SOUL-WINNERS, B.C

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WILLIAM CAREY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SOUL-WINNERS, B.C.

Jewish missionary activity in the Roman Empire

with essons !or the contemporary ch"rch

Dan Poenaru

Mentor: Stephen D. Morad

Module 2A Research Paper

June 27, 2011


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...Judaism, with its experience and success in gaining conerts, paed

the wa! "or #hristianit!$s later e%orts& '(eldman )**+, )*. -his succinct

statement ! /ouis (eldman ma0es two signi1cant assertions: that Judaism is

'or at least was a prosel!tising religion, and that this prosel!tism has

somehow inuenced and "acilitated the growth o" earl! #hristianit!. Ralph

3inter points out that bothredemptie structures& used ! 4od in the

histor! o" #hristianit! are, in "act, directl! deried "rom the e5uialent Jewish

structures o" the time: thus the #hurch 'which he calls the modalit!& was

essentiall! uilt along Jewish s!nagogue lines&, and Paul6s missionar! and&

'the sodalit!& was patterned a"ter the Jewish eangelistic pattern '3inter

)*78, )2)92.

4ien the extremel! close proximit! etween Judaism and #hristianit!

and that earl! #hristianit! started spreading at the er! time o" a signi1cant

numerical growth in Judaism, it ma! e er! use"ul "or #hristian eangelism

and mission to examine the issue o" Jewish prosel!tism, particularl! around

the time o" the earthl! ministr! o" Jesus #hrist. -his paper aims to explore

the topic o" Jewish prosel!tism in the Roman mpire in light o" the irth o"

#hristianit! in the same locus, and to appl! this 0nowledge to contemporar!

#hristian eangelism and missions. -o accomplish this we shall discuss the

theological asis "or Jewish eangelism, the sociological underpinnings "or

the spread o" Judaism 'and #hristianit! within the Roman mpire, and the

actual practice and impact o" Jewish prosel!tism. (inall!, we hope to draw

seeral use"ul lessons, oth positie and negatie, "or toda!6s missions.


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Theological basis

The fact that the Jewish nation was calle to !e a "li#ht to the #entiles$C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207

an to carr out /os ission to the entire worl is !eon ou!t. The uniersal contet of

%sraels relationshi+ with her /o is eient throu#hout her histor, fro &!raha an his

escenants calle to !e a !lessin# for all nationsC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 , to +ro+hecies irecte to the

/entile nations an +roisin# the salation of all nations throu#h 4565 Schna!el 2002, 38.

The uniersal iension is +articularl a++arent in %sraels +salo litur#8, with +sals

ehortin# the nations to +raise, sere an fear 4565C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 Schna!el 2002, 38.

9oreoer, the 9osaic law has etaile sti+ulations re#arin# the res+ect an care of the non-

%sraelite alienC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 , an %srael certainl welcoe forei#ners who turne to 4565

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;saiah 82:BC 8*:B, =;

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3hile man! see in 4enesis +:) aproto-evangelium 'Par0er 2@@B,

)+), the climax o" earl! ilical missions occurs in 4enesis )2 'Par0er 2@@B,

)++98. Eere in the Arahamic coenant we see clearl! the intentional call to

the Araham6s people to hae a worldwide impact "or 4od: ; will ma0e !ou

into a great nation and ; will less !ouC ; will ma0e !our name great, and !ou

will e a lessing. ; will less those who less !ou, and whoeer curses !ou ;

will curseC and a peopes on earth wi #e #esse$ thro"%h yo"&.

4enesis )2:29+ '=;, emphasis mine.

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(or instance Pss. 87:2, BB:>, 72:)), *B:7, )@2:)B,2+, ))7:).

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Most stipulations in xodus and Deuteronom! appl! to FGHI 'ger, the

resident alien.FK L NO 'nakri and FI 'zar re"er to the non9resident aliens such as


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Poenaru D.: Soul-winners B.C.

such as ;aha! Josh. 2:)-138 an the inha!itants of /i!eon Joshua 8. Scri+tures often connect

the !lessin# of /os +eo+le to the fulfilent of /os ission: "9a /o !e #racious to us an

!less us an a.

#;-A-;+ ?p * ?l 2@7

As /ewis states, olunteerism has neer een the deciding "actor in

"urthering 4od$s mission. 4od will use Eis people to spread Eis message,


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6hile the issiolo#ical res+onsi!ilit of %srael is #enerall acce+te, +articularl in

Christian ean#elical circles, it is far fro ta


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Poenaru D.: Soul-winners B.C. =

eucation, an interarria#e. 'n the other sie, resistingtenencies inclue social

se+arationC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 , restrictin# access to the Te+le, +oleics a#ainst iolatr,

+rohi!ition of interarria#e, an, in the etree, ilitar u+risin#s an wars. Such ier#ent

tenencies often coeiste sie-!-sie, an also characterie ccles of isolation an outreach

in Jewish histor Selter 10, 2318.But !eon ere surial throu#h either inte#ratin# or resistin# tenencies, it is worth

notin# that the Jews theseles ha a si#nificant i+act on the oinant /reco-;oan culture.

6hile the true etent of this "reerse$ i+act is ifficult to ascertain, urins, 7*.

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urins0! cites multiple examples o" Jewish inuence on 4ree0

philosoph! and science, including such precious X aleit clearl! suYectie 9

assertions "rom anti5uit! as ...what is Plato ut Moses spea0ing in Attic& and

P!thagoras, when spea0ing o" the Deit!, "ollowed Jewish oo0s&.


