On 5 May 1932 the International Hebrew Christian Alliance (now the International Messianic Jewish Aliance) Commission on the Establishment of a Hebrew Christian Church held its fourth recorded meeting. It was not the first discussion of the question, but it was one of the most decisive. At this meeting, after months of debate, revision, consultation, and prayer, the Commission completed and approved the Principles of Faith of the Hebrew Christian Church. The members then gave thanks to God for the guidance granted to them and for enabling a satisfactory conclusion to be reached on what had proved to be a difficult matter.
The significance of the meeting lies not only in the text that was agreed, but in the fact that Hebrew Christians were attempting to answer a question that has never really gone away: how can Jewish believers in Yeshua possess a recognised communal and ecclesial form that is both loyal to the universal Church and true to their identity as Jews? The Commission’s work shows that this question was being asked in disciplined, practical, and theological form long before the rise of the modern Messianic Jewish movement.
The Commission itself had been appointed to make a survey of the numbers of Hebrew Christians in the world, to report on the desirability and practicability of a Hebrew Christian religious body, to draw up a constitution, to indicate its doctrines, and to define its relationship both to the universal Church of Yeshua the Messiah and to the Jewish people. The members included E. Bendor Samuel as chairman, Nahum Levison, W. H. Flecker, P. P. Levertoff, B. Lipschutz, Leon Levison, Harcourt Samuel, I. E. Davidson, A. P. Gold-Levin, and Hugh Schonfield. From the beginning, then, this was not merely an exercise in drafting pious language. It was a serious attempt to think institutionally, theologically, and internationally about the future of Jewish disciples of Yeshua.
One of the most striking features of the early meetings was Sir Leon Levison’s survey of the numbers of Hebrew Christians across the world. He argued that governmental and registration records, especially on the European continent, provided the most reliable basis for such estimates. On that basis he presented the following figures: 97,000 in Austria and Hungary, including some 40,000 who had not joined any denomination; about 4,000 in Romania and Bessarabia; 28,000 in Germany; 35,000 in Poland; over 60,000 in Russia entering the Greek Catholic Church alone apart from those brought in through Jewish missions; around 25,000 in America; over 5,000 in Great Britain; around 200 in Persia; and a small but significant number in Palestine, where he referred both to broader estimates of 200 to 300 and to a more cautious working estimate of 90 to 100. He also mentioned Hebrew Christians scattered in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Taken together, these figures suggested a body of roughly 264,000 Hebrew Christians. Levison further concluded that the denominational balance was roughly two to one in favour of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches over the Protestant Churches. That alone made the question of common guidance, common doctrine, and some recognised form of corporate life all the more urgent.
The practical case was strengthened by reports from abroad. Levison pointed to earlier attempts to establish Hebrew Christian congregations, including Joseph Rabinowitz’s body in Kishinev, remnants in Chisinau, gatherings in Odessa and Tashkent, communities in Warsaw and Bialystok, believers in Persia, and fledgling groups in Jerusalem and Jaffa. Some of these met in private homes or in rooms at the back of restaurants because they had neither a Christian church nor a Jewish synagogue in which to worship. Others had formed under missionary auspices but desired a more clearly Hebrew Christian form. Levison’s point was that the Alliance was not proposing something artificial or entirely new. It was being asked for guidance by communities already in existence.
There was also a legal and political dimension. In some places, especially under Roman Catholic or Greek Catholic governments, Hebrew Christian groups met only precariously and could easily be suppressed. Levison argued that if such bodies had no recognised creed or basis of faith, hostile authorities could dismiss them as suspect gatherings or even accuse them of political subversion. A common basis of faith, issued by an international body, might therefore help them gain recognition and reduce interference. The proposed religious body was not simply about identity in the abstract. It was about worship, protection, order, and the prevention of fragmentation.
The meetings leading up to 5 May 1932 show the seriousness with which the Commission handled these issues. At the second meeting on 1 January 1932, the members debated whether the doctrinal statement should be called a Creed, a Confession of Faith, or Principles of Faith, and agreed on the last term as being more Jewish. They also agreed to use the term Church in the title, resulting in the phrase Principles of Faith of the Hebrew Christian Church. Different drafts were then compared. The draft read by the secretary was thought clearer and more cohesive by some outside advisers, while P. P. Levertoff’s draft was admired for its scriptural richness and liturgical suitability. At the third meeting on 12 February 1932, Levertoff’s new draft was considered, and further amendments were made.
By the time the Commission met again on 5 May 1932, it had before it not only the original material but also a fresh list of suggested corrections from Levertoff. Nahum Levison explained that he had carefully reworked both the original draft and Levertoff’s proposals and had sought to combine the two. Although some wondered whether it was in order to reopen articles that had already been adopted, the Commission agreed that an exception should be made. The preamble was passed without amendment; Articles 1, 2, 4, and 7 were passed without amendment; Articles 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11 were adopted in amended form. Once the whole text had been read as completed and approved, B. Lipschutz, P. Gorodishz, and the chairman led the Commission in prayer, thanking God for His guidance.
The minutes record further gratitude to Professor MacIntosh, Principal Martin, and Dean Perry for the assistance they had rendered. That, too, is revealing. The Commission’s work was devotional and ecclesial, but it was also learned. The members wanted a text faithful to Scripture, intelligible across denominational lines, and strong enough to sustain an actual communal body. The final Principles of Faith are therefore important not only because of what they say, but because of the kind of theological labour they represent: Jewish disciples of Yeshua working out how to confess the faith of the Church in language shaped by Israel’s Scriptures, Israel’s God, and the continuing reality of Jewish life.
