Written on 31.01.2005,
by Roman Zakharii, in
I say to you that for every evil word
which people speak they must give an accounting on the day of judgement.
You shall be justified by your words,
and you shall be condemned by your words.
In Ukrainian: Кажу
ж вам, що за
кожне слово
пусте,
яке скажуть
люди, дадуть
вони
відповідь судного
дня!
Бо зо слів
своїх будеш
виправданий,
і зо слів
своїх будеш
засуджений.
Jesus Christ, Math. 12:34-37
My selected passages from Maimonides' The Guide for
The Perplexed
(translated from the original Arabic text by Dr. M. Friedländer)
Those who have no knowledge of God
are like those who are in constant darkness
and have never seen light
Maimonides
Maimonides on human intellect
Intellectual worship of God, Perfection of man and Divine Providence
The intellect which emanates from God unto us is the
link that joins us to God. You have it in your power to strengthen
that bond, if you choose to do so, or to weaken it gradually till it breaks, if
you prefer this. It will only become
strong when you employ it in the love
of God, and seek that love.
You must know that even if you were the wisest man in respect to the true
knowledge of God, you break the bond between you and God whenever
you turn entirely your thoughts to the necessary food or any necessary business;
you are not then with God, and He is not with you; for that
relation between you and him is actually interrupted in those moments.
We must bear in mind that all religious
acts as reading the Law [ the Bible ], praying, and the performance of other
precepts, serve
exclusively as the means of causing us to preoccupy and fill our mind with the
precepts of God, and free it from worldly business; for we
are thus, as it were, in communication with God, and undisturbed by any other
thing.
When you are alone by yourself, when you are awake on your coach, be careful to meditate in such moments on
nothing but the intellectual
worship of God, viz., to approach Him and minister before Him in the true
manner - not in hollow emotions. This
I consider as the highest
perfection wise men can attain by above training.
Those who have their God dwelling in their
hearts, are not touched by any evil
whatever.
The philosophers have already explained how
the bodily forces of man in his youth prevent the development of moral
principles. In a greater
measure this is the case as regards the
purity of thought which man attains through the perfection of those ideas that
lead him to an
intense love of God. Man can by no means attain this so long as his bodily
humours are hot.
The more the forces of his
body are weakened, and the fire of passion quenched, in the same measure does
man's intellect increase in
strength and light; his knowledge become
purer, and he is happy with his knowledge.
* * *
MAIMONIDE ON PERFECTION OF MAN:
The
ancient and the modern philosophers have shown that man can acquire four kinds of
perfection:
1 The first, the lowest, in the acquisition of which people spend their
days, is perfection as regards property; the possession of
money, garments, furniture, servants, land, and the like; the possession of the title of a great king belongs
to this class. There
is no close connection between
this possession and its possessor; it is perfectly imaginary relation when
on account of the great advantage
a person derives from these possessions, he says, This is my house, this is my
servant, this is my money, and these are my hosts and
armies. For when he examines himself he will find that all these things are external, and their qualities are entirely
independent of
the possessor. When, therefore, that relation ceases, he that has been a
great king may one morning find that there is no difference between
him and the lowest person…The philosophers have shown that he whose sole
aim in all his exertions and endeavours is the possession of this
kind of perfection, only seeks perfectly
imaginary and transient things; and even if these remain his property all
his lifetime, they
do not give him any perfection.
2 The second
kind is more closely related to man's
body than the first. It includes
the perfection of the shape,
constitution, and
form of man's body; the utmost evenness
of temperaments, and the proper order and strength of his limbs. This kind of
perfection must
likewise be excluded from forming our chief aim; because it is a perfection of
the body, and man does not possess it as
man, but as a
living being; he has this
property besides in common with the lowest animal; and even if a
person possesses the greatest possible strength,
he could not be as strong as a mule, much less can he be as strong as a lion or
an elephant; he, therefore, can at the utmost have strength
that might enable him to carry a heavy burden, or break a thick substance, or
do similar things, in which there is no great profit for
the body. The soul derives no profit whatever from this kind of perfection.
3 The third kind of perfection is more
closely connected with man himself that the second perfection. It includes moral
perfection, the
highest
degree of excellency in man's character.
Most of the precepts aim at producing this perfection; but even this
kind is only preparation for
another perfection, and is not sought for its own sake. For all moral principles concern the relation of man
to his neighbour; the perfection of man's
moral principles is, as it were, given to man for the benefit of mankind.
Imagine a person being alone, and having no connection
whatever with any other person, all his good moral principles are at rest, they
are not required, and give man no perfection whatever.
These principles are only necessary and useful when man comes in contact
with others.
4 The fourth
kind of perfection is the true perfection of man; the possession
of the highest intellectual faculties; the possession of such notions which lead to true
metaphysical opinions as regards God. With this perfection man has obtained
his final object; it gives him true human perfection; it remains to him alone;
it gives him immortality, and on its account he is called man. Examine the first three kinds of perfection, you
will find that, if you possess them, they are not your property, but the property
of the others; according to the ordinary view, however, they belong to you and
to others. But the last kind of perfection is exclusively yours; no one else
owns any part of it, "They shall be thine own, and not strangers' with
thee" (Proverbs 5:17). Your aim must therefore be to attain this (fourth) perfection
that is exclusively yours, and you ought not to work and weary yourself for
that which belongs to others, whilst neglecting your soul till it has lost
entirely its original purity through the dominion of the bodily powers over it.
