Saadya (Ben Joseph) Gaon, one of the greatest of all Jewish philosophers and theologians, was born in Fayyum in Upper Egypt in 882, the son of a poor but learned man. Educated in both the Arabic and Judaic traditions, he went as an adult to Palestine to continue his studies. His writings, among which are the first known Jewish prayer book, a Hebrew dictionary, a commentary on the Bible, and—even more important—the first translation of the Bible into Arabic, not to mention a great body of polemical writings against the Karaites and skeptics—demonstrate that he had the secular as well as the religious learning of his time at his finger tips. But it was the time he was born into, just as much as his own talents, that enabled Saadya to play such an epochal role in Jewish tradition, laying, as Dr. Alexander Altmann points out, the foundations of “scientific” medieval Jewish scholarship in general as well as of Hebrew philology.

Saadya’s main task as a theologian was to reconcile Jewish religious revelation with the rationalism then pervading Arabic culture as a result of the rediscovery and dissemination of Greek philosophy and science by the Mohammedan world—which at that time coincided to a great extent with the orbit of creative Jewish culture. Saadya had an advantage over his Islamic contemporaries in that Judaism had already assimilated a good deal of Greek rationalism during the period of Hellenism. Nevertheless the challenge of rationalism, amid the conflicting religious philosophies of Saadya’s time, was even greater than it had been before, and the rewards of success in meeting it proportionately larger. Saadya became the pathfinder in whose steps followed, not only Maimonides, but also in a sense Aquinas.

Appointed Gaon of the famous Academy of Sura in Babylonia, Saadya reached the height of eminence in the Jewish world. But a conflict with the Babylonian exarch, David ben Zakkai, forced him to retire for four or five years to Bagdad, and it was there that he had the opportunity to write, in Arabic, his greatest work, the Kitab al-Amanat wal-I’tikadat (Book of Doctrines and Beliefs), which he finished around 937. In this book he achieved the beginning of that synthesis of reason and revelation which was to form the guiding line of Jewish religious thinking for the next thousand years. A few years later, in 942, Saadya died in Babylonia, after having been reconciled with the exarch and restored to the Gaonate.

The text published below consists of excerpts from the Prolegomena to the Kitab al-Amanat, in which Saadya lays down the purpose and the method, with its axioms, that he was to follow in demonstrating the compatibility of rationalism and Judaism. These excerpts are taken from a volume of selections from the Kitab al-Amanat edited and translated from the Arabic by Alexander Altmann, and published in 1946 by the East and West Library, by whose permission we reprint the text below. A complete translation of Saadya’s work was recently published by Yale University Press.—ED.

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After this brief opening in praise and eulogy of our Lord, I will begin this book . . . with an exposition of the reason why men, in their search for Truth, become involved in errors, and how these errors can be removed so that the object of their investigations may be fully attained; moreover, why some of these errors have such a powerful hold on some people that they affirm them as the truth, deluding themselves that they know something. . . .

Some there are who have arrived at the truth and rejoice in the knowledge that they possess it; of them the prophet says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15.16). Others have arrived at the truth, but doubt it; they fail to know it for a certainty and to hold on to it; of these the prophet says, “Though I write for him ever so many things of My law, they are accounted as a stranger’s” (Hosea 8.12). Still others confidently affirm that which is false in the belief that it is true; they hold on to falsehood, and abandon that which is right; of them it is said, “Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; for vanity shall be his recompense” (Job 15.31).

Others again base their conduct on a certain belief for a time, and then reject it on account of some defect they find in it; then they change over to another belief and renounce it in turn because of something in it which seems questionable to them; then they go over to yet another belief for a while, and drop it because of some point which, in their opinion, renders it invalid. These people are changing continually all their life. They resemble a person who desires to go to a town, but does not know the road that leads to it; he travels a parasang on one road and becomes perplexed, returns and travels a parasang on another road, becomes again perplexed and returns, and so a third and fourth time. Of such a man Scripture says, “The labor of fools wearieth everyone of them, he knoweth not how to go to the city” (Eccl. 10.15), that is to say because he knoweth not. . . .

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One might ask: “How can it be reconciled with the wisdom of the Creator (be He exalted and glorified) that He allowed errors and doubts to arise in the minds of His creatures?” We may answer this question at once by saying that the very fact that they are created beings causes them to be subject to error and delusion. For according to the order of Creation they require for every work which they undertake a certain measure of time in which to complete it stage after stage. Cognition being one of their activities, it undoubtedly comes under the same rule.

