Judaism and Christianity in Conflict—and Conversation

DENG+Songwang

【Abstract】The state of Israel was seen as the central of the world for a long time and Judaism was the one of the main religion in Israel； Euramerican developed countries had great influence on the modernization and Christianity had the biggest population of all the western countries. Our understanding and comprehension of religion in the western countries nowadays usually derives in large measure from the close， sophisticated， conflicted relationship between the two great biblical traditions of ancient times： Judaism and Christianity. This paper will mainly focus on the “ parting of the ways” and differences between believers in Christian and the mainstream of the Jews， the unstable but constant reciprocity of Jews and Christians during the middle ages， and disputation that nearly brought Jewish life in the western countries to an end. I will discuss， explore， and analyze three necessary themes that influenced both Judaism and Christianity—The Disputation of Barcelona， the main events that characterized the conflict and conversation relationships between Judaism and Christianity， and Adversus Judaeos and Augustine of Hippo （354-430）.

【Key words】 Religion； Judaism； Christianity； Conflict and Conversation

1. Introduction

Benjamin Disraeli once said：“Exploring the state of Israel is observing the whole history of the world. The history of Judaism is the history of both the Kingdom of Heaven and the ordinary world.” The history of Judaism is almost the entire history of the world and this country has seen as the central of the world for hundreds of thousands of years. Even nowadays， the state of Israel is still seen as a focus area. This is the a controversial area， this is the holy place of Judaism， Christianity， and Mohammedanism， this is the place where Jewish civilization and Western civilization， this this the big world stage where ABC， BBC， CCTV all pay attention to. On the other hand， Christianity， which has the the biggest population of all the western countries， has great influence on not only the social and economic development， but also the social transformation and Culture Communication. We could say that researching the history of Christianity is finding the history of western countries. Judaism and Christianity in Conflict–and Conversation gives us a chance to discuss the three necessary topics that influenced both Judaism and Christianity—The Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 Movie，The conflict and conversation in the evolving relationships between Judaism and Christianity， and Adversus Judaeos and Augustine of Hippo （354-430）.

2. Topic Research

2.1 The Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 Movie

The disputation drama， which is based on the disputation of Barcelona in 1263， happened in the court of King James of Aragon. There is a large amount of various disputation between Jewish and Christian during the middle ages. The purposes of most of disputation are that Christians desire to force conversion on the Jew. Nevertheless， among all of those disputations， the disputation of Barcelona in 1263 is different owing to the reason that this is the only occasion that the Jewish spokesman is capable of expressing and speaking what he thinks in a free situation. The screenwriter tries his best to tell us the basic and the important differences between Jewish and Christian by using a great number of dialogues and debates. What we could get through the dramatization is that the Jewish is represented by Rabbi Moses ben Nachman， in other words， Nachmanides， which is known as the leading Talmudic scholar of his time. At the same time， on behalf of the Christian， the apostate Pablo Christiani aggressively argues with the Jewish. The movie shows us the The Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 between Jewish and Christian where Nachmanides used his incomparable knowledge of religious literature as well as the power of his speech to defend his faith by using an army of extraordinary distinguished actors. King James of Aragon rewards the“Rabbi of Gerona”300 golden coins for his courage and success in the disputation at the end of the story and says that this is the first time that he has a chance to witness such “an unjust cause so nobly defended”.

The Disputation movie pays attention to 3 main differences between Jewish and Christian. First and foremost， whether the Messiah had appeared or not； Secondly， whether the Messiah is a divine or a human being according to Scripture. Last but not least， whether the Jews or the Christians held the true faith. Those 3 differences are the respective messages of the film and the texts.

Whether the Messiah had appeared or not. Christian inherits the ideas of “ the most high God”， “Savior”， “prophet”， “ inspiration” of Jews. However， Jews hold a view that Jehovah is the only God and they are The Chosen People of the God， while Christians disagree with that and they think Jesus is the son of the God and those people who believe in God can all be seen as The Chosen People. Jews think that we ought to wait since the true Messiah had not appeared and they expect the arriving of the Messiah. On the contrary， base upon several aggadic passages， not only do Christians believe that the Messiah had appeared， but also they suggest that Jesus is the Messiah who can save them. Nahmanides insists that Jews can have their own privileges to believe the aggadic passages which are found in the Talmud. To this issue， he hold a different attitude and argue that the interpretations of Talmudic materials of Christian are per-se distortions. He persists that the rabbis would not imply that Jesus is the Messiah by using a series of supporting arguments：

“Does he mean to say that the sages of the Talmud believed in Jesus as the messiah and believed that he is both human and divine， as held by the Christians？ However， it is well known that the incident of Jesus took place during the period of the Second Temple. He was born and killed prior to the destruction of the Temple， while the sages of the Talmud， like R. Akiba and his associates， followed this destruction. Those who compiled the Mishnah， Rabbi and R. Nathan， lived many years after the destruction. All the more so R. Ashi who compiled the Talmud， who lived about four hundred years after the destruction. If these sages believed that Jesus was the messiah and that his faith and religion were true and if they wrote these things from which Friar Paul intends to prove this， then how did they remain in the Jewish faith and in their former practice？ For they were Jews， remained in the Jewish faith all their lives， and died Jews - they and their children and their students who heard their teachings. Why did they not convert and turn to the faith of Jesus， as Friar Paul did？ ... If these sages believed in Jesus and in his faith， how is it that they did not do as Friar Paul， who understands their teachings better than they themselves do？”

Nahmanides does not neglect important things which are the prophetic promises of the Messianic Age， a reign of universal peace and justice had not yet been realized. Meanwhile， he takes an opinion that if the Messiah had appeared， the world would not be filled with violence and injustice and the Christians are the most warlike nations among all religions. He claims that the questions of the Messiah are not as important as Christians imagination for Jews due to the reason that it is more important for the Jews to abide by the Torah under a Christian ruler when they are suffering， instead of being forced to observe the Law under the rule of the Messiah.

Furthermore， whether the Messiah is a divine or a human being according to Scripture. Nahmanides believes that the rabbinic Jewish belief is different with Christians mandatories according to a lot of biblical and Talmudic sources. He claims that the Biblical prophets show that it is the future messiah that is a human who has flesh and blood instead of a divine.

“The Creator of Heaven and Earth resorted to the womb of a certain Jewish lady， grew there for nine months and was born as an infant， and afterwards grew up and was betrayed into the hands of his enemies who sentenced him to death and executed him， and that afterwards... he came to life and returned to his original place. The mind of a Jew， or any other person， simply cannot tolerate these assertions. If you have listened all your life to the priests who have filled your brain and the marrow of your bones with this doctrine， and it has settled into you because of that accustomed habit. [I would argue that if you were hearing these ideas for the first time， now， as a grown adult]， you would never have accepted them.”

In the meantime， Nahmanides offers his arguments，

Friar Paul claimed： “ Behold the passage in Isaiah， chapter 53， tells of the death of the messiah and how he was to fall into the hands of his enemies and how he was placed alongside the wicked， as happened to Jesus. Do you believe that this section speaks of the messiah？”

Ramban aka Nachmanides said to him： “In terms of the true meaning of the section， it speaks only of the people of Israel， which the prophets regularly call ‘Israel My servant or ‘Jacob My servant.”

King James Gives Nahmanides 300 golden coins as a reward at the end of the story. When he attends the Sinagoga Major de Barcelona， he suggests the argument of the debate of Jewish is “a thing unheard of during the Middle Ages”.

Although Nahmanides leaves Aragon never to return again because of the victory of the Dominicans， the screenwriter expresses his own view to the differences between the Jewish and Christian that he tends to agree with the Nahmanides by using the rewards and the opinions of the King. The screenwriter is more likely to agree with the idea that the true Messiah had not appeared and the Messiah is a human being. From a personal point of view， what Nahmanides have said is what the screenwriters thinking. When referring to the tools of the respective messages， the screenwriter delivers his personal view to all of us that he believes Jews through the words of Nahmanides. A great number debates as well as different characters， including the superior of Christian， Nahmanides， and the confessor of King James， etc， are used to convey those messages.

