The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-05

| AIAlMON lDES, THE GREAT JEW W- ISH PHILOSOPHER OF THE MID DLE AGES.
 The Rev. pr Louis A. Alexander the linguist and orator, delivered recently at the Maimonides Lodge, No. 2f0, of
 the Order Brith Abraham, lecture on
 'Maimonides, the Great Jewish Philos-
 opher of the Middle Ages" which was
 indeed an intellectual treat. The
 learned doctor said in part as follows:
 The name of Moses Maimonides shines
 on the sky of Jewish-Spanish scholar
 ship as a star of first rank. The high
 est scientific development of Jewish
 Spain eliminated in Moses Maimon-
 ides
 He was born March 30, 1135, in Cordo-
 va, Spain. His father himself schol-
 ar and famous as Talmundist mathe-
 matician, astronomer, inspired the lit-
 tie Moses with a glowing love for sci
 ence and developed in him the noble
 feeling for an ideal life.
 When scarcely thirteen years old, his native city was invaded and conquered by the Almohades, who promulgated
 their fanatical edicts against Jews and Christians Peace before the alterna- tive of conversion to Islam expulsion or death, the whole Maimonides family chose exile and emigrated. After sur mounting the greatest dangers they settled in Cairo, Egypt While study ing under the learned father the Bible, Talmud, all the Jewish sciences, math- ematics, and astronomy he frequented the lectures of Mohammetan professors
 csa 1,,& 1an came famous as philologist, philoso pher, talmudst, theologian mathema- tician, astronomer and physician.
 His clear, logical and systema tical in tellect tried to penetrate into the depth of all mysteries which he could not tol- crate, and with an iron power of will he fought for light and freedom of thinking He was an arch enemy of all disorder and confusion in life and in science, and was rightly called by his contemporaries the Jewish Aristotle.
 As extensive his knowledge. as uni versal his intellect was, so noble, so blameless was his character He was as wise as a sage in the fullest sense of the term. He exercised the strictest righteousness and tried to combine reli- zion and reason, morality and philoso- phy. Truth was the highest law with him. He abhorred falsehood and hy pocrisy His actions corresponded to his thinking.
 The main purpose and principal aim of his life was to clearly expose and demonstrate the doctrines of Judaism, the whole Judaism. the Biblical and the Talmudical the ceremonies and the dogmas, so that all the nations, even the philosophers, should be convinced of the truth of Judaism.
 Tn order to better understand Juda ism, he studied all the sources of reli- zion of other nations, In Arabic trans lation, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the philosophy of Aristo- tie, which reigned supreme at that time
 Since the time of Philo of Alexandria, who wrote such a beautiful, such an el egant Greek, that his contemporaries used to observe: Either Plato initiates Philos, or Philos initiates Plato. Since that time an attempt was made to bring the two till then diametrically opposed sciences-religion and ,philoso- phy-with Judaism into harmony. But 1t was reserved for Maimonides to bring this great work of reconciling these two intellectual opposing forces to final success. Tn order to gain this end he began, so to speak, to philoso- phize the Bible and Talmud and bring | the Biblical and Talmudical doctrines into closer relations with philosophy. | His supposition was: Judaism recog- 1izes one God as the Supreme Being of | the universe. Philosophy also strives | 70 teach the highest Being as the Prin- ,ipal Cause; Judaism demands the | highest perfection of man; philosophy ,lso strives to reach the highest per- 'ection in man. How could there be opposition between them? Religion Is manifested in revelation and reason S manifested in philosophy, emanated | rom the same source are, so to speak, children of one Father.
 All his great works, written either in Arabic or in Hebrew, pursue the same end.
 In his first great work, written in Arabic, the Commentary in the Mish- Ia" (containing the written tradition) le showed--in opposition to the false of the ignorant-that the