The gospel of Jesus Christ is not for Jews, a trustee of a Christian-Jewish council has claimed – suggesting that to think otherwise is anti-Semitic.
In an opinion piece in The Times newspaper calling for the end of Christian missions to convert Jews, Zaki Cooper (photo right), a trustee of the Council of Christians and Jews, cited historical Jewish massacres and anti-Semitism in England going back to the 1100s.
He was writing ahead of a service commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Synod of Oxford, an event in 1220 which saw various anti-Semitic measures imposed on the Jewish community, including tithes and badge-wearing.
However, Cooper acknowledged the progress in Judeo-Christian relations made since then, but criticised many Christian groups, including evangelicals, who ‘continue to target Jews for conversion’.
In response to the article, Joseph Steinberg (photo left), CEO of International Mission to Jewish People (IMJP) – formerly Christian Witness to Israel – said the commemorative service was a ‘significant and much-needed act of repentance for the church’s historical anti-Semitism.
‘However’, he added, ‘I must challenge in the strongest possible terms the claim that sharing the gospel sensitively with Jewish people is anti-Semitic and should be stopped. Jesus specifically said: ‘Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations’, so how can we exclude Jewish people, from whom the gospel came, from hearing the Good News of Jesus also? Jesus himself was Jewish and claimed to be the Messiah, referred to in Isaiah 53 and many other places in Scripture.’
Steinberg, who is himself Jewish, said IMJP shares the gospel in a ‘culturally sensitive way’.
Speaking of his own conversion, he said: ‘As I read the Scriptures and watched my friend’s life, God convicted me that Jesus was the Messiah I had longed to see come into the world. All people, Jewish people included, must be free to hear and consider the Good News about Jesus. It changed my life and we should not deny others the opportunity to experience the life-changing love of Jesus. We should just do so in love and respect.’