The following passage refers to the same subject, "Lest thou give thine
honour unto others, and thy years unto cruel" (Proverbs 5 : 9)
* * *
PART 2:
The theory that Divine Providence does
not extend to man,
and that there is no difference between man and other animals,
implies very bad notions about God; it disturbs all social order,
removes and destroys all the moral and intellectual virtues of man.
Maimonides
MAIMONIDES ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE
My selected passages from Maimonides' "Guide for Perplexed"
The conclusions of a greatest rationalist Jewish philosopher in regard to
accidents and providence in human and animal life
I hold that Divine Providence is related and closely
connected with the intellect, because providence (planning) can only
proceed from an
intelligent being, from a being that is itself perfect intellect. Those
creatures, therefore, which receive part of that intellectual
influence will become subordinate to the action of Providence in the same
proportion as they are acted upon by the Intellect.
The theory of man's perfectly free will is one of those who
follow the Law (Jewish and Christian Holy Writings). According to this
principle
man does what is in his power to do, by
his nature, his choice, and his will. All species of irrational animals
likewise move by their own
free will. This is the will of God, that is to say, it is due to the eternal
divine will that all living beings
should move freely, and
that man should have power to act according
to his will or choice within the limits of his capacity.
Another principle taught by the Law of Moses (part of Christian Bible) is this:
WRONG CANNOT BE ASCRIBED TO GOD IN ANY
WAY WHATEVER; ALL EVILS AND AFFLICTIONS as well as ALL KINDS OF HAPPINESS OF
MAN whether they concern one individual or community ARE DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING
TO JUSTICE; they are result of strict judgement that admits no wrong whatever.
Even when a person suffers a pain in
consequence of a thorn having entered into his hand, although it is at once drawn out, it is a punishment
that has been inflicted on him (for sin), and the
least pleasure he enjoys is a reward (for
some good action); all this is meted out
by strict justice; as is said in
Scripture "all his ways are
judgement" (Deutornomy 32:4).
It is distinctly stated in the Law, that all is done in accordance with justice, and the words of our sages generally express the
same
idea. They clearly say:
There is no death without sin, no
suffering without transgression
(Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 55a)
Again, The deserts of man are meted out
to him in the same measure which he himself employs. (Mishna, Sotah I:7)
These are the words of Mishnah (Jewish Talmud). Thus our (Jewish) sages say: God does not deprive any being of the full
reward (of its
good deed) (Babylonian Talmud, Pesh. 118a);
Again, He who says that God remits part of a punishment, will be punished
severely; He is long suffering but is sure to exact payment
(Babylonain Talmud, Baba K. 50 a).
It is clearly expressed in many Scriptural passages that God provides for all men, and controls all their deeds – e.g.
He fashioneth their
hearts alike, He considerth all their works (Ps 33:15). For Thine eyes are open upon all the ways
of the sons of men, to give every one
according to his ways (Jer. 32:19).
Again: For his eyes are upon the ways of
man and he seeth all his goings (Job 32:21). In the Law there occur
instances of the fact that
men are governed by God, and that their
actions are examined by Him. Compare: In the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them
(Exodus 32:34); I will even appoint over you terror (Leviticus 26:16); Whosoever
hath sinned against me, him will blot out of my book (Exodus
32:33), the same soul will I destroy (Leviticus 23:30), I will set even my face
against that soul (Leviticus 20:6).
My opinion (Maimonides') on this purpose of Divine Providence I will now
explain to you. In the principle which I now proceed to expound I
do not rely on demonstrative proof, but on my conception of the spirit of the
Divine Law (Bible), and the writings of the Prophets (Bible).
In the lower sublunary portion of the universe Divine Providence does not extend to the individual members of species except
in the case of
mankind. It is only in this
species (of men) that the incidents in the existence of the individual
beings, their good and evil fortunes, are
result of justice, in
according with the words: For all His ways are judgement. But I agree with
Aristotle as regards all other living
beings, and a fortiori as regards plants
and all the rest of earthly creatures. For
I do not believe that it is through the interference of
Divine Providence that a certain leaf drops (from a tree), nor do I hold when a
certain spider catches a certain fly, that this is the
direct result of a special decree and will of God in that moment; that the
spittle of a certain person moved, fell on a certain gnat in a
certain place, and killed it; nor is it
by the direct will of God that certain fish catches and swallows a certain worm
on the surface of the
water. In all these cases the action is to my opinion due to chance as taught by Aristotle. Divine Providence is
connected with Divine intellectual
influence and the same beings (men) which are benefited by the latter so as to
become intellectual and to comprehend things comprehensible
to rational beings are also under the control of Divine Providence, which
examines all their deeds in order to reward or punish them.
It may be by mere chance that a
ship goes down with all her contents, as in the above-mentioned instance, or the roof of a house falls upon
those within; but it is not due
to chance, according to our view, that in the one instance the men went into
the ship, or remained in the
house in the other instances; it is due to the will of God, and is in accordance
with the justice of His judgements, the method of which our
mind is uncapable of understanding.
I have been induced to accept this theory by the circumstance that I have not
met in any of the prophetical books with a description of
God's providence otherwise than in relation to human beings. The prophets even
express their surprise that God take
notice of man, who
is so little.
* * * To think
* * *
Ukrainian: Бо Бог
бачить не те,
що бачить
людина:
чоловік бо
дивиться на
лице,
а Господь
дивиться на
серце.
* * * To think * * *
Created by Roman Zakharii on 31.01.2005
in Norway. Updated in August, 2013 in Iceland.
My e-mail is roman800@gmail.com
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