Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1997 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

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46 PIM VALKENBERG Christians in Spain is so big that it is sometimes embarrassing to read some texts suggesting that real freedom existed, while in fact the only freedom for Jews in Christian Spain from the fourteenth century onwards was the choice between conversion, expulsion, or death. This makes the study of texts that describe the disputations or enforced dialogues between Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages fascinating but also very thorny. The most famous of these disputes was the confrontation in Barcelona between Moses ben Nachman (Nachmanides) and Pablo Christiani in 1263. This disputation was held at the request of Raymund of Peüaforte o.p., who was mentioned earlier in the context of Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles. We are happy to possess both Nachmanides' own account of the disputation in Hebrew, and an official Latin account ordered by the king of Aragon. Both versions disagree about the question who won the disputation, but with reference to the actual historical circumstances, it may be questioned whether it has any sense to speak of a 'winner' at alI102• 3.3 France in the twelfth and thirteenib century The difference between this third section of the research program and the other sections is that the Northern part of France is culturally and religiously quite homogeneous in the twelfth and thirteenth century. Therefore, the main question is not the interreligious communication between Muslims and Christians (first section) or Jews and Christians (second section), but the incorporation of these interreligious communications in Christian theology. As we saw in the texts of Thomas Aquinas that belong to this section of the research program, it is often not very clear whether this incorporation leads to a philosophical or to a theological discourse, because the Muslim partner is often not perceived in his religious identity, but as a philosopher against whom one has to use the arguments of natural reason. 102 Cp. H. Maccoby, Judaism on trial, London 1982; W. Zuidema, "Sefer ha-Wikkoeach (De oorlogen des Heren): fragmenten uit de Disputatio van Nachmanides met Pablo Christiani uit 1263", M. van Loopik (red.), Tweespalt en verbondenheid, pp. 54-76. See also footnote 89.
AQUINAS AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 47 This problem emerges in the main text for this section as well: it is a dialogue of a Philosopher with a Jew and a Christian, written by Peter Abelard between 1136 and 1139. It is clear that in this dialogue with Peter Abelard himself as judge, the philosopher acts as the defender of a rational and natural religion. But is he a representative of the Arabic philosophers, or is he simply a pagan? While R. Thomas, the editor of Abelard's text opts for the former opinion and even ventures to identify the philosopher in the text with the Muslim philosopher Ibn Bäjja, others rather consider the philosopher to be an alter ego of Abelard himself'?'. Peter Abelard did not finish his book, so we do not know if the Christian would have won the dispute. But some elements in the text indicate that he tries to present the several religious points of view as equal alternatives as much as possible'?'. As soon as we will have analysed these elements, it will be an interesting question whether Thomas Aquinas, who wrote his works more than a century after Peter Abelard, but in the same context, did endorse Peter's tendency towards equality between the religions. But my suspicion is that we may ask too much of Thomas Aquinas, and that he is too much a theologian to go along with a tendency towards a facile equality between religions. It is always possible to mention more persons and texts that should have been included in this listing. Why not mention the texts of Alan of Lille and Peter. the Venerable from the twelfth century? And why not add the fourteenth century as well, with names such as Raymund Lull and Nicholas of Cusa? Very important names indeed! But we began with Thomas Aquinas, and keep his temporal and cultural milieu in mind as the terminus ad quem of our investigations. Finally, one has to stop somewhere. 103 See Schreckenberg, o.c., p. 135, and Petrus Abaelardus, Dialogus inter Philosophum, ludaeum et Christianum. Textkritische Edition von Rudolf Thomas, Stuttgart - Bad Cannstatt 1970, pp. 13-14 for the former opinion. The latter opinion is represented in: Peter Abelard, A Dialogue of a Philosopher with a Jew, and a Christian. Translated by Pierre J. Payer, Toronto 1979, p. 11. 104 Schreckenberg, o.c., p. 142.
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Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1997 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

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