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Chrstian apologists & missionaries consider Alfred Edersheim (pronounced Eders - Heim) as one of their big "super stars". They love to cite Edersheims writings as being authoritative and as being as close to the last word about Jewish thought at the time of yeshu as possible. He is also often referred to as a Jewish scholar.

Here are the first few paragraphs from the Biographical Data about Rev. Alfred Edersheim, from a work compiled by Stewart Edersheim, clearly a relative, though it isnt clear from the document in what way they are related, called The Alfred Edersheim Home Page:

Alfred Edersheim a scholar and writer on the traditions of the Jewish faith and Life of Chrst was born March 7th, 1825 in the city of Vienna, Austria. His parents Marcus and Stephanie Beifuss were of the Jewish faith. In this city he studied in the gymnasium and University of Austria.

Around 1845 he moved to Pesth, Hungary where he met John Duncan and other Presbyterian ministers, who were chaplains to Scottish workmen building a bridge over the Danube River.

Under their influence he became a Chrstian and came to Scotland with Dr. Duncan. In 1843 he entered New College until 1844. In 1846 he entered the Presbyterian ministry and thereafter preached for a year as a missionary to the Jews and Germans at Jassy in Rumania. He came to Old Aberdeen Church in 1848 and remained for twelve years. In the twelve years at Aberdeen he translated several German theological books into English and wrote his "History of the Jewish Nation from the Fall of Jerusalem to the reign of Constantine the Great."

Though some of the given dates appear not to be the correct sequence of events, the information provided by the compiler still enables us to draw certain conclusions.

- First, note that Edersheim studied at the gymnasium (European term for junior high school or middle school) and at the University of Austria. Now, he was born to Jewish parents, but it is clear that these were secular (perhaps assimilated) Jews rather than religious Jews, since he attended public schools rather than Jewish schools, at least up to the time he entered the university.

- Second, note that, having been born in 1825, his conversion to Chrstianity occurred around the time he was 20 years old, hardly an age at which even Orthodox Jewish young men, who have studied Torah & Talmud since early childhood, can qualify as scholars, let alone an apparently assimilated Jewish young man such as Edersheim. In fact, the likelihood is that Edersheim was successfully evangelized by Duncan because he didn't have a good foundation of Jewish education!

Given the above, it is quite evident that Edersheim was neither a Jewish scholar nor an expert on the Jewish Holy Books, such as the Talmud. It is even doubtful that he was able to read the Talmud in its original Hebrew & Aramaic language. He was quite skilled at hunting for and finding passages in sources (many rather obscure, some others not, though not easily available) that, when quoted out-of-context, could be used as pointers to Jewish thought around the time of yeshu that appear to support Chrstian theology. However, in his zealousness to prove the truth of his new religion, he neglected to consider the fact that his efforts can all be successfully debunked by going to the sources and seeing the correct context of his pointers.

Yes, the Reverend Alfred Edersheim was quite a prolific Chrstian writer, who chose to write about the Jewish people (I wonder what drove him in that direction). His works appear to be loaded with authoritative information to support his claims about Chrstianity, however, the reader must also know that Edersheims perceived qualifications concerning the intimate knowledge of the Jewish Holy Books and the Jewish Way of Life were non-existent an assimilated Jew who converted to Chrstianity around the age of 20.

To bring this a little closer to home, lets suppose the reverse scenario. Suppose there was a certain John Q. Smith, born to parents of the Chrstian faith, who had no formal Chrstian education since he studied in the public school system. Now, at the age of 20, this John Q. Smith met up with an Orthodox Rabbi with whom he was so impressed that he decided to convert to Judaism, and he became an Orthodox Rabbi himself, as well as a Jewish Bible and Talmud scholar. John Q. Smith also became a prolific writer, and most of his books dealt with debunking the so-called Chrstian proof texts, doctrines, and dogmas, using his nominal Chrstian background as his credentials for being an authority about Chrstianity, and knowing where all the skeletons are buried. He quotes all sorts of obscure Chrstian sources in support of his various theses, and every Jewish anti-missionary uses his material and constantly cites his writings when confronting missionaries or Jews who have converted to Chrstianity. Now, how would a bible-thumping Chrstian look at John Q. Smiths apparently scholarly works? Would that Chrstian be inclined to admit, Yea, this guy really knows what hes talking about; look, hes got a Ph.D. from Yeshiva University, and is on the faculty of Brandeis University doing great research. Maybe I better rethink this whole Chrstianity thing.?

This is my perspective on Rev. Alfred Edersheim.
I hope you find it helpful in your discussion with the missionary.

UriYosef