Response to Martin Luther

Ḥizuk emunah (Faith Strengthened), which is based on theological conversations he had—in Latin and Polish—with representatives of various churches. Troki died without finishing the work, and his pupil, Joseph ben Mordechai Malinowski, completed the preface and index. Ḥizuk emunah offers a reasoned defense of Judaism and critically analyzes Christian tradition and belief. It circulated in manuscript form among Jews for many years; it was printed in Hebrew only in 1705 and in Yiddish in 1717. A Latin version, by Johann Christoph Wagenseil, came out earlier, in 1681, together with Wagenseil’s refutation. Troki’s arguments later became popular among eighteenth-century anticlerical writers, including the French philosopher Voltaire, who described the work as a masterpiece.