Maimonides

Guno צְבִי

Guno צְבִי

We fight, We win
Twelfth century scholar, philosopher and religious commentator Mosheh ben Maimon, known in the west as Moses Maimonides, is considered one of the main foundations of modern Jewish law, and the most widely accepted authority on Jewish philosophy.



Halachically, Maimonides says in three distinct places that the Christians are idol worshippers.

In his interpretation of the Mishna, tractate Avoda Zara 1:3, he writes: “Know that this Christian nation, who are making the claim of a messiah, with all their many different sects, are all idol worshippers and all their holidays are forbidden, and we deal with them regarding religious issues as we would pagans.”

And he adds (AZ 4): “Therefore one must know that in every one of the Christian nation’s cities which has an altar, meaning their house of worship, it is a pagan house of idolatry without any doubt.”

In the uncensored version of Hayad Hachazaka (Hilchot Avo2. In the uncensored version of Hayad Hachazaka (Hilchot Avoda Zara 9:4), Maimonides issues the edict: “The Christians are idol worshipers and Sunday is their religious holiday, therefore in Eretz Israel we may not trade with them on Thursday and Friday of every week, and needless to say on Sunday, which is forbidden [for trade with Christians] everywhere.” Trade in this context refers especially to paying back loans, which would enhance their joy on the day of their idol.

Also in Hayad Hachazaka, the laws of forbidden foods, the uncensored version (Hilchot Maachalot Asurot 11:7): “The Christians are idol worshippers and their regular wine if forbidden to be consumed” by Jews since it is likely to be used as libation in their pagan service.


In his Letter to Obadiah the Proselyte Maimonides states clearly: “These Ishmaelites (Muslims) are not idol worshippers in the least, and [paganism] has been long since cut off from their mouths and their hearts, and they worship the singular God properly and without any blemish.”
 
Last week I watched a video course on Judaism, in which one lecture was dedicated to Jewish philosophers and mystics, including Philo of Alexanderia, Sa’adya Gaon, Maimonides. I found it pretty bloody interesting!

I have great respect for the scholarly religious philosophers, aka Maimonides, Philo, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine - even as I hold barely educated bible thumping evangelicals in utter contempt!

Greek philosophy, mediated by Arab authors, rapidly spread, and Jews well versed in this scholarship felt the need to reply. The greatest of these, and arguably the greatest thinker in all of Jewish history, was Maimonides. Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1135 and died in Fostat (the old city of Cairo, Egypt) in 1204. Not only a great philosopher, Maimonides was also one of the outstanding rabbinic legal scholars in all of Jewish history. His masterwork in this field was a codification of all of Jewish law in 14 books, known as Mishneh Torah (“Repetition of the Torah”). His genius here was in going through all previous rabbinic literature and thematically organizing it.

As a philosopher, Maimonides is best known for his work The Guide of the Perplexed. His philosophic training came to him through Arabic authors who were trained in Aristotelian philosophy, which became the basis for Maimonides, as well. His intended readership were Jews who, although well versed in their religious tradition, were also exposed to rational thought and, consequently, had difficulty with major portions of the Bible, in particular, the various anthropomorphic allusions to God. This led Maimonides to ascribe a spiritualized meaning to many of the biblical descriptions of God. From here, it was not far to an attempt at defining what we can and cannot know about God. How can God be one, yet have so many attributes? The essence of God’s unity and existence has a major part in the thinking of Maimonides.

Source credit: Professor Isaiah M. Gafni, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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PostmodernProphet said:
atheist evangelism......
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you would make a good Shabbos goy

The Gentile employed in a Jewish household on the Sabbath-day to perform services which are religiously forbidden to Jews on that day. The Shabbat goy's duty is to extinguish the lighted candles or lamps on Friday night, and make a fire in the oven or stove on Sabbath mornings during the cold weather. A poor woman ("Shabbat goyah") often discharges these offices. The hire in olden times was a piece of ḥallah; in modern times, about 10 cents.
 
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Cypress said:
Last week I watched a video course on Judaism, in which one lecture was dedicated to Jewish philosophers and mystics, including Philo of Alexanderia, Sa’adya Gaon, Maimonides. I found it pretty bloody interesting!

I have great respect for the scholarly religious philosophers, aka Maimonides, Philo, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine - even as I hold barely educated bible thumping evangelicals in utter contempt!
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Food for thought.

Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible

https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/reasons-humanists-reject-bible/
 
guno said:
Jews do not believe in Jesus the Christ because they know that he is a fictitious invented character for the goyim to grovel before, as worthless "sinners"
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more atheist evangelism.......I don't know why you people feel the need to start threads extolling your religion......
 
kudzu said:
Food for thought.

Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible

https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/reasons-humanists-reject-bible/
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In my opinion, it all depends on one's approach to the bible.

As a piece of world literature, as a testament to humanity's affinity for spirituality, as a book full of metaphor and allegory it has to be held in the utmost respect and esteem. And to that, I would include the canon of Jewish theological literature, the Koran, the analects of Confucious, and the Hindu canon as sell.

As per the enlightened Jewish theologians and philosophers, neither the Torah, nor the Christian bible cannot be considered a guide to literal history, as a reference for historical events, a faultless atlas of human and ethical behavior. And that is exactly why barely educated, bible thumping evangelicals are deserving of scorn and contempt.
 
“The Christians are idol worshipers and Sunday is their religious holiday, therefore in Eretz Israel we may not trade with them on Thursday and Friday of every week, and needless to say on Sunday, which is forbidden [for trade with Christians] everywhere.”

There's no day of the week when cock-sucking Joos won't take take money from Christians. It's not the goal of Maimonides to limit exploitation and trade, but to teach Joos to hate Christians, which they do.
 
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