of faith in Christ, but it is up to us to water those seeds so they can grow in the faith and knowledge of Christ. Here is how we do that:

• Start conversations with church going believers about Biblical history and the identity of Biblical people.
• Help them to understand why it’s important to Bible prophecy that we know the history and identity of Biblical people.
• Ask them questions that make them think and consider the answers to those questions.
• Encourage them to ask their pastors for answers.
• Share the BHITB app with them so that they can find those answers if / when their pastor fails to provide those answers.

Sharing the BHITB app is important because once they find the answers they are seeking, they will begin to share the app among others within that church. There is no reason to be disruptive to their services or disrespectful to their pastors. One on one conversations work best for spreading the entirety of Biblical truth beyond salvation. Once we are saved, there is a lot more to learn and we can help them learn it, even if their pastor wants to keep them sipping milk through a coffee straw.

Suggested Viewing

This single question reveals that many that claim to be against “Skin Doctrine”, actually adhere to Skin Doctrine themselves. Here’s how you force them to admit to basing their conclusions on skin color?

• If they do not know you personally and know nothing about your family history, ask them on what basis are they making the claim that you are not a bloodline descendant of Israel.

Without knowing anything about you personally or your family history, the only factor they can be basing their conclusion on is skin color. If they have accused you of making the Bible about skin color, use their blatant hypocrisy to drive home the point that they are also making the Bible about skin color by not accepting your claim to be Israel, solely based on your skin color.

DNA Testing

If you’ve never had your DNA tested and you are considering doing so, please consider using the following links:

• 23andMe
• Ancestry.com

This is a fallacious argument put forth from people that have a cult mentality. They will often attempt to scare people into submission by pushing the lie that one must attend a church (building) in order to be a follower of Christ. As part of this false doctrine, they also teach that if you leave a church (building), it is the same as leaving the faith in Christ.

Suggested Viewing

We find that this doctrine is not uniform across the board. This seems to be a doctrine specifically created to address black people that claim a descent from the Biblical nation of Israel.

Counter Questions

1. Do you teach this exact same doctrines to Europeans and other or only to black people?
2. Do you teach this doctrine to black people that identify as African American?
3. Do you teach this same doctrine to black people that identify as Hamites?

Suggested Viewing

This chart comes in handy when discussing the Law vs. Grace / Liberty.

This chart shows Biblical references to the Israelites and Hamites that mixed in scripture. We can look at mixed people today, even when the mix is between a white person and a black person, and we can tell that the child of the union is mixed with black. When two groups of dark people mix, it will produce a dark child, with the exception of albinos.

1. Afrocentric – regarding African or black culture as preeminent.
2. BHI – Black Hebrew Israelites
3. Camp Doctrine – This terminology attributes certain doctrine to Israelite Camps, but upon further inspection, many of these doctrines are often linked to one or several Christian denominations in origin.
4. COGIC – Church of God In Christ
5. Eurocentric – focusing on European culture or history to the exclusion of a wider view of the world; implicitly regarding European culture as preeminent.
6. Locked In – This terminology is used to manipulate believers into accepting the ideology that one needs to be “locked in” to a local church. There is no scripture to support this belief.
7. Moderates – A racist term used to differentiate between black believers in Christ and black believers in Christ that claim Israelite as a nationality. This term is not used to describe Europeans that claim to be Israel or groups such as Jews For Jesus.
8. Primary Issue – In Christian doctrine, the only primary issue is salvation. Denominations differ on this subject, which results in some being labeled as “cults” when they don’t agree with the majority on this issue.
9. Primary Source – This is the closest source to an event. These consist of eye witness accounts, autobiographies, confessions, etc.
10. Secondary Issue – These are issues that are not considered to be salvational. Pretty much all other spiritual issues outside of salvation fall into this category.
11. Skin Doctrine – A made up term to describe when black people talk about skin color. This term is not used towards any other group that talks about skin color or chooses a specific skin color as the dominant representation in TV, movies, etc.
12. Tertiary Issue – It’s rare that someone will refer to a tertiary issues because most people will simply classify all non salvational issues as secondary.

The introduction of the article starts off with the intent to offend a specifically black audience. The writer employed a common cult tactic of intentionally mislabeling an ethnicity claim as a “cult”. This is only done to black people that claim a connection to Biblical Israel.

