The Wisdom of Alfred Edersheim. David Mishkin

Decline of the two Kingdoms to the Assyrian and Babylonian Captivity; Edition quoted: (Peabody, Hendrickson, 1995)

      1885, On a Theory of the Origin and Composition of the Synoptic Gospels by G. Wetzel

      (“Synoptic”) Clarendon Press, Oxford. This essay appeared in Studia Biblica: Essays in Biblical Archaeology and Criticism and kindred subjects by Members of the University of Oxford, Edited by S. R. Driver, William Sanday and John Wordsworth.

      1885, Prophecy and History in Relation to the Messiah

      (“Prophecy”) Longman’s Publishing, London. This is also known as the Warburton Lectures, addresses given at the Chapel of Lincoln’s Inn between the years 1880 – 1884. The stated purpose of this series as a whole was, “to prove the truth of reveled religion in general, and of the Christian in particular, from the completion of those prophecies in the Old and New Testaments which relate to the Christian Church, especially to the apostacy of Papal Rome.” Published in the days of great liberalism and skepticism (especially from the German school of Higher Criticism), these lectures offer an apologetic in defense of the reliability of the Scriptures and the Messiahship of Jesus. Edition quoted: (Eugene, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005.)

      1887 Dictionary of Christian Biography

      (“DCB”) Edited by Dr. William Smith and Henry Wace, DD. Edersheim wrote the entries for Philo and Josephus.

      1888, Ecclesiasticus

      (“Eccl”) This article, along with an exegetical commentary on the Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus appeared in: The Holy Bible According to the Authorised Version, with an Explanatory and Critical Commentary by Clergy of the Anglican Church. Apocrypha, Volume II, Edited by Henry Wace., London.

      1890, Tohu-Va-Vohu

      (“Tohu”) Published a year after his death, this is a collection of “fragmentary thoughts” compiled by his daughter, Ella. The title means “formless and void,” taken from Genesis 1:2. This is the best source for getting his personal opinions on a variety of subjects.

      In addition to the above, he also translated and edited books by German scholars:

      1854, The Historical Development of Speculative Philosophy from Kant to Hegel, by H.M. Chalybaus.

      1859, Theological and Homiletical Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, by Johann Peter Lange

      1860, The History of the Christian Church to the Reformation, by Johann Kurtz. Along with translating this work, Edersheim added the remaining history, “From the Reformation to the Present Time.”

      His Legacy

      In the days when Edersheim wrote, it was an increasingly new and profound idea among Jews to re-inhabit the land of their forefathers. He died just eight years before Theodore Herzl called the first Zionist Congress in 1897. It was fifty nine years after his death that the nation of Israel was reborn. Yet, Edersheim had an unyielding commitment to the reality of a future for Israel. It was not wishful thinking, but simply his understanding and trust of the scriptures. Based on God’s promise to Abraham and the later words of the great Hebrew prophets, a Jewish return to the Land was seen as a guarantee. And in conjunction with this, Edersheim believed whole- heartedly in the turning of his people to God’s true Messiah.

The land and the people God has joined together; and though now the one lies desolate, like a dead body, and the other wanders unresting, as it were a disembodied spirit, God will again bring them to each other in the days when His promise shall be finally established.1

      The 19th century witnessed more than just the roots of Zionism. The Jewish community as a whole in Europe was undergoing a renaissance (Haskala) of its own. The writings of Moses Mendelssohn and others at the end of the 18th century paved the way for what would become Reform Judaism. Likewise, there was a new freedom in Europe for Jews to study in Universities. Previously this had been forbidden. There was also an undeniable wave of Jews coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah. They were known as Hebrew Christians, an extremely important link in the historic chain of Jews who have believed in Jesus throughout the ages. Edersheim’s own definition of a Hebrew Christian is as follows:

Our position is this: Confessing with full heart and conviction Jesus Christ as Messiah promised to the fathers, and as our Saviour, we take our stand as members of that Church, which is equally composed of Jews and Gentiles. In this respect there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; no difference in faith, hope, or love; no higher or lower standpoint. But nationally we are Hebrews, nor can our Christianity be supposed in any sense to break these ties. Israel’s past history is ours; Israel’s promises are ours, we share the hope of Israel. And even so far as regards the present we are intensely Jewish – Jewish in all our views, affections, and sympathies.2

There are numerous scholarly works, going back to the 1600s, which focus on Jewish followers of Jesus in the first few centuries of Christianity.3 One of the first attempts at writing the complete history of Jewish believers was made by Hugh Schonfield in 1936. An eclectic Jewish scholar, Schonfield originally considered himself a follower of Jesus and called himself a “Nazarene.” However, he later rejected the basic doctrines of New Testament faith, and in the 1960s wrote the famous and controversial book, The Passover Plot. Despite his later eccentricities, his History of Jewish Christianity remains a valuable resource. Regarding the rise of 19th century Hebrew Christians he said,

The emancipation of the Jews also brought with it the emancipation of the Jewish Christian. No longer need he deny his race, but could openly proclaim himself for what he was.4

In London, organizations like the London Jews Society and the Mildmay Mission to the Jews helped make nineteenth century England the world leader in this endeavor. They even had a Hebrew Christian Prime Minister (Benjamin Disraeli) in 1868, and again from 1874 – 1880. Other noted Hebrew Christians included David Baron and Moses Mendelssohn’s grandson, Felix, the great composer. Such were the times in which Alfred Edersheim lived and wrote. The response of the traditional Jewish community has always been the same: the assumption that Jews who embrace Christianity are only doing so for ulterior motives, or because they are rejecting Judaism. And indeed, this was quite a common phenomenon in 19th century England.5

But there were also many Jews in England and other parts of Europe who turned to Christianity for a different reason. They truly believed that Jesus is the one promised by Moses and the Jewish Prophets. And for these Jews – just like today – there was usually a great price to be paid. While we do not have personal examples from Edersheim’s life, he did write of this in some of his stories (see quotes below, “Jewish Views of Jewish Christians”), which are almost certainly based on personal accounts. This reality is often overlooked by the skeptics. It is also not true that “those converts who chose Christianity out of complete identification with its principles became the greatest enemies and persecutors of Judaism, just like their medieval counterparts.”6 The Hebrew Christian movement actually helped Gentile Christians begin to understand the Jewishness of Jesus, as well as God’s plan for Israel. This was one way to distinguish genuine believers from others who “converted” for personal gain. One rabbi who did acknowledge the real faith of at least some of these believers was Max Heller. “No one,” he wrote in a 1925 article about apostates, “has ever called in question the sincere Christian faith of Neander, Edersheim or Veit.”7

In the twentieth century the term ‘Hebrew Christian’ was eventually changed to ‘Jewish Christian,’ as the designation ‘Hebrew’