INTRODUCTION

Moses Maimonides (1138–1204) is probably the most famous medieval Jewish philosopher. His Guide for the Perplexed has inspired Jewish philosophy since its appearance at the end of the twelfth century. Hasdai Crescas (c. 1340–1410) has been described as his most important philosophic critic. He wrote The Light of the Lord in response to Maimonides as part of an overall project to provide an alternative philosophical and halakhic system, a project which ultimately remained incomplete. Despite great differences between their belief systems and world views, there are certain attitudes that can be identified in the approach of both thinkers to scientific and philosophical inquiry. The question of creatio ex nihilo is one which can be used to showcase those similarities and also some differences. In this chapter I will explain some of the common themes that run through their attitudes towards creation and the sciences. First, they both place importance on the notion that everything in existence depends upon God. That dependence is non-reciprocal since both argue that God is in no way dependent upon anything at all. Second, I will show that there is, to a certain extent, a common methodological approach: they are both concerned to accept only theological positions which they can show to be scientifically acceptable on science's own terms. Both of these points are true of the writings of Maimonides and Crescas, even though they disagree over the nature of the things that God sustains in existence.