Editing Gersonides (section)

==Philosophical and religious works==
{{Jewish philosophy|expanded=Medieval}}
Part of his writings consist of commentaries on the portions of [[Aristotle]] then known, or rather of commentaries on the commentaries of [[Averroes]]. Some of these are printed in the early [[Latin]] editions of Aristotle's works. His most important treatise, that by which he has a place in the history of philosophy, is entitled ''Sefer Milhamot Ha-Shem'', ("The Wars of the Lord"), and occupied twelve years in composition (1317–1329). A portion of it, containing an elaborate survey of [[astronomy]] