1 - Saadia Gaon, from The Book of the Beliefs and Convictions

Summary

Introduction

1 The author opened his work by saying:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel – the True, in the sense of evidently true, who verifies for rational beings the existence of their souls with certain truth, through which they find their sense perception to be sound, and know their knowledge to be accurate. As a result, errors are removed, and doubts are eliminated; arguments are clarified and proofs established. May He be extolled over the highest and most genuine praise.

2 Now that we have opened with a brief praise and tribute of our Lord, I will preface this book, which I intend to write, with a report of the causes of errors that beset some people in their investigations, and how these errors can be eliminated, so that the people can fully attain the object of their investigations; moreover, why some errors have taken hold of people such that their thought and fancy affirm them as true. May God help me to uncover such errors in my own mind so that I may achieve the state of obedience towards Him, even as His pious one requested that He might grant him perfection, saying, “Uncover mine eyes, that I may behold the marvels of your Law” [Ps. 119:18].

I have resolved to make these introductory statements, and indeed those of the entire book, easy and accessible, rather than difficult and remote, by citing the fundamentals of the proofs and arguments and not their detailed implications, so that readers may find their way about without too much difficulty.