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eloAuentl shows that, ue to a co+ounin# effect, a ere 1G net earl #rowth rate woul

hae +rouce not ) illion, !ut )0 illion in the #ien tie +erio 6inter 200=,

178C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 .

& si#nificant #rowth in the Jewish +o+ulation of the ;oan +ire did, howeer, occur F

an soe of it er +ossi!l too< +lace throu#h conersion. 6hile aressin# later the e!ate onthe etent of this conersion an whether it was +assie centri+etal8 or actie centrifu#al8, for

now we wish to e+lore further what sociolo# can teach us a!out reli#ious conersion in the

;oan +ire. % a ine!te here to ;one Star


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This attitue is +lace in star< contrast to the +assie an inifferent attitue to such huan

concerns in the +reailin# +a#an state reli#ion C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 .&s Star< o!seres, "the

e+ieics swa+e the e+lanator an cofortin# ca+acities of +a#anis an of 5ellenic

+hiloso+hies. %n contrast, Christianit offere a uch ore satisfactor account of wh these

terri!le ties ha fallen u+on huanit, an it +ro?ecte a ho+eful, een enthusiastic, +ortrait ofthe future$ Star< 1=, 78. Thus Christianit !ecae a "reitaliation oeent$ arisin# in a

tie of crisis, reitaliin# the /reco-roan societ "! effectiel o!iliin# +eo+le to atte+t

collectie actions$ Star< 1=, 7)8.

%t is this authorHs assertion that an of Star.

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infanticie were cornerstones of Juais$ Eelan 13, 138. &r#ua!l all classic Jueo-

Christian ethics are a reflection of unerlin# theolo#ical alues: as Star< notes, "soethin#

istinctie i coe into the worl with the eelo+ent of Jueo-Christian thou#ht: the lin


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Petuchows


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)ewish 'roselytis i" 'ractice

Before e+lorin# the +ractice of Jewish +roseltis, we ust first efine the ter. 6ith

s+ecific reference to Juais, TheDictionary of New Testament Backgroundefines+roseltisin# as "actie atte+ts on the +art of Jews to recruit or ean#elie /entiles as new

reli#ious e!ers of Juais$ 9cni#ht 2000, )38. The /ree< wor LMNOQRN (proselutos)

a++ears ties in the (T 9at. 23:1, &cts 2:11, =:, 13:38 enotin# conerts to Juais,

while the Se+tua#int uses the wor 77 ties to refer to a resient alien in the lan. %n hellenistic

Juaisproselutos!ecoes a technical ter, enotin# a +erson who has full acce+te the faithan has !een circucise ittel, Erierich an Broile 1, 8.Pros lytoia++ear to !eistin#uishe fro /o-fearers se!menoi, "those fearin#$ anphoo"menoi t!n the!n, "thosereerin# /o$8, who ecie to


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+olic$ of the Jewish schools, the +resence of an "/o-fearers$ or "s+athiers$

"sei+roseltes$ in BaronHs ters, Eelan 13, 208, an the three atte+ts to e+el Jews

fro ;oe "!ecause the atte+te to transit their sacre rites to the ;oans$ >alerius

9aius, Auote in Eelan 13, 218. The counteriew was +ro!a!l first e+resse !

raa!el in 1)1, who thorou#hl inesti#ate the eience for Jewish issions u+ to his tiean foun it lac


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schools o+en to the +u!lic Eelan 13, 178. 'ther ethos of less interest inclue

interarria#e an, rarel, forceC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 .

6e ust howeer concur with 6alter ;ussell that "+ro!a!l... the ost wies+rea an

effectie etho of the Jews for +roseltisin# /entiles was the #oo ees an lifestle of the

Jews as the interacte with /entiles in the !roaer culture$ ;ussell 200=,1)38C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 . This "life-stle ean#elis$, while not necessaril issionar actiit

per se, was +articularl suite for Juais, which is uch ore than a set of

!eliefsC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 . &s 9cni#ht succinctl +ut it, "... for Juais conersion was

resocialiation, an that was nationaliation$ 9cni#ht 2000, )28.

'nce a /entile was rea to full acce+t the 9osaic faith, what was reAuire of hi@

&ccorin# to Selter, the 3 +riar eleents of conersion were te#ilah ritual iersion,!a+tis8, milah circucision8, an the offerin# of a s+ecial sacrifice at the Jerusale te+leSelter 10, 318. %nterestin#l, the +rocess was often referre to as "re!irth$, a reflection of the

raical, life-chan#in# conersion e+erience inole

C%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207

.

religion& 'Mcnight )**), B@.

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#oercion ma! hae een inoled in the conersions recorded in

Judith 'Jdt. )8:)@ and sther 'sther >:)7.

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-he author o" the Epistle of Aristeasexpresses this clearl!: M! elie"

is that we must 'also show lieral charit! to our opponents so that in this

manner we ma! conert them to what is proper and 1tting to them& '#harles

)*)+, 22B.

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Rai 4ordis states: ;n Judaism, the accent is not merel! upon a new

set o" elie"s, ut upon a new pattern o" practice that re5uires a complete

trans"ormation o" one$s wa! o" li"e.& '4ordis )*>, 2>.

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The issue of leels of aherence to Juais aon# the /entiles, an s+ecificall the issue

of the so-calle "/o-fearers$, has !een at the center of uch e!ate surrounin# the issionar

nature of Juais. %n essence, the confire eistence of an such /o-fearers is #oo

eience that Jewish issionar actiit i ta, >)


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archeolo#icalC%T&T%'( Col)3 *+ *l 207 eience for their assertions, the o++onents +riaril attac2B28 'accessed June )7, 2@)).

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