LIBERTY UNIVERSITY MAIMONIDES’ YAHWEH: HOW HIS VIA NEGATIVA GOD INFLUENCED RABBINIC JUDAISM AND ITS SUBSEQUENT MISUNDERSTANDING OF INCARNATIONAL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THEOLOGY AND APOLOGETICS BY AMY KAREN DOWNEY LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 27 APRIL 2016 Copyright © 2016 by Amy Karen Downey All Rights Reserved ii APPROVAL SHEET MAIMONIDES’ YAHWEH: HOW HIS VIA NEGATIVA GOD INFLUENCED RABBINIC JUDAISM AND ITS SUBSEQUENT MISUNDERSTANDING OF INCARNATIONAL THEOLOGY Amy Karen Downey Read and approved by: Chairperson: _____Edward L. Smither________ Reader: _____Kenneth G. Cleaver________ Reader: _____Leo R. Percer_____________ Date: _____27 April 2016______ iii To Barbara Ellen Downey, who was told that girls did not need to go to college but can now say, “My daughter, the doctor.” and to the 99% who keep me awake at night and keep me going during the day—Romans 1:16. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................ix Abstract .............................................................................................................................................xi CHAPTER 1: Establishing the Rationale for the Dissertation ....................................................1 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................1 Brief Historical Overview of the Jewish-Christian World .........................................4 Literature Review...................................................................................................................9 Method Statement ..................................................................................................................14 Preliminary Interpretation and Conclusion ............................................................................15 CHAPTER 2: A Brief Examination of Jewish-Christian History (AD 70 to 1290) ...................18 Ramifications of the Destruction of the Temple (AD 70) .....................................................18 Jews of the Sanhedrin ................................................................................................20 Development of Rabbinic (i.e., Modern) Judaism .........................................20 Disappearance of the Essenes and Other Religious Groups ..........................23 Jews of the Sect Known as The Way (Acts 9:2) ........................................................23 Ramifications of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion (AD 135) .........................................................25 Traditional Jewish Reaction to Jewish Believers Who Declined to Participate in the Rebellion ..............................................................................................................28 Codification of the Mishnah by Judah the Prince (impact on Jewish Believers) ......31 Rise of the Patristics and Consideration of the Jewish People (AD 170 to c.500) ................34 Early Church and Theological Understanding of Galatians 6:16 ..............................34 Justin Martyr ..............................................................................................................36 Tertullian ....................................................................................................................42 v Origen ........................................................................................................................48 Augustine ...................................................................................................................50 Jerome ........................................................................................................................56 John Chrysostom ........................................................................................................61 ADDENDUM – Jewish reaction to Patristic Theology .............................................63 Rise of the Dark Ages and Expulsions (c. 500 to 1290) ........................................................65 Formulation of Catholic Dogma in Regards to Judaism ............................................66 Medieval Papal Attitudes towards the Jewish People................................................67 Crusades and the Jewish People ................................................................................69 Early Inquisitions and Jewish-Christian Disputations ...............................................71 Jewish Expulsions in Medieval Europe ....................................................................73 Chapter Summation ...............................................................................................................76 CHAPTER 3: Moses Maimonides (1135/38-1204) ........................................................................77 Biography ...............................................................................................................................78 Birth in Cordoba to Expulsion from Andalusia .........................................................78 Years in Morocco and North Africa ..........................................................................81 Rumors of Possible Conversion to Islam ...................................................................82 Influence of Islam on Rambam ......................................................................84 Influence of Islam on Maimonidean Judaism ................................................87 Years in Egypt (“Out of Egypt, I Called My Son?”) .................................................89 Physician to the Court ....................................................................................90 Chief Rabbi of Cairo ......................................................................................92 Surviving Political Upheaval .........................................................................93 Death and Legacy of Rambam ...................................................................................95 vi Specific Writings of Maimonides ..........................................................................................96 Commentary on the Mishnah .....................................................................................97 Epistle to Yemen .........................................................................................................101 Mishneh Torah ...........................................................................................................104 Guide for the Perplexed .............................................................................................114 Treatise on the Resurrection ......................................................................................135 Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith ......................................................................141 Two Specific Maimonidean Beliefs (Aside from Via Negativa and Messiah) ......................148 Kabbalah and Mysticism............................................................................................148 Noahides and Converts ..............................................................................................153 Maimonides’ Negation Theology Analyzed in Relation to the Christian Faith ....................159 Gregory of Nyssa .......................................................................................................162 John Philoponus .........................................................................................................164 Thomas Aquinas ........................................................................................................166 Maimonides’ Criteria for the Messiah Analyzed in Relation to the Christian Faith .............170 Chapter Summation ...............................................................................................................173 CHAPTER 4: Maimonides’ Impact on Modern Judaism............................................................176 Understanding of God in Philosophy .....................................................................................177 Understanding of God in General ..........................................................................................186 Understanding of the Person of Messiah ...............................................................................194 Understanding of God and the Perfection of Scripture ..........................................................197 Understanding of God in Light of the Holocaust (Suffering/Evil) ........................................201 Understanding of Specific Christian Doctrines .....................................................................206 vii Incarnation .................................................................................................................207 Resurrection ...............................................................................................................210 Forgiveness/Mercy/Grace ..........................................................................................212 Salvation and Eternal Life .........................................................................................213 Chapter Summation ...............................................................................................................217 CHAPTER 5: Development of an Apologetic Approach for Evangelism