The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IV. Leading Medieval Rabbis Maintain Final Extinction of Wicked

Turning again to Jewry, we find that some of the greatest lights of the rabbinical succession, spread over the medieval period, denied the indefeasible immortality of all souls, holding that immortality is limited to the righteous only. And they similarly denied the eternal torment of the incorrigibly wicked, believing in their ultimate exclusion from life eternal, and holding that the most dreadful of all punishments is final extinction and deprivation of being. CFF2 21.3

Most conspicuous among these was MOSES MAIMONIDES, or MOSES BEN MAIMON (1131-1204), greatest of the medieval Jewish rabbis. Born in Cordova, Spain, conspicuous for learning and ability, and master of the intricacies of Jewish theology, he was called the “Eagle of the Doctors,” a second Moses. He was skilled in medicine and astronomy as well, was adept in Christian philosophy, and had a special fondness for Aristotle—which is significant. He was likewise versed in the lore of antiquity, and was the star pupil of Averroes, ¹⁴ whom he greatly admired—another significant relationship. CFF2 21.4

Picture 2: Maimonides, Abravanel, Manasseh
Left: Maimonides (d. 1204), Greatest of Medieval Rabbis teaches Complete Excision of Wicked.
Center: Abravanel (d. 1508), Statesman Theologian of Spain Second Death Is Annihilation.
Right: Manasseh (d. 1657), Rabbi of Amsterdam Wicked Souls Cut Off.
Page 22

After the Mohammedan invasion, Maimonides wandered furtively through Spain, Palestine, and Northern Africa, at times having to conceal his religious identity. He finally settled in Egypt in 1165, and there became court physician to the reigning sultan, as well as serving as Chief Rabbi of Egypt. Maimonides was called “The Second Lawgiver,” and there was a saying that “from Moses [the lawgiver] to Moses [Maimonides] there was none such as Moses.” He is also to be remembered for his calendar reforms. CFF2 22.1

Maimonides established a school in Fostat (Old Cairo), and made a profound and lasting impression upon all Jewry. He established the right of free investigation, and stood out against the contention of an absolute rabbinical authority. He was the author of numerous works, and his Guide to the Perplexed (in Hebrew, Moreh Nebuchim) was undoubtedly his leading production. In this he sought to harmonize rabbinical teaching with philosophy, particularly of the Aristotelian school. Another treatise was Repetition of the Law (in Hebrew, Mishneh Torah), a systematic exposition of the Pentateuch, dealing with the main principles of the beliefs and ethics of the Jews. ¹⁵ CFF2 22.2

He was the first to condense the dogmatic tenets of Judaism into Thirteen Articles of Faith—a confession of faith which occupies a position in Jewry similar to that of the Apostles’ Creed in Christendom. Every loyal Jew was expected to repeat it daily, and he who called into question any one of the Thirteen Articles would come under the penalty of excommunication, and would lose all share in the life (world) to come. Maimonides therefore spoke with unequaled authority. CFF2 23.1

1. MAIMONIDES TEACHES COMPLETE “EXCISION” OF WICKED

Maimonides taught that immortality is for the righteous only, with ultimate destruction for the wicked. He believed that the material world is to be destroyed, with the wicked involved in that utter destruction and ending in final deprivation of being. Those unworthy of life would not live forever, but would be “cut off” and “perish,” and the soul would ultimately be extinguished. CFF2 23.2

The worst of all punishments, Maimonides held, is Kareth, which means “excision,” or complete destruction. ¹⁶ It is a death from which there is no return, a ruin which admits of no reparation. Evil men are to be destroyed body, soul, and spirit. ¹⁷ On the contrary, some rabbis, such as Saadia ben Joseph (d. 942), of Sura, Babylonia, had believed in the eternity of hell torments. And there was marked opposition to Maimonides by such. CFF2 23.3

He was, in fact, denounced as a rationalist by the traditionalists of his day, who held that the commands of God did not have their foundation in reason, but were of purely arbitrary authority. To offer a reason for any divine command was, by such, considered impertinent and impious. The opposition was most violent in France and in parts of Spain. Some of the leaders of the synagogues in France interdicted Maimonides and burned his books because, among other charges, he opposed the concept of the eternal torment of the wicked. But his position and his influence in general remained unimpeached. CFF2 23.4

Here are Maimonides’ exact words on the fate of the wicked:
“The punishment which awaits the wicked man is that he will have no part in eternal life, but will die, and be utterly destroyed. He will not live for ever, but for his sins will be cut off, and perish like a brute. It is a death from which there is no return.” “The reward of the righteous will consist in this, that they will be at bliss and exist in everlasting beatitude; while the retribution of the wicked will be to be deprived of that future life and to be cut off.” ¹⁸ CFF2 24.1

2. NACHMANIDES ALSO TAUGHT EXCISION OF SOUL

Some of the most learned medieval Jewish teachers staunchly defended Maimonides, holding with him that the most dreadful of all punishments, assigned to the blackest criminals and the damned, is final extinction and deprivation of being. He was first defended by his friend the noted commentator Nachmanides, ¹⁹ who held the same view, and who prepared a lengthy letter vindicating Mainionides from the charge of heresy. He reiterated the opinion that after a stated period of torment the wicked suffer the punishment of “excision,” and perish at last into nothingness. He likewise calls it the “third excision, ‘still more severe, by which the body is cut off in this life, and the soul in the life to come.’” ²⁰ To this DAVID KIMCHI (1160-1232), of France, also agreed. CFF2 24.2

3. ABRAVANEL’S SECOND DEATH IS ANNIHILATION

The next outspoken defender of Maimonides was DON ISAAC BEN JUDAH ABRAVANEL, or Abarbanel (1437-1508), illustrious Jewish statesman-theologian of Spain, master of the learning of his time, and a financial genius. He was minister of finance under Ferdinand and Isabella from 1484 to 1492. It was he who advanced the funds for Christopher Columbus’ voyages. Living in an age of discovery and of social and religious ferment, he was not only a Biblical scholar but also a remarkable expositor of the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7—the sequence of the four world powers (Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome), with the Little Horn as the “rule of the pope,” or papal antichrist, and the prophetic time periods on the yearday principle. ²¹ Abravanel likewise held that the soul would be punished in Gehenna, but only for a time, proportionate to the extent of its faults, and that final annihilation constitutes the “second death.” ²² (Pictured on page 22.) CFF2 24.3

4. MANASSEH: WICKED SOULS CUT OFF

Still another and later defender of Maimonides was the distinguished MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL (1604-1657), linguist, writer, publisher, and statesman, who was also rabbi of the Jewish congregation at Amsterdam. He petitioned Oliver Cromwell for the return of the Jews to England, after their long banishment. He too was a remarkable expositor of the prophecies of Daniel, and likewise of chapters two and seven, his treatise being illustrated by Rembrandt, who lettered the names of the four world kingdoms of Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome on the symbols portraying the great powers of prophecy. ²³ Manasseh contended that Maimonides, learned in all the lore of Jewish antiquity, “understood the cutting off of the soul mentioned in the Scripture to be none other than its annihilation. ²⁴ CFF2 25.1

Thus it was that the position of total destruction for the incorrigibly wicked—final extinction and deprivation of being—was maintained by some of the greatest spokesmen of medieval Jewry, ²⁵ than whom there were no higher or more learned authorities in Semitic circles. So there was kinship of belief on this point between certain Jewish, Arabian, and Christian teachers of the Middle Ages. CFF2 25.2