“Strong apologies”: Martyrdom and the Jewish-Christian polemic in Late Antiquity

Abstract

   The paper discusses whether there was a polemic about martyrdom between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity. The author suggests that we can see the story of Rabbi Akiva and Papos ben Yehuda in the Babylonian Talmud as part of a controversy between Jews and Christians about the question of whose martyrdom is bigger and could be used as proof of the truth of their doctrine. In this light, the dialogue in prison between Rabbi Akiva and Papos about the reason for their arrest could be read as testimony to existing competition between rabbinic Jews and Christians. According to the text, Rabbi Akiva, who is certain that the Jews must remain steadfast in Torah and the Torah will bring them life, will be martyred for Torah; while Papos, who is associated in the late Babylonian tradition with Christianity, on his own confession in the narrative, will die only for superstitio. The author claims that here we can see a reflection of competition for martyrdom between Jews and Christians of as late as the third or maybe even fourth centuries.