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652 ;

Anti-Talmudists Antokolski

Tin; .IKWISM EN'CYCLOPEDIA

Ilrinc (lid not liesitnti' lo nvow the fact timt it was till' i-^liililisliiiiciit iif the .slave system in Aineiica that iiiilueeii him la.i Sliliirinrichl ilm Alien TeMitmi itl.i; /iuIik' Kalin. I.'Ks:

Amotm

iliirinii-

Siliin In llilile el

le T(tlnniil. I'liris. |s. .'>; Lsmel Abralianis, Jewinh Life

i>f

pp.


 * Vt

(

/

.1.

ANTI-TALMUDISTS. i

1

See Fk.vnkists,

Pastor,

Though a Jew.

apostolic confession audibly.

in

lite

K.

Ka-

French-Christian tlieo: converted to Judaism; born of C'alholic parents in 1003 or 1603 at Bricy, a small

who became

suffered

martyrdom

at the stake

Geneva, April 20, 1633. For live years he attended the collejie at Luxemburir. and was then sent to Pont-a ^lonssoii, Treves, and C'oloi^iie for Their intluhiulier instruction tinder the Jesuits. for when ence, however, seems to have been nil Anloine returned to Briey, at the aire of twenty, he was no lonjier an ardent Catholic. The doctrines of Protestantism attracted him, and he allowed himself to be converted by the fervent eloquence of Feri'i, a preacher of reputation, and pastor of the Kef'oi'med Church in Metz. The yminK convert then allended the academies of Sedan and Geneva in order to study the Keformed faith, but the deeper he delved into the stndy of Pi'otestaiitism the less fervent became his enthusiasiu; and he very soon ari'ived at the most unexpected conclusion; namely, that the Old Testament alone contained the truth. in



The rabbinate of

Met/, refused to receive the youiii; into Judaism, offering as an excuse the fear of reprisals on the part of thcaufhorities; and Antoine was advised to go to the Netherlands or to Italy,

man

vhere Jews enjoyed more liljerty. Accompanied by a Christian clei'gyman whom he had known in Sedan, and whom he attempted to convert to Judaism on the way, he repaired to Venice. Refused There he found that the prevailing Admission con<litions had been too favorably to Judaism, deiiicted. The Jews were tolenited by the Venetian republic merely for commercial reasons: they were huddled into a gloomy ghetto, and were obligctl to wear a yellow disk, which exposed them to the wanton raillery of the populace. The Venetian Jews could offer Antoine no more encouragement than their brethren of Metz. At Padua he met with a similar check. According to the documents ])roduccd at his trial, the Italian .lews gave him the "diabolieal advice" to imrsue the life of a pious .Jew under the cloak of the Church. Antoine proceeded to Geneva, where he acce])ted a position as tutor in the family of the pastor and iirofessor Diotlati. For .some time he also taught the upper class of the college, but, being an apostate from Catholicism, he was not cousidei'ed sufficiently orthodox to be entrusted with the chair of philo.sophy at the Academy of Geneva. Antoine, desiring to marry, sought another nppointment. new Protestant parish had just been formed at Divonne, a little village of the district of Gex, which had lielonged to France since 1602, but was now under the religious jurisdiction of Geneva; and there Antoine obtained the jiosition of pastor. Once installed, he sought to pacify his conscience.

A

In the

my

body, this is my blood," he was once heard to say, "Your Savior remembers you." His sermons, the texts for which were t«ken exclusively fiom Lsaiah and the other prophets, became celebrated far and wide; yet they liieked any ])eculiarly Christian char-

~

town of Lorraine:

saying his prayers in iiU the Mosaic rites. In his public services he pronounced the name of Jesus as seldom as possible. He was never known to read the

Protestant serving

inni

Am.

ANTOINE, NICOLAS

li>i:ian

se-

mode of life, Hebrew and ob-

acteristics.

salistied

uai

no one, he

communion

.sf '/.

M.

Revealing his inmost convictions to cretly observed a Ihoioughly Jewish

Vnr-

Mitlille Ayctt; SchafT-Herzoe, Kncyeh^feflia nf lieliniitn.* Kniiuleilae, vol. ill. .). artlele on Slaverti; .loiseph Jai'olis, ,/iii'«"f -l)i(ii'i)i hJnglaniJ; Depping, Die JhiIcm in>Mitlelttllt r,

652

service, instead of the

The

]ieasanlsof

with their ]mslor,

words "This is

Divonne were

who was

lierfectly eloiiuent in the

exh-eine and full of kindness toward them; they were not shocked by the vague form of bis sermons. But the lord of the adjoining manor was outniged. One Sunday, Antoine preached on the second Psillin, which, according to orlhodox Christian theology, announces the coming of the son of God. Antoine, on the contrary, |)erinitted himself to declai'e that God had no son and liiat theie was but th<> one God. This was too much fi>r th<> lord; he reiuonstrated loudly with the heretical pastor and threatened to denounce him to the synod. Antoine fell into gloomy desjiair; a nervous jittack dei)riveil him of his reason. To several colleagues from Geneva who had come to see him he began to chant theseventy-fourlh Psidm; then he suddenly stopped, and, exelaiiuing that he was a Jew, blasphemeil Christianity. Iliscoudition was recognized at once, and lie was put to bed but he escaped his watchers, passi'd the night wandering through the country, and was found the next morning in Geneva in a most pitiable condition, kneeling in the streets and calling loudly upon the Goil of Israel. He was placed in an asylum for the insjine Feb, Medical ti'eatment accoin]ilislied but little 11, 1032. for him. Ilis clerical colleagues did all they could to induce him lo change his religion; but he never ceased to proclaim that he was a Jew and desired to remain

a Jew.

A

cluirge of heresy could no longer be avoided chief of the Geneva police arrested Antoine, and instituted proceedings. While he was in prison the clei'gy were tireless in seeking his reconversion, dying in vain to luakc him sign a declaiation of orthodox faith. Bidden to formulate his religious belief, he drew up twelve articles, which wei'e submitted loan ecclesiastical court. In them he gave the tenets of Judaism in the style of His Im- Maimonides' thirteen articles of faith,

the

prisonment and added "eleven

philosophical objeetions against the dogma of the Execution. Trinity." At the same time he addressed to the judges three memorials, two of which have been preserved. In spite of the exertions of Sletrezat, a pastor of Paris, and Tht^ trial comothers, the judges were immovable. menced April 11 Antoine's altitude, full of dignity, aroused much syiupathy. The threats of the judges were of no more avail than the persuasions of liis He repeated constantly: "I am a .Tew; colleagues. and ail I ask of God's grace is to die for Judaism." The court sought to show that he had iiromulgated his heretical doctrines at Geneva: this he conti-adieted most forcibly. All the efforts of the judges weie met with the unchanging reply, "With the help of God I am determined to die in my present Fifteen clergymen or professors of theolbelief." ogy were summoned as witnesses. Several of them begged for a light sentence, since, in their opinion, Antoine had comiuitted no sin by becoming a Jew,

and