Preface
1 Introduction
2 The Existence and Unity of God
3 The Incorporeality of God
4 Creation Ex Nihilo
5 Only God is to be Worshipped
6 Prophecy and the Significance of Moses
7 Revelation of the Torah
8 Eternity of the Torah
9 God’s Knowledge, Reward and Punishment
10 The Messiah, Resurrection of the Dead
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Marc Shapiro holds the Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Brandeis and Harvard universities, he is also the author of Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884–1966 (2002); The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised (); and Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History (), all published by the Littman Library.
'Inspiring and breath-taking ... highly recommended.'
- Yisrael Dubitsky, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
'Marc Shapiro puts an explicit contemporary context on this
remarkable collection of sources that disagreed with one part or
other of Maimonides' Thirteen Principles ... By showing the extent
to which past authors disagreed with those Principles, Shapiro
seeks to debunk assertions by contemporary writers that place those
Principles at the core of Orthodox belief ... the work is
astonishing in its rage. Shapiro uses his daunting biographical
abilities and his considerable skill as a writer to present his
material-well-known and obscure-cogently and entertainingly. To the
reader interested in the limits of the theological imagination of
Jews, it is not likely to be soon rivalled.'
- Gidon Rothstein, AJS Review
'A courageous and meticulously research book that straddles two
worlds-that of abstract scholarship and of practical religious
vision ... The real tour de force of the book is the enormous
amount of material he musters to make his case.'
- Bradley Shavit Artson, Conservative Judaism
'Combines remarkable erudition with clarity of vision.'
- Menachem Kellner, Edah Journal
'His research is exhaustive, almost encyclopedic, and it is highly
convincing ... his aim is truly constructive and his tone is
passionately concerned.'
- Erin Leib, Jerusalem Report
'This exhaustive yet readable study ... is astonishingly well
researched ... a polemical work of considerable erudition, which
will find a broad audience.'
- Harvey Belovski, Jewish Chronicle
'Ground-breaking ... As Shapiro so clearly demonstrates in this
landmark work, the need is not only for theological discussions,
but for theology.'
- Miriam Shaviv, Jewish Quarterly
'Shapiro's book is doubly remarkable: it is at the same time a
commentary on Maimonides' Thirteen Principles, and a successful
summary of the central themes of Jewish theology, offering deep
insight into what the blurb calls traditional Jewish thought".'
- Stefan Schreiner, Judaica
'Articulate and thought-provoking ... This book is no less
important on social than on scholarly grounds. Shapiro presents his
stance with great passion, giving readers the sense that he is
involved in a truth spreading mission. His passion appears to me
justified and legitimate, since abstract theology is indeed an
essential element in the shaping of current Orthodox society,
particularly in Israel but also outside it. In sum: this book
provides scholars with a justification for a view that most of them
had already sensed and accepted and opens up to a broader
intellectual public a path to understanding Jewish philosophy.'
- Dov Schwartz, Review of Rabbinic Judaism
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