University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 11-13-2017 Jewish Culture in the Christian World James Jefferson White University of New Mexico - Main Campus Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation White, James Jefferson. "Jewish Culture in the Christian World." (2017). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/207 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. James J White Candidate History Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: Sarah Davis-Secord, Chairperson Timothy Graham Michael Ryan i JEWISH CULTURE IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD by JAMES J WHITE PREVIOUS DEGREES BACHELORS THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December 2017 ii JEWISH CULTURE IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD BY James White B.S., History, University of North Texas, 2013 M.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2017 ABSTRACT Christians constantly borrowed the culture of their Jewish neighbors and adapted it to Christianity. This adoption and appropriation of Jewish culture can be fit into three phases. The first phase regarded Jewish religion and philosophy. From the eighth century to the thirteenth century, Christians borrowed Jewish religious exegesis and beliefs in order to expand their own understanding of Christian religious texts. This phase came to an end as Jews and Christians came into increasingly close contact in the twelfth and thirteenth century. This led to a backlash by Christians in power. The second phase ran concurrent with the end of the first phase. As Christians and Jews came into closer contact, they began sharing experiences and cultures beyond the realm of theology. In the third and final phase, only marginalized Christians such as magicians continued to appropriate Jewish culture. iii Table of Contents Abstract..........................................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................iv INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: The Appropriation of Judaism by Religious Writers .............15 CHAPTER 2: The Thirteenth Century and the Exchange of Culture............57 CHAPTER 3: Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism to Christian Magic ...................90 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................126 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................131 iv Introduction Cultural exchange happened throughout the medieval period. Certain segments of the public have viewed the medieval period as a white Christian utopia. However, even at Latin Christendom’s most insular, there is evidence that Christians still made use of the works of other cultures. Muslims and Jews interacted with Christians throughout the medieval period. This occurred regardless of how actively Christians pursued persecution. Likewise, this was not dependent upon Christians living close to those who did not share their religion. Christians continuously used the ideas of other religions to bolster their own religion. Origins of Jewish-Christian Relations The religion from which they borrowed most heavily was Judaism. This is due to the unique relationship the two religions shared. However, Christians did not always view their Jewish peers with kindness. Instead, Christians often persecuted Jews throughout the medieval period. Despite this persecution, there was never a time in the medieval period in which Christians were not borrowing something from their Jewish neighbors. This borrowing of Jewish culture came in a variety of contexts as the relationship between Christians and Jews changed. When Jews and Christians had relatively peaceful relations, it came in the form of religious borrowing; at times of intense interaction, cultural borrowing became both more pronounced and more condemned. During times of high persecution, cultural borrowing became an illicit activity done in secret. Regardless, the appropriation of Jewish culture by Christians was a consistent factor throughout the medieval period. 1 Christianity and Judaism have a unique relationship amongst all the major world religions. Christianity arose out of Judaism, and admits such from the earliest writings to the present. However, from the start of Christianity, Jewish religious practices have served as both a basis for, and been rejected by the new religion. The Christian Bible is separated into two sections, the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament is unique amongst religious texts, for unlike any other religious text, it is taken wholesale from the Hebrew Bible with only slight differences in translation choices when translating it out of Hebrew, and preferences of editions.1 This creates a distinctive and fraught relationship between Christianity and Judaism that does not exist between other religious traditions. Islam has a similar, albeit slightly different, relationship with Christianity and Judaism. Many of the stories in the Quran are similar to those of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. However, unlike simply using the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament in the way Christians do, the Quran reframes and reworks these stories to fit the narrative of the Quran. In addition to the Old Testament being identical to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament relies heavily on the Hebrew Bible in order to make points regarding Christian ethics and beliefs. In the four gospels, the authors either quote or make clear references to the Hebrew Bible eighty-nine times. In the Gospel of Matthew, there are a total of thirty- nine paraphrases and quotes from the Hebrew Bible. Fifteen of these references came from the Torah, seventeen come from the prophets, while seven come from the Book of Psalms. However, one of those quotations from Psalms comes from the devil, so it might 1 Although the Old Testament is known also known as the Hebrew Bible, it will primarily be referred to as the Old Testament in this study. As this study explores Christian understandings and uses of Judaism, it will use Christian terminology when discussing holy texts. 2 not count.2 In the Gospel of Mark, there are only seventeen references to the Hebrew Bible: nine from the Torah, five from the prophets, and three from Psalms. In the Gospel of Luke, there are a total of twenty clear biblical quotations and paraphrases: nine from the Pentateuch, six from the prophets, and five from Psalms; however, like with Matthew, one of the quotes from Psalms comes from the mouth of Satan. Finally, there are only thirteen quotes and paraphrases found in the Book of John: only one comes from the Pentateuch, six from the prophets, five from Psalms, and one from Nehemiah. Additionally, there are some obtuse and unclear references that might be referring to the Hebrew Bible.3 It should be noted that not all of these are unique, distinct references to the Hebrew Bible. Many of the references found in any one of the gospels can be found in the other gospels. This is especially true for Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which are more similar to each other than the Gospel of John. One large segment from the Gospel of Matthew known as the Sermon of the Mount beginning in chapter five and ending with the first verse of chapter eight sees Jesus paraphrase or quote the Hebrew Bible six different times.4 These quotations and paraphrases come completely from the Torah, specifically Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. The references to the Hebrew Bible in the Sermon on the Mount reveal 2 Matt. 4:6. 3 Looking at these references as a group some interesting patterns appear. Despite thirty- four clear references to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, only one of those references stems from the Book of Number. Even then, the passage could have also been pointing to a verse from Exodus. To make that passage even stranger, it is the only time in which John refers to the Torah or Pentateuch. From these passages, John stands out as odd in another way in that it is the only one of the gospels to refer to a book of the Hebrew Bible that is not prophetic, from Psalms, or from the Torah. Out of the other books, Mark and Luke have near identical references with a few extra found in Luke while Matthew has the greatest number of references. 4 Matt. 5:21, Matt. 5:27, Matt. 5:31, Matt. 5:33, Matt. 5:38, and Matt. 5:43. 3 one of the ways in which the gospels use the Hebrew Bible. In each of these instances, the pericope begins with Jesus referencing a passage from the Torah explaining an ethical guideline such as prohibitions against murder or adultery. Once this guideline is laid down, Jesus expands the ruling to include a prohibition on the attitude that leads to people breaking the previous prohibition.5 This expansion of Jewish legal prohibitions creates one of the most distinct differences in how Christians and Jews saw sin. Under Jewish law, sin was an action performed by an individual.6 This performative