American Christians are divided over a statement by US leaders of the Roman Catholic Church declaring that Jews should not be targeted for conversion.
The statement, jointly issued by representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jewish leaders, states that the "saving covenant" God made with Israel is still valid, and was not superseded by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
America's largest denominations, notably evangelical Protestant groups, insist that conversion of Jews is a religious obligation and raise millions of pounds annually for missionary projects aimed at American Jews.
America has the world's largest Jewish community. The declaration follows decades of improving relations between the Jewish faith and the Catholic Church, which advocated forced conversion of Jews until the 19th century.
The statement, issued by a committee headed by Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, said: "A deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people, together with a recognition of a divinely given mission to Jews to witness to God's faithful love, lead to the conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable."
However, Martin King, a spokesman for the missionary wing of the Southern Baptist Convention - the second largest church in America after the Catholics - said that his church would continue their work of reaching out to Jews.
"The Bible says there is only one name under which man can be saved - Jesus Christ," he said.
The relationship between American evangelical Christians and Jews has taken a political turn in recent years. Christian conservatives are some of the staunchest supporters of the modern state of Israel, rallying their faithful to demand strong backing for Israel from Congress.
However Israeli commentators, while grateful for the backing, have noted that the support of born-again Christians comes at a high theological price.
Many evangelical Christians defend Israel because they believe that the end of the world, as predicted in the Book of Revelations, is imminent, and that those "End Times" must unfold in a Jewish state of Israel.
Those evangelicals who believe in the literal word of the Bible predict that 144,000 Jews will be instantly converted to Christianity. All others will be despatched to hell.