Or Adonai facts for kids

Or Adonai (Hebrew: אור אֲדֹנָי), which means The Light of the Lord, is a very important book written by Hasdai Crescas (around 1340 - 1410/1411). He was a Jewish thinker and philosopher. Some Jewish people prefer not to say the name Adonai (Lord) outside of prayers. So, they sometimes call the book Or Hashem (אור השם) to avoid using God's name directly.

A part of Crescas's book was translated by Harry Austryn Wolfson from Harvard University in 1929.

Why the Book Was Written

In the past, some Jewish thinkers tried to mix Jewish religious ideas with the popular philosophy of their time. This philosophy was often based on the ideas of Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher. Famous Jewish thinkers like Maimonides and Gersonides did this.

Crescas believed that this mixing sometimes led to wrong ideas. He felt it made Jewish faith seem less special. He thought it turned Jewish beliefs into just another version of Aristotle's ideas.

Crescas openly stated his goal: to defend traditional Jewish thinking. He wanted to show that it was strong against the ideas of Maimonides and Gersonides. Maimonides tried to make religious teachings and philosophy fit together. But Crescas felt that later thinkers put philosophy above religious tradition.

Crescas was a philosopher himself. He believed that philosophical thinking had its place. However, he disagreed with some Christian and Muslim thinkers. They thought there were two kinds of truth: one for religion and one for philosophy.

Crescas wanted to show that Aristotle's ideas were not always perfect. In this way, he was similar to a later philosopher named Baruch Spinoza. Crescas respected Maimonides's knowledge. But he was sad that Maimonides seemed to base Jewish beliefs on Greek philosophy.

After showing the problems with Aristotle's ideas, Crescas wanted to "establish the roots and the cornerstones" of the Torah. The Torah is the Jewish religious law and teachings. He wanted to show what Jewish religion is truly built upon.

Crescas did not just criticize people he disagreed with. Instead, he showed the weaknesses in their ideas. He wanted to explain the main parts of Judaism. He also wanted to show the limits of what philosophy could understand about these beliefs.

His book has four main parts, called "ma'amar." Each part is divided into smaller sections.

• The first part talks about the most basic belief: that God exists.
• The second part covers the main ideas of the Jewish faith.
• The third part discusses other important beliefs that all Jewish people should follow.
• The fourth part looks at traditional ideas that are not strictly required but can be thought about using philosophy.

God: The First Cause

The first main part of the book starts by looking closely at 25 (or 26) ideas from Aristotle. Maimonides accepted these ideas as true without question. He used them to build his understanding of God.

Crescas first shows how these ideas were proven by others. Then, he shows that many of these ideas about existence and physics are not strong enough. This helps him challenge Maimonides's proofs for God's nature.

Crescas agreed that we can prove God exists through philosophy. But he believed philosophy could not prove that God is absolutely one. He thought that only revelation (God showing Himself to people) could prove God's unity. Without the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel"), philosophy is not a reliable guide.

Crescas added a new idea to the understanding of God. Earlier thinkers said God's greatest happiness was His own knowledge. Crescas disagreed. He said God's highest quality is His love. God's love always wants to share itself and do good.

He also argued that it's okay to talk about God's different qualities or "attributes." From a human point of view, these attributes might seem to make God seem complex. But Crescas believed that in God, who is perfectly good, all these qualities are one and the same.

Six Main Beliefs

In the second part, Crescas lists six main beliefs that are necessary for Jewish faith. He believed Judaism would not stand without them:

• God knows everything (omniscience).
• God cares for everyone (providence).
• God is all-powerful (omnipotence).
• Belief in prophecy (God speaking to people).
• Free will (our ability to choose).
• The world was created for a purpose.

Crescas believed God's knowledge includes every single thing. God knows what will happen, even things that are not yet real. He said God's knowledge is different from human knowledge.

God's care (providence) covers all people and living things, directly and indirectly. God rewards good actions and punishes bad ones, especially in the afterlife. Crescas disagreed with Maimonides and Gersonides on this point. He said love, not just knowledge, connects God and humans. God's love only brings good things, even punishment.

God's power (omnipotence) is not just endless in time, but also in strength. Only Revelation (God revealing Himself), especially the idea of "creation out of nothing," makes this clear. Natural laws do not limit God. But God acts in a reasonable way.

Prophecy is the highest level a human mind can reach. Crescas agreed with Maimonides that certain conditions are needed for prophecy. But he disagreed that God would refuse the gift of prophecy if those conditions were met. Connecting with God comes from love and respect, not just knowledge. We connect with God by following His commandments.

Crescas wrote a lot about free will. He leaned towards the idea that our choices are limited. He felt that the law of cause and effect is so strong that human actions cannot escape it. Also, God knows everything that will happen, including our decisions.

However, the Torah teaches that we have free choice. So, Crescas concluded that human will is free in some ways but determined in others. We feel free, so we are responsible for our actions and deserve rewards or punishments. Our feelings about acting (whether we want to or not) make the action truly ours.

Purpose of the World

Maimonides thought it was useless to ask about the world's final purpose. But Crescas believed there is a purpose: the happiness of the soul. In this life, the soul tries hard to connect with God. The laws of the Torah help the soul achieve this constant desire. After death, the soul will experience even greater love in a higher existence.

Earlier thinkers believed that living forever depended on knowledge. Crescas thought this went against religious teachings and didn't make sense. For Crescas, love brings the soul's eternal happiness in the afterlife and its connection with God. He defined the soul as "the form and essence of man, a subtle spiritual substance, able to know, but in its substance not yet knowing."

With this definition, Crescas tried to show that the soul exists independently of knowledge. Knowledge does not create the soul. A person's highest perfection is not reached through knowledge. It is mainly reached through love, which is a desire for the source of all good. A person's final goal, their greatest good, is love. This love is shown by obeying God's laws. God's highest goal is to let people share in the eternal happiness to come.

The third main part of the book talks a lot about theories of Creation. Crescas believed that no matter which theory of creation you accept, the belief in miracles and revelation is not affected. Religious tradition strongly supports the idea that the world and matter were created. Crescas felt that denying creation was wrong.

Other beliefs Crescas discussed as important, but not strictly basic, include:

• Immortality (living forever).
• Punishment and reward.
• Resurrection (coming back to life, which is a miracle but not illogical).
• The Law (Torah) being unchangeable and forever binding.
• Belief in urim and thummim (ancient priestly tools).
• Messianic redemption (the coming of the Messiah).

In the fourth part, Crescas lists thirteen ideas that can be thought about and debated. These include questions like:

• Will the world end? (Crescas thought the Earth would pass away, but the heavens would last.)
• Have there been other worlds?
• Do heavenly bodies have souls or reason?
• Do good luck charms or spells have any power?
• What are the "Shedim" (spirits)?
• What about metempsychosis (the soul moving into another body after death)?

Crescas disagreed with Maimonides not only on philosophy but also on his law code, the Mishneh Torah. Crescas felt it didn't show its sources, rarely mentioned different opinions, and didn't help with new situations.

For a long time, Crescas's ideas mainly influenced Joseph Albo among Jewish thinkers. However, his work was very important in shaping the ideas of Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza's ideas about God's qualities are similar to Crescas's. The connection between Spinoza's views on creation, free will, and love of God and others, and Crescas's ideas, has been shown by scholars.

See also

In Spanish: Or Adonai para niños