fired with the desire of world-domination, have provided the fighting forces of destruction, but behind them are the veritable powers of darkness in eternal conflict with the powers of light.
APPENDIX
I
JEWISH EVIDENCE ON THE TALMUD
The denunciation of the Talmud by the Jew Pfefferkorn in 1509 and the ex-Rabbi Drach in 1844 have been quoted in the course of this book. Graetz however, in his History of the Jews, quotes an earlier incident of this kind. In the thirteenth century a converted Jew and former Talmudist Donin who, on his baptism, assumed the name of Nicholas, presented himself before the Pope, Gregory IX, "and brought charges against the Talmud, saying that it distorted the words of Holy Writ, and in the Agadic portions of it there were to be found disgraceful representations of God," that it contained many gross errors and absurdities, further that "it was filled with abuse against the founder of the Christian religion and the Virgin. Donin demonstrated that it was the Talmud which prevented the Jews from accepting Christianity, and that without it they would certainly have abandoned their state of unbelief." Again "he stated that the Talmudical writings taught it was a meritorious action to kill the best man among the Christians ... that it was lawful to deceive a Christian without any scruple; that it was permitted to Jews to break a promise made on oath." These Graetz describes as lying charges.
The Jews were accordingly ordered by the Pope to hand over all their copies of the Talmud to the Dominicans