author
Alexander McCaul
1799–1863
An Irish Hebraist and theologian, he spent years in Poland and Russia before becoming a prominent nineteenth-century missionary scholar in London. His writing ranged from biblical studies and debates on Judaism to a notable rejection of the blood libel.
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About the author
Born in Dublin on May 16, 1799, he studied at Trinity College Dublin and, after graduating, worked as a tutor before being sent to Poland in 1821 by the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. There he studied Hebrew and German in Warsaw, and he later spent time in St. Petersburg, where he was received by Tsar Alexander I.
After returning to Britain, he was ordained and went on to build a reputation as a learned Hebraist and controversial religious writer. He became professor of Hebrew and rabbinical literature at King's College London and was especially known for books such as Old Paths, which argued for Christian readings of rabbinic and Jewish texts.
McCaul died in London on November 13, 1863. Although much of his work grew out of missionary aims, he is also remembered for publicly rejecting the ritual-murder accusation against Jews in his 1840 book Reasons for Believing that the Charge Lately Revived Against the Jewish People Is a Baseless Falsehood.