The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-01
FLYING ROLL DISCIPLES
THEY HAVE DECIDED THAT BENTON
HARBOR is SITE OF NEW EDEN.
Style Themselves Israelites, VIII Not
Work for Gentiles, Are vegeta-
rians and Eschew Marriage.


dately pacing the streets of Benton Har-
Dor, engaged in converse on high and mys-
tic themes, may be seen the disciples of the
Flying Roll" the self-styled Israelites. 1t
needs not their boards and their long hair
to identify them-their simple, serious
faces, with peculiar look of mingled sup
preston and serenity, are unmistakable.
The women, on the other hand, can be dis
tinguished by their hair floating loose down
their backs Their faces have the look of
suppression without the serenity; the
glory Of feshly Immortality. the triumph
of reisning on the earth through the thou
sand years can scarcely atone TO them for
the present anguish of separation from
their children.
What is the Flying Roll? The matter is
not clear. 1t is pictured on the outside Of
their books as a rolled parchment, writ
ten in the English language. 1t was given
to mankind In 1876 A book of 752 pages con-
tanning extracts from 1t can be bought from
Mary and Benjamin" Benton Harbor
Meanwhile there is the Little Book a
pamphlet of thirty-two pages, in a pink
paper cover, which we are informed is the
little book which the angel gave to ST. John
with the command to eat it up. This con-
tains presentment of the ''doctrin" of the
Israelites. Its spelling. grammar, rhetoric.
poetry and theology are all equally remark
able
1t will be remembered that the papers
announced last spring that the Israelites
had decided that Benton Harbor is the
site or the new Eden, and they would as
Semble there to await the millennium, which
The Israelites compose the hundred and
forty and four thousand named in Revela-
the brief time left them, for at present
there are about one hundred and fifty in
Benton Harbor. These live in two big
houses they have built; one for the women
and one for the men. They are engaged in
building a third, which contains manager,
wherein the Christ Is to appear when the
time arrives. The heads of the sect are
Mary and Benjamin. 1t Is understood that
their son is the Christ and that he is now
In Chicago, training for mis- great mission.
Benjamin writes the books, Mary Is the
mother of Christ. Whoever joins the So
ciety sells all that he has and gives the
money to Mary and Benjamin He is then
entitled TO food and lodging In the COM
munal houses.
They are all strict vegetarians, discard
ing not only meat, but milk, butter and
eggs. They eat great quantities of olives,
which they import by the barrel from Cali
fornia-this with the idea that olives are
riage is forbidden, even married couples
are separated and the children they already
have are taken away at the age of four
years and trained in a school.
A SAD EXPERIENCE.
I met stately and handsome old lady
with a sorrowful face. She was a widow
with an only child. This only daughter was
married to young man somewhat below
her in education and social position, but a
man of excellent character, devoted to his
family and earning good wages. They had
one child, lovely boy of three and a hall
years. The young husband became con.
verted to the views OF the Israelites. He
gave his wife just three days in which tc
decide whether she would join them also
or whether he should leave her. In her des-
perate strait the wife decided to comply
and keep her husband-to find out too late
that joining the Israelites meant to give uT
both husband and child. ED isn't what ht
was to me-, the young wife confided t.
her mother; he used to be so fond of me
and so devoted to the baby, and now h,
never kisses me or says a kind word t
me, and he takes no notice of the child
The next confidence was: ED won't le
me have the baby to sleep with me, ant
ne don't want me to play with him Oh
pet him: He says l must be getting my
months we must give him up" A few
days later she said: ED has given up hi!
JOB, and L don't know what on earth w,
The Israelites do not labor for gentil,
employers: it is not seemly that the cleo
should labor for mere ordinary Christians
| 1t is expected, of course, that the contribu
tons from accessions will support the 144,OO
until the millennium. The young coupl,
named, as soon as they succeed in sellinl
their furniture will give the money to Mar!
and Benjamin and go to live in the dreary
| caravansaries with their coreligionists. n,
wonder the young wife's mother looked
heart broken.
One man came from California with hi
family and a large sum of money to joil
| the Israelites, but when he found he mus
| be parted from his wife and children, h.
| refused to join.
| Their belief, as nearly as it can be ex
| tracted from the confused statements of tn
| little book is about as follows:
Man consists OF three parts, spirit, sou
and body. AT death the spirit returns II
God who gave it, while the soul is burie,
| with the body. There is no resurrection o
| the body: at the first resurrection, at tn
| dawn of the millennium Tin three years o
| be raised from the dead. There is to b
| a time of great trouble and and pes
| thence In the immediate future; everybod
| in the world will die before the millennia
| dawn except the Israelites. They will no
/ die at all, but their bodies will be change
! into glorious and immortal bodies, and the
will reign on the earth, with Christ thei
| visible head. for thousand years.
| He'll is this earth, which is the abode o
| Satan, and the kingdom of his power TIL
grave is also hell and the kingdom of Satan
| During the thousand years Satan and tn
| souls of sinners are to be confined in tn
| grave, while the undying Israelites an
| the resurrected Christians dwell on glor
| flied earth. At the end Of the thousan
| years the souls of the sinners are to b
| resurrected, pardoned and glorihed, Will
| Satan is cast into outer darkness to troubl
| the earth no more. Using St. Pauls com
| parison, the Israelites are to have the glor
of the sun, the ordinary Christians tn
| glory Of the moon, and the resurrected sin
| nerS the glory of the stars.
MUST KEEP THE LAW.
The Israelites, who are the elect, mus
after having been once received into tina
| church and their former sins repented G
| and forgiven, lead lives of absolute blame
| lessness. They must keep the whole Law
Jewish and Christian. Certain parts of tn
Jewish law have been fulfilled in Chris
but many things remain and the attemr
to obey the law as TO ceremonial unclear
ness leads to many singular customs whic
are whispered among the shocked observer
of Benton Harbor, but are quite unfit &c
publication. The hair and boards are III
cut from some confused notion of the NaZs
rites VOW, and the women wear their ha
down, because one of the old Hebrew propf
cts denounced the excessive plating an
adjoining of the hair. They separate hu:
bands wives and children, because III
Lord once said woman, what have /