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Jewish Proselytism At the Time of Christian Origins: Chimera or Reality?

Peterhouse, Cambridge CB2 1RD

In recent times some significant books on ancient Jewish proselytism have appeared. The contention of a number of these is that at the time of Christian origins Jews had no perception of themselves as missionaries to a wider world. Proselytes to Judaism certainly existed but there is no evidence for the view that these people were actively sought out. The conclusion to draw from this is that Christianity's insistence on the need for a mission to the outside world differentiates it strongly from the Judaism out of which it emerged. In the present article an attempt is made to assess this thesis, and to show that the evidence, or lack of evidence, upon which it is based, is not as convincing as it might at first appear. The writer accepts that the evidence is not as replete as it might be, but that it exists in sufficient measure to allow us to argue for the existence of a missionary consciousness among some Jews, which makes the fact of Christian mission less surprising and distinctive than it might appear.

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