John M. Yeats

'the Time is Come': the Rise of British Missions to the Jews, 1808-1818 John M. Yeats

The London Society for the Promotion of Christianity amongst the Jews held its first meeting in August of 1808. The leadership of the organization believed the millennial age was fast approaching and all that remained to be fulfilled before the coming of Christ was the mass conversion of the Jews. Under the direction of Joseph Samuel Christian Frederick Frey, the LSPCJ became the first British mission society to focus solely on the conversion of the Jews. Appealing to common Protestant conceptions concerning the end of days, the LSPCJ created a novel Judeo-centric missiology that stressed the centrality of Jewish conversion before the mission to the Gentiles could effectively come to fruition. Combined, these elements created a broad appeal for the LSPCJ across the British social spectrum including the Duke of Kent, William Wilberforce, and multiple members of Parliament. This book explores the tumultuous first decade of this often overlooked evangelical organization.