America’s Judeo-Christian Heritage
America’s Judeo-Christian heritage has many genealogies. This is one.
This genealogy started with Moses Maimonides.
Moses Maimonides was born in the fabled city of Córdoba in 1138, midway through the eight centuries that Muslims ruled Al-Andalus, now Spain & Portugal. He died in 1204, aged 69, in the Egypt of the famous Sultan Saladin, where, over 38 years, he became one of history’s greatest thinkers. Indeed, Maimonides was a triple-threat genius. He is on the Mount Rushmore of Great Rabbis. Also, he was perhaps the most famous physician of medieval times. Plus, he was a political thinker of historic importance.
His cool Jew handle: the Rambam.
The Rambam was a philosophical forebear of America.
His thinking informed the Judeo-Christian philosophy on which America is based.
“His writings influenced Christian theologians such as Alexander of Hales, William of Auvergne, Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, and Duns Scotus. Further his legal works influenced the development of British and Dutch jurisprudence in the seventeenth century, especially the works of John Seldon and Hugo Grotius." — TheGreatThinkers.org
“Grotius' concept of natural law had a strong impact on the philosophical and theological debates and political developments of the 17th & 18th centuries. Among those he influenced were John Locke, and by way of these philosophers his thinking became part of the cultural background of the Glorious Revolution in England and the American Revolution.” — Wikipedia: Hugo Grotius on Natural Law
Maimonides on Moderation
“Aware of how easily governments and peoples, and with them individuals, can be brought to ruin, Maimonides held aloft, amid the chaos and turmoil of his epoch, a love of order, restraint, and moderation…If people live by reason and in harmony with nature, following ethical and religious precepts and adhering to a regimen of health, they can escape the ‘sea of chance’ as far as humanly possible.” — Joel Kraemer, author of Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds
Burkean Perspective
“A love of order, restraint, and moderation” is pure Burkeanism. Some 600 years later, Burke inherited the enlightened thinking of Maimonides. Hence, two of the Burkean Touchstones echo the Rambam’s thinking: Order & Stability and Social Structures.
Escaping the “sea of chance” is a poetic take on reality. Burkeans share that goal.
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