Divine Simplicity. I thought to give a brief account of this, along with Creation ex Nihilo.
The שכליים העליונים [the higher intellects] came up in conversation with my learning partner and so I thought to repeat here some of the ideas. He had seen this in the Ramban [Nachmanides]. Of course this is common in the Middle Ages. That is a medieval adaption of Plato's higher ideas that is referring to angels.
Mainly the Ramban [Nachmanides] and most medieval thought is Neo Platonic. That is until the Rambam [Maimonides] and then Aquinas. The reason for the switch was I think a lot due to Divine Simplicity. Medieval thought could deal with higher intellects, but not intellect in God. Plotinus himself had no problem with this, but from Jewish and Christian perspective this introduced a plurality in God that was unacceptable.
And the neo Platonic perspective also easily slipped into Pantheism.
What happened was people got tired of trying to account for the Torah based on Plotinus. Finally the Rambam [Maimonides] simply made a break for it and went straight to Aristotle. Aquinas followed.
Along with this Creation something from nothing had been a problem from a Neo-Platonic perspective also. Again the Rambam held it was best accounted for by Aristotle's' First Cause. The Ari side steps the issue by starting everything from the אור אין סוף Infinite Light. I noticed this right at the beginning of my study of the Eitz Chaim. [The light is a creation. Then everything emanates from the light. That is what the verse refers to in "Let there be light." That according to Saadia Gaon and the Rambam is creation from nothing.]
The Guide itself is kind of a codification of the faith of the Torah --monotheism. And I think it is impressive because it presents the Faith of the Torah as one coherent compact structure. Nothing compares with the Guide in giving a rigorous and logically sound structure for the Torah world view.
So just to recap. The faith of the Torah is that God is one. There is no plurality in Him. He is not a composite. He has no ingredients. And He made the world from nothing.
Now Creation something from nothing was always an important aspect of Torah. The first to state it in this way was Augustine. But the Rambam [Maimonides] said it was the foundation of the entire Torah. And he devoted Vol II of the Guide to showing this.
[The Guide itself I have to admit is a hard read. In a practical sense what I do and recommend to others is the books of Medieval Ethics, Musar which give the best account I know of about how to live as a decent human being.] Musar has an advantage of being understandable more so than the Guide, and also it does not have the sort of modernist, feel-good, psychologized versions of Torah that are so common today.
In the morning prayers we have a section describing the Incense in the Temple in Jerusalem. It says if they had put a certain ingredient in it it would have been irresistible. But they did not put it is because the Torah said not to. Attempts to make the Torah more attractive only bastardize it.
The way people bastardize the Torah is by adding ingredients that the Torah says not to add.
It is a true principle that Achronim [authorities after the Shulchan Aruch] are lightweights compared to the Rishonim [Mediaeval Authorities]. But even among the Rishonim there are few that compare with the Rambam. Maybe none. In any case, to dismiss the Guide as misguided requires a good degree of incompetence and stupidity. But that is not as bad as ignoring, it as if it is irrelevant to Torah thought. That takes more than stupidity. That takes downright intentional deception.]
Mainly the Ramban [Nachmanides] and most medieval thought is Neo Platonic. That is until the Rambam [Maimonides] and then Aquinas. The reason for the switch was I think a lot due to Divine Simplicity. Medieval thought could deal with higher intellects, but not intellect in God. Plotinus himself had no problem with this, but from Jewish and Christian perspective this introduced a plurality in God that was unacceptable.
And the neo Platonic perspective also easily slipped into Pantheism.
What happened was people got tired of trying to account for the Torah based on Plotinus. Finally the Rambam [Maimonides] simply made a break for it and went straight to Aristotle. Aquinas followed.
Along with this Creation something from nothing had been a problem from a Neo-Platonic perspective also. Again the Rambam held it was best accounted for by Aristotle's' First Cause. The Ari side steps the issue by starting everything from the אור אין סוף Infinite Light. I noticed this right at the beginning of my study of the Eitz Chaim. [The light is a creation. Then everything emanates from the light. That is what the verse refers to in "Let there be light." That according to Saadia Gaon and the Rambam is creation from nothing.]
The Guide itself is kind of a codification of the faith of the Torah --monotheism. And I think it is impressive because it presents the Faith of the Torah as one coherent compact structure. Nothing compares with the Guide in giving a rigorous and logically sound structure for the Torah world view.
So just to recap. The faith of the Torah is that God is one. There is no plurality in Him. He is not a composite. He has no ingredients. And He made the world from nothing.
Now Creation something from nothing was always an important aspect of Torah. The first to state it in this way was Augustine. But the Rambam [Maimonides] said it was the foundation of the entire Torah. And he devoted Vol II of the Guide to showing this.
[The Guide itself I have to admit is a hard read. In a practical sense what I do and recommend to others is the books of Medieval Ethics, Musar which give the best account I know of about how to live as a decent human being.] Musar has an advantage of being understandable more so than the Guide, and also it does not have the sort of modernist, feel-good, psychologized versions of Torah that are so common today.
In the morning prayers we have a section describing the Incense in the Temple in Jerusalem. It says if they had put a certain ingredient in it it would have been irresistible. But they did not put it is because the Torah said not to. Attempts to make the Torah more attractive only bastardize it.
The way people bastardize the Torah is by adding ingredients that the Torah says not to add.
It is a true principle that Achronim [authorities after the Shulchan Aruch] are lightweights compared to the Rishonim [Mediaeval Authorities]. But even among the Rishonim there are few that compare with the Rambam. Maybe none. In any case, to dismiss the Guide as misguided requires a good degree of incompetence and stupidity. But that is not as bad as ignoring, it as if it is irrelevant to Torah thought. That takes more than stupidity. That takes downright intentional deception.]
