Chapter 3 - Mutual Perceptions and Attitudes

Summary

Mutual perceptions of medieval Jews and Christians were formed by sacred texts, popular interactions, legal and theological formulas, and more. For Christians, an underlying issue was Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion, which was determined to some degree by what Jews knew about Jesus’ nature as divine Messiah. To the degree that the Jewish intellect was deficient, this might affect the question of their full humanity. Treatment of Jews moved from the more tolerant early medieval period to an era of persecution, libels, diabolical conceptions of Jews, and polemical use of the Talmud (which stood at the center of several public disputations.) At the same time, daily interactions often took place in a relatively amicable environment. Jewish attitudes toward Christianity as a religion were governed by the theological/legal category of avodah zarah, or foreign worship. Since Christians worshipped Jesus as God, their religion fell into this category. At the same time, the economic consequences of this classification spurred further discussion, so that a distinction between Christianity and paganism came to be entertained. The most liberal position was formulated by R. Menahem ha-Meiri (13th/14th century). Some Jewish ritual developments may have been influenced by Christian practices. Christianity exercised an attraction for some Jews, especially in late medieval Spain. Generally speaking, each group saw the other as subject to eschatological punishment, though some would survive to recognize the true faith.