Jesus in the Talmud

100 Chapter 9condemn our customs and morals? This is what I say, lest you, too,believe that we eat human flesh and that after our banquets we extinguishthe lights and indulge in unbridled sensuality? Or do you onlycondemn us for believing in such doctrines and holding opinionswhich you consider false? 17Having first referred to the obvious and well-known distinction betweenthe Jews and the new Christian sect (they do not circumcise themselvesand do not observe the Sabbath), Justin gets to talking about the slandersspread about: that the Christians celebrate orgies during which they practicecannibalism and promiscuous sex. The Jew Trypho’s brief answer(“This last charge is what surprises us, replied Trypho. Those othercharges which the rabble lodge against you are not worthy of belief, forthey are too repulsive to human nature”) reveals that these horrible slandersare indeed widespread but that he does not take them very seriously:the subsequent discussion shows that he is mainly concerned about theChristian habit of not observing the Sabbath and the festivals and notpracticing circumcision. Moreover, he seems to ignore the question ofwho is the originator of these slanders—or else takes the answer forgranted—and simply dismisses them as repulsive. However, later in thedialogue Justin does not leave any doubt that he holds the Jews responsiblefor the slanders: “And you [the Jews] accuse him [Jesus] of havingtaught those irreverent, riotous, and wicked things, of which you everywhereaccuse all those who look up to and acknowledge him as theirChrist, their teacher, and the Son of God.” 18No doubt, the “irreverent, riotous, and wicked things” refer to the orgiesof cannibalism and sex mentioned earlier, and no doubt either thatthe Jews not only are presented here as the source of the slanders but asthose who spread it about the whole civilized world, sending out “certainmen chosen by vote” into every part of the empire as official representatives,“proclaiming that a godless and lawless sect has been started by a deceiver,one Jesus of Galilee.” 19 But what precisely is this strange ritual ofcannibalism and sex? Tertullian, Justin’s younger colleague (second halfof the second century C.E.) reports more graphic details. In his Apology,written 197 C.E., he writes: