Friday, June 05, 2020

On the Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 AD

Yesterday, I was reminded of the great arguments by Nachmanides given at this famous disputation. Thanks to Simon Shama's excellent documentary The Story of the Jews.

The wise Nachmanides in essence argued that Jesus could not be the messiah, because, among other things, the suffering of humans caused by violence, injustice, crime, diseases etc. still continued after his crucifixion (also referred to as the Messianic Age). This was indeed a very powerful and wise argument contradicting the Christian faith/church. To this day, we still have to wait  for or work towards the Messianic Age.

The courageous defiance of and strength of his argument by this Jewish scholar is breathtaking especially given the time and environment he was living in. After the disputation he fled to Jerusalem. If to speak truth to power has any meaning then this is probably a fine and very early example!

Disputation of Barcelona - Wikipedia

Nachmanides - Wikipedia



The Story Of The Jews 2 - Among Believers - video dailymotion

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