Popes and Jews, 1095-1291

58 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291

Furthermore, since the authority which Jesus bestowed on peter was also given to

his successors, Christians believe that, as possessor of the power of the keys and as

‘leader of souls’, the pope is able to renew judgements and laws without contra-

vening any of Jesus’ commandments and could even alter his disciples’ teachings to

suit the times.

Duran pointed out that such ideas were based on Matthew 16: 3. 20ff.172 He

then attempted to refute them, stressing that:

it is not found written [in the gospels] that peter empowered anyone else and that he

nominated a substitute for this mission when Nero, the emperor of rome, hanged

him on a tree for spreading the belief in Jesus.173

And he asked from where, even if peter had nominated another disciple to succeed

him, that power derived since:

it is a very clear rule for them that a disciple does not nominate another disciple unless

it is clearly mentioned in the note of mission and Jesus told him alone that he would

give him the keys of heaven.174

Then, again aiming to show the incoherence of the New testament, Duran cited

Matthew 18: 18, arguing that ‘this power given by Jesus to peter was given to all

his disciples’,175 and remarking that when Christians realize the weakness of their

arguments, they try to bolster them by:

saying that Jesus had so much compassion and love for his followers that he has given

up his life to die in an awful way and in misery in order to redeem them, and with his

love and compassion he redeemed them. Therefore there is no doubt that he would

not leave them, as a flock without a shepherd, without a head to substitute him. So

therefore it is obligatory for there to be a leader in each and every generation to sub-

stitute peter, the messenger of god, and he is the pope... 176

Here then is another example of a Jewish polemicist, with a thorough know-

ledge of the New testament and its Christian interpretation, attempting to show

that it is contradictory and inconsistent, that Christianity is confused and that

Christians are misled.177 Yet despite the anti-Christian rhetoric and the fact that

172 profiat Duran, ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’, in Osar wikuhim, ed. Eisenstein, pp.279–80; talmage,
The Polemical Writings of Profiat Duran, p.30; p.35; p.44; p.45; p.81.
173 profiat Duran, ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’, in Osar wikuhim, ed. Eisenstein, p.280; talmage, The
Polemical Writings of Profiat Duran, p.30; p.35; p.44; p.45; p.81.
174 profiat Duran, ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’, in Osar wikuhim, ed. Eisenstein, p.280; talmage, The
Polemical Writings of Profiat Duran, p.30; p.35; p.44; p.45; p.81.
175 profiat Duran, ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’, in Osar wikuhim, ed. Eisenstein, p.280; talmage, The
Polemical Writings of Profiat Duran, p.30; p.35; p.44; p.45; p.81.
176 profiat Duran, ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’, in Osar wikuhim, ed. Eisenstein, p.280; talmage, The
Polemical Writings of Profiat Duran, p.30; p.35; p.44; p.45; p.81.
177 Jews also had their own systems of atonement graded to fit the seriousness of transgressions;
see Schäfer, ‘Jews and Christians in the High Middle Ages’, p.31. Like the ‘Sefer klimat ha-goyim’
the ‘Bitul ‘iqarei dat ha-nosrim’, originally written by the Jewish philosopher Hasdai Crescas in
Catalan c.1398 and later translated into Hebrew by Joseph ben Shem tov (c.1499–1460), is yet
another attempt to refute Christian doctrines. Although it is outside the chronological remit of this
book, and is derived from the period of the Conciliar Movement, it is worth examining to com-
pare with earlier texts. in Chapter 8, ‘Concerning the Coming of the Messiah’, Crescas referred to