Leopold Cohn and the Evolution of Messianic Judaism into the Leading Missionary Movement among American Jewsâ€
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
I carefully read the article and I warmly endorse it. The article tells the story of Leopold Cohn and Chosen People Ministries, a creative new mission to the Jews that was founded in the early 1900s in New York and brought to the fold a new proselytizing method. Instead of suggesting the converts a new religious identity at the expense of the old one, this mission suggested a hybrid of two identities: Jewish and Christian, and this new institution became very successful. However, Cohn’s life was tangled with many controversies, which makes his story even more interesting.
The article is well written and original. The author was able to use multiple primary sources in three languages added to a long list of secondary sources and to tell a compelling story on the American religious landscape.
I have only a few minor suggestions for revisions.
Line 42 – “on that period”, which one?
Line 78 – perceived as bad and mistaken because they deny Jesus
Line 95 – Christian priests who are mostly evangelical Protestant
Lines 100-107: the paragraph’s style needs a revision. I would say that his biography is controversial. There are testimonies that contradict his version of his biography and puts his life in an unflattering light.
Line 341 – the correct institution’s name is The Hebrew Union College.
Line 420 – I suggest dropping the list of his shortcomings and saying that despite his numerous shortcomings he was a man of outstanding personality.
Line 431 – Fundraising is one word.
Line 483 – I suggest ending the sentence after the word “antisemitism”.
Line 502 – add “evangelical” before Christians.
Author Response
Reviewer no. 1. Suggested a series of specific corrections, which I fully accepted. You can follow my corrections in the revised article.
Reviewer 2 Report
I learned a great deal from reading this article, which made me want to know more. I think there are two major content gaps that need to be filled.
The first has to do with the use of conversion. Full disclosure: I teach conversion theory, so if someone else had read this article, they may not have noticed this. Nevertheless, I highly recommend looking at Lewis R. Rambo's classic text Understanding Religious Conversion, particularly when trying to define what Cohn does and does not do and whether he is or is not successful (see the chapters on models and methods and advocacy). A successful group cannot simply be defined by the number of converts. Also, Rambo's definitions may help clarify who The Chosen People are; if they can be Jews and Christians, that's a form of syncretism. However, it is not a form that is accepted by either major religion.
The second gap has to deal with the "so what?" question that the author attempts to answer in the conclusion. The argument that Cohn helped decrease anti-Semitism and facilitated the Jews' rise in America needs more support, because while his sermons were important at the time, they in themselves may not have done what the author is claiming. Also, I would take another look at the apocalyptic implications of dispensationalism. Many evangelicals are pro-Israel not for Israel's sake, but because that is where Armageddon will happen, Jesus will return, and all unbelievers will be destroyed. Israel is effectively where the world will end, so it has to stick around until then. That is not perhaps the support a country needs.
I think this subject is an important one; with some additional secondary sources and some work with the conclusions, this will be a fine article.
Author Response
Reviewer no. 2 made two main comments. One asked to refer to Lewis R. Rambo's book, and to the compresence between various conversion strategies. Although I think that this article is not the proper place for a comprehensive analysis of conversion strategies, and particulalry comparing that of Cohn's to other messianic and non-messianic missionaries, I did mention the issue and referred to Rambo's book. I likewise referred to the reviewer's comment about Messianic Judaism being a sort of religious syncretism.
The reviewer also suggested a more nuanced explanation of why evangelical Christians support Israel. I have accepted this remark as well and corrected the text accordingly.
