Guide for the Perplexed

   by Maimonides

(1190)

   MAIMONIDES is widely regarded as the most important Jewish philosopher of all time, and it was his Guide for the Perplexed that made him famous throughout the world. Influenced chiefly by Aristotle and by Arabic commentators, especially al-Fārābi and Ibn Sīanā (Avicenna),Maimonides set out to show how Aristotelian philosophy could be shown to inform the beliefs of traditional Judaism. The book purports to be a personal answer to one of Maimonides’ former students, a certain Joseph ben Judah. Joseph is presented as one who believes in the law, but is confused by the literal meaning of certain phrases and parables that appear in Scripture. Thus Maimonides cautions that his Guide is only for the educated, not for the simple masses who have no interest in philosophic inquiry. He begins by interpreting the Scriptures, and eschews the literal interpretation of certain anthropomorphic descriptions of God. He then moves to a discussion of Divine attributes generally, arguing that no positive attributes whatever could be ascribed to God—one could only accurately use negative attributes (such as “God is not unloving”), since anything else put limits on the deity.Aquinas later atttacked this famous “doctrine of negative attributes.”

   Maimonides moves on to argue for God’s existence, his unity, and his incorporality, and argues that God is the creator of the world. He discusses miracles and prophecy, and then moves to the problem of evil. Moral evil, according to Maimonides, is the product of human choice, while natural evil (earthquakes, disease, and the like) comes about because of a privation or lack of good. And divine providence, while it governs the universe through natural laws, acts on human beings to a degree proportional to the person’s intellect. Finally Maimonides discusses the law, which he argues is not established by divine caprice but follows wisdom.Human beings, says Maimonides, can determine the logical reasons for many of these laws.

   The text of the Guide was translated into Hebrew, and a medieval Latin translation was made from one of the Hebrew translations, so the text was widely read. But Maimonides’ rational approach to religious questions led many conservative Jews of his day to condemn his works. In some parts of Europe, Jews were forbidden to read his compositions. Elsewhere only those mature in the faith were allowed to read the Guide for the Perplexed. In France three leading rabbis denounced Maimonides’ works to the Dominican friars in charge of the Inquisition, and through the efforts of those rabbis Maimonides’ books were burned.When eight years later those same Dominicans began burning texts of the Talmud itself in France, at least one of the complaining rabbis repented in the belief that God was punishing the Jews of France for their condemnation of Maimonides. The rabbi, Jonah Gerondi, traveled to Maimonides’ grave in Tiberias to ask forgiveness. History has seen Maimonides’ reputation continue to triumph over his contemporary rivals’ animosity.