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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Maimonides and Jewish Theocracy

Maimonides and Jewish Theocracy

Lesch, Charles H. T.

Hardcover

Series: Elements in Comparative Political Theory

JudaismGeneral Political Science

ISBN10: 1009468111
ISBN13: 9781009468114
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: Dec 19 2024
Pages: 78
Weight: 0.61
Height: 0.25 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Theocratic movements are on the rise. But what does it actually mean for God to rule? This Element offers one answer by recovering the theocratic project of medieval Judaism's most important thinker, Moses Maimonides. Theocracy is often thought to quash human agency, evoking an overpowering deity and clerical domination. Yet by reconsidering Maimonides' debt to the Islamic philosopher al-Fārābī, and challenging Leo Strauss' influential reading, the author argues that among Maimonides' aims was to elevate humanity's role in divine rule. In its highest form reason is identical with revelation, action with providence. God's governance is delegated: theocracy requires human agency-the imitation of God. Maimonides focuses on philosophical-religious leaders. But he also broadens imitatio dei to anyone whose knowledge of God inspires love of God: by emulating God's goodness, we can become agents of divine rule. In this way, Maimonides' ideas suggest ways by which theocracy and democracy might, counter-intuitively, be reconciled. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

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