De même que les Grecs et les Latins; les anciens Indiens n'ont point donné de nom particulier à leur croyance nationale ; ils la nommaient simplement; et leurs descendants la nomment encore; le Dharma; c'est-à -dire la Loi ou le Devoir. Nos anciens auteurs l'appelèrent Religion des Brâhmanes; d'où l'on a fait ensuite le terme Brâhmanisme. A leur tour; enfin; les savants qui l'étudient de nos jours ont cru devoir la diviser en trois périodes distinctes; qu'ils ont nommées Védisme; Brâhmanisme; et Brâhmanisme sectaire ou Hindouisme. Bien que correspondant en effet à des modifications profondes; ces termes ont peut-être le double inconvénient d'être arbitraires - car il est impossible de tracer une ligne de démarcation nette entre les époques qu'ils représentent et d'induire à croire qu'il s'agit de trois religions différentes; tandis que ce sont de simples phases d'une seule et même religion évoluant insensiblement; sous l'influence de spéculations philosophiques; du naturalisme polythéiste au panthéisme sans rompre pour cela la chaîne des antiques traditions primitives; et comme l'un de ses traits caractéristiques saillants est la suprématie universelle de la caste sacerdotale des Brâhmanes; le nom de Brâhmanisme nous paraît convenir mieux que tout autre à cette croyance envisagée dans son ensemble.
#216519 in Books 2011-08-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.10 x .70 x 9.20l; .86 #File Name: 1906764239234 pages
Review
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful. a tremendously interesting bookBy Michael LewynMaimonides asserted that anyone who rejected his Thirteen Principles was a heretic who has removed himself from the Jewish people- yet most of these Principles were at one time or another rejected by leading rabbis both before and after Maimonides.For example; Shapiro writes that even the view that "the Torah in our hands is exactly the same as the Torah that Moses presented to the Children of Israel" has been widely disputed. To be sure; pre-Reform Jews universally accepted the Torah as Divine and as roughly the same as the original text. But Shapiro asserts that historically there have been minor deviations in Torah scrolls; and that even today nine letters in Yemenite Torahs differ from those in those used by the rest of Jewry. Shapiro also cites numerous medieval commentators' assertions that some non-halakhic portions of the Torah; although true and divinely inspired; were written by Joshua or Ezra rather than Moses.Shapiro also asserts that some of the Principles were arguably contradicted even by Maimonides' own later writings.A minor quibble: Shapiro's discussion would have been clearer if he had put Maimonides' own language in his book as an appendix.4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Somewhat sensationalist title for a serious scholarly workBy Michael BrochsteinI can't add much that hasn't been said in the other 5 reviews already posted. This is a serious scholarly (very very well footnoted etc) treatment of Maimonides' Thirteen Principles discussing what "traditional" (well recognized/accepted by the orthodox Jewish community) commentators (as well as Maimonides in other writings) have said about them. Worthwhile reading for those concerned with theology as defined by the 13 Principles.As another poster said; I too would have liked the original text of the 13 Principles to have been printed in the book for handy reference.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. LOVED IT!!!By Alex HamiltonGreat book! Would recommend to anyone. Great erudition and clearly written. I liked that Shapiro didn't go off interpreting the material (unlike Kellner); and only presented it for the reader to understand. His best book no doubt.
