Anthropomorphism and rationalist modes of thought in medieval Ashkenaz: The case R. Yosef Bekhor Shor

Abstract

Medieval rabbinic scholarship had to contend with a series of biblical and Talmudic passages which suggest that God appeared in different guises or forms to prophets and other leading religious figures, in ways that allowed them to apprehend Him. Those rabbinic scholars who were philosophically inclined (such as Maimonides) tended to exclude the possibility of any actual physicality in these appearances. A prophet only was allowed to perceive the physical presence of God in his own mind or imagination, even though this did not occur in a physical sense.