Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880 - 2000 (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series) [Paperback]

Yaakov Ariel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2000 | Series: H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series

With this book, Yaakov Ariel offers the first comprehensive history of Protestant evangelization of Jews in America to the present day. Based on unprecedented research in missionary archives as well as Jewish writings, the book analyzes the theology and activities of both the missions and the converts and describes the reactions of the Jewish community, which in turn helped to shape the evangelical activity directed toward it.

Ariel delineates three successive waves of evangelism, the first directed toward poor Jewish immigrants, the second toward American-born Jews trying to assimilate, and the third toward Jewish baby boomers influenced by the counterculture of the Vietnam War era. After World War II, the missionary impulse became almost exclusively the realm of conservative evangelicals, as the more liberal segments of American Christianity took the path of interfaith dialogue.

As Ariel shows, these missionary efforts have profoundly influenced Christian-Jewish relations. Jews have seen the missionary movement as a continuation of attempts to delegitimize Judaism and to do away with Jews through assimilation or annihilation. But to conservative evangelical Christians, who support the State of Israel, evangelizing Jews is a manifestation of goodwill toward them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Fabulously knowledgeable account of 120 years of attempts by American Protestants to convert Jews.

Cross Currents

Evenhanded . . . a must for college and seminary libraries.

Religious Studies Review

A ground-breaking account of American Christians' missions to the Jews from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Books & Culture

Graceful and nuanced.

Raleigh News & Observer

An exceptional work on an important and highly sensitive chapter in American religious history.

Paul Cohen, Lawrence University

From the Inside Flap

The first comprehensive history of Protestant evangelization of Jews in America to the present day. Based on unprecedented research in missionary archives as well as Jewish writings, the book analyzes the theology and activities of both the missions and the converts and describes the reactions of the Jewish community, which in turn helped to shape the evangelical activity directed toward it.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (September 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807848808
• ISBN-13: 978-0807848807
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evangalizing the Chosen People, May 18, 2003

By 

Odeda Rosenthal (Greenville, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880 - 2000 (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series) (Paperback)

This book is easy to read and fascinating to follow. Thus, it is not simply an academic text. Considering the significant influence of Christian Fundamentalists today even in American government and life, this book offers a balanced perspective and a panorama of the odd history of this surprising inter-relationship, as well an introduction to the curious way of speaking at cross purposes that has developed between these Christians and the Jews- with Israel as the very core.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource, February 28, 2008

By 

Jeff Neckonoff "Rebbe Jeff" (Merrick, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880 - 2000 (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series) (Paperback)

This book is a great resource for those who want to know the truth about the Hebrew-Christian and so-called messianic movement, which were created for the goal of converting all Jews to Christianity.

The only aspect of the book I didn't like is that the author takes a neutral approach when discussing the messies, which is what journalists are supposed to do, not authors.

Besides that, it is a great resource.

5.0 out of 5 stars A FASCINATING HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN EFFORTS TO CONVERT JEWS, April 15, 2011

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880 - 2000 (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series) (Paperback)

Yaakov Ariel is "assistant professor of religous studies at the University of North Carolina," and the author of On Behalf of Israel: American Fundamentalist Attitudes Toward Jews, Judaism, and Zionism, 1865-1945 (Chicago Studies in the History of American Religion).

In the Introduction to this 2000 book, the author states, "I wish neither to canonize nor to condemn. Rather, the book explores the history of the movement to evangelize the Jews, aiming... to cut a balance between appreciation and criticism. I endeavored to study the missions and the missionaries on their own ground, trying to reconstruct their world and understand their motivation. Similarly, the book analyzes other participants in the missionary drama---the converts, as well as the Jewish leadership and laypersons who reacted to the missionary activity---on their own terms, without praising or condemning."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"American Protestants first began to evangelize Jews in 1816. During the middle decades of the nineteenth century, Protestants continued their attempts to convert American Jews... Until the 1880s, however, the missionary enterprises were small and sporadic." (Pg. 2)
"For (founder of dispensationalism John Nelson) Darby and his disciples, the Jews were historical Israel and the object of the biblical prophecies about the restored Davidic kingdom in the Land of Israel." (Pg. 10)
"A watershed event ... was the Six-Day War ... in June 1967... For evangelicals, Israel's conquest of many of the major biblical sites in the country, including the historic parts of Jerusalem, seemed like the beginning of the events of the End Times." (Pg. 198)
"For Christians, 'Judaizing' had traditionally been considered heresy, and many still expressed alarm at 'Judaizing tendencies' and had a difficult time relating to the new Jewish congregations as legitimate churches." (Pg. 221)
"Messianic Judaism, although it advocated the idea of an independent movement of Jewish converts, remained the offspring of the missionary movement." (Pg. 223)
"Elie Wiesel... declared Jews for Jesus to be 'hypocrites' who 'don't even have the courage to declare frankly that they have decided to repudiate their people and its memories.'" (Pg. 254)
"Israeli leaders and officials welcomed evangelical support warmly, responding with friendliness to evangelical leaders, activists, and organizations." (Pg. 265)