The Lower East Side
LowerEastSide
Arno the Wizard 
 The Man Behind Scofield
 
 
"It is the prophetic teaching that makes the  Scofield Bible significant.
Its  influence  cannot  be overestimated."   Joseph Canfield  author  of The
Incredible Scofield
 
The  Tin  Man  rattled  and  the  Straw  Man  cowered  as  the  great  Oz
thundered  amid  smoke and  flames.   But  Toto  pulled  the  curtain  and
Dorothy  saw  the  snake  oil  salesman  from  Kansas at the controls.
 
Like the  great Oz, C.I. Scofield  was an  imposing  figure in the early 20th
century. He was  revered  for  the  genius  of   his  novel  footnotes.  But
research  has  pulled  the curtain  on  the Kansas con man.  We now know 
who  actually  wrote  the  notes and created  the illusion of  the patriarch 
of the dispensationalist movement.
 

If  you  had  been on 2nd  Street  on  the  lower East Side of New York  in 
1896,  you  could  have  walked  into  the  office of the Zionist publication
Our Hope  and met its editor Arno Gaebelein.  He would have been busy at
his typewriter surrounded by stacks of his magazine awaiting delivery. [1]
 
For  a moment  in time  this was  the capital  of world Jewry.  The streets
were  teeming   with immigrants  from Eastern Europe.  Many  had  arrived
penniless  on America's  shore  fleeing  persecution  in Russia.  This period
inspired   the  musical  Fiddler on the Roof.   However,  amid the  squalor,
noise and  press of humanity  there  was excitement and hope.  Herzl and
Rothschild were campaigning to restore the Jews to their home land.
 
Arno read many  Jewish periodicals  and kept close contact with members
of  the  Jewish  colonization  societies.   His magazine   argued   that  the
only solution  to the Jewish problem was a Jewish State. [2] At first, Jews
were  wary of the new Zionist movement.  It would take  several decades
before they accepted it.
 
Arno had just returned from a tour of Russia and Eastern Europe where he
visited synagogues  to learn  more about Jewish conditions.  The rabbis in
Russia welcomed him as one of their own. His full black beard  immediately
categorized as him a Jew. [3]
 

On his return to America he spoke to 332 Jews and representatives of the
Jewish press.  He was  soon engulfed  with speaking  engagements across
the nation as interest in Zionism grew.  Gaebelein thrilled at the chance to
convey his knowledge of the Jewish people and report  on the progress of
Zionism. [4]
 
His  Bible study magazine  included  a section on bible prophecy. Arno was
dogmatic about the necessity of the Jewish state. After all he argued this
end  time  phenomenon  was  the inevitable  fulfillment  of bible prophecy.
They were witnessing an exciting sign of the end times.
 
By 1901, Our Hope had reached a circulation of 15,000 copies a month. It
was at this time that he met Scofield at  the  Sea Cliffs Bible Conference.
They  laid  the  plan  for  what  was  to  become  the  most  widely  used
reference bible in the English speaking world. [5]
 
Researcher  Joseph  Canfield spent a lifetime trying  to  determine what 
happened between this meeting  and 1909 when  the book was published.
  
He concluded  that  the  notes  had  been  written  by  a  Zionist  named
Gaebelein  who followed Scofield  around all the time.  Arno  was the man
behind  the  curtain.  He created the illusion  of  the  incredible  Scofield,
when  in reality he was the  real  wizard  of dispensationalism.
 
This deduction was confirmed by his son Frank.
 
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