PREFACE

...rtedly The text continues from the previous page's "unequivocally." what pleases or displeases me, what I consider to be true records of the ancient philosophy of the Hebrews original: "philosophia Ebraeorum." The author refers to the intellectual and theological systems of the Jewish people, which he seeks to separate from later mystical or "spurious" additions., and what I consider to be counterfeit fictions of more recent times, I shall declare openly and without ambiguity.

     Meanwhile, the philosophy of the Hebrews possesses this particular and unique quality: it leads us to a knowledge of certain matters that are sought in vain from the philosophers of other nations. For all knowledge of all things, both divine and human, proceeds from a twofold source: reason and tradition original: "ratione & traditione." This is a fundamental distinction in early modern scholarship; reason refers to what the human mind can discover on its own, while tradition refers to knowledge handed down through history or revelation.. In those matters that can be known by the power of the human intellect through reason, there is no reason why we should look to the Hebrews more than to the Greeks; for a more accurate investigation of the facts themselves immediately makes it clear where the truth lies. And just as all philosophers of all nations are capable of wandering from the right path in their reasoning, so too there exist people among every nation who observe these laws of logic, although some do so more accurately than others.

     On the other hand, there are other things into whose innermost recesses the power of human reason cannot penetrate, unless their primary origin—or other matters which depend upon tradition and the records of history original: "monumentis," referring here to written historical evidence or physical remains of the past.—become known to us. Concerning...