Editing Disputation (section)

==Medieval disputations==
[[Image:Berruguete ordeal.jpg|thumb|c. 1208. This 15th-century painting by [[Pedro Berruguete]] depicts the legend of [[Saint Dominic]] and his [[Albigensian]] disputant tossing their books into a fire. According to the legend, Saint Dominic's books miraculously leapt out of the fire.]]A significant category of disputations took place between [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[Jew]]ish [[theology|theologian]]s as a form of both [[theological]] and [[philosophical]] debate and [[proselytization]]. Often, the Christian side was represented by a recent convert from Judaism. The only way for the Jewish side to 'win' was to force a draw by drawing the Christian side into a position in which it was necessary to deny the Old Testament to win, committing [[heresy]].{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} According to Michael J. Cook, "Since 'winning' a debate could well jeopardize the security of the Jewish community at large, political considerations certainly entered into what Jewish disputants publicly said or refrained from saying. ... Official transcripts of these proceedings, moreover, may not duplicate what actually transpired; in some places what they record was not the live action, as it were, but Christian polemical revision composed after the fact."<ref>"Evolving Jewish Views of Jesus" by Michael J. Cook, in ''Jesus Through Jewish Eyes: Rabbis and Scholars Engage an Ancient Brother in a New Conversation'' by Beatrice Bruteau (Editor). Orbis Books, New York, 2001, pp. 15–16</ref>

* 1240: the [[Disputation of Paris]] during the reign of [[Louis IX of France]] (St. Louis) between a member of the [[Franciscan Order]] [[Nicholas Donin]], who earlier converted from Judaism and persuaded [[Pope Gregory IX]] to issue a bill ordering the burning of the [[Talmud]], and four of the most distinguished rabbis of France: [[Yechiel of Paris]], [[Moses of Coucy]], [[Judah of Melun]], and [[Samuel ben Solomon of Château-Thierry]]. The commission of Christian theologians condemned the Talmud to be burned and on June 17, 1244, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were set on fire in the streets of Paris.
* 1263: the [[Disputation of Barcelona]] before King [[James I of Aragon]]: between the [[friar]] [[Pablo Christiani]] (a convert from Judaism) and [[Rabbi]] [[Moses ben Nachman]] (also known as [[Nachmanides]]). At the end of disputation, the king awarded Nachmanides a monetary prize and declared that never before had he heard "an unjust cause so nobly defended."<ref>
Slater, Elinor & Robert (1999): ''Great Moments in Jewish History''. Jonathan David Company, Inc. {{ISBN|0-8246-0408-3}}. p. 168</ref> Nevertheless, the Dominicans claimed the victory and Nachmanides was exiled and his report of the proceedings was condemned and burned. A committee appointed by the king censored the passages from the Talmud they deemed offensive.<ref>Grätz, l.c. vii. 121–124 (from the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'')</ref>
* 1375: public disputations held at Burgos and Avila by [[Moses Cohen de Tordesillas]] with converts from Judaism [[John of Valladolid]] and [[Abner of Burgos]]. Another disputation was held at about the same time in Pamplona by [[Shem-Tob ben Isaac Shaprut of Tudela]] with Cardinal Don Pedro de Luna, afterward [[Antipope Benedict XIII|Avignon Pope Benedict XIII]], the disputations being made the subjects of the books "'Ezer ha-Emunah" (by Moses) and "Eben Boḥan".<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=386&letter=D&search=disputation#1191 Disputations] (''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'', 1906 ed.)</ref>
* 1413: the [[Disputation of Tortosa]] in Spain, staged by the [[Antipope Benedict XIII]]. As a result, the Pope gave instructions by which all books of the Talmud would be handed over to his functionaries for [[censorship]].
Some disputations also appeared in the Islamic world, including one between a pen and a sword, attributed to Ahmad Ibn Burd al-Asghar in the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tarabeih |first=Abdullah |last2=Shakour |first2=Adel |date=2015 |title=The Influence of the Letter of the Sword and the Pen by Ibn Burd on the Maḥbarot of Alharizi and Ibn Ardutiel |url=https://staff.najah.edu/media/published_research/2017/11/07/The_Influence_of_the_Letter_of_the_Sword_and_the_Pen.pdf |journal=Hebrew Higher Education |volume=17 |pages=49–73}}</ref>