Jewish-Christian Disputations in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Fictions and Realities
Edited by S. Morlet
Ancient and medieval literature has bequeathed to us dialogues between Jews and Christians. Though there can be no doubt that polemical exchanges existed between individuals in the context of private discussions or formal debates, the exact relation of the dialogical texts and historical reality is sometimes unclear. In the case of ancient Christian dialogues, contradicting analyses have been put forward. Some scholars think they represent reliable documents about the real debates. Others contend that such texts are purely literary entities, and that their purpose was self-definition. Certainly no general theory can be adduced to account for all early Christian dialogical texts against the Jews. The present book, however, tries to evaluate both views with a series of contributions on a neglected late antique Greek dialogue, the Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila (6th-7th c. AD). For the sake of comparison, the second part includes papers on a medieval latin dialogical text, the Dialogus written by Peter Alfonsi (11th-12th c. AD). The last part gathers studies about the less documented other side: Jewish polemical texts against Christianity. The book is introduced by a historiographical survey by William Horbury.
Ancient and medieval literature has bequeathed to us dialogues between Jews and Christians. Though there can be no doubt that polemical exchanges existed between individuals in the context of private discussions or formal debates, the exact relation of the dialogical texts and historical reality is sometimes unclear. In the case of ancient Christian dialogues, contradicting analyses have been put forward. Some scholars think they represent reliable documents about the real debates. Others contend that such texts are purely literary entities, and that their purpose was self-definition. Certainly no general theory can be adduced to account for all early Christian dialogical texts against the Jews. The present book, however, tries to evaluate both views with a series of contributions on a neglected late antique Greek dialogue, the Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila (6th-7th c. AD). For the sake of comparison, the second part includes papers on a medieval latin dialogical text, the Dialogus written by Peter Alfonsi (11th-12th c. AD). The last part gathers studies about the less documented other side: Jewish polemical texts against Christianity. The book is introduced by a historiographical survey by William Horbury.
- Edited by S. Morlet
"This volume brings together an important collection of essays on the literary and structural form of premodern religious polemics." Caputo, Nina, Church History, 03 May 2023
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Other Titles in this Series
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Encounters in the Abrahamic Religions, 6th-8th Centuries
Volume 17
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Greeks, Jews, Syrians and Saracens (Collected Studies, 2004-14)
Volume 10
En Route to the Confessions
The Roots and Development of Augustine's Philosophical Anthropology
Volume 6
New Approaches to Sidonius Apollinaris
With Indices on Helga Köhler, C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius: BriefeBuch I
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The Ladder of Prayer and the Ship of Stirrings
The Praying Self in Late Antique East Syrian Christianity
Volume 22
Writing to Survive. A Commentary on Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters Book 7. Volume 1
The Episcopal Letters 1-11
Volume 2
Writing to Survive. A Commentary on Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters Book 7. Volume 2
The Ascetic Letters 12-18
Volume 14
Inside and Out
Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers in Late Antiquity
Volume 8
New Themes, New Styles in the Eastern Mediterranean
Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Encounters, 5th-8th Centuries
Volume 16
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