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A Note on the Rabbinic Doctrine of Creation by Alexander Altmann is a Arts and Humanities article available to read on EtoBox.
What is A Note on the Rabbinic Doctrine of Creation about?
A Note on the Rabbinic Doctrine of Creation THE IMPULSE for cosmological speculation by the Palestinian rabbis of the first three centuries C.E. came chiefly from two sources: Plato's Timaeus mediated by Philo of Alexandria, and Gnostic writings of various kinds. The reaction to Gnosticism expressed itself not only in tart replies to attacks but also in the formation of a rabbinic Gnosis of its own (designated as ma'aseh bereshit), only remnants of which have survived. 1 Plato's cosmology has left traces in the more popular and less esoteric rabbinic Hag- gadah, the most notable instance being R. Osha'ya's adaptation of Tim. 29a ("The artificer looked for a pattern to that which is eternal ") in Gen. r. 1, 1 (" God looked to the Torah and created the world "). 2 It also engendered speculation on whether the world was created out of primordial matter or out of nothing. In Hellenistic Judaism we meet both views. The Wisdom of Solomon (II, 18) speaks of creation as an act of shaping the world " out of unformed Matter " (EE apopqpou uAns), which goes back to Tim. 50d and Posidonius' description of matter (vu?,) as " without quality and form " (orrrotoS Kai apqoppos).3 2 Macc. 7, 28, on
Who reads A Note on the Rabbinic Doctrine of Creation?
It is typically read by researchers, students, and practitioners in Arts and Humanities.
- Author
- Alexander Altmann
- Published
- 1956
- Language
- EN
- Field
- Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)