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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/9253
Title: | The uses of Maimonides by twentieth-century Jewry |
Authors: | Berger, David Kraut, Benny |
Keywords: | Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204 --Teachings --Congresses. Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204 --Influence --Congresses. Jewish philosophy --Congresses. |
Issue Date: | 2005 |
Publisher: | Queens College |
Citation: | Berger, D. (2005). The uses of Maimonides by twentieth-century Jewry. In B. Kraut (Ed.), Moses Maimonides: Communcal impact, historic legacy (pp. 62-72). Queens College. |
Series/Report no.: | Queens College Center for Jewish Studies;Proceedings of an International Symposium November I 6, 2003 |
Abstract: | The influence of iconic figures and texts can be complex to the point of inscrutability. We all know, for example, that the Devil can quote Scripture; what, then, does this tell us about the influence of Scripture? On the one hand, believers feel bound by Scriptural teachings; on the other, this very loyalty can lead them to force Scripture to say what they badly want to do or believe on other grounds. To cite a sharp pre-modern observation of this point in an area of great relevance to Maimonidean studies, R Isaac Arama, a distinguished fifteenth- century Spanish thinker, asked why certain philosophers need the Bible at all. After all, their modus operandi appears to be as follows: If the Bible agrees with their philosophical views, they interpret it literally; if it does not, they interpret it allegorically or symbolically so that it is made to agree with those views. In what sense, then, are they bound or even influenced by the Bible? |
Description: | Scholarly book chapter / Conference proceedings |
URI: | https://www.academia.edu/44323033/David_Berger_The_Uses_of_Maimonides_by_Twentieth_Century_Jewry_in_Benny_Kraut_ed_Moses_Maimonides_Communal_Impact_Historic_Legacy_New_York_Queens_College_2005_62_72 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/9253 |
Appears in Collections: | Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies (BRGS): Faculty Publications |
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David_Berger_The_Uses_of_Maimonides_by_Twentieth-century Jewry 2005 62-72.pdf | 1.49 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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