Jewish Medieval Scholar and Kabbalist Nachmanides
... who lived between 1194 AD and 1270 AD, made many commentaries on the Torah.
One included the comment:
"At the briefest instant following creation, all the matter of the Universe was concentrated in a very small space, no larger than a grain of mustard. The matter at this time was so thin, so intangible that it did not have real substance. It did, however, have a potential to gain substance and form and to become tangible matter."
"From the initial concentration of this intangible substance in its minute location, the substance expanded, expanding the Universe as it did so ... From this initial act of creation, from this ethereally thin pseudo-substance, everything that has existed, or will ever exist, was, is, and will be formed.
From the moment that matter formed from substance-less substance, time grabbed hold."
Kind of trumps the musings of the Belgian Catholic Priest, Georges Lemaître, who in 1927, proposed an expanding model for the universe, and then in 1931, published his "hypothèse de l'atome primitif" (hypothesis of the primeval atom) that the universe began with the "explosion" of the "primeval atom" — what was later called the Big Bang.
Rabbi Nachmanides was also something of an animal rights advocate, subscribing to the idea of their having a soul:
"Living creatures possess a moving soul and a certain spiritual superiority which in this respect make them similar to those who possess intellect (people), and they have the power of affecting their welfare and their food and they flee from pain and death."
Of course the idea that animals and even plants have souls (Greek 'psyche') was not new, Thomas Aquinas's opinions on this not withstanding, the pre Socratic Greek philosopher Empedocles (c. 494 – c. 434 BC ), opined that all animals and plants had psyche, and he argued against the practice of animal sacrifice and killing animals for food.
We sometimes think that our thoughts are new and original, but often we find that there is little new under the sun.
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| Rabbi Moses Nachmanides - Ahead Of His Time? |
... who lived between 1194 AD and 1270 AD, made many commentaries on the Torah.
One included the comment:
"At the briefest instant following creation, all the matter of the Universe was concentrated in a very small space, no larger than a grain of mustard. The matter at this time was so thin, so intangible that it did not have real substance. It did, however, have a potential to gain substance and form and to become tangible matter."
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| Big Bang ~ Big Idea ~ Older Than We Think |
"From the initial concentration of this intangible substance in its minute location, the substance expanded, expanding the Universe as it did so ... From this initial act of creation, from this ethereally thin pseudo-substance, everything that has existed, or will ever exist, was, is, and will be formed.
From the moment that matter formed from substance-less substance, time grabbed hold."
Kind of trumps the musings of the Belgian Catholic Priest, Georges Lemaître, who in 1927, proposed an expanding model for the universe, and then in 1931, published his "hypothèse de l'atome primitif" (hypothesis of the primeval atom) that the universe began with the "explosion" of the "primeval atom" — what was later called the Big Bang.
Rabbi Nachmanides was also something of an animal rights advocate, subscribing to the idea of their having a soul:
"Living creatures possess a moving soul and a certain spiritual superiority which in this respect make them similar to those who possess intellect (people), and they have the power of affecting their welfare and their food and they flee from pain and death."
Of course the idea that animals and even plants have souls (Greek 'psyche') was not new, Thomas Aquinas's opinions on this not withstanding, the pre Socratic Greek philosopher Empedocles (c. 494 – c. 434 BC ), opined that all animals and plants had psyche, and he argued against the practice of animal sacrifice and killing animals for food.
We sometimes think that our thoughts are new and original, but often we find that there is little new under the sun.
Really interesting article. I had never heard of the guy. As you say we kind of assume that all our philosophical ideas are new but they are not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Anne. I am always happy when someone responds to a post. I have to admit I only stumbled across the name Nachmanides by a chance reference to his thoughts on creation in a science article in a magazine. In effect that's where this post (like many of my others) originated from.
DeleteAnyway glad you read and enjoyed it. ☺