Sepher Nitzachon-Liber Nizachon [“Book of Victory”: anti-Christian polemic]

MUELHAUSEN, YOM-TOV LIPMANN

Wolfgang Endter

Altdorf-Nürnberg

1644

FIRST EDITION. Edited by Theodor Hackspan. Engraved Hebrew title with additional Latin letterpress title. Hebrew text followed by Latin translation

The intent of Muelhausen’s Sepher Nitzachon, composed in 1390, was to serve as a handbook for the ordinary Jew compelled at times to wrestle with complex theological problems. Written in a rationalistic vein, it sets forth a systematic debate against Christianity, following the biblical order in the presentation of its arguments. Muelhausen refutes the Christian interpretations of the Bible and the doctrines derived from them, and in so doing, incidentally provides many exegetic insights. His method is to expose the Christian lack of understanding of Hebrew sources with their linguistic and contextual associations and to ridicule aspects of the Christian religion. Muelhausen’s great superiority over other polemicists was his fluency in Latin and intimate knowledge of Christian literature including the Evangelion, the Vulgate, the leading Church Fathers, as well as the works of the late Christian scholars. Yom Tov Lipmann’s activities as a polemicist gave him lasting renown. Over the years a complete and ramified body of literature in refutation of him was produced, known by the general name of “Anti-Lipmanniana.” See J. Rosenthal, Anti-Christian Polemics from Its Beginnings to the End of the 18th Century, Areshet II, pp.142-146; Carmilly-Weinberger, pp.186-87; EJ, Vol. XI, cols. 499-502