The Various Methods of the Polemicists

The arguments which are the components of the Jewish philosophical critique of Christianity in the Middle Ages are found in a variety of sources. The one genre of literature in which most of these contentions are located is the polemic (vikuaḥ / sefer niẓẓaḥon). The Jewish polemical works exhibit great diversity both in method of argumentation and in style. These differences were noted by Joseph ben Shem Tov (ca. 1400—ca. 1460), who opened his commentary on Profiat Duran's Iggeret Al Tehi Ke-'Avotekha with a description of six types of polemical treatises. Though his categorization is perhaps too simplified, it might be a good framework into which to place the various Jewish polemical works which form the basic source material for the present study.

Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible

The first, and by far the largest, category contains works which dealt primarily with the exegesis of the Hebrew Bible. Their purpose was to demonstrate that the Christian interpretation of the Scriptures was misguided. Under this category Joseph ben Shem Tov listed the following works:

1. Sefer Mil?amot Ha-Shem by Jacob ben Reuben, the Rabbanite (twelfth century). This treatise, written in 1170, was one of the earliest works, if not the earliest, devoted entirely to Jewish polemics. It consists of twelve chapters, the first offering a refutation of Christian doctrines, the eleventh a critical review of New Testament passages, and the twelfth a series of proofs that the messiah had as yet not come. The intermediate nine chapters contain a discussion of the correct exegesis of the Torah, Psalms, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, Job, and Proverbs. This treatise served as the basis for many other polemical works. Jacob ben Reuben was apparently a Neoplatonist, but he quoted a variety of Jewish philosophers, including Saadia Gaon, Isaac Israeli, and Abraham bar Ḥfiyya.

2. Sefer ‘Ezer Ha-'Emunah by Moses Ha-Kohen of Tordesillas (fourteenth century). The author, writing in 1375, divided his work into nineteen sections, dealing with verses from the Torah, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Song of Songs, and Lamentations, with a section devoted to talmudic haggadot. This treatise contains material which was employed by Moses Ha-Kohen in a number of public disputations in Avila.