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1. Biblical Foundations Jewish mission does not have merely an abstract basis (e.g., Christianity’s claim to absoluteness or the universal nature of salvation) but rests partly on the concrete experiences of earliest Christianity. Jesus was aware of being sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24), and it was to them that he symbolically sent out the Twelve (Mark 6:7–13). Furthermore, the message of Jesus as Messiah spread first “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria” (Acts 1:8), and then in other places to Jews and various God-fearers. In the initial st…

1. Biblical and Patristic Period 1.1. Term The loose term “Jewish Christians” takes on sharp contours only when it is used in agreement with patristic sources. It is used for Christians who link ¶ their confession of Christ to a theology and lifestyle of Jewish structure (M. Simon, G. Strecker). 1.2. Sources and Spread The early Christian fathers from the time of Irenaeus (d. ca. 200) describe Jewish Christians. There are quotations from perhaps three Jewish-Christian gospels (Apocrypha 2.1.2), and there is a reference to Jewish Christians in the Pseudo-Cl…