Counter Questions

1. Have you ever seen any other ethnicity of people labeled as a cult?
2. Why are black people labeled as a cult for claiming a connection to Biblical Israel, but Ashkenazi Jews are not?
3. Why does the article feel the need to deceive its readers into believing black people are automatically a cult if we identify as descendants of Biblical Israelites?

Another dishonest approach we find in the introduction is the intentional and deceptive division of “Christians” from “Black Hebrew Israelites”. This is a subliminal attempt to manipulate the reader into equating an ethnicity claim with a religious claim. Many Israelites are Christian by faith.

Counter Questions

1. Why are European Christian Jews allowed to be called Jews For Jesus, but Israelites aren’t allowed to identify and be accepted as Christians, but instead are labeled a cult?
2. Why are black people forced to choose between ethnicity and faith, but no other group in the Christian church is forced to do so?
3. Why is the assumption made that if a black person ethnically identifies as descendants of Biblical Israel, we need to hear the gospel?

This section of the article attempts to deceive the reader into believing that all Israelites share a universal faith in “The Laws of Moses” for salvation. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Israelite views on salvation usually fall into three major categories and a minority fourth category.

1. Salvation is by grace through faith alone in Christ.
2. Salvation comes by keeping The Law.
3. Salvation comes by faith in Christ and keeping The Law.
4. Nobody is saved yet and won’t be saved until Christ returns.

For the purposes of this handbook, we’re going to focus on the nuances of point #1. An Israelite that believes in salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ, can easily shut down this entire approach from an Urban Apologist. By shutting down this argument immediately, most of the opposition will be caught off guard, and forced to either stop their efforts or admit that their only remaining problem is you being black and identifying as a descendant of Biblical Israel.

They begin this section by making the claim that “many in the Black Hebrew Israelite camp believe that the King James Version is the only authentic version, while also affirming the Apocrypha.” This sentence is only a little bit of truth mixed with lots of lies.

The Truth

1. Many Israelites are “King James Only”.
2. Many Israelites affirm the Apocrypha.

The Lies

1. There is no singular “Black Hebrew Israelite Camp”.
2. There are multiple camps that share different beliefs, no different in nature than that of the many Christian denominations.
3. Not all Israelites belong to a camp.
4. Many Israelites still attend Christian churches.
5. Many Israelites still identify as Christian, Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Mormon, Muslim, etc. by faith.

That one sentence is full of misrepresentation, including subliminally leading the reader to believe that the “King James Only” position and affirmation of the Apocrypha are out of the ordinary. These two beliefs are very prevalent among European Christians as well. In fact, if you type in “King James Only” on YouTube, you don’t get Israelites as the top results, but European Christians.

• Click here to see the results or type it in yourself on YouTube.

The following video breaks down the “King James Only-ism” position and its history in the Christian church. In this regard, many Israelites have more in common with the Christian Church than not. Pay very close attention and take note of the points both videos make at the very end about “King James Only-ism”.

Suggested Viewing – King James Only

Counter Questions

1. Why does the article deceptively attempt to present the KJV Only position as if it is linked to the ethnic claim of being an Israelite?
2. Do you believe a KJV Only position should cause division within the body of Christ?

Concerning the affirmation of the Apocrypha (Hidden Books), these books are also affirmed by most Christians. The Catholic Bible contains the full Apocrypha along side of the 66 found in the KJV. Catholicism is the biggest Christian denomination on the planet, which means that most Christians on the plant affirm the Apocrypha.

Counter Questions

1. Why is Israelite affirmation of the Apocrypha treated differently than Catholic Christian affirmation of the same text?

Suggested Viewing – Apocrypha

Counter Questions

• Why do Christians disagree on whether the Apocrypha should be affirmed as scripture?
• Does the article give you the impression that that there are Christians that also affirm the Apocrypha?
• What specifically is the problem with reading the Apocrypha for a better historical understanding of Jewish history?

Again, like much of the article, the very first sentence is intended to be deceptive. The sentence starts by labeling ideology held by some (not all) Israelites as “mythology”, but the very next sentence confirms that what is being talked about is not mythology.

