Christian+Hebraism

Christian Hebraism

Christian Hebraism refers to Christian interest in Jews, the Hebrew Bible, and Judaism in general, beginning probably in the 5th century with St. Jerome. Many would argue that Christians were motivated by a desire to convert Jews to Christianity and a thorough knowledge of biblical Hebrew and Hebrew texts would empower them for this formidable task. The Renaissance revival of classical learning in Europe brought with it a renewed appreciation of the language of the Hebrew Bible. Christian humanists put Hebrew on par with Greek and Latin. Entire schools of Christian Hebraists materialized where they came into contact with Jewish scholars and Jews who wanted to convert to Christianity. Trilingual colleges were established in western Europe, where Latin, Greek and Hebrew were the languages of academic studies. During the Renaissance great printing masters of classical texts worked closely with Jewish craftsmen and typesetters. Christian Hebraists were from both Catholic and Protestant denominations. It should be noted that interest in the Hebrew Bible and thought lessened during the Enlightenment period; instead Jewish scholars, philosophers, and rabbinical commentary were marginalized in most cases. It is only in very recent times, that upon re-examination of primary documents, the influence of the Hebraic tradition and language has been revealed as underpinning western ideas of democracy, freedom, economics and nationalism having informed such great early modern luminaries as Locke, Newton, Hobbes and others.