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Debating Truth: The Barcelona Disputation of 1263, A Graphic History
In the summer of 1263, Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, c. 1195-1270) traveled from his home in Girona to Barcelona at the behest of King James I of Aragon (1213-1276) to debate with a Dominican Friar named Paul about specific claims concerning the Messiah in Judaism and Christianity. The two disputants, each thoroughly convinced of the indisputable truth of his own religious faith and theological interpretations, argued their positions before a panel of judges headed by James I himself. Nina Caputo's new graphic history tells the story of the Barcelona Disputation from the perspective of Nahmanides.
By combining the visual power of graphics with primary sources, contextualizing essays, historiography, and study questions, Debating Truth explores issues of the nature of truth, interfaith relations, and the complicated dynamics between Christians and Jews in the medieval Mediterranean.
By combining the visual power of graphics with primary sources, contextualizing essays, historiography, and study questions, Debating Truth explores issues of the nature of truth, interfaith relations, and the complicated dynamics between Christians and Jews in the medieval Mediterranean.
256 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 5, 2021
Interesting subject/debate but kind of confusing, especially for someone who has zero religious experience
May 23, 2024
FAR MORE THAN A ‘GRAPHIC NOVEL’ VERSION OF THE FAMOUS DISPUTATION
Author Nina Caputo wrote in the Preface to this 2017 book, “In the summer of 1263, Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, ca. 1195-1270), who was among the leading rabbis of his time, traveled… at the behest of King James I of Aragon… to debate with a Dominican friar names Paul about specific claims concerning the Messiah in Judaism and Christianity. Friar Paul had converted the Messiah in Judaism and Christianity. Friar Paul had converted from Judaism to Christianity as an adult, so he brought with him some knowledge of rabbinic texts… His strategy was entirely innovative. Using passages from the Talmud… he claimed that Jewish leaders recognized that Jesus was the Messiah… The stakes for all parties were high… The friars expected that their argument… would render Nahmanides and the Jewish community defenseless against claims of Christian truth. Conversion would thus be a likely result… if the king were convinced by the friars’ arguments, he could issue a royal ordinance compelling the Jews to convert or submit to extensive Christian oversight. For Nahmanides’ part, a successful defense of Judaism and of a Jewish interpretation of the Talmud at any cost was paramount…” (Pg. xi)
The first major section of the book is the ‘graphic novel’ portion. (This book was published by Oxford University Press; hopefully, this book doesn’t signal a general trend of college students expecting serious texts to be presented in a ‘comic book’ form, before they will read it!) The text in the ‘dialogue balloons’ is often small and difficult to read; but the illustrations are well-done.
The next section, ‘The Primary Sources,’ is excellent---containing both Nahmanides’ Hebrew account of the Disputation, and the Latin account (which severely edited Nahmanides’ comments, to weaken them), as well as various letters from James I relating to the Disputation and its aftermath.
Here are a few excerpts from the Disputation: “If [the Talmudists] believed in Jesus and his faith, how could they not have done as Friar Paul has done {and convert]?” (Pg. 92) “It is not the opinion of the Sages of the Talmud that Judah would always control a staff and scepter, but rather the prophet assured Judah that where there is a kingdom, Judah will rule. Nevertheless, kindship was suspended for many years…because during the time of the Babylonian Exile they had neither staff nor scepter. Also, during the Second Temple, when there was a kingship of priests… Judah held no staff except of government.” (Pg. 94) “The sages do not say that he came; they say that he was born... And on the day that Elijah will anoint the Messiah… he will be called Messiah… he will come to the pope and redeem us and then it will be said that the redeemer has come… among the first man there were already those, like Adam and Methuselah, who lived for one thousand years…” (Pg. 97) “The prophet said that the Messiah would ‘have dominion from sea to sea…’ [Ps 72:8] [Jesus] never had dominion… And it says ‘they will beat their swords into plowshares… and no longer will they study war [Is 2:4]. From the time of Jesus until now ‘the entire earth has been filled with violence…” (Pg. 101-102) “For the scripture [Dan 9] divides the 70 weeks … counting 7 weeks to the Messiah prince, and afterwards counting 62 weeks to ‘the building with wide spaces and streets,’ and after that, counting one and a half weeks when ‘he will make a strong covenant with many [9:27]… the Messiah prince, Zerubavel, who came at the time of 7 weeks, as the scripture explains.” (Pg, 104) “The Messiah is expected to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus neither built nor destroyed it…” (Pg. 107)
The historical material in the ‘Context’ section is also very helpful, as well as the ‘Resources for Additional Research.’
