Abrahamic Proofs for Monotheism

[Maximilian75]

I know of Aquinas’ 5 Ways, but have any Jewish or Muslim philosophers taken up proving the existence of God in a systematic manner?

@meltzerboy2 @Moses613 @Shazirah

 

[Wesrock]

I imagine Maimonides (Jewish) and Averroës (Muslim) are two big names you could look into.

 

[Moses613]

Aquinas was Christianity’s answer to Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) & Averroes (Ibn Rushd), who both preceded him by over 100 years.

It is also abundantly clear in his writings how indebted Thomas is to Ibn Rushd and Rabbi Musa, both of whom he quotes on numerous occasions. Even the present Pope, John Paul II, has recognized this, when he specifically mentions that one of the influences on Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian in Catholic history, was, “the dialogue that Thomas carried on with the writings of the Arab and Jewish thinkers of his time.”

http://www.twf.org/News/Y2003/1220-WiseMen.html

 

[tafan2]

Certainly Aquinas was influenced by some Arabs and Maimonides. But to say he was “Christianity’s answer to Maimonides” is much too strong. Would you say because he quoted Aristotle (more than anyone else it seems to me), that he was Christianity’s answer to Aristotle.
No, there was a flowering of scholarship in Western Europe, that had actually predated. The University of Paris predated Mainmonides by 50 years at least. Cologne also.

 

[tafan2]

God Exists, I'll Prove It To You | My Jewish Learning

 

[Aulef]

For now, a quick answer. My 2cents.

Abraham was a genius. A true light of his time.

He knew the cycles of the stars, the sun, the moon and nature in general. He knew how to handle his wealth wisely. He was a leader. He knew men’s hearts regarding lust for women. And most important, at some point in his life he realized, by God’s grace, that there is only one God.

I know I didn’t answer, but I know a man who can: Yosep ben Matityahu, aka Flavius Josephus.

I have a book with original greek an I’ll check it when I get home. I remember reading Flavius comments on Abraham’s philosophy.

 

[Moses613]

I meant it more as a figure of speech. Just as Maimonides is a towering figure of religious philosophy in Judaism, Aquinas emerged and took a similar role, to whatever extent, in Christianity. I don’t claim to know a great deal about Aquinas and I wasn’t making a specific claim about how much his ideas were influenced by Maimonides, except that scholars have said there is a clear influence. I think it would be fair to state that Aquinas “engaged” with Maimonides and Averroes.
I will also point out that Saadia Gaon preceded Maimonides by 200+ years and he the first Jewish sage I know about who set down systematic proofs for God (as well as other dogmas of the Jewish religion).

 

[Aulef]

Here is what Josephus says about the Patriarc Abraham, according to the book I checked.

“He (Abraham) was thus the first boldly to delcare that God, the creator of the universe, is one, and that, if any other being contributed aught to men’s welfare, each did so by His command and not in virtue of its own inherent power. This he inferred from the changes to which land and sea are subject, from the course of the sun and the moon, and from all of celestial phenomena; for, he argued, were these bodies endowed with power, they would have provided for their own regularity, but, since they lacked this last, it was manifest that even those services in which they cooperate for our greater benefit they render not in virtue of their own authority, but through the might of their commanding sovereign, to whom alone it is right to render our homage and thanksgiving” [my emphasys]

In short, Abraham was enlighted and, thus, were able to see that the order we see in the universe is thanks to a higher power, which is God.