In its initial stage, their knowledge proceeds from a complex, vague, and confused idea of things, but by their faculty of Reason they purify and clarify it in a continual process until, after a certain measure of time, their errors are removed, and a clear idea is formed without any admixture of doubt. And just as every productive art is carried out by successive operations and remains incomplete if those performing it desist from it prior to its completion—such as sowing, building, weaving, of productive work which can only be accomplished by the worker’s persisting in it patiently until the end—so the work of acquiring knowledge demands that one should start from the beginning and proceed chapter after chapter until the final stage is reached.

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At the beginning there may be, for example, ten doubts; at the second stage they will be reduced to nine, at the third to eight, and if a man continues to reason and to reflect, his doubts will in this way be further reduced until, at the final stage, there will emerge in full clarity the one proposition which formed the object of his search, and which stands out clearly defined, with no error or doubt attached to it. . . . Now were he to abandon his speculation when he arrived at the fifth or fourth or any other stage, the doubts which attended the preceding stages of his reflection would be removed, but there would still remain with him the doubts attached to the remaining stages in front of him. If he retains in his mind the result of his speculation up to the point which he reached, he may hope to return to this point and complete the inquiry. If he fails to retain it, he will have to start his inquiry afresh.

For this reason many people have gone astray and spurned wisdom. . . . Let not therefore the fool in his impatience lay the blame for his own fault on the Creator (be He exalted and glorified) by saying that He implanted these doubts in him, whereas it is his own ignorance or impatience which threw him into confusion, as we have explained. Nor is it possible that any action of his can, by a single stroke, remove all doubt. For if it could, it would transcend the sphere of created beings, to which he belongs. Another person may not attach any blame for this fault of his to God, but desires God to impart to him the ability to know with a knowledge that is free from doubt. Such a one asks for nothing less than to be like God. . . .

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It is now fitting that we should explain I the nature of Belief. We affirm that this is an idea arising in the soul as to what an object of knowledge really is: when the idea is clarified by speculation, Reason comprehends it, accepts it, and makes it penetrate the soul and become absorbed into it; then man believes this idea which he has attained, and he preserves it in his soul for another time or other times, as is said, “Wise men lay up knowledge” (Prov. 10.14), and as is further said, “Receive, I pray thee, instructions from His mouth, and lay up His words in thy heart” (Job 22.22).

Belief is of two kinds, true or false. True belief means believing a thing to be as it really is, the large as large, the small as small, the black as black, the white as white, the existing as existing, the non-existing as non-existing. False belief means believing a thing to be the opposite of what it really is, the large as small, the small as large, the white as black, the black as white, the existing as non-existing and the non-existing as existing.

The wise man, who deserves praise, is the one who fixes his attention on the realities of things, and adapts his belief to them. Thanks to his wisdom he relies on that which can indeed be relied on and guards against that which must be guarded against. The fool, who is blameworthy, is the one who makes his belief the standard, and decrees that the realities of things must follow his belief. Thanks to his folly he relies on that which should be guarded against, and guards against that which can be relied on, as is said, “A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil, but the fool behaveth overbearingly, and is confident” (Prov. 14. 16).

In this conection I should like to refer to certain people who cause me astonishment. Though really servants they think they have no master, and they feel confident that what they reject is false and what they affirm is correct. These people are sunk in the depths of foolishness and stand on the brink of the abyss. If they are right, let the poor man believe that his boxes and baskets are full of money, and let him see what it will profit him. . . . The height of folly, however, is reached by those people who think that because they do not believe in Divine authority they are free from God’s commandments and prohibitions, from His promise and warning, and all that these imply. Scripture describes such people as saying “Let us break His bonds asunder, and cast away His cords from us” (Ps. 2.3). . . . They will not escape what His wisdom had imposed on them, as is said, “He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against Him and prospered?” (Job 9.4). . . .

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It Is desirable that we should now mention the sources of truth and certainty, which are the origin of all knowledge and the fountain of all cognition. . . . We affirm then that there exist three sources of knowledge: (1) The knowledge given by sense perception; (2) the knowledge given by Reason; (3) inferential knowledge. We proceed now to give an explanation of each of these Roots.

By the knowledge of sense perception we understand that which a man perceives by one of the five senses, i.e. sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. By the knowledge of Reason we understand that which is derived purely from the mind, such as the approval of truth and the disapproval of falsehood. By inferential knowledge we understand a proposition which a man cannot deny without being compelled to deny at the same time some proposition obtained from Reason or sense perception. Where there is no way of denying these propositions, the previous proposition must of necessity be accepted; e.g., we are compelled to admit that man possesses a soul, although we do not perceive it by our senses, so as not to deny its obvious functions. Similarly, we are compelled to admit that the soul is endowed with Reason, although we do not perceive it by our senses, so as not to deny its [Reason’s] obvious function. . . .

