Crossing over Sea and Land: Jewish Missionary Activity in the Second Temple Period

Were there Jewish missionaries during Jesus' time? Second Temple Judaism was not a typical missionary religion with decisive and intentional plans for converting those outside the faith. However, Jewish attitudes and actions toward the Gentile world were diverse in the scattered communities across Palestine, resulting in differing strategies for recruiting new adherents and useful sympathizers. Bird examines the extent and nature of Jewish proselytizing activity among non-Jews in Palestine and the Greco-Roman Diaspora leading up to and during the beginnings of the Christian era. He enters the debate by interacting with other works on the topic (Scott McKnight, Martin Goodman, John Dickson, Rodney Stark, John Barclay) and offers reasons why some researchers prefer one perspective over another. Based on evidence from forced conversions during the Maccabean period, Qumran, the Gospels, Palestinian inscriptions, and rabbinic literature, Bird asserts that no significant proselytizing activity occurred in Second Temple Palestine. He further examines the New Testament; Josephus and Philo; and Apologetic-Propagandistic, early Christian, Greek, and Latin literature and concludes that Jewish missionary activity during the Diaspora occurred only as isolated incidents. Those teaching and doing research in the area of ancient Judaism and the beginnings of Christianity will appreciate Bird's well-documented study. The inclusion of short extracts of primary sources with English translations makes the material more accessible to college and seminary students.