“To the Jew first…” — Romans 1:16
In March 1917, the Christian and Missionary Alliance released a publication titled The Gospel for the Modern Jew. It was written with deep missionary conviction, reflecting the urgency of early 20th-century evangelicalism to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the Jewish people. Yet in reading it today, over a century later, we are struck not only by its sincere zeal—but by its theological limitations.
It is time we revisit this vision—not to discard it, but to discern how it might be fulfilled more faithfully.
The Love Behind the Vision
A.B. Simpson, founder of the Alliance, was no stranger to the Jewish people. His first congregation met in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of New York, and he expressed deep admiration for the cultural and religious integrity of Judaism. Simpson did not seek to erase Jewish identity; he saw the Jewish people as “beloved for the fathers’ sake” and part of God’s covenantal design.
A.B. Simpson, founder of the Alliance, was no stranger to the Jewish people. His first congregation met in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of New York, and he expressed deep admiration for the cultural and religious integrity of Judaism. Simpson did not seek to erase Jewish identity; he saw the Jewish people as “beloved for the fathers’ sake” and part of God’s covenantal design.
Unlike the triumphalist missions of colonial Christendom, Simpson’s vision was rooted in love, presence, and eschatological longing: “Bringing Back the King” was not about geopolitical victory, it should be framed as covenantal return.
Today, in a providential twist, a yeshiva now stands near where Simpson’s training ministry once began. Could this be a sign—a reminder that the seed of faith he sowed was not to replace the Jewish people, but to prepare the Church to receive from them again?
The 1917 Document: Earnest but Edomite
The 1917 publication frames the gospel as something that Christianity must give to Judaism. This “Gospel for the Modern Jew” draws heavily on Pauline language, emphasizing fulfillment theology and the need for Jewish conversion. It critiques rabbinic Judaism for allegedly missing the Messiah, while offering Christian doctrines as the corrective.
Yet it fails to ask the deeper question: Has Christianity itself gone astray?
From a Torat Edom perspective, the Church has often played the role of Edom—Esau’s descendant—seizing the blessing while forgetting the wound. The gospel was never meant to be a handoff from Judaism to Christianity, but a shared burden between them. The covenant was not revoked; it was veiled. Jesus himself said, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22), not “to” them.
If Edom has taken the covenant as conquest, then the true gospel must begin with repentance from such theft.
Rabbinic Memory and the Hidden Remnant
The document pays little attention to the role of the rabbis in preserving the covenant through the trauma of exile. It presumes that the fall of the Temple disqualified the Jewish people from their role as oracle-keepers (Romans 3:2). But Torat Edom affirms that Rabbinic Judaism—while flawed—is a faithful vessel for preserving covenantal time, ethics, and longing. It veiled Yeshua not out of malice, but out of necessity. God Himself allowed the name of Jesus to be misunderstood, waiting for the time when Edom would be ready to receive correction.
Moreover, where is the mention of Jude? Of James? Of the Desposyni (Jesus Netzar relatives)? These were the guardians of Jesus’ family and the true keepers of the faith, resisting both Roman seduction and rabbinic backlash. They stood in the breach, a forgotten priesthood.
Toward a Repaired Alliance Vision
We do not dismiss the 1917 vision. But we must reframe it.
The gospel must no longer be preached to the Jew in a way that forgets the Jewishness of Jesus, the covenantal faithfulness of the remnant, or the distortion of Christianity into imperial theology. The gospel must go forth from the Jew, and the Church must be humble enough to receive it again.
This is NOT a call to Rabbinic submission, nor to Messianic mimicry. It is a call to covenantal reconciliation, in which the Alliance legacy can shine—not as a mission of conquest, but as a movement of return.
Simpson’s own words, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” can only be fully realized when both the olive tree’s natural branches and its wild grafts are nourished together.
Final Word
A hundred years ago, Alliance leaders asked: “What must we do to reach the Jew?”
Today, we might ask:
“What must we unlearn so we can receive from the Jew again?”
To truly bring back the King, we must also return to the family. And that means learning to see Edom not only in Rome, but in ourselves—and offering the gospel not as a replacement, but as a reconciliation.
