Christian mission to Jews, or evangelism among Jews, or proselytism to Jews is a subset of Christian mission activity aimed specifically at practising believers in Judaism.
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The first Christian witness - by Jew to Jew, and later Jew to Gentile - is documented in the Book of Acts and soon divides into the mission of Peter "to the Jews" and Paul "to the Gentiles."[1] An important Second Century source is the Dialogue with Trypho of Justin Martyr (c.140) which may be partially fictionalized, and "Trypho" may be a cypher for rabbi Tarfon but otherwise shows a level playing field and mutual respect as each participant appeals to the other.[2]
From Constantine I, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire, the position of Christians to Jews changed. Some laws were instituted which protected the rights of Jewish converts from disinheritance, other laws also protected from abuse of the priviledges of conversion from those who converted from Judaism "only for a cancellation of debt;" which suggests that in some areas of the empire local incentives to conversion existed.[3] Accounts of conversion itself are not mentioned in rabbinical sources and are not frequent in Christian sources - excepting Epiphanius of Salamis' account of the conversion of Count Joseph of Tiberias, and Sozomen's accounts of Jewish conversions in Constantinople.[4]
During the medieval period conversions in Christian ruled lands were often conducted by force, such as in the case of the Alhambra Decree of 1492 leading to the conversos, those converted by force, and Marranos. In Muslim lands dialogue between Jews and Christians was more equal, and Jewish apologists were able to refute Christians openly. In Christian lands those such as Hasdai Crescas (c.1340–1411) could only write refutations of Christian belief at great risk.
The Reformation in Europe did not immediately give rise to increased proselytism to Jews, in part due to Luther's antisemitism and Calvin's indifference.[5]
In 1809 Joseph Frey (born Joseph Levi) founded the London Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews after disagreements with the generic London Missionary Society. This was later renamed the London Jews' Society and then the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People. Among their missionaries was the grammarian C. W. H. Pauli (born Zebi Nasi Hirsch Prinz). After Frey's group, which was largely led by converted Jews, the generic missionary organisations also attempted more culturally sensitive efforts and in 1841 the Church of Scotland appointed a Gentile missionary, John Duncan to the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to be based in Budapest.[6] At the same time "John Nicolayson" (the Dane Hans Nicolajsen), bishop Michael Solomon Alexander, and other missionaries were sent to Palestine.[7]
Jews for Jesus was founded in 1973 by Moishe Rosen. It was soon expelled from the American Board of Missions to the Jews, and Messianic Judaism was condemned by the Fellowship of Christian Testimonies to the Jews in 1975.
Initial Jewish responses to Christian activity are seen in reports (through Christian eyes) of the response of the priestly authorities in the Book of Acts, through mentions of Jesus in the Talmud, then in rabbinical texts, as documented by Steven T. Katz in The Rabbinic Response to Christianity (2006).[8]
During the middle ages rabbinical scholars combatted missionary activity with works such as Ibn Shaprut's Touchstone. In modern times, for example in response to Rosen's group, Jews for Judaism and other groups were founded.