Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ
his tract entitled, "Dass Jesus sey das Ewig Wort" (1536). He also wrote
two other tracts on the "Seventy Weeks of Daniel," and "Jesus is the
Messiah" (1552-7).
Margarita Antonius, son of Rabbi Jacob Margoliouth, of Regensburg, was
baptized in 1552, at Wasserburg, Bavaria. He was teacher of Hebrew
successively at Augsberg, Meissen, Zell, Leipzig, and Vienna, where he
died. His book, "Der ganze Jüdische Glaub," &c., contained among some
good things, many bad and foolish things, and caused much harm to the
Jews and to the author himself. His work was variously received. Luther
made use of it in his writings. It was praised by Hoornbeek, B.
Luthenes, and Joseph Muller, while Wagenseil (who, as is well known, was
not very partial to the Jews,) spoke of it less favourably. According to
de le Roi he joined the Roman Church as a Protestant.
Medici Paulus, a Jewish convert of whom the Roman Catholic Church had
reason to be proud, was a learned theologian and a skilful
controversialist against modern Judaism. Of his numerous works may here
be mentioned: 1. "Catalogo de Neofiti" (_illustri_), 1701. 2.
"Promptuarium Biblicorum Textuum ad Catholicum Fidem confirmandam et
Judaeorum informandam perfidiam" (1707). 3. "Dialoghi sacri supra il
vechiv e Nouvo Testamento," 41 parts in 21 vols. (Venice, 1731-35). 4.
"Riti e costumi degli Ebrei confutati" (Fifth edition, Venice, 1557).
This work is partly supplementary and partly antagonistic to a similar
work by the famous Jewish scholar, Leon de Modena.
Mendelson (Sorel) Mendelssohn, youngest daughter of Moses Mendelssohn
the philosopher, joined the Church of Rome at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. She is described as "a woman of broad interests,
clear judgment, and exquisite manners."
Morasini Giulio (Samuel Ben Nahamias, Ben David, B. Isaac, B. David,
Baal Teshubah) was born at Venice, 1612; died in 1687. He was descended
from a wealthy family which traced its ancestry back to Nehemiah. In
1649 he was present at a disputation held in Venice between two Jews
(one of whom was a convert), relating to the "Seventy Weeks of Daniel."
He then, together with his brother Joseph, decided to embrace
Christianity, and was baptized November 22 of the same year, his
godfather being Angelo Morasini, whose name he took. He went to Rome
under Alexander VII., intending to become a Capuchin monk, but was
dissuaded by the Pope. Clement IX. appointed him Hebrew scrittore of the
Vatican library, and he taught Hebrew in the Propaganda. He was the
author of a work entitled, "Derek Emunah" (Way of Faith), Rome, 1683. It
has as a frontispiece a portrait of the author at the age of
seventy-two, and is preceded by a sketch of his life.
Nachman ben Samuel Halevi, Rabbi of Busk, Galicia. When Mikulski, the
administrator of the Archbishopric of Lemberg, invited the
representatives of Judaism to a disputation with the Frankists, July 16,
1759, he was one of the Frankist delegates. He afterwards became a
Christian, and took the name of Pietr Jacobski (Gräetz x., 392).
Nola, Menahem (John Paul Eustatius), born about 1570, died at Rome about
1608. Having instructed Thomas Aldobrandino, brother of the Pope Clement
VIII., in Hebrew, he was influenced by him to become a Christian, and was
baptized in 1568. He was the author of several Italian works, mainly in
defence of Christianity. "Sacro Settenario" (Naples, 1579) is a
compilation of extracts from the Bible, with an explanation of the
ceremony of the opening of the gates in the year of Jubilee. "Salutori
Discorse" (_ib._ 1582) contains nine sermons on various dogmas of
Christianity, including those of the Trinity and the necessity for the
coming of the Messiah. Some of Nola's works are found in the library of
the Vatican, among them being commentaries, in manuscript, on
Lamentations and Ruth. He wrote also a description of the Hebrew
manuscripts in that library.
Nunez, Henrique Judae, Portuguese convert, born in Borba, Portugal, died
in 1524. It is asserted that he acted as a spy against his people, and
in consequence was stabbed by two Maranos, disguised as monks. He had
received the appellation of Firme Fé, was revered as a saint, and people
ascribed marvellous healing power to his tomb.
Vettinger, Edward Maria, born at Breslau, 1808, died at Blaseritz, near
Dresden, 1872. In 1828 he embraced Christianity. He wrote many works,
comprising novels, poems, satires, historical and biographical writings,
a complete list of which may be found in the "Moniteur des Dates," vi.,
83, Dresden, 1868. This work may be mentioned here in particular. It
gives short biographical notes of important men (over 1,000,000 in
number) from the dawn of history to the date of the completion of the
book, including living persons.
