Jewish-Christian Polemics in the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern Period (original) (raw)

Sceptical aspects in this workshop will focus on Jewish-Christian polemics from three different points of view: philosophical controversies in Halevi’s Kuzari; conversion as it appears in Abner of Burgos’ Teshovat Apikoros; and confessionalization in the early modern period. Judah Halevi lived most of his life under Islamic rule, and yet he engaged in anti-Christian polemics in his Kuzari. Although the Jewish critique of Christianity is usually considered a reaction to a Christian mission, much evidence indicates that such polemics are not solely a defensive measure. Jewish rationalists engaged in polemics against Christianity as part of their self-definition of Judaism, while Jews who eschewed rationalism, especially those in Christian Northern and Eastern Europe, usually did not engage in such criticisms of Christianity even when there were Christian provocations. The issue to be addressed is to what extent does Halevi’s anti-Christian polemics fit this Jewish rationalist paradigm. Abner of Burgos, the famous Jewish convert to Christianity from the 14th century, wrote extensively, after his conversion, praising his new faith and claiming it to be the true religion, while rejecting his birth faith. In many of his works, Abner harshly criticizes “Jewish” ideas, while at the same time, he puts a great effort to show that the Jewish Rabbis, in fact, accepted the fundamental principles of Christianity, but had to conceal this acceptance for political reasons. What is the meaning of “public” and “private” theological controversies between Jews and a Christians, and how do these two types of controversies differ? These questions will be approached via an examination of the 17th century anti-Christian Latin polemical work, "Porta veritatis" (1634-1640). In a way, the polemics contained in this work were “staged” for a very limited public--or for no public at all. What, then, was this work's real purpose? Certainly, it sought not only to establish the “truth” of one religion, or rather some of this religion’s tenets, with respect to the other. But also, it sought to demonstrate that a Jew could “actively” defend his/her religion, and to be present as an intellectual on the philosophical scene, a scene that was quite lively and even frantic in the century of Spinoza and Descartes.