Dialogue Against the Jews: His Conversion to Christianity

Petrus Alfonsi

Early 12th Century

The Omnipotent One has inspired us with his spirit and led me on the correct path, first removing the white spot from the eyes and then the weighty veil of a corrupt soul. Then the halls of the prophets lay open for us and their secret places were revealed, and we applied the mind to perceiving their true understanding and we tarried over…

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Petrus wrote, in Latin, the Dialogue against the Jews (Dialogi contra Iudaeos), an anti-Jewish polemic work, in the form of a debate between a Jew named Moses and a Christian named Peter, representing his Jewish and Christian selves. He sought to demonstrate that Christianity fulfilled the prophecies found in the Mosaic revelation. He also polemicized against Islam in this work. This excerpt is drawn from the prologue.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval History and Travel Writing

8th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Petrus Alfonsi

Late 11th to Mid-12th Century

Born in Spain, possibly in the city of Huesca, and trained as a physician, Petrus Alfonsi originally bore the name Moses ha-Sefardi. In 1104, he converted to Christianity under the patronage of King Alfonso I of Aragon (r. 1104–1134) and later moved to England, where he seems to have been in 1116, and then to northern France. He wrote a Latin anti-Jewish polemic, gathered together and translated into Latin a collection of moral tales, and also translated scientific works from Arabic to Latin.

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