Of modern scholars I only quote Moses Mendelssohn’s theory. He accepts unconditionally the teaching of the Bible; all its truths are absolute and perfect; no reasoning whatever can refute them; but difficulties may sometimes present themselves to us in reconciling the teaching of the Bible with that of our reason. What have we then to do? The philosopher declares: “If I were to find my reason in contradiction to the Word of God, I could command reason to be silent; but the arguments, so long as they have not been refuted, will nevertheless assert themselves in the innermost recesses of my heart; the arguments will assume the form of disquieting doubts, which will resolve themselves into childlike prayers, earnest supplication for enlightenment. I should utter the words of the Psalmist: ‘Lord, send me Thy light, Thy truth, that they may guide me, and bring me to Thy holy mount, to Thy dwelling-place!’” The conception which Moses Mendelssohn had of Jewish belief and its relation to reason we learn from the following passage:—“I recognise no other eternal truths than those which are not only comprehensible to the human mind, but also demonstrable by human powers. This principle by no means brings me into conflict with my own religion; on the contrary, I consider it an essential element in Judaism, and the characteristic difference between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism has no revealed religion in the sense in which Christianity has. The Jews have a revealed legislation which instructs them in the divinely ordained means by which they may attain the eternal bliss. Laws and rules for conduct in life were revealed to Moses in a supernatural way, but no doctrines, no saving truth, and no general laws of logic. The latter the Eternal reveals to us, as to all men, through nature and through the things themselves; never through words and letters. The divine book revealed to Moses, though a book of laws, includes an inexhaustible treasure of truths and doctrines.... The more we study it the more we wonder at the depth of the knowledge contained in it. But these truths are taught, and not forced upon us as dogmas. Belief does not allow itself to be commanded; it is based upon conviction. In the Hebrew language, the very word which is generally translated ‘faith,’ viz., ‏אמונה‎ denotes originally confidence, trust that the promise made will also be fulfilled, and not what we understand by ‘religious faith.’”