brought only about certain changes in the prayer—such as the
substitution of מן העולם ועד העולם for עד עילם in the responses of
the congregation during the public service, in order to establish the
belief in the existence of another world and another life beyond the
grave.
The necessity of formulating the principles of faith arose when the
contact and intercourse with other religious communities gave frequent
occasion to discussions on these and similar subjects. Without some
fixed basis, it was feared, disorder and confusion would disturb the
peace in the camp of Israel.
Thus Saadiah says in Emunoth Ve-deoth: “I have seen men drowned, as it
were, in the sea of doubts, covered by the waves of error, and there
was no diver to bring them up from the depth, nor any swimmer to take
hold of them and draw them out. As I possessed enough of what God
taught me to support them, and had the power for upholding them granted
to me, I considered it my duty to assist and guide my fellow-men
according to the best of my abilities.” In ten chapters Saadiah
discusses the various theological problems, and defends the following
articles of faith: Existence of God; His Unity; Revelation; Free-will;
Immortality of the Soul; Resurrection of the Dead; Final Redemption of
Israel; Reward and Punishment. Although these principles do not seem to
have been shaped into the form of a solemn declaration or embodied in
the prayer, they are treated as themes familiar to the reader, and as
elements essential in the Jewish faith (אשר אנחנו מחויבים להאמין).
Rabbi Abraham ben David (Rabad, רא״בד), in his Haemunah haramah (“The
Lofty Faith”), seems to assume three principles: Existence of God,
Prophecy, and Reward and Punishment, which to defend from the attacks
of the unbeliever, he considers as the first duty of the Jewish scholar
(התורני); but he does not follow this decision in his book. He
comprises all religious truths which he has to demonstrate under six
heads (עיקרים). The first of them he calls “Root of the faith;” it
expresses the conviction that all things in the universe owe their
existence to a “First Cause”—God. Next comes “Unity of God,” which is
followed by “Attributes of God,” “The intermediate causes of natural
changes.” “Prophecy”—or האמונה האחרונה, “the subsequent belief,”
i.e., the belief which follows the belief in God—and “Divine
Providence.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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