Paul de Burgos, called also Santa Maria. His Jewish name was Solomon ha
Levi; born at Burgos 1350, died in 1435. He was the wealthiest and most
prominent Jew of the city, and was thoroughly conversant with the Talmud
and rabbinical literature, and up to his fortieth year he officiated as
Rabbi of Burgos. His scholarship and intelligence, as well as his piety,
won the praise of Isaac ben Sheshet. Abrabanel, in his Commentary on
Isa. xxxiv., calls him a wise man. He embraced Christianity in 1370, in
his native place, after having studied diligently the O. T., especially
Jer. xxxi., the N. T. and the works of Thomas Aquinas. He said later,
_Paulus me ad fidem convertit_. His mother and his children were
baptized with him, but not his wife, who refused, yet was later
reconciled to him and also baptized. After finishing his theological
studies at Paris, he was ordained and appointed Archdeacon of Trevino,
and in 1402 became Bishop of Carthagena. Subsequently he became a member
of the regency of Castile and Archbishop of Burgos. He wrote "Dialogus
Pauli et Sauli Contra Judæos sive Sive Scrutinium Scripturarum," but his
principal work (in 1427) is "Additiones," which consists of addenda and
emendations to Nicolas de Lyra's Postiles on the Bible; also, in his old
age, he composed a "Historia Universal" in Spanish verse. As Jewish
writers assert that ambition and vanity were the motives of his
conversion, I give a short extract from his testament to his son, in
order that the reader may judge whether this charge is justified: "What
wouldest thou, my dearly beloved son, like best that I should give thee
while I am still alive, or leave for thee when I die? What better thing
could it be than the extension of that knowledge which thou hast already
gained from the Holy Scriptures, and which will strengthen thy
well-ordered zeal for the Christian truth?" He then quotes Isa. xxxviii.
19: "The father to the children shall make known Thy truth," and
continues: "I was not learned in my youth, but educated in Jewish
blindness and unbelief. While I learned to know the Holy Scriptures from
unholy teachers, I received the opinions of erring men who obscured the
pure letter of the Scriptures with impure devices. But it pleased Him
whose mercy is infinite to call me out of darkness to light and out of
the pit into the pure air of heaven; so that it appeared to me as if
scales fell from the eyes of my understanding. I began to seek the
truth, and to trust no more in myself, and so with a humble spirit I
prayed to God to shew me what appertained to the salvation of my soul.
Day and night I sought help from Him, and so it happened that my love
for the Christian truth increased, and finally I received strength
publicly to confess the faith which was already in my heart." Then after
telling his son how God had blessed him in raising him to a high
position of usefulness and dignity in the church, and that he had been
on intimate terms with King Henry III. and chancellor of his son, the
Regent of Spain, he intimates to him that, with all this, he had not
accumulated any worldly wealth. _Unum est quod silentio committere non
possumus nobis_ _ex Levitico sanguine descendentibus._ "One
circumstance which I cannot pass over in silence is this: that we are
descendants of Levi, and the promises which were given many centuries
ago have been fulfilled--'Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance
with his brethren, the Lord is his inheritance according as the Lord thy
God promised him' (Deut. x. 9). Truly God Himself is our inheritance.
Christ is our portion. This, my dearly beloved son, is my testament for
thee, and let it also be thine inheritance, that the Law of the Lord may
be thy joy, and that thou shouldest meditate upon His Word day and
night."
Paulus of Prague, Elhanan ben Menahem; born in Chelm, Poland, about
1540; died at Prague about the end of the sixteenth century; baptized at
Nuremberg, 1556. He wrote several works in German, with Latin titles, in
defence of Christianity--1. "Solida et Perspicua Demonstratio de SS.
Trinitate." 2. "Confessio Fidei et Testimonia Scripturæ Sacræ de
Resurrectione Mortuorum." 3. "The Book of Jona," translated in Hebrew,
Greek, Latin and German. 4. "Mysterium Novum," with a preface of a
Hebrew poem consisting of 139 verses, arranged in alphabetical order,
and giving an acrostic of his own name. 5. "Symbolum Apostolicum." It is
asserted that he was twice baptized, or that he relapsed; but as writers
are not in accord with each other, as to dates and places, we may have
our doubts about it.
Pierleoni (of a noble Roman family descended from a Jewish banker of
Rome) was baptized in the first half of the eleventh century, and took
the name of Benedictus Christianus. His son was named Leo, and his
grandson Petrus Leonis. It is from the latter that the family name is
derived. Petrus was prominent in the liberation of Pope Gelasius II.,
and when Petrus died, his son of the same name was Cardinal, and on
several occasions rendered service to the Church. In 1130, this son,
Cardinal Pierleoni was elected Pope under the name of Anacletus II.,
while the counter party chose Innocent II.
Ponte, Lorenzo da (Jeremiah), born at Ceneda, Italy, 1749; died 1837. He
belonged to a well-known Jewish family, which had produced the
Italian-Turkish diplomatist, Dr. Israel Congeliano. He embraced
Christianity, assuming the name of Da Ponte, in honour of a Catholic
bishop who was his protector. At an early age he became professor of
_belles lettres_ at Treviso, and published various poems, including a
political satire, which led to his exile. He went to England and was
secretary to the Italian Opera Company in London. Then he went to
America, where he wrote various plays, sonnets, critical essays, and a
translation of the Psalms. But his best known work is his extremely
interesting "Memoirs," which Zuckerman has compared to Franklin's
Autobiography. They indicate that even in his youth he was proficient in
Hebrew, and the impress of his ancestry and of his early Jewish studies
has been discerned by critics of his works and views.
Raphael, Mark, an Italian Jewish convert, flourished at Venice at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. It is said that he was a rabbi
before his conversion. He was consulted by Henry VIII. on the question
of the legality, according to Jewish law, of his levirate marriage to
Catharine of Braganza, and was invited by him to England. Raphael
accordingly arrived in London on January 28, 1531 (Calendar of State
Papers, Spanish, i. 335). He decided that such marriage was legal, but
suggested that the King might take another wife conjointly with the
first. Later, he reviewed his opinion by pointing to the object of
levirate marriage, and contending that as no children had been the
result of the union, the King must have married his brother's widow
without the intention of continuing his brother's line, and consequently
the marriage was illegitimate and invalid. We have here the picture of a