Moses Maimonides(1138-1204) was one of the great intellectual lights of the Middle Ages. It seemed as if brilliance flowed from his pen as easily as a river flows downstream. Maimonides succeeded in theology, philosophy, medicine, and even politics.

What follows is a brief consideration of some of Maimonides’ discussions in his Guide for the Perplexed, suitable for undergraduates. In this work Maimonides is writing for the educated layperson of his day who may be having difficulty reconciling faith and reason, particularly the potent reasoning of Aristotle. Since Aristotle apparently convincingly demonstrated that the world was eternal and that the soul was not immortal, he was particularly vexing to believers. Of course some things in scripture strike sensible people as strange in any era. Although we don’t have the same difficulties with Aristotle today, science and faith certainly have their disagreements. Perhaps Maimonides can still speak to us.

Maimonides Review