Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Short titles for frequently cited works
- Introduction
- I BACKDROP
- II DATA AND FOUNDATIONS
- III JESUS AS MESSIAH
- IV REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH AND REJECTION OF THE JEWS
- 8 Biblical prophecy and empirical observation: displacement of the Jews
- 9 Biblical prophecy: redemption of the Jews
- 10 Biblical prophecy and empirical observation: Christian failures
- V THE MESSIAH HUMAN AND DIVINE
- VI JEWISH POLEMICISTS ON THE ATTACK
- VII UNDERLYING ISSUES
- Bibliography
- Index of subjects and proper names
- Scripture index
10 - Biblical prophecy and empirical observation: Christian failures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Short titles for frequently cited works
- Introduction
- I BACKDROP
- II DATA AND FOUNDATIONS
- III JESUS AS MESSIAH
- IV REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH AND REJECTION OF THE JEWS
- 8 Biblical prophecy and empirical observation: displacement of the Jews
- 9 Biblical prophecy: redemption of the Jews
- 10 Biblical prophecy and empirical observation: Christian failures
- V THE MESSIAH HUMAN AND DIVINE
- VI JEWISH POLEMICISTS ON THE ATTACK
- VII UNDERLYING ISSUES
- Bibliography
- Index of subjects and proper names
- Scripture index
Summary
Of all the Christian arguments with which medieval Jews were faced, the most troubling in many ways was the claim from history, more specifically from Christian successes and Jewish failures, especially the latter. In the Christian view, immediately subsequent to their rejection of Jesus, the Jews were defeated by the Romans, suffered the loss of their sanctuary and their independence, and were forced into exile. This decline in Jewish circumstances – it was argued – was permanent, continuing to afflict the Jews of the twelfth and thirteenth century, the objects of intensified Christian spiritual pressure. These failed Jewish circumstances stood in marked contrast to Christian successes. While Jews were suffering exile and degradation, Christianity was conquering the Roman Empire and spreading throughout the Western world. Whether grounded in biblical exegesis or in simple and direct empirical observation, this set of Christian claims engaged both Jewish intellect and Jewish emotion. Jews had to be stung by an argument that highlighted their difficult fate in medieval western Christendom and forced them to ponder the meaning of this difficult fate. The circumstances of the Jews were regularly contrasted with that of their Christian neighbors, who ruled them and brought to bear ceaseless spiritual pressure.
The conviction that divine pleasure and displeasure were manifested in the historical realm was deeply rooted in biblical thinking.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Fashioning Jewish Identity in Medieval Western Christendom , pp. 215 - 230Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003