De Resurrectione Mortuorum [on the resurrection of the dead]. pp. (24), 346, (6). * BOUND WITH: De Creatione Problemata XXX ["Thirty Problems on the Creation"]. pp. (16), 156, (2)
AUCTION 48 |
Thursday, May 27th,
2010 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Featuring an Exceptional Collection of American Judaica
Lot 179
MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL
De Resurrectione Mortuorum [on the resurrection of the dead]. pp. (24), 346, (6). * BOUND WITH: De Creatione Problemata XXX ["Thirty Problems on the Creation"]. pp. (16), 156, (2)
Amsterdam: By the Author 1636 and 1635
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
PRICE REALIZED $1,000
The Amsterdam Jewish community at this time was comprised primarily of Marranos, who in their Iberian homeland knew Judaism, if at all, only through the lens of the Old Testament. Since the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is not elucidated in the Bible, many of the newly arrived Marranos came to doubt the belief in an After-life. In response to these skeptics (especially Uriel Acosta), Menasseh marshalled proofs from throughout Judaic literature as to the existence of a world to come.
The second work, was the first of Menasseh's philosophical texts, dealing with the Jewish notion of creatio ex nihilo. Following in the footsteps of Maimonides, Menasseh sought to disprove the Aristotelian notion of the pre-eternity of the world. See C. Roth, A Life of Menasseh ben Israel (1945) pp. 91-4.