So despite its ‘graphic novel’ cover, this is actually a very serious work, that will be of great interest to those studying this Disputation.
Author Nina Caputo wrote in the Preface to this 2017 book, “In the summer of 1263, Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, ca. 1195-1270), who was among the leading rabbis of his time, traveled… at the behest of King James I of Aragon… to debate with a Dominican friar names Paul about specific claims concerning the Messiah in Judaism and Christianity. Friar Paul had converted the Messiah in Judaism and Christianity. Friar Paul had converted from Judaism to Christianity as an adult, so he brought with him some knowledge of rabbinic texts… His strategy was entirely innovative. Using passages from the Talmud… he claimed that Jewish leaders recognized that Jesus was the Messiah… The stakes for all parties were high… The friars expected that their argument… would render Nahmanides and the Jewish community defenseless against claims of Christian truth. Conversion would thus be a likely result… if the king were convinced by the friars’ arguments, he could issue a royal ordinance compelling the Jews to convert or submit to extensive Christian oversight. For Nahmanides’ part, a successful defense of Judaism and of a Jewish interpretation of the Talmud at any cost was paramount…” (Pg. xi)
The first major section of the book is the ‘graphic novel’ portion. (This book was published by Oxford University Press; hopefully, this book doesn’t signal a general trend of college students expecting serious texts to be presented in a ‘comic book’ form, before they will read it!) The text in the ‘dialogue balloons’ is often small and difficult to read; but the illustrations are well-done.
The next section, ‘The Primary Sources,’ is excellent---containing both Nahmanides’ Hebrew account of the Disputation, and the Latin account (which severely edited Nahmanides’ comments, to weaken them), as well as various letters from James I relating to the Disputation and its aftermath.
Here are a few excerpts from the Disputation: “If [the Talmudists] believed in Jesus and his faith, how could they not have done as Friar Paul has done {and convert]?” (Pg. 92) “It is not the opinion of the Sages of the Talmud that Judah would always control a staff and scepter, but rather the prophet assured Judah that where there is a kingdom, Judah will rule. Nevertheless, kindship was suspended for many years…because during the time of the Babylonian Exile they had neither staff nor scepter. Also, during the Second Temple, when there was a kingship of priests… Judah held no staff except of government.” (Pg. 94) “The sages do not say that he came; they say that he was born... And on the day that Elijah will anoint the Messiah… he will be called Messiah… he will come to the pope and redeem us and then it will be said that the redeemer has come… among the first man there were already those, like Adam and Methuselah, who lived for one thousand years…” (Pg. 97) “The prophet said that the Messiah would ‘have dominion from sea to sea…’ [Ps 72:8] [Jesus] never had dominion… And it says ‘they will beat their swords into plowshares… and no longer will they study war [Is 2:4]. From the time of Jesus until now ‘the entire earth has been filled with violence…” (Pg. 101-102) “For the scripture [Dan 9] divides the 70 weeks … counting 7 weeks to the Messiah prince, and afterwards counting 62 weeks to ‘the building with wide spaces and streets,’ and after that, counting one and a half weeks when ‘he will make a strong covenant with many [9:27]… the Messiah prince, Zerubavel, who came at the time of 7 weeks, as the scripture explains.” (Pg, 104) “The Messiah is expected to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus neither built nor destroyed it…” (Pg. 107)
The historical material in the ‘Context’ section is also very helpful, as well as the ‘Resources for Additional Research.’
