Judaism in the Tenth Century--Saadiah, the Founder of Religious Philosophy--Translation of the Bible into Arabic --Saadiah opposes Karaism--The Karaite Solomon ben Yerucham --Saadiah and the School at Sora--Saadiah retires from Sora --His Literary Activity--Extinction of the Exilarchate-- Sahal and other Karaite writers--Jews in Spain--The School at Cordova--Dunash ben Tamim--Chasdaï--His services to Judaism--Menachem ben Saruk--Chasdaï and the King of the Chazars. 928-970 C. E. With the decay of the Carlovingian rule, the last spark of spiritual life was extinguished in Christian Europe. The darkness of the Middle Ages became thicker and thicker, but the spiritual light of Judaism shone forth in all its splendor. The Church was the seat of monastic ignorance and barbarity, the Synagogue was the place of science and civilization. In Christianity every scientific effort was condemned by the officials of the Church as well as by the people, as the work of Satan; in Judaism the leaders and teachers of religion themselves promoted science, and endeavored to elevate the people. Far from condemning knowledge, the Geonim considered it as an aid and supplement to religion. For three centuries the teachers of Judaism were for the most part devotees of science, and this position was first assumed during this epoch. Two men especially, one in the east and the other in the west, made science a principle of Judaism. They were the Gaon Saadiah and the statesman Chasdaï. With them begins a new period of Jewish history, which we may confidently call the scientific epoch. The spring-time of Israel's history returned, and in its pure atmosphere the sweet voice of poetry again made itself heard. Contemporary writers scarcely noticed that a remnant of Jewish antiquity, the Exilarchate, was now at an end. It was soon forgotten in the new life that had just made itself visible. Just as the religious life had freed itself from the Temple of sacrifice, so now it gradually withdrew from the influence of the temple of learning on the banks of the Euphrates, and established a new center for itself. The first half of the tenth century became, through the concurrence of favorable circumstances, a turning-point in the progress of Jewish history. Jewish history was gradually transferred to European ground. Judaism assumed, so to speak, a European character, and deviated more and more from its Oriental form. Saadiah was the last important link in its development in the East; Chasdaï and the scientific men whom he influenced became the first representatives of a Judæo-European culture.