Disputation - Definition and Overview

In the scholastic system of education of the middle ages, disputations (in Latin: disputationes, singular: disputatio) offered a formalised method of debate designed to uncover and establish "truths" in theology and in other sciences. Fixed rules governed the process: they demanded dependence on traditional written authorities and the thorough understanding of each argument on each side.

Inter-faith disputations

One especially significant class of disputations took place between Christian and Jewish theologians to try to convince Jews to convert. (Christians believed that only the refusal of the Jews to accept Christ stood in the way of the Second Coming.)

• 1240 - the Disputation of Paris involved interrogation of the Talmud, followed by confiscations and burnings of scores of Talmuds in the streets of Paris.
• 1263 - the Disputation of Barcelona before King James I of Aragon: between the monk Pablo Christiani and Rabbi Moses ben Nachman.
• 1413 - the Disputation of Tortosa, Spain, staged by the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII.