# Christian Israelite Church

The Christian Israelite Church was founded in 1822 by John Wroe.

## History

From 1822 to 1831, the church had its headquarters in the town of Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire, England, which the church wanted to turn into a "new Jerusalem". Wroe's followers intended to build a wall around the town with four gateways. The wall was never constructed, but the four gatehouses were, as was a printing press. Popular opinion in Ashton-under-Lyne turned against Wroe when he was accused of indecent behaviour in 1831, but the charges were dismissed. The church spread to Australia and the United States, where it is still active.
Today there are groups of members meeting in Australia at locations including in New South Wales in the Sydney suburbs of Darlinghurst and Windsor, the Central Coast region and in the Hunter Valley; and in Victoria, in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.

## Beliefs

   We Believe...
   * In God Almighty, Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1).
   * In the existence of Satan, the Devil, in whom God allowed iniquity to be placed (James 2:19; Ezekiel 28:14,15).
   * That God created a spirit-existence in which the devil manifested evil and caused some of the spirits to rebel against God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Jude 6).
   * That God created our physical world, to which each person comes with a body and a soul made alive by a spirit from the spiritual creation (Luke 9:55; Genesis 2:7).
   * That God gave His people instructions on the way they should live, which instructions were "for their good always" (Deuteronomy 6:24).
   * That all have sinned and come "short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:19).
   * That God has reconciled the whole world to Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus (John 3:16,17).
   * That through belief in the sacrifice of Jesus, believers are counted as righteous before God, and can be assured of the resurrection of their souls (a Spiritual body) at Jesus' return (1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:44).
   * That there will be a small number who will fully prove their faith by a work of true obedience to God's instructions and will thereby receive the prize of the highest calling of God, the redemption of spirit and soul and body - this living mortal body made immortal without seeing death (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Revelation 14:1-5; Hebrews 11:39,40).
   * That Jesus Christ will return to this earth again, subdue the power of Satan and reign forever and ever (Revelation 19 and 20).
   * That the return of Jesus Christ is near and we are living in the period described in Scripture as the latter days (Matthew 24; Mark 13 and Luke 21).
   * That there are promises in the Scriptures especially to Israel - God's chosen people (1 Peter 2:9).
   * That although Israel of old did not accept the challenge of spiritually being God's peculiar people, a remnant of their descendants will come forward in the latter days to fulfil the obligations and receive the promises (Revelation 7:1-8).
   * That the Mission of the Christian Israelite Church is to awaken the lost ten tribes of Israel to this special inheritance to be the physical Immortal "Bride of the Lamb" and to be the vehicle for the task of bringing them all together at God's appointed time (Matthew 10:5,6; Revelation 19).
The church also believes there will be two resurrections. During the first one, everyone will resurrect, but only those who observed the Law of Moses - apart from the sacrificial laws - in conjunction with the Gospel commands and precepts, would attain salvation. On the other hand, the wicked and unrepentant would die a second death, get punished during a Millennial period of a thousand years before they would resurrect for a second time to also receive salvation, but enjoy a lesser degree of spiritual life and happiness.