For those of us who look back on this history from within Messianic Judaism, the meeting of 5 May 1932 deserves to be remembered. It did not solve every problem. It did not create overnight the kind of durable Hebrew Christian Church which we now recognise in Messianic Jewish congregations, synagogues associated with the Messianic Jewish movement and Messianic Judaism. But it did show remarkable seriousness of purpose. It showed that Jewish believers in Yeshua were not content simply to survive as isolated converts, tolerated anomalies, or missionary trophies. They sought a common confession, a common order, and a common life. In that sense, the Church Commission stands as one of the important precursors of later Messianic Jewish attempts to think about covenantal continuity, differentiated ecclesiology, worship, and communal responsibility.
May the memory of this day encourage us to take our own questions with equal seriousness. The men who met in 1931 and 1932 were not afraid to ask whether Jewish discipleship required form, doctrine, order, and communal self-understanding. We are still living inside that question.
Full text of the Minutes of the Commission here –
Appendix: The Principles of Faith of the Hebrew Christian Church
Preamble
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and all thy might, and thy neighbour as thyself.
Article 1
I BELIEVE in God the Source of all being, the Covenant God, the Holy One of Israel, our Heavenly Father.
Article 2
I BELIEVE that God Who spake at sundry times and divers manners in time past to the fathers through the prophets promised to redeem the world from sin and death, in and through His Anointed, Who should be a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of His people Israel.
Article 3
I BELIEVE that in the fulness of time God fulfilled His promise, and sent forth His Son, His eternal Word, Jesus the Messiah, Who was born by the power of the Holy Spirit, of the Virgin Mary, who was of the family of David, so that in Him the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.
Article 4
I BELIEVE that Jesus the Messiah is in very truth the Shekinah, the brightness of the Father’s glory, the very impress of His Person, that He was made unto us Wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification and that by His Life, Death on the Cross and glorious Resurrection, He has accomplished our Reconciliation with the Father.
Article 5
I BELIEVE that the Father sealed all that the Son was, did and taught, by raising Him through the Holy Spirit from the dead, and that the Risen and Glorified Lord appeared to many and communed with them, and then Ascended to be our Mediator with the Father and to reign with Him, One God.
Article 6
I BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, was sent to be with us, to give us assurance of the forgiveness of sin and to lead us into the fulness of truth and the more abundant life.
Article 7
I BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit, Who beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the sons of God, will quicken us in the resurrection when we shall be clothed with the body which it shall please the Father to give us.
Article 8
I BELIEVE that the Church of the Messiah is the family of God in Heaven and on Earth, the Sanctuary of the redeemed in Which God dwells and of which the Messiah Jesus is the only Head.
Article 9
I BELIEVE that the Old and New Testaments as written are the divinely inspired records of God’s revelation to Israel and the World and are the only rule of faith and life.
Article 10
I BELIEVE that it is the Will of God, Who has graciously brought us into the new Covenant that we should strive to be His witnesses, making the teaching and life of the Messiah our standard and example, till He comes again to reign in power and glory.
Article 11
I BELIEVE that the Church visible maintains unbroken continuity with the Church in Heaven by partaking of the same blessed Sacraments of Baptism and of Holy Communion and by confessing the same Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One Godhead.
Prayer
English
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we thank you for the witness of Jewish disciples of Yeshua in generations past. Remember for us their courage, their searching, their failures, and their faithfulness. Teach us to cherish truth, to love your people Israel, and to honour Messiah Yeshua with humble hearts. Grant to your Messianic Jewish people wisdom, unity, holiness, and courage for this generation. Build up your people, heal your Church, and hasten the day when all Israel shall be saved and your name shall be one in all the earth. In Yeshua’s name, Amen.
Hebrew
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם, יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, מוֹדִים אֲנַחְנוּ לְךָ עַל עֵדוּתָם שֶׁל תַּלְמִידֵי יֵשׁוּעַ הַיְּהוּדִים בְּדוֹרוֹת קוֹדְמִים. זְכֹר לָנוּ אֶת אוֹמֶץ לִבָּם, אֶת בַּקָּשָׁתָם לָאֱמֶת, וְאֶת נֶאֱמָנוּתָם. לַמְּדֵנוּ לֶאֱהֹב אֶת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת הָאֱמֶת, וּלְכַבֵּד אֶת יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ בְּלֵב עָנָו. תֵּן לְעַמְּךָ הַמְּשִׁיחִי חָכְמָה, אַחְדוּת, קְדוּשָּׁה וָאֹמֶץ בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה. בְּנֵה אֶת עַמְּךָ, רַפֵּא אֶת קְהִלָּתְךָ, וְמַהֵר אֶת הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יִוָּשַׁע וּשְׁמְךָ יִהְיֶה אֶחָד בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ. בְּשֵׁם יֵשׁוּעַ, אָמֵן.
Transliteration
Ribbono shel olam, Elohei Avraham, Yitzchak ve-Ya’akov, modim anachnu lekha al edutam shel talmidei Yeshua ha-Yehudim be-dorot kodmim. Zekhor lanu et ometz libam, et bakashatam la-emet, ve-et ne’emanutam. Lamdenu le’ehov et amkha Yisrael, levakesh et ha-emet, u-lekhabed et Yeshua ha-Mashiach be-lev anav. Ten le-amkha ha-Meshichi chokhmah, achdut, kedushah va-ometz ba-dor ha-zeh. Beneh et amkha, rappe et kehilatekha, u-maher et ha-yom asher kol Yisrael yivvasha u-shemkha yihyeh echad be-khol ha-aretz. Be-shem Yeshua, amen.
References
Full Report below – first publication.
