THE JEWISH PHILOSOPHY 



been created, and therefore has a Creator ; this Crea- 

 tor, who is God, has not either beginning or end ; he 

 is incorporeal, and is not enclosed in the limits of 

 space. His science embraces all things; His life con- 

 sists in the intelligence, and it is itself pure intelli- 

 gence ; He acts with free will, and His volition is 

 conformable to His omniscience." 



In physics the Montecallemin based their theory 

 of the world on the existence of the atoms of Democ- 

 ritus, and consequently of intervening space, but 

 they differed from Democritus, and from the Leib- 

 nitz theory of Monads, in supposing the atoms to be 

 constantly created anew by the fiat of God, and ex- 

 isting at His pleasure only. They were without qual- 

 ities and without extension ; all bodies arise and 

 perish by their aggregation and their separation. In 

 this may be seen an approximation to the atomic 

 theory of matter at the present day. 



One of the earliest Jewish writers of the Middle 

 Ages was Solomon Ibn Gebriol, the author of the 

 " Source of Life/ 7 He was known to Europeans by 

 the name of Avicebron, but generally supposed by 

 them at the time to be an Arabian. His philosoph- 

 ical writings were in Arabic, though his poetic works, 

 mostly hymns highly valued by the Hebrews 

 were in their language. He was born at Malaga, 

 Spain, about 1025. From the teachings of the 



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