“Much of Black Hebrew Israelite mythology evolves around the idea that “Edomites”, or white people in America, are deceiving and pacifying people of color with a whitewashed Christianity. In some cases, this does happen.”

How can something be mythology according to them, but in some cases happens, also according to them? That is a very clear example of double talk. It is in the following sentences that we see the true agenda revealed. They are more concerned about the representation of Christianity than the factual history of things done in the name of Christianity.

“However, it is not a good representation of Global Christianity or the strong activism and Biblical worldview of the historic black church. This heresy often leads to racism and xenophobia amongst certain camps. Edomites are often seen as condemned and not part of God’s redemptive plan.”

There are several lies that occur in the first sentence above:

1. Christianity has whitewashed the Bible. Proof of that can be found by going to Google and typing “Jesus” or “Jesus Movies”. The majority of movies will feature a white Jesus, white disciples, white apostles, white Egyptians, and white Canaanites, even though the majority of the Old Testament takes place in Africa and the modern Middle East.
2. The historic black church does not take any official stance on whether or not Edomites or white people in America have whitewashed Christianity. But, if you ask attendees of black churches if they believe that history has been whitewashed, the majority will agree that it has.
3. They refer to a belief that Christian history has been whitewashed as “heresy”. Whitewashing is a historical fact and furthermore, does not fit the definition of heresy. This is a CULT tactic used against Christian believers to scare them into compliance with the point of view being presented.
4. They claim that presenting historically factual information about whitewashing leads to xenophobia and racism amongst certain camps. Again, this is not true. This is an attempt to avoid admitting that for over 400 years in America, descendants of slaves have been brutally oppressed by Europeans that also claimed to be Christians. In order for slavery and oppression to last as long as they have, the majority of Christians would have to agree in action or by inaction. The church is faster to speak up against an Israelite that believes in Christ than they are against an openly racist European that professes to be a Christian.
5. Assuming they’re using the term “racism” in a colloquial sense and not a literal sense, their statement is still false. If one group of people spent over 400 years enslaving, raping, murdering, and oppressing your people; its not racist to not want anything to do with them. Racism, in the sense that the article uses it in, implies that Israelites that belong to camps solely hate Europeans based on nothing more than skin color, and completely ignores factual history of black treatment by Europeans in America.
6. The last sentence that Edomites are often seen as condemned and not part of God’s redemptive plant, is also not true. This video is held by a minority of Israelites because most Israelites still maintain the Biblical belief that Christ came to redeem Israel, but Israel rejected him, thereby opening up the opportunity for salvation to the rest of the world.

Counter Questions

1. Why does the article define whitewashed Christianity as mythology and then immediately confirm that it is a reality?

If they open this door, use it as an opportunity to make the connections between Israel, West Africa, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Apologists are often very weak in historical facts and will often repeat things that they’ve heard, while be unaware of other information that is out there. The following are a few suggested topics of discussion. Alternatively, you can use the Omnidex to find any other information that you may find useful.

• Black Jews Deported From Portugal To West Africa
• 115 Towns of The Tribe of Judah In West Africa
• 1747 Map – Kingdom of Judah Marked As The Slave Coast
• Black Jews Were Being Targeted For Slavery
• Igbos In Nigeria Claim To Be Descendants of Biblical Israel
• Sephardic Beit Din Declares Igbo Jews To Be Descendants of Biblical Israelites Blacks In America Are Linked To Igbo Jews In Nigeria

Counter Questions

• What is the earliest known account of slaves identifying as Israelites?
  • Correct Answer: Gabriel Prosser (late 1700s – 1800)
• What is the earliest known use of the term “African American”?
  • Correct Answer: 1782

This section of the article attempts to deal with Deuteronomy 28, which many (not all) Israelites link to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The word “best” is subjective and depends on the person doing the reading. What’s best to one person may be absolute garbage to another person. Fortunately, the article makes two suggestions:

• Deuteronomy (Evangelical Press Study Commentary) (EPSC Commentary Series) by John D. Currid
• Deuteronomy (Apollos Old Testament Commentary) by J. G. McConville

1 – John D. Currid

2- J. G. McConville

The above two men are who the article suggests wrote the best commentaries to explain whether or not Deuteronomy 28 has to do with the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We should assume that when the article says “best”, what it really means is European.

Suggested Viewing