Baptista (Battista), Giovanni
an Italian Jewish convert of the 15th ceritury, and physician by profession, is the author of Liber de Confutatione Hebraicce Sectac (Strasburg, 1500), which he dedicated to cardinal Bernardo Caravajal. The whole is divided into three sections: the first treats of the first advent of the Messiah, with an explanation of thirteen prophecies; the second, of his second advent in the time of Gog, i.e. the Antichrist, at which time the remnant of the Jews shall be saved; the third deals with the manner of refuting the Jews. In conclusion, he admonishes all those Jews who have found the Saviour to remain steadfast in the faith, and to live according to the Gospel. See Wolff, Bibl, Hebr, 3, 353 sq.; Furst, Bibl. Jud. i, 84; Jocher, Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexikon, s.v.; Kalkar, Israel und die Kirche, p. 31 sq. (B. P.)