Erwin I.J. Rosenthal
Studia Semitica, Volume I: Jewish Themes
Cambridge University Press, 1971, XV, 366 pagesReviewed in Orita 6:1, 51-53
The sage Ben Sirach describes the religious scholar as one "explores the wisdom of the men of old, treasures the discourses of famous men, travels among the peoples of foreign lands to learn what is good and evil among men". Doing just that for thirty-five years and more, E.I.J. Rosenthal has left a not so voluminous, but penetrating assortment of critical comparative studies on the history of Jewish, Christian, and Wim thought. The gathering of these scattered studies into two volumes honours their author more than any Festschrift could.
Alhough the reviewer (and most readers of Onta) are interested primarily in Christianity and Islam in the setting of African traditional religion, no researcher into the background of these religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, can afford to ignore the factor of Judaism. The interaction of Judaism. with Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages is the precise theme of Jewish Themes. The essays of this volume never consider the Jewish themes in isolation, but in their Christian or Muslim setting.
All too often the Islamicist or the Christian medievalist focuses on the religion of his specialization, giving only superficial reference to competing or co-existing religion-cultures which, in point of fact, exerted a considerable influence on his subject of specialization. This influence is sometimes greatest where it is least evident, in the realm of abstract thought or speculative synthesis. This is not to say that the history of any one religion's thought can be explained purely by the assimilation of extraneous elements or the accentuation of defences against them. No, each religion has its own historical premises, and develops fundamentally in accord with its own inner logic. But any of these religions could have developed in a much different way had definite external factors intervened. Historical Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are far from having exausted the possibilities of their principles for concrete evolvement.
Although divided into two volumes: Jewish Themes, and Islamic Themes, the essays overlap subjects. The first volume, particularly chapter 10, will help Islamicists and medievalis to understand better the importance of figures such as Saadya Gaon, Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, Abravanel, Maimonides, Nachmanides, and others. Besides persons, several themes run through the essays which show interaction or parallels between the three religions. The influence of Jewish exegesis upon Christian Biblical studies is treated in chapterss 3 to 7. Christstian-Jewish polemic, treated in chapters 2, 8, and 9, illustrates not only social and theological problems, but also common problems of exegetical method. Here we see parallel terminology, such as peshat (= Ar. basata), usually designated by Muslims as az-zâhir, and by Christians as hebraica veritas or sensus literalis' the contrary is derash (= Ar. dars), called by Muslims al-bâtin, and by Christians sensus spiritualis. For other terms, see p. 270.
Another parallel comes out in chapters 11 to 13 in relatiion to philosophy and political theory, where torah is compared with sharî`a. There is no Christian equivalent to this, unless speak of the "spirit of Christ". Nevertheless, all three religions faced the problem of the relationship between this revelation, or the faith which accepts it, and reason; reason, in the Middle Ages, took the shape of Greek philosophy. Note that Rosenthal distinguishes between rationalism, which puts philosophy above revelation, and intellectualism, which uses philosophy in theology or exegesis or even independently, but subordinate to faith. He would not readily admit that medieval Muslim philosophers as Averroes were rationalists. I would like to see proof for this, although a good case is made chapter 9 of his Political thought in Medieval Islam.
As for Raymond of Pennafort and the forced disputations, in chapter 2, it would be useful to compare the work of Thomas M. Schwertner, Saint Raymond of Pennafort (Milwaukee, 1935) for further documentation and a different evaluation of many of the events surrounding the disputations, although a fanaticism unjustified by modern Christian standards (for example, as expressed in the document of the Second Vatican Council on religious freedom) is beyond question in this case.
Up to the last essay, on Esmar Elbogen, Judaism is port as uniquely on the defensive in history. Yet one would 1ike to study to what extent Judaism took the offensive in Europe during the years when the new secular governments were giving the Church a thorough trouncing.
In his comparison of Maimonides with Thomas Aquinas (chapter 10, p. 269), it is strange that the author says that Thomas "accepts Maimonides' arguments against the eternity of the world, but seems to think that the creation out of nothing can be proved by demonstration, whereas Maimonides cannot find conclusive proof, and relies solely on faith which raises the philosophical possibility to religious certainty". Yet in his Summa Theologiae, Part 1, question 46, n.2, Thomas says explicitly that creation at a beginning of time can be known only by revelation and cannot be demonstrated.
In the introduction, the author apologises for the inability to correct anything more than misprints in the original articles, because of the photo-reprint process. Even in a single article, points under a consonant of a Hebrew or Arabic word long vowels are sometimes present and sometimes missing on the same word (e.g. "Hayyûj", pp. 251-2). Presumably, other words, such as "khabr" (p. 90) could not be corrected either.
All in all, the book is a great contribution, and should be found in any library where Christian and Islamic studies are seriously persued.