CHAPTER ELEVEN

KARAISM AND THE JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DEBATE

The early-tenth-century Karaite Ya'qub al-Qjrqisam reports that "some

of the Karaites say that Jesus was a good man and that his way was the
way of Zadok, Anan, and others; and that the Rabbanites conspired
against him and killed him just as they sought to kill Anan also, but
without success."l Such a positive view of Jesus, however, was not shared
by all Karaites. Benjamin al-NahawanclI, the ninth-century Karaite, usu-
ally considered as second only to the eighth-century Anan as founder of
the sect,2 regarded Jesus to have been one of five prophetic pretenders
who fulfilled the words of the prophet Daniel, who wrote (11: 14): ''Also
the children of the violent among the people shall lift themselves up
to establish the vision, but they shall fail."3
Whatever their view of Jesus himself, it is obvious that the Karaites
as a whole had a rather negative view of Christianity. Qjrqisam held the
opinion that Christianity as known in his own day was actually founded

1 Ya'qub al-QjrqisanI, Anwar, I :42-43 (English translation in Bruno Chiesa and

Wilfrid Lockwood, Sects, p. 135; and Leon Nemoy, "Sects," pp. 364-365). Abu 'Isa
al-I~fahanI, aJewish sectarian prior to Anan (seventh century), was said to have revered
both Jesus and Muhammad, and he considered Jesus to have been a prophet who
performed miracles; see Anwar, p. 52 (Chiesa and Lockwood, p. 145; Nemoy, p. 383).
QjrqisanI refutes the views of the 'Isawiyya (the sect founded by Abu 'Isa) in Anwar,
book 3, chapters 13-15,16 (vol. 2, pp. 301-307; a translation of chapter 16 is provided
by Nemoy in "Sects," pp. 369-376). According to Leon Nemoy, the 'lsawiyya was one
of many sectarian groups which eventually coalesced into Karaism; see Karaite Anthol-
ogy, pp. xvi-xx. Shlomo Pines, however, has theorized that the 'lsawites were actually
Jewish-Christians; see, e.g., Pines, '''lsawiyya.''
2 As mentioned in chapter 1, above, recent research has called into question Anan's
role as founder of Karaism; his own followers, the Ananites, remained distinct from
Karaites for over a century. Benjamin was the first one to use the term benei miqra'
(Scripturalists) to describe the group. In later Karaite perceptions, Benjamin was Anan's
successor as head of the Karaites. Karaite origins are discussed in Daniel J. Lasker,
"Islamic Influences."
3 As reported by QjrqisanI in Anwar, vol. 1, p. 42 (Chiesa and Lockwood, p. 135;
Nemoy, p. 364). This is also the opinion of the late-tenth-century Yefet ben Eli in his
Commentary on Daniel; see D. S. Margoliouth, Commentary, pp. 61-62 (English), 119-120
(Arabic); c£ Daniel Frank, Search Scripture Widl, p. 219. Maimonides also understood
Dan 11: 14 as referring to Jesus; see Mishneh Torah, "Laws of Kings," chapter 11 (in
uncensored versions).
 KARAISM AND THE JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DEBATE 191

by Paul, a view which he seems to have borrowed from Dawfid ibn

Marwan al-Muqammi~.4 Contemporary Christianity, from QrqisanI's
point of view, was "egregious heresy" (ilMd qii'im), maintaining, as it
did, the doctrines of the Trinity and the incarnation. 5 It would be safe
to say that this evaluation was shared by most Karaites, since anti-
Christian argumentation is a common feature of Karaite literature.
Though the principal target of Karaite polemics has always been the
Jewish Rabbanite majority, quite a number of Karaite works refer to
Christianity, especially in Islamic countries, usually with the intention
of refuting its doctrines. There are apparently only two identifiably
Karaite anti-Christian polemical treatises extant, both from Eastern
Europe: Isaac ben Abraham of Troki's lJizzuq Emunah (sixteenth cen-
tury) and Solomon ben Aaron of Troki's Migdal 'Oz (late seventeenth
century). 6 Karaite anti-Christian polemics, in both Islamic and Chris-
tian countries, should be considered one aspect of the general Jewish
debate with Christianity. 7

4 Anwar, vol. 1, p. 43 (Chiesa and Lockwood, p. 135; Nemoy, p. 365); see also pp.
44---45 (Chiesa and Lockwood, pp. 137-138; Nemoy, pp. 366-368). QrqisanI reports that
al-Muqammi~ had converted to Christianity and then returned to Judaism; QrqisanI
himself made use of al-Muqammi~'s works on Christianity and other sects. See Sarah
Stroumsa, Twenty Chapters; there is anti-Christian material throughout 'Ishriin Maqala.
Al-Muqammi~'s anti-Christian philosophical polemics are discussed in Lasker, Jewish
Philosophical Polemics, pp. 52-55, 93-96. Shlomo Pines understands the argument that
Paul is the true founder of Christianity, a contention found in Muslim works as well, to
be of Jewish-Christian origin; see, e.g., 'Jewish-Christians." Caleb Afendopolo, writing
in the Ottoman Empire not long after the fall of Constantinople, praises Jesus as "a
sage, a righteous man, a pious man, and a God-fearer," who had not advocated any
religion other than the Torah of Moses. He blames Jesus' students for the founding of
a new religion, identifYing the four evangelists as Paul, Peter, Matthew, and John; see
'Asarah Ma'amarot, pp. 21-22.
5 Anwar, vol. 1, p. 43 (Chiesa and Lockwood, p. 136; Nemoy, p. 365).
6 Jfizzuq Emunah has had quite a number of editions, e.g., ed. by David Deutsch;
and translations, e.g., the English rendition, often paraphrastic, of Moses Mocatta, Faith
Strengthened. This work, of encyclopedic length, has become a classic even among Rab-
banite Jews and the target of Christian responses. Migdal 'Oz, of much more modest
length, remains in manuscript.
Dawud al-Muqammi~ (ninth century) wrote two anti-Christian treatises, one of which
is lost, the other only partially extant. It is unclear, however, whether he was a Karaite
or a Rabbanite; on that issue, see chapter 3, n. 1, above.
7 See Lasker, "Under Islam." Karaites in Christian countries generally did not

engage in anti-Christian polemics. The nineteenth-century Karaite printing press

in Eupatoria censored anti-Christian passages from Karaite classics in order not to
jeopardize the Karaites' standing in Christian Russia. I am familiar with the following
Karaite polemicists against Christianity in Christian countries:Judah Hadassi (twelfth-
century Byzantium; see Wilhelm Bacher, "Inedited Chapters"); Jacob ben Reuben
(twelfth-century Byzantium; as reported by Daniel Frank, "The Karaites"); Isaac ben