Literary Discourse between the Eternal Validity of the Torah and Philosophical Doubt: The Polemical Writings of Abraham Gómez Silveira (1656-1740)

This chapter discusses the polemical work written by the Amsterdam Sephardic Jew Abraham Gomez Silveira (1656-1740 , extant in a series of seven manuscript  volumes written in Spanish. Initially conceived as a Jewish refutation of Isaac Jacquelot's Dissertations sur le Messie, Silveira argues with a large number of Christian theologians, relying both on a canon of contemporary Jewish apologists and on his own arguments. Although his ideas, rooted in fideistic rationalism, seem straightforward and repetitive, he nonetheless merits attention for three reasons: a) his progressive openness towards other religions and his plea for religious tolerance; b) his self-fashioning as a commonsensical Jewish bystander, even as a fool; and c) his uncontainable literary urge to alternate serious discourse with displays of humour and wit.