The Wars of the Lord, Volume 2

by Gersonides

The Wars of the Lord is the major treatise of Levi ben Gershom of Provence, one of the outstanding philosophers of the medieval world. This work examines in detail most of the controversial issues that had preoccupied the medieval immortality of the human soul, prophecy, human freedom, divine providence, creation of the world, miracles.

Genres: Jewish

292 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1987

About the author

Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as RaLBaG, was a medieval French Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, physician and astronomer/astrologer. According to Abraham Zacuto and others, he was the son of Gerson ben Solomon Catalan.

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this book was pretty far over my head, I am not sure I can intelligently rate it or do it justice. It includes three 'books' by medieval rabbi Levi ben Gerson (aka Gersonides), all of which are quite difficult to follow (whether because of the nature of the material or the translation I cannot say).
The first book relates to the nature of prophecy and how it differs from divination and dreams. Since modern humans generally do not believe in the second and are often not too sure about the first, I am not sure it is of much interest except to historians.
The second relates to Divine knowledge: Gersonides argues that God cannot know the future, because to do so would be inconsistent with free will.
The third, and most accessible, book relates to Divine providence; Gersonides summarizes a variety of possible arguments and explanations of the evil that befalls man. But even here it is difficult to follow his position. He writes that "what is more noble ... receives the divine providence in a greater degree", implying that providence exists only to the extent of one's intellect. He also writes that if true "human good consists of the acquisition of spiritual happiness" because only spiritual happiness is uniquely human, then true reward consists of spiritual happiness. But later on in the book he seems to endorse a more conventional view of Divine punishment for evil, at least for nations.