2.2 Melito of Sardis， On Pascha—The conflict and conversation in the evolving relationships between Judaism and Christianity.

Melito of Sardis is the pontiff of Sardis and he is seen as a great authority in early Christianity. Because of his personal influence on Christianity and literary works， he holds an important place in terms of pontiffs in Asia. On Pascha， which is known as the most crucial addition to Patristic literature in the current century， is one of his works which is written in the second century in Asia Minor. What he tells us is that the Christian principle on the Paschal mystery， which means the mystery of divine mercy， in the style of Second Sophistic period. Melito holds a view that Christ died on the evening of the 14th before the Passover meal was being prepared. The On Passover offers us some important information in that days and ages—the opinions and feelings of Christian towards Jews and Judaism. The essay itself is not mean to the Jewish people and not all of assay is aiming at attacking on Jewish. However， the essay can be seen as the source of sufferings of Jewish people and the Jewish people are blamed because of the immortal Christ being killed by mortals. Pontius Pilate for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is not criticized by Melito in his essay.

This Christian essay is known as a necessary material for people to recognize the feelings of early Christian toward Judaism. The essay mistakenly believes that it is the Jews who allow King Herod and Caiaphas to put Jesus to death. What the essay desire is not to stimulate anti-Semitic thoughts in Christians but to tell people what actually happened during the Passion of Jesus Christ. There are several reasons， which characterized the conflict between Judaism and Christianity， to motive Melito to write an essay like this. Firstly， Melito is stimulated by a desire for Christians so that this article， to some extents， is a correspondence to the reputation and the affluence of the Jewish community of Sardis. Secondly， Melito wants to compete with the local Jewish community for unbelievers convert owning to the reason that he is willing to distinguish the Christian community from the Jewish community because there are too many similarities between them. He is indulged in promoting a sense of distinctiveness in the Christianity in case they will be displaced by the domestic Jews of Sardis.Therefore， Melito is known for his replacement theology. People all are familiar with such theory that the Old Covenant is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile， the Jewish people fail to fulfill the Old Covenant since they are considered to be short of the belief in Jesus Christ.

At the same time， Melito marks out the responsibility of decisions in this preachment. What he tells people is that the Jews people are the murders who kill and crucified the Jesus on the cross. He writes that：

The God has been murdered， the king of Israel has been put to death by an Israelite right hand.

—On Pascha， 96

Although we have little substance， we still have our own reasons to believe it is his preaching that encouraged the slaughter against the Jews.

2.3 Adversus Judaeos teachings of the church fathers in general， the contribution that Augustine of Hippo made to our story in particular， and Pope Gregory the Greats letters concerning the Jews.

Augustine of Hippo has 2 productions that are concentrated on the Jews： one is letters 196， the other is Adversus Judaeos. The letters 196， which he writes to Ascellus， contain not only the relationship of transmission between Christians and Abraham， but also the effectiveness of Halacha. In the Adversus Judaeos， he raises some objections and he does not agree with the Jewish people that Jesus is not the Messiah. Augustine of Hippo is one of the most respectful godfathers and he has a great influence on the medieval attitude towards Jews. His theory of witness emphasizes not only protecting of Jews but also encouraging of humbleness. It appears in the Pope Gregory the Greats letters concerning the Jews， which enters into the realm of canon law and papal documents of privilege and protection for Jews in the Middle Ages. The main themes of Pope Gregory the Greats letters concerning the Jews all influenced the ideas of Augustine of Hippo that we ought to protect and save their lives and Jewish people ought to observe even the laws of strange vanities.

Gregory the Great， also known as Pope Gregory Ⅰ， was the person that had great influence on the beliefs accepted as authorities by Catholic， which is connected with the Jews. He was seen as the most important of earlier popes in Jewish history.

