We Have Reason to Believe was published in 1959, when it received minimal attention. In the 1960s, when Jacobs was being considered for firstly the position of principal at Jews College and secondly as a rabbi at the New West End Synagogue, Israel Brodie vetoed his application for these posts based upon statements contained in this earlier publication. The book has been reviewed many times over the next forty years and was reprinted, revised and expanded five times.

In 1999, more than forty years after the publication of We Have Reason to Believe, Jacobs wrote a systematic argument in defence of the criticism levied against his original thesis so that the reader could "decide whether [he has] presented a case beyond reasonable doubt" in his later publication titled Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1999/ 2000).

This timeline follows the changing reception of both of these books, and there are pictures of items in the Louis Jacobs Archive relating to both works. Each of these archival material reproductions placed alongside the timeline can be enlarged by clicking the thumbnails.

All reproductions presented below belong to the Louis Jacobs Archive.

In some cases copyright belongs to third parties, where copyright clearance was obtained, it is indicated in the caption. We have made considerable efforts to contact all relevant copyright holders. In some cases this was not possible and we would appreciate any information about the copyright holders in these cases.

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