We, the Congregation of the Believers in the Unity of God, accept the truth of all the three sources of knowledge, and we add a fourth source, which we derive from the three preceding ones, and which has become a Root of Knowledge for us, namely, the truth of reliable Tradition. For it is based on the knowledge of sense perception and the knowledge of Reason, as we shall explain in Chapter 3 of this book.

These four Roots of Knowledge having been specified, we have now to explain in which way we may rely on them for evidence of truth.

First with regard to the knowledge of sense perception, whenever an object makes an impression on our normal sense organ by coming into contact with it, we may safely believe without any doubt that it is in reality as we perceived it, provided we are sufficiently expert not to be misled by illusions, like the people who believe that the image which appears in the mirror is an image which has been actually created there . . .

As to the knowledge of Reason, we hold that every conception formed in our mind (Reason) which is free from defects is undoubtedly true knowledge, provided we know how to reason, complete the act of reasoning, and guard against illusions and dreams . . .

As to inferential knowledge, the position is this: if we perceive a certain object with our senses and accept it as actually existing, but are unable to believe firmly that this object exists unless we believe that some other things co-exist with it, then it is necessary for us to believe in the existence of all those things be they a few or many. For the sense perception concerned could not have come to us without them. There may be one such inferred object or there may be two, three, four, or more. Whatever the conclusion may be, it must be upheld because neither the sense perception nor any of these inferential notions can be denied.

An example of the inference of a single object is the following: if we see smoke without seeing the fire which produces the smoke, it is necessary for us to believe in the existence of the fire on account of the existence of the smoke because the one could not be accounted for without the other. . . . An example of more than one single inference is the case when we see food being absorbed into the stomach of an animal in solid form and re-emerge in the form of waste. If we do not believe in the performance of four different functions, our sense perception could not be accounted for. These functions are performed (1) by the power of attracting nourishment into the body; (2) the power of retaining the food until it is thoroughly softened; (3) the power of digestion and assimilation; and (4) the power of expelling from the body what has become waste. Since our sense perception can only be accounted for by the performance of these four functions, it is necessary to believe that they actually take place.

The character of inferential knowledge having been explained, it is necessary for us to draw attention to certain mistakes against which one must guard, for most of the controversies between men and most of their differences in methods of argument arise from these mistakes. . . .

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In Endeavouring to establish the truth of inferential knowledge we [must] be on guard against . . . five possible forms of mistakes, namely: (1) that it does not conflict with knowledge established by sense perception; (2) that it does not conflict with knowledge established by Reason; (3) that it should not conflict with some other truths; (4) that it should not be self-contradictory; still more that it should not (5) involve a difficulty more serious than the one intended to avoid.

The first and primary condition, however, is that we should carefully apply our experience to our interpretation of sense perceptions and of the dictates of Reason as described. In addition, we have to persevere in the work of rational inquiry until its final completion so that altogether seven conditions have to be fulfilled in order to bring out the clear truth. If, therefore, someone who is not a member of our people comes forward with certain arguments based on inferential knowledge we have to examine his statement in the light of the above seven conditions. If it stands their test and is proved correct when weighed in their balances, it is the clear truth which we, too, have to accept.

We shall employ similar rules in dealing with the reliable Tradition, that is to say the Books of the Prophets. But this is not the place to explain the conditions peculiar to them . . .

It may be objected: “How can we undertake to pursue knowledge by means of speculation and inquiry with the object of attaining mathematical certainty, seeing that our people reject this manner of speculation as leading to unbelief and the adoption of heretical views?” Our answer is that only the ignorant speak thus. Similarly one will find that the ignorant people in our town are of the opinion that every one who goes to India becomes rich. So, too, some of the ignorant people in our nation are said to think that the eclipse of the moon occurs whenever something resembling a dragon swallows the moon. Some of the ignorant people in Arabia are said to hold the opinion that unless a man’s camel is slaughtered over his grave, he will have to appear on foot on Judgment Day. There exist many more ridiculous opinions like these.

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Another objection is that the the Sages of Israel prohibited this and particularly the speculation on the origin of Time and Space, when they declared, “Whosoever speculates on four things should better not have been created: on what is above and what is below, what is the beginning and what will be in the end.” Our answer is this: it cannot be thought that the Sages should have wished to prohibit us from rational inquiry, seeing that our Creator has commanded us to engage in such inquiry in addition to accepting the reliable Tradition. Thus He said, “Know ye not? Hear ye not? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?” (Isa. 40.21). The pious men said to each other, “Let us choose for us that which is right; let us know among ourselves what is good” (Job 34.4), and, indeed, the five men, namely Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zopher, and Elihu, had long discussions on this subject.

