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PROGRAMS TO CONVERT JEWS TO CHRISTIANITY

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Quotation:

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christian Scriptures (New Testament), John 14:6. That passage has been a prime motivator of Christian evangelical activity towards Jews and other non-Christians:

Overview:

Relations between Christians and Jews have traditionally been horrific. Christians have a past history of exterminating large numbers of Jews and/or forcibly converting Jews to Christianity.

	The Christian church taught for many centuries that all of the Jews in 1st century Palestine were responsible for deicide -- the execution of Jesus. Further, they taught that each successive generation of Jews shared equal responsibility with their ancestors. Almost all denominations abandoned this belief by 1965.
	In the 10th century, Christian Crusaders systematically exterminated uncounted thousands of Jews on their way to and from the Holy Land.
	In 1492, Spanish Jews were given the option of converting to Christianity or being expelled from their own country.
	The Spanish Inquisition was established, in part, to ferret out any former Jews that had not sincerely converted.
	The predominately Christian American colonies frequently denied Jews the right to hold public office.
	Pogroms (organized persecution and massacre of Jews) in Czarist Russia and in eastern Europe resulted in the deaths of countless thousands of Jews.
	During the Nazi Holocaust of World War II, approximately 6 million Jews were exterminated by citizens of various European countries; the vast majority of the murderers considered themselves to be Christians; all were volunteers. There is a general consensus that the Holocaust could not have happened without centuries of Christian anti-Jewish teachings.
	Anti-semitic attacks on individual Jews, their property, cemeteries and synagogues continue today worldwide, and are increasing in frequency.
	More horrific details.

A main point of conflict between Jews and Christians today is the attempt by many conservative Christian groups to convert Jews to Christianity through persuasion. This is viewed by many Jews as an attack on their religion.

Topics covered in this section:

	Theological differences within Christianity concerning Judaism
	Policies of Fundamentalist and other conservative Christian groups: The Alliance of Baptist Statement (1995) Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) resolutions Reaction to the SBC 1996 resolution The SBC's pamphlet (1999)
	Policies of mainline and liberal Christian groups

Note: In this essay, the term "Christian" refers to any individual or group that seriously, prayerfully, devoutly believes themselves to be Christian. Our criteria is the same as used by a government census office or public opinion polls. More information

Related essays on this website:

	Reacting to religious diversity: Religious exclusivism, pluralism and inclusivism
	How Christians view non-Christian religions.
	Southern Baptist Convention's prayer guides
	The relationships between Christianity and other religions, including Judaism.
	A brief history of 2000 years of Jewish Persecution.

Internet sites on both sides of the topic:

Sites promoting evangelism of Jews include:

	American Missionary Fellowship at: http://www.homezone.com/amf/
	Menorah Ministries at: http://shell.rmi.net/~menorah/
	Rob Shipe, "Christianity and the Jews," at: http://www.az.com/~cryalls/chris-jew.html
	Southern Baptist Convention at http://www.sbc.net

Sites opposing Christian evangelism include:

	Jews for Judaism  is the largest countermissionary organization in the world, and is dedicated to combating Christian missionizing to the Jews. See: www.jewsforjudaism.org
	Rabbi Tovia Singer's Outreach Judaism at: www.outreachjudaism.org
	Torah Life and Living at: http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/orgs/toralife
	S. J. Greenstein, "We are NOT going to burn in Hell: A Jewish Response to Christianity," at: http://www.mindspring.com/~sjayg4/index.htm

Copyright ' 1998 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-MAR-15
Author: B.A. Robinson

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