A Prudent Ambiguity in Saadya Gaon's Book of Doctrines and Beliefs
Among the outstanding scholarly careers of the Jewish Middle Ages, none seems so dominated by polemic as that of Saadya Gaon (882–942). His intellectual environment was crowded with a bewildering array of rival religious groups and philosophical creeds engaged in vigorous debate. The chaotic variety...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1983
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 1983, Volume: 76, Issue: 2, Pages: 249-254 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Among the outstanding scholarly careers of the Jewish Middle Ages, none seems so dominated by polemic as that of Saadya Gaon (882–942). His intellectual environment was crowded with a bewildering array of rival religious groups and philosophical creeds engaged in vigorous debate. The chaotic variety and aggressiveness of intellectual life in Saadya's Baghdad are frequently illustrated by the account of some remarkable theological debating societies given by a contemporary Muslim visitor:At the first meeting there were present not only people of various [Islamic] sects, but also unbelievers, Magians, materialists, atheists, Jews and Christians, in short, unbelievers of all kinds. Each group had its own leader, whose task it was to defend its views, and every time one of the leaders entered the room, his followers rose to their feet and remained standing until he took his seat. In the meanwhile, the hall had become overcrowded with people. One of the unbelievers rose and said to the assembly: we are meeting here for a discussion. Its conditions are known to all. You, Muslims, are not allowed to argue from your books and prophetic traditions since we deny both. Everybody, therefore, has to limit himself to rational arguments. The whole assembly applauded these words. So you can imagine … that after these words I decided to withdraw. They proposed to me that I should attend another meeting in a different hall, but I found the same calamity there. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000001322 |