From Periphery to Center: Early Discussion of Resurrection in Medieval Jewish Thought

Abstract

Medieval Jewish thought developed in Islamic countries and, naturally, was significantly influenced by the style and the contents of the official Muslim theology (Kaläm) and, occasionally, by mystical currents as well. One issue that would stir twelfth-century Jewish thought in Islamic countries, spreading to Jewish thought in areas under Christian rule as well, is the resurrection of the dead. In this article, we examine the notion of resurrection at a time when Jewish thought on this subject was becoming systematic: at the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries. We trace the guidelines of the idea of resurrection in its earliest systematic formulation through a comparative study of Däwüd ibn Marwän al־Muqammis and R. Saadia Gaon.