Chronology and eschatology: a Jewish–Christian debate, France 1100

Abstract

The text that is discussed here, written in France in 1100, contains the first debate between a Jew and a Christian on the date of the birth of Jesus. The Christian believed that Jesus was born in 2–3 CE, while the Jew (a pupil of Rashi) disagreed but did not propose an alternative year. The Jew also claimed that the Messiah may appear on 1102 – an eschatological computation which is solely in accordance with Christian records of the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Jesus. This debate, which actually is based on a misunderstanding of both sides, had a considerable impact on the chronological computations of Ashkenazi rabbinical authorities in subsequent centuries. They adopted the Christian calculation of Jesus’ lifetime and augmented it with a Jewish interpretation following the rules of the Jewish calendar, which led them to totally different conclusions than the original Christian view.