The Refutation of the Christian Principles , livre ebook

State University of New York Press - Hasdai Crescas ,
traduit par Daniel J. Lasker

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During the fourteenth century, there was a general demoralization in the Jewish community in Spain. Many Jews were on the brink of conversion. Rabbi Crescas met the Christian challenge by writing this pithy book refuting the principles of the Christian religion. He argued that the basic Christian doctrines, namely, original sin, salvation, trinity, incarnation, virgin birth, transubstantiation, baptism, the messiah, a new covenant, and demons, contradict human reason, thereby calling into question Christianity's claim to be a true religion. The Refutation is an important document of the medieval Jewish-Christian debate and is also especially important for the history of Jewish philosophy in general.
Acknowledgments
Foreword to the English Translation

THE REFUTATION OF THE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES

Joseph Ben Shem Tov's Introduction
Hasdai Crescas' Preface
1. Concerning the Punishment of Adam's Sin
2. Concerning the Redemption from Adam's Original Sin Called in Their Language "Original"
3. Concerning the Trinity
4. Concerning Incarnation
5. Concerning Virgin Birth
6. Concerning Transubstantiation
7. Concerning Baptism
8. Concerning the Coming of the Messiah
9. Concerning the New Torah
10. Concerning Demons

Notes

Bibliography

Indices

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Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781438400068
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1598€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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The Refutation of the Christian Principles
SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy Kenneth Seeskin, Editor
THE REFUTATION of THE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES by HASDAI CRESCAS
Translated with an Introduction and Notes
by
Daniel J. Lasker
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1992 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, address the State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246
Production by Bernadine Dawes Marketing by Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crescas, Hasdai, 1340-ca. 1410.
[Bi ṭ ul ʿ i ḳ re ha-Notsrim. English]
The refutation of the Christian principles / Hasdai Crescas; translated with an introduction and notes by Daniel J. Lasker. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Jewish philosophy)
Translation of: Bi ṭ ul ʿ i ḳ re ha-Notsrim. Includes index.
ISBN 0-7914-0965-1 (alk.paper): $39.50 —ISBN 0-7914-0966-X (pbk.: alk. paper): $12.95
1. Christianity—Controvertial literature—early works to 1800.
2. Philosophy, Jewish—Early works to 1800. 3. Philosophy, Medieval. I. Lasker, Daniel J. II. Title. III. Series. BM590.C6813 1992 91-15118 296.3—dc20 CIP
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
To Joseph and Pearl Dworkin
May the generous be blessed.
PROVERBS 22:9
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword to the English Translation
THE REFUTATION OF THE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES
Joseph Ben Shem Tov’s Introduction
Ḥ asdai Crescas’ Preface
Chapter 1. Concerning the Punishment of Adam’s Sin
Chapter 2. Concerning the Redemption from Adam’s Original Sin Called in Their Language “Original”
Chapter 3. Concerning the Trinity
Chapter 4. Concerning Incarnation
Chapter 5. Concerning Virgin Birth
Chapter 6. Concerning Transubstantiation
Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism
Chapter 8. Concerning the Coming of the Messiah
Chapter 9. Concerning the New Torah
Chapter 10. Concerning Demons
Notes
Bibliography
Indices
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people have helped me in the study of the philosophical aspects of the medieval Jewish-Christian debate. I am particularly grateful for the guidance and advice of my teacher, Prof. Alexander Altmann, and my friend and colleague, Prof. Frank Talmage, may their memories be for a blessing. Their passings have left a great void in my life.
In the preface to my Hebrew edition of Crescas’ Bittul Iqqarei Ha-No ẓ rim (The Refutation of the Christian Principles), I thanked Dr. Warren (Zeev) Harvey, Prof. Menachem Kellner, Dr. Howard T. Kreisel, and Dr. Shaul Regev for their useful suggestions concerning the research of that edition; much of that research is reflected as well in the notes to the translation. Prof. Kellner, Prof. David Berger, and Dr. Vera Basch Moreen were kind enough to review the English translation and offered valuable insights. I would like to acknowledge as well the help and encouragement which I received from Prof. Shlomo Pines, may his memory be for a blessing, in whose class I first read the works of Hasdai Crescas.
I began this translation of The Refutation of the Christian Principles while on sabbatical in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Toronto, and I completed it while on sabbatical as a fellow of the Annenberg Research Institute, Philadelphia. Final editorial changes were made while I was a visiting professor at Yeshiva and Princeton Universities. I wish to thank all those institutions for their support as well as my home university, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
As usual my family has been a great source of both joy and assistance. My wife, Debbie, reviewed the manuscript and greatly added to the readability of the translation. My children, Shoshana Rahel, Yonah Shmuel, Adina Yael, Dov Eliyahu, and Noam Yerahmiel, have shown various degrees of understanding for my scholarly pursuits, and I wish to thank them for their patience.
This book is dedicated to my in-laws, Joseph and Pearl Dworkin, who have been a constant source of encouragement and support for my scholarly endeavors.
D. J. L.
FORWARD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
The year 1391 was the beginning of the end for Spanish Jewry. In that year the Iberian Christian population arose against the Jews, and many were killed in the riots. Ancient Jewish communities were destroyed, and one hundred years later all the Jews were expelled from Spain. Despite the persecution, the murders, and finally the expulsion, the ostensible goal of the Christian leadership was not to harm the Jews but to convert them to Christianity. The Christians tried to influence Jews not only by force but also by preaching. This period was one of intensified missionary campaigns, and, indeed, many Jews were unable to withstand the pressure and converted to Christianity. 1
The Spanish Jewish leadership did not sit idly by in light of the renewed Christian threat. Its leaders fought as best they could to save their communities. One of the outstanding leaders was Rabbi Hasdai ben Judah Crescas (c. 1340 –c. 1410/11). Crescas, whose only son was killed in the riots of 1391, was chief rabbi of Saragossa and influential in the court of Aragon. 2
Crescas is known mainly for his book of philosophy Light of the Lord, which was the last major medieval Jewish philosophical work. Crescas’ philosophy is characterized by a rejection of the Aristotelian philosophy which had been adopted by his important predecessors, Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, 1135 or 1138 – 1204) and Gersonides (Levi benGershom, 1288 – 1344). One notes in Crescas’ philosophical work both originality of thought and brevity of language. 3
In addition to the Hebrew Light of the Lord, Hasdai Crescas wrote two anti-Christian polemics in the vernacular. 4 One book consisted of exegetical arguments based on Biblical verses, 5 the most common genre of anti-Christian polemic. Because of the existence of so many works of this type, no one bothered to translate it into Hebrew, and it did not survive. 6 The second polemical work consisted of philosophical arguments against the principal beliefs of Christianity. According to Crescas, these principles are (1) original sin; (2) redemption from original sin; (3) trinity; (4) incarnation; (5) virgin birth; (6) transubstantiation; (7) baptism; (8) the coming of the messiah; (9) a new Torah; and (10) demons. 7
The original of this book did not survive, but a Hebrew translation (or paraphrase), with commentary, was written by Joseph ben Shem Tov (c. 1400 – 1460). 8 This book is known as The Refutation of the Christian Principles (Bittul Iqqarei Ha-No ẓ rim), and an English translation of the Hebrew version is presented here.
THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE BOOK
Joseph ben Shem Tov wrote a number of times that Hasdai Crescas composed his books in the vernacular (“the language of his country”— leshon ar ẓ o), 9 apparently distinguishing that language from the language of Joseph’s country, Castile. Saragossa was the capital of Aragon, and it is possible that Crescas wrote his polemics in Aragonese. Still, the literary language of Aragon in that period was Catalan, and it is, therefore, reasonable to assume that he wrote in that language. 10 It is impossible to derive any information about the original language of this work from the few non-Hebrew words scattered through it (which are generally corrupt in the manuscripts in any event). The language in which his refutations of Christianity were written remains, therefore, in doubt until the originals are found.
THE NAME OF THE BOOK
Just as we do not know the original language of Crescas’ polemical works, we also do not know their names. The extant polemic, against Christian doctrines, has often been cited as the Tratado , 11 apparently without basis. J. de Rossi, in his book concerning Jewish anti-Christian polemics, called the work in Latin Tractatus de articulis religionis. 12
The name of the work in Hebrew is also doubtful. The first author to cite this work in Joseph ben Shem Tov’s translation, Don Isaac Abravanel, called it “a treatise which he wrote in the vernacular concerning the doubts pertaining to the belief of the Christian nation.” 13 Scholars who wrote about Crescas’ polemic before 1860 (apparently the year of the first edition) did not know what to call it. Moritz Steinschneider, for example, thought that perhaps the title of the work was “ Ma’amar Ha-Nivdal. ” 14 J. de Rossi wrote the name as Maamar 15 In some manuscripts, the title is recorded as Book of [Your Commandments] Make Me Wiser Than My Enemies, on the basis of the verse from Psalms (119:98) with which Joseph ben Shem Tov’s Introduction begins. In fact, the name The Refutation of the Christian Priniciples (Bittul Iqqarei Ha-No ẓ rim) is found in only two manuscripts, both from the same scribe, and there it is followed by the words “of Rabbi Joseph Ibn Shem Tov [ sic ], of Blessed Memory”. 16 When the first edition was published, the anonymous editor copied one of these two manuscripts and, therefore, he used the title The Refutation of the Christian Principles. He added that the book “raises objections to each of the principles of the Christians, called articulos ” Th