These words of Mendelssohn show how greatly those err who quote his opinions in support of the dictum that Judaism recognises no dogmas. According to Mendelssohn, Judaism does not consist entirely of laws; it teaches also certain truths. We have certain dogmas without which the laws can have no meaning, yet there is no precept, “Thou shalt believe.” Nowhere in our Law, whether written or oral, is a solemn declaration of our creed demanded. In so far Mendelssohn’s view is correct; but when he believes that all the truths we are taught in Scripture can be made evident by logical demonstration he is mistaken. As to the meaning of ‏אמונה‎ comp. supra, p. 4. THE THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES OF OUR CREED. The main source of our creed is the Bible, and among the Biblical books, chiefly the Pentateuch (‏תורה‎). In these books we find many truths taught by God Himself, or by His inspired messengers, and they form the substance of our creed. It matters little how we arrange them, how we collect them into groups, and subdivide these again, provided we believe in them implicitly. In the Bible they are not arranged systematically; they are intermingled with, and are contained implicitly in, the history and the laws that form the subject-matter of the Scriptures; it is the observance of those laws which constitutes the best evidence of the belief seated in the heart. No declaration or recital of a creed is commanded in the Pentateuch; no tribunal is appointed for inquiring whether the belief of a man is right or wrong; no punishment is inflicted or threatened for want of belief. It became, however, necessary to formulate the truths taught in the Bible, when disputes arose as to their meaning and to their validity. The Mishnah, therefore, declares certain opinions as un-Jewish and contrary to the teaching of the Divine Word. Later on, when controversies multiplied between the various sections of the Jewish nation, as well as between Jews and Christians and Jews and Mohammedans, it was found most important to settle the form and arrangement of our beliefs. Moses Maimonides, the great religious philosopher, taught, in his Commentary on the Mishnah, thirteen principles of faith, which found general acceptance among the Jews, and are known as the Thirteen Principles. They have found their way into the Prayer-book in two different forms, one in prose and one in poetry. Maimonides, in commending them to the reader, says: “Read them again and again and study them well, and let not your heart entice you to believe that you have comprehended their full meaning after having read them a few times; you would then be in a great error, for I have not written down what occurred to my mind at first thought. I first thoroughly studied and examined what I was going to write, compared the various doctrines, the correct ones and the incorrect ones, and when I arrived at what we ought to accept as our creed, I was able to prove it by arguments and reasoning.” The thirteen