The position of Jews in society of Pope Gregory the Great. In Pope Gregory the Greats letters concerning the Jews， Gregory persevered in the rights of Jews to “ liberty of action， so far as the law permitted， both in civil affairs and in the worship of the synagogue.” However， Gregory did not think that the rights of Jews were capable of outgoing the rights granted to them under imperial law—especially when the rights were connected with the ownership of Christian slaves.

The conviction of forced conversions of Pope Gregory the Great. He strongly disagreed with the compulsory ablution of Jews. June 591： “Censure of Virgil， bishop of Arles， and Theodore， bishop of Marseille， for having baptized Jews by force. They are to desist.”“For it is necessary to gather those who are at odds with the Christian religion the unity of faith by meekness， by kindness， by admonishing， by persuading， lest these...should be repelled by threats and terrors. They ought， therefore， to come together to hear from you the Word of God in a kindly frame of mind， rather than stricken with dread， result of a harshness that goes beyond due limits.”

The warning of Paschasius of Pope Gregory the Great. In November 602， he wrote： “Admonition to Paschasius， bishop of Naples， to ensure that the Jews are not disturbed in the celebration of their religious festivals.”“TO PASCHASIUS， BISHOP OF NAPLES： Those who， with sincere intent， desire to lead people outside the Christian religion to the correct faith， ought to make the effort by means of what is pleasant， not with what is harsh， lest opposition drive afar the mind of men whom reasoning... could have attracted. Those who act otherwise...demonstrate that they are concerned with their own enterprises， rather than with those of God！ Now， the Jews dwelling in Naples have registered a complaint with Us， asserting that certain people are attempting， in an unreasonable fashion， to restrain them from some of the solemnities connected with their own feast days， as it has been lawful for them to observe or celebrate these up to now， and for their forefathers from long ages past... For of what use is this， when...it avails nothing toward their faith and conversion？...One must act， therefore， in such a way that... they might desire to follow us rather than to fly from us... Rather let them enjoy their lawful liberty to observe and to celebrate their festivities， as they have enjoyed this up until now.”

3. Conclusion

This paper has explored the 3 main topics in the Judaism and Christianity in Conflict–and Conversation： “The Disputation” is a point of departure to compare Jewish and Christian of the Disputation of Barcelona in 1263. Melito of Sardis， On Pascha reflects both conflict and conversation in the evolving relationships between Judaism and Christianity. Adversus Judaeos teachings of the church fathers in general， and the contribution that Augustine of Hippo （354-430） also made to our story in particular. Countless Israeli and western countries scholars have made a great number of researches related. With the development of the society， Judaism and Christianity in Conflict–and Conversation will become an incision to research the relationship between Chinese Culture and Western Culture. However， there is still a lot of problems as for this topic： the absence of the researchers， the absence of the history materials， etc. In order to solve those problems， we ought to do more， we ought to take our best minds， our advanced intuitions， our grit to get enlightened by studying history of Judaism and Christianity.

References：

[1]The Disputation of Barcelona（1263）.Report of Moses Nahmanides，translated from Hebrew，and Anonymous Report， translated from Latin.（medspains.stanford.edu）.

[2]The Disputation of Barcelona（1263）.Report of Moses Nahmanides，translated from Hebrew，and Anonymous Report， translated from Latin.（medspains.stanford.edu）.

[3]Cohick H.Lynn.The Peri Pascha Attributed To Melito of Sardis：Setting，Purpose，And Sources.Brown Judaiac Studies， 2000，p.52.

[4]Melito of Sardis.On Pascha and fragments，ed.S.G.Hall（1979）， p.55.

[5]Perry，Marvin and Schweitzer，F(xiàn)rederick（2002），Anti-Semitism： Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present，p.18.

[6]Augustine through the Ages：An Encyclopedia，general editor：Allan D.Fitzgerald，Grand Rapids，Michigan：William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company，1999.

[7]Simonsohn，Shlomo，p.4.

[8]Synan，The Popes and the Jews in the Middle Ages，p.45.

[9]The Apostolic See and the Jews，Documents：492-1404； Simonsohn，Shlomo，p.23.

[10]Synan，217.