AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies

Abstract:

This article offers a new approach to Profayt Duran's Reproach of the Gentiles (Kelimat ha-goyim), emphasizing the particular place accorded to Paul in this work and reading it against the background of converso Paulinism. This article integrates the idea of Paul the Jew in Reproach of the Gentiles with the broader ideology that Duran developed regarding the forced converts (ʾanusim) in his other writings. To some extent, based on the ambivalence in his views and his divided personality, Paul could serve as a model for those conversos now required to develop, like him, a divided identity and ambivalent positions. Thus, Profayt Duran should be considered a forerunner of converso Paulinism.