Endnote 6 – Was the Early Church Jewish?

The Jewish Bible, starting with its first chapter, is a document with very strong universalistic sections. Many of the biblical and Jewish traditions are very dialogical indeed. There is no doubt that over the centuries many converts from paganism joined Judaism. It is still debated, however, among scholars how widespread such conversions were and whether any conscious and organized effort existed that caused or supported such changes. Evidence and arguments for positive answers to these questions are in Dieter Georgi, “The Early Church: Internal Jewish Migration or New Religion?” Harvard Theological Review 81:1 (1995), pp. 35–68.