Page - 10 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

powerful study, which generated an early historical consciousness in its descrip- tion of the Nazarene, was written at the end of the 16th century, at a time of confessional and interreligious confrontation involving Jews and Christians. The treatise was authored by Isaac ben Abraham Troki (c. 1533–1594) in the mul- ti-confessional Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In her essay Benfatto discuss- es central issues tackled by the Lithuanian Karaite scholar, such as the divinity of Jesus and the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as Jesus’ humanity, messiahship and Jewishness. The Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah offered a noteworthy representation of Jesus from a particular Jewish perspective, using an exegetical and historical method and basing its argument on analysis of the Gospels. As Benfatto illus- trates, the text circulated widely in Europe through clandestine networks, was translated into several languages before the end of the seventeenth century and was influential for freethinkers such as Reimarus and Voltaire. In his article, Daniel Barbu also deals with anti-Christian polemical literature, but of a very different emotionally engaging type. A parodic, subversive retell- ing of the Gospel tradition, Toledot Yeshu (The Jewish Life of Jesus) is a narra- tive of remarkable cogency and was a bestseller in its period. Against the back- ground of early modern life and thought, the essay offers an engaging intro- duction to and discussion of this story and of its wide dissemination through multiple oral and written channels, not least through the first printed editions, published by professor of Oriental languages Johann Christoph Wagenseil and the Swiss theologian Johann Jacob Huldreich in 1681 and 1705 respectively. Barbu investigates the use of Toledot Yeshu as deliberate response and chal- lenge to Christian dogma, situating it in the context of counter-history and iden- tity. Narratives such as this functioned within a minority culture as a form of resistance and challenge to the dominant discourse. The impact and power of humor and mockery as effective forms of polemic are highlighted. Barbu reads and treats the many manuscript versions as historical and social artefacts and analyses early modern contexts previously underappreciated. He writes about adaptations and interpretations, about the reception and circulation of Toledot Yeshu among both Jews and Christians, exploring the effects of a narrative that was condemned as infamous and impious while at the same time being broadly discussed by Christians as a fascinating and thought-provoking text. From textual and exegetical narratives aimed at ridiculing or criticizing he- gemonic Christian interpretations of the life of Jesus, this issue turns in its next article to Catholic sacred antiquarianism. Paola von Wyss-Giacosa introduces the reader to a tract on the shroud of Besançon as an example of early modern discourse about relics. With its polemical overtones, the historic debate over relics of Jesus is very relevant to our present perspective on various counts. Such artefacts were a medium that played an important part in disseminating allegedly authentic (and therefore sacred) images of Jesus, considered by be- 10 | Cristiana Facchini and Paola von Wyss-Giacosa www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1, 7–21