1990: ’Christian Identity’ Author Creates Violent ‘Phineas Priests’

Author Richard Kelly Hoskins, in his book Vigilantes of Christiandom, puts forth the concept of the “Phineas Priesthood.” Hoskins is a Christian Identity adherent (see 1960s and After). The idea comes from an obscure Biblical character, “Phinehas,” an Israelite who used a spear to kill a “race-mixing” fellow Israelite and the Midianite woman with whom he had had sexual relations. Hoskins concocts the idea of a “brotherhood” of “Phineas Priests,” self-professed “warriors” who would use extreme violence against “race-mixers,” gays, abortionists, and others. Over time, some “Phineas Priests” will commit bombings and bank robberies around Spokane, Washington (see October 8, 1996). In 2002, two Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s) splinter groups will openly adopt “Phineas Priest” names or symbols. [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]