Reason and Revelation: Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed"

Maimonides, the great twelfth-century Jewish philosopher who lived and worked in the Islamic world, wrote The Guide for the Perplexed for a very particular reader: a person of faith who has also studied philosophy and science, and who feels torn between them. Such a person is “perplexed,” caught between the literal words of scripture and the conclusions of reason, unsure whether they must abandon one to keep the other. Maimonides’ whole project is to show that they need not choose, that properly understood, revelation and reason do not contradict each other. As someone who has felt that exact tension, I found his confidence both demanding and deeply reassuring.

Here is what the Guide taught me about reading scripture wisely, about what we can and cannot say of the divine, and about the unity of faith and reason.

Key takeaways

• Scripture often speaks in metaphor; literal readings can mislead the thoughtful believer.
• Reason and revelation cannot truly conflict; apparent clashes signal a misreading of one or the other.
• Negative theology: we know God better by what God is not than by what God is.
• Philosophy is a path to God, not a rival to faith.
• Deep truths are written for the few who are prepared to understand them.

The perplexed believer

Maimonides writes for someone caught in a very modern-feeling bind: a sincere believer who has also learned to think rigorously, and who finds that the plain words of scripture seem to clash with what reason and science teach. His first move is to argue that much of the difficulty dissolves once we stop reading sacred texts woodenly. When scripture describes God as having a hand, sitting on a throne, or feeling anger, it is speaking in images suited to ordinary understanding, not making literal claims. The sophisticated reader must learn to interpret such passages metaphorically. I find this liberating. Maimonides treats intellectual honesty not as a threat to faith but as a duty owed to it.

Knowing God by negation

The most philosophically daring part of the Guide is Maimonides’ doctrine of negative attributes. We cannot, he argues, truly describe what God is, because God is utterly beyond our concepts; any positive description drags the infinite down to the level of finite things. What we can do is say what God is not: not a body, not limited, not lacking, not multiple. By stripping away false notions, we approach the divine more truthfully than by piling up inadequate praises. This is austere, but I find it strangely moving. It is a way of honouring the divine by admitting the limits of our own minds, of pointing reverently at a mystery rather than pretending to have captured it.

The marriage of reason and faith

Underlying the whole work is Maimonides’ conviction that there is only one truth, and that it cannot contradict itself. Since both the world that reason studies and the scripture that faith trusts come from the same divine source, they must ultimately agree. Where they appear to conflict, the fault lies in our understanding, either a misreading of the text or an error in our reasoning, never in the truth itself. This is the same confidence I met in the Muslim philosophers of the same era, and it stands as a powerful rebuke to the modern habit of treating faith and reason as natural enemies. Maimonides spent his life as both a master physician and a master of scripture, and he refused to let either half of his mind silence the other.

What I’m taking with me

The Guide for the Perplexed is a difficult, layered book, written deliberately so that its deepest ideas reveal themselves only to patient readers. What I am taking from it is its central reassurance: that the perplexity of standing between faith and reason is not a sign that one must be abandoned, but an invitation to understand both more deeply. Maimonides gave me a model of the believing mind that refuses to choose between honesty and devotion, and insists, calmly, that the truth is one.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Guide for the Perplexed about?

It is Maimonides’ attempt to reconcile Jewish scripture with philosophy and reason, written for believers who feel torn between the literal text and rational thought. He argues the two, rightly understood, do not conflict.

What is negative theology in Maimonides?

The idea that we cannot describe what God positively is, only what God is not. By denying false, limiting notions, we approach a truer understanding of the divine than by inadequate positive descriptions.

Did Maimonides think faith and reason conflict?

No. He held that since truth is one and comes from a single divine source, reason and revelation cannot genuinely contradict each other; any apparent conflict is due to misreading the text or faulty reasoning.

References & further reading

1. Maimonides, Moses. The Guide of the Perplexed. (Translated by Shlomo Pines, University of Chicago Press, 1963.)
2. Kraemer, Joel L. (ed.). Perspectives on Maimonides. Oxford University Press, 1991.
3. Fakhry, Majid. A History of Islamic Philosophy. Columbia University Press, 1970.