Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Saadia ben Joseph

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Saadia ben Joseph
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

(born 882, Dilaz, in al-Fayyum, Egypt — died September 942, Sura, Babylonia) Egyptian-Babylonian Jewish philosopher and polemicist. He left Egypt c. 905 and eventually settled in Babylonia, where he headed the rabbinic Academy of Sura. He wrote a Hebrew-Arabic dictionary and translated much of the Old Testament into Arabic. In 935 he produced his greatest work, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, the objective of which was the harmonization of revelation and reason. The introduction refutes skepticism and establishes the foundations of human knowledge. The first chapter seeks to establish creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) in order to ascertain the existence of a Creator-God. Saadia then discusses God's uniqueness, justice, revelation, free will, and other doctrines accepted both by Judaism and by the Mu'tazili sect of Islam (see Mu'tazilah). The second part of the book deals with the essence of the soul and eschatological problems and presents guidelines for ethical living.

For more information on Saadia ben Joseph, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Philosophy Dictionary: Saadia ben Joseph
Top
Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Philosophy Dictionary

(Also Saadia Gaon) (882-942) The father of medieval Jewish philosophy, Saadia was born in Egypt and educated there and in Palestine. In 928 he was appointed head of the rabbinical academy of Sura, near Baghdad, but, much involved in the sectarian disputes of the time, he was exiled for a while before finally being reinstated. His principal philosophical work is the Book of Doctrines and Beliefs, modelled on the work of Islamic theologians but based upon Jewish rather than Islamic scripture. Saadia defends human knowledge against the attacks of scepticism, and attempts to prove the creation of the world. His division of the commandments of the Torah into those that are rational and those that are traditional or revealed was later rejected by Maimonides.

 
 
Learn More
Gaonim (in Judaism, history)
Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi (Egyptian-Babylonian Jewish scholar)
Hasidim (in Judaism)

Will Ben from Ben 10 die? Read answer...
Who is Ben in the song BEN? Read answer...
How old is Ben in Ben 10 and Ben 10 Alien Force? Read answer...

Help us answer these
In what country was Joseph Ben Jacob born in?
Who was Rabbi Saadia Goans wife?
How much does Ben Ben worth?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more