What, however, our Sages did try to prevent us from doing was to brush aside the prophetic Scriptures and to rely on our own personal judgments in our speculations on the origin of Space and Time. For one who speculates after this manner may sometimes find the truth and sometimes go astray; until he has found the truth, he will be without religion; and even if he finds the truth of religion and clings to it, he is never sure that he will not depart from it should doubts arise in his mind and weaken his belief. All of us agree that one who acts in this way is a sinner, even though he may be a genuine philosopher. But we, the Congregation of the Children of Israel, have a different way of investigation and speculation, and it is this which I want to mention and explain with the help of God.

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The reader of this book should know that we inquire and speculate in matters of our religion for two reasons: (1) in order that we may find out for ourselves what we know in the way of imparted knowledge from the Prophets of God; (2) in order that we may be able to refute those who attack us on matters connected with our religion. For our Lord (be He blessed and exalted) instructed us in everything which we require in the way of religion, through the intermediacy of the Prophets after having established for us the truth of prophecy by signs and miracles. He commanded us to believe these matters and to keep them. He also informed us that by speculation and inquiry we shall attain to certainty on every point in accordance with the Truth revealed through the words of His Messenger.

In this way we speculate and search in order that we may make our own what our Lord has taught us by way of instruction. There is, however, another objection which we have to consider. It may be asked: If the doctrines of religion can be discovered by rational inquiry and speculation, as God has told us, how can it be reconciled with His wisdom that He announced them to us by way of prophetic Revelation and verified them by proofs and signs of a visible character, and not by rational inquiry and speculation?

To this we will give a complete answer with the help of God. We say: God knew in His wisdom that the final propositions which result from the labor of speculation can only be attained in a certain measure of time. Had he, therefore, made us depend on speculation for religious knowledge, we should have existed without religion for some time until the work of speculation was completed and our labor had come to an end. Perhaps many of us would never have completed the work because of their inability and never have finished their labor because of their lack of patience; or doubts may have come upon them, and confused and bewildered their minds.

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From all these troubles God (be He exalted and glorified) saved us quickly by sending us His Messenger, announcing through him the Tradition, and allowing us to see with our own eyes signs in support of it and proofs which cannot be assailed by doubts, and which we can find no ground for rejecting, as is said, “Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from Heaven” (Ex. 20.22).

He spoke to His Messenger in our presence, and He based on this fact our obligation to believe him for ever, as He said, “That the people may hear when I speak with thee, and may also believe thee for ever” (Ex. 9.9). So we were immediately obliged to accept the teaching of religion with all that it implies since it was verified by the testimony of sense perception, and its acceptance is obligatory on the strength of the reliable Tradition which has been handed down to us as we shall explain. He commanded us to inquire patiently until the truth of Tradition was brought out by speculation, and not to depart from our religious position before its truth was verified, since we are obliged to believe in it on account of what we saw with our eyes and heard with our ears.

In the case of some of us it may take a very long time until our speculation is completed, but we shall be none the worse for that, and if another one is held up in his studies on account of some hindrance, he will nevertheless not remain without religion. Even women and children and people incapable of speculation will possess a complete religion and be aware of its truths, for all human beings are equal so far as the knowledge of the senses is concerned. Praise unto Him Whose wisdom guideth man! This is why we find that the Torah mentions in many passages children and women in addition to the men when speaking of signs and miracles.

To make the matter clearer, let us suppose that someone who possesses one thousand dinar distributes this money in the following way:

He wishes to show his friends without delay how much of the money is left in his hands. He therefore tells them that the balance left amounts to five hundred dinar and proves it by weighing the gold that is left in his hands. After he has weighed it in their presence, and the amount of five hundred dinar has been established, his friends are obliged to believe what he told them. They are now at leisure to arrive at the same knowledge by a different method, namely, by working it out arithmetically, each according to his capacity and understanding, provided no hindrance arises through adverse conditions. Another illustration: One may diagnose rapidly a certain malady on the evidence of some obvious symptom long before another reaches the same conclusion after an exhaustive examination.

It is desirable that we should further believe that even prior to the existence of the children of Israel God imparted our religion to humanity by means of prophecy, wondrous signs, miracles, and manifestations. Those who were present were convinced by what they had perceived with their own eyes; those who received a tradition in regard to it were convinced by what they had perceived with their own ears, as the Torah says, with reference to some of them, “For I have known him (Abraham), to the end that he may command his children” (Gen. 18.19).

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