The Disputation
Today is the anniversary of the famous Disptuation between Nachmanides and Pablo Christiani which took place in 1263 in Spain. During the Middle Ages, the local Catholic churches often forced Jewish leaders into "debates" about Judaism as a method of convincing Jews to leave Judaism and become Christians. The structure of the debates generally held to a similar format; Christian leaders in the debate could say anything they wanted to while the Jewish leaders were handicapped by being forced not to say anything that would go against Christianity. By having this rule in place, the Catholic Church hoped to have a better chance at defeating the Jews in debate and thereby increasing the likelihood of gaining Jewish converts.
The Disputation between Nachmanides and Pablo Christiani is probably the best known of these debates. Nachamindes was one of the greatest Jewish scholars ever and to this day, holds a position of high reverence among all Jewish denominations. Pablo Christiani was a Jewish convert to Catholocism. Much like today, Christians in the Middle Ages probably viewed Jewish converts as having a better position in the community to talk to Jews about Christianity. Of course, these converts were not called Messianic Jews or Hebrew Christians, as the Messianic "Jewish"/Hebrew Christian movement did not appear until the 1800's. Converts from Judaism were simply called Christians.
However, The Disputation was different than the other debates of the Middle Ages. The King of Spain allowed Nachmanides full freedom to talk as he wished. This was a bold move by the King, since he was himself a Catholic and a representation of Catholic power in the region. Given such freedom, Nachmanides easily defeated Pablo Christiani in the debate. Nachmanides wrote down the proceedings of the debate which has been kept for posterity. Below are a few links on the topic:
http://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day_cdo/aid/299456/jewish/Nachmanides-Disputation.htm
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1300
http://www.aish.com/jw/j/48956656.html
The Disputation between Nachmanides and Pablo Christiani is probably the best known of these debates. Nachamindes was one of the greatest Jewish scholars ever and to this day, holds a position of high reverence among all Jewish denominations. Pablo Christiani was a Jewish convert to Catholocism. Much like today, Christians in the Middle Ages probably viewed Jewish converts as having a better position in the community to talk to Jews about Christianity. Of course, these converts were not called Messianic Jews or Hebrew Christians, as the Messianic "Jewish"/Hebrew Christian movement did not appear until the 1800's. Converts from Judaism were simply called Christians.
However, The Disputation was different than the other debates of the Middle Ages. The King of Spain allowed Nachmanides full freedom to talk as he wished. This was a bold move by the King, since he was himself a Catholic and a representation of Catholic power in the region. Given such freedom, Nachmanides easily defeated Pablo Christiani in the debate. Nachmanides wrote down the proceedings of the debate which has been kept for posterity. Below are a few links on the topic:
http://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day_cdo/aid/299456/jewish/Nachmanides-Disputation.htm
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1300
http://www.aish.com/jw/j/48956656.html
posted by Jason Levinson | 4:23 PM
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