Expecting the End: Millennialism in Social and Historical Context

Chapter Twelve

213 Southcottian Sects from 1790 to the Present Day Gordon Allan Chapter Twelve The purpose of this chapter is to sketch the history and doctrines of a number of small millenarian sects that owe their existence, in varying degrees, to the English prophetess Joanna Southcott (1750–1814).1 These groups, vestiges of which survive to the present day, are then evaluated under several headings, corresponding to various traits and doctrines that tend to identify fundamentalist groups, with an emphasis on their eschatological beliefs. The similarities between these groups, as well as some of their more interesting differences, are also highlighted. I first became aware of one of these Southcottian groups a number of years ago when I saw an advertisement in a newspaper stating that “time is running out.” The advertisement went on to say that the allotted six thousand years of humankind’s reign was shortly to come to an end, to be replaced by a thousand years of the glorious reign of the Lord Jesus. Further investigation revealed that this glorious reign was to take place on this earth, not in heaven. Particular reference was made to a book, Extracts from the Flying Roll, by James Jershom Jezreel. The first “sermon” of these “Extracts” turned out to consist of seven parts, each between 25 and 30 pages, so the whole sermon runs to 208 pages. Anyone reading this work 214 Southcottian Sects today may well find that at first it seems rather incomprehensible. However , with perseverance and determination one can see what is being constructed by the author. We find a complicated doctrinal and prophetic scheme that is quite different from anything one is likely to encounter in the more mainstream Christian tradition. The biblical text is central throughout, with, it seems, almost every sentence containing either an allusion to or a direct quotation of Scripture. This chance encounter with the advertisement and further study of the associated literature was to be the beginning of my acquaintance with a number of small millenarian religious sects, during the course of which I came to know personally, meet, or else correspond with a number of the individual members of these sects. Regrettably, many of those persons are no longer alive. The recollections outlined above are not without importance. A good deal of the material in this chapter is based upon a firsthand knowledge of the tradition with which it deals. I make use not only of published material written by “outsiders,” but also of personal conversations and other communications with members of the Southcottian trajectories. I have also used information found in private collections. This has given me a privileged insight: generally Southcottian groups do not publicize details of their internal organization and practices, such information being reserved for members only. (The Southcottian groups are not, of course, unique in this.) My work is thus rather different from much that has been written to date, since earlier studies have been largely based upon Southcottian publications designed for general use or on newspaper accounts, which has resulted in an incomplete picture.2 The New and Latter House of Israel The publication Extracts from the Flying Roll, sometimes simply referred to as The Flying Roll or even just The Roll (as believers in the publication often call it) was written by a man calling himself James Jershom Jezreel (JJJ). He is sometimes called “The Stranger” because so little is known about him. His adopted middle name, “Jershom” (signifying “stranger”), is based upon the biblical account of Moses’ son by Zipporah, Gershom, who was given that name because “I have been a stranger in a strange land” (Exod. 2:22, KJV). Jezreel claimed that The Roll was revealed to him, but that it did not originate with him. He called himself a messenger rather than a prophet, and his work, The Roll, was claimed to be an explanation of biblical mysteries hitherto hidden from the world—a key that would unlock the Scriptures . In this context, Jezreel quoted Jesus in Matthew 13:35—“I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” This is Gordon Allan 215 a key text in the first sermon, and, he said, the justification of his revelation . To Jezreel, the end time was upon us and all was about to be revealed. The Jezreelites accept a form of biblical fundamentalism, believing in the authority of the Old and New Testaments, while also...