Arno was a German immigrant, however he spoke better Yiddish than Orthodox Jews. In fact, he had trouble convincing Jew's that he wasn't a "goy". [13] We have seen that on his trip to Eastern Europe that his black beard and attire immediately classified him as a Jew. His son said he was welcomed into synagogues wherever he went as one of their own.
Frank relates another story that even as late as WWI, Jews on the street in New
York confused him with an orthodox Jewish rabbi. [14] So for 24 years, from 1894
until 1918, he dressed like an orthodox Jewish rabbi.
Thomas Ice includes this quote in his Short History of Dispensationalism:
"Timothy Weber noted of his abilities that Gaebelein acquired such an expertise in the Talmud and other rabbinic literature and spoke such flawless Yiddish that he often had difficulty convincing many of his audiences that he was not a Jew trying to 'pass' as a Gentile." (Living in the Shadow page 144) His magazine Our Hope had the subtitle "We preach to the Gentile church in behalf of the Jew". [15] So his ministry from 1894 until his death was as a
representative of the Jews to the Christians. His ministry was supported by Zionists
who paid for his expensive tour of Europe. One would assume that some of these Zionist supporters were Jews.
All agree that Arno was an expert on Bible prophecy. His unique viewpoint was
shaped at first by the Plymouth Brethren and then by the Orthodox Jewish rabbis
with whom he worked in New York. His reference bible would embed this novel
prophetic viewpoint into the hearts and minds of millions.
So we have a man who looked like a Jew, spoke like a Jew, worked for the Jews,
was supported by Jews and lived in the center of world Jewry. He wrote a reference
bible designed to deceive Christian's into adopting a partially Jewish interpretive point
of view. He was very knowledgeable about the Hebrew and Semitic languages and he
was an expert on the filthy Talmud!
And yet Arno and son maintained that he was not a Jew. As proof, Frank revealed
that they spoke German at home, not Yiddish. That is a convincing argument if you
believe that Judaism is a race and not a sect.
Was the author of the Scofield Reference Bible a Jew? We may never know. But
one thing is for certain. Arno would have had more success selling hotdogs at a
bar mitzvah than selling reference bibles with his picture on the cover (especially
if he wore his black hat)!
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