Maimonides' Negative Theology Philosophy

Maimonides' Negative Theology

On March 30, 1135, in Cordoba, Spain, Moses Maimonides was born, and his philosophical contributions would challenge the conventional understanding of God. Maimonides wrote a comprehensive guide to Jewish law and philosophy, which included a provocative argument about the nature of God. By 1190, he had completed his magnum opus, "The Guide for the Perplexed," a book that would shake the foundations of Jewish theology.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that Maimonides' philosophy was a straightforward exposition of Jewish thought, but the standard story goes that his work was largely a synthesis of Aristotelian and Jewish ideas. The common understanding is that Maimonides attempted to reconcile faith and reason, but this narrative overlooks the radical nature of his negative theology.

What History Actually Shows

Maimonides' philosophical project was more complex and nuanced than previously thought. By 1168, he had already begun working on "The Guide for the Perplexed," pouring over the works of Aristotle and Islamic philosophers like Al-Farabi and Avicenna. Historian Shlomo Pines notes that Maimonides' engagement with these thinkers led him to develop a unique approach to describing God. According to Maimonides, God can only be described through negative attributes, such as "not finite" or "not material," which fundamentally challenged the traditional understanding of God's nature. By 1180, Maimonides had refined his ideas, and his book reflects this development. Scholars like Joel Kraemer and Alfred Ivry have analyzed Maimonides' use of negative statements, demonstrating how he employed this method to convey the limitations of human language when describing the divine. As Maimonides himself wrote in "The Guide for the Perplexed," the use of negative attributes is necessary because human language is inherently inadequate to describe God's essence. By 1200, Maimonides' ideas had begun to spread, influencing Jewish thinkers like Samuel ibn Tibbon, who translated "The Guide for the Perplexed" into Hebrew.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians at the University of Oxford, such as Henry Chadwick, failed to thoroughly examine the works of the Jewish philosopher in question, focusing instead on more prominent figures of the time. The decision by the Catholic Church to ban certain philosophical texts also contributed to the suppression of this story. Scholars like Isaac Husik, who were tasked with translating and interpreting the philosopher's work, were hindered by the lack of accessible manuscripts, a concrete reason why this history was not told. The philosopher's unconventional approach to describing God, which involved only negative statements, was seen as too radical by many of his contemporaries, including influential thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, and was therefore not widely studied or discussed.

The Ripple Effect

The Jewish philosopher's ideas about the limitations of language in describing God influenced the development of mysticism in Europe, particularly in the 13th century. The philosopher's concepts were studied by scholars such as Meister Eckhart, who applied these ideas to Christian theology. A specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the concept of apophatic theology, which is still studied and debated by theologians today, including those at the University of Chicago.

The Line That Says It All

The Jewish philosopher's book, written using only negative statements, was eventually lost to the sands of time, with only a few fragmented manuscripts remaining.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to medieval Jewish philosophy and the history of theological thought.