So despite its ‘graphic novel’ cover, this is actually a very serious work, that will be of great interest to those studying this Disputation.
January 2, 2025
As a "trained medievalist" I approached this with some trepidation, but lots of curiosity. Nina Caputo, a scholar of Iberian Jewish life during the supposed (and I'm glad she discounts this pat, proverbial, anodyne 'can't we all just get along' notion popularized as if 'kosher' or 'gospel' the past couple generations) 'convivencia' between Muslims, Christians, and Jews, combines her skill with Liz Clarke's handsome illustrations of key parts of the debate conducted between a converted Dominican friar from Judaism, Pablo Cristiani, Dominican friar, with renowned rabbi Nachmanides.
The outcome tipped towards the latter, but the results couldn't be celebrated, for this meant that the "victor" had to basically flee to the Holy Land, like his predecessors of renown Maimonides and Judah ha-Levi, tellingly. The purported harmony between the three Abrahamic faiths wasn't as rosy as some nowadays depict it in soft-focus. Caputo, after the excerpts illuminated elegantly, with many angles that makes this graphic in a cinematic, storyboard fashion to dramatize the courtroom confrontation style we're used to, delves into the contexts of not only the texts extant (retranslated and footnoted), but the historiographical and graphic-art decisions influencing our own reception.
The scholarship's up-to-date, and this presentation impressive. Makes me uneasy why certain GR posts found previous readers baffled. This is serious investigation, after all, not a comic-book despite the cover! If academics mean to train future professionals able to handle complicated ideas, intricate intellectual reasoning, the problems of being far removed from the time and place, and elusive rather than facile understanding of the sources and those preceding one in their elucidation, well, it'll take more than an appealing first part of this volume to induct smart folks into such initiations. I commend OUP for this initial offering in this enterprise, and wish it every success.
The outcome tipped towards the latter, but the results couldn't be celebrated, for this meant that the "victor" had to basically flee to the Holy Land, like his predecessors of renown Maimonides and Judah ha-Levi, tellingly. The purported harmony between the three Abrahamic faiths wasn't as rosy as some nowadays depict it in soft-focus. Caputo, after the excerpts illuminated elegantly, with many angles that makes this graphic in a cinematic, storyboard fashion to dramatize the courtroom confrontation style we're used to, delves into the contexts of not only the texts extant (retranslated and footnoted), but the historiographical and graphic-art decisions influencing our own reception.
The scholarship's up-to-date, and this presentation impressive. Makes me uneasy why certain GR posts found previous readers baffled. This is serious investigation, after all, not a comic-book despite the cover! If academics mean to train future professionals able to handle complicated ideas, intricate intellectual reasoning, the problems of being far removed from the time and place, and elusive rather than facile understanding of the sources and those preceding one in their elucidation, well, it'll take more than an appealing first part of this volume to induct smart folks into such initiations. I commend OUP for this initial offering in this enterprise, and wish it every success.
March 10, 2018
Another book for my world history seminar. I enjoyed the various pieces of this book, from the graphic history at the front to the primary sources, and my favorite part, the historiographical section and the discussion of how they made artistic decisions about the historical figures for the graphic section. But in general, the book itself fell flat for me. There is a lot of repetition here, and while it may be that graphic history is the wave of the future for world history, I found myself disturbed that the author presented as uncontrovertible fact something she did not actually have primary sources for.
July 4, 2024
The discussion of convincing a king that Christ is the messiah in a prominently Jewish territory of Spain was very intriguing. Spain has always been something I want to explore more in the history aspect as I don’t know much besides the basics. Aside from that learning more about the movement of Christianity is always a plus !
October 27, 2018
Well-researched but a little dry
Read
October 16, 2020Read for HST 225
Read
October 25, 2022Read for HST 225: The Making of the Middle Ages
June 1, 2023
Wish I could figure out how to read it on this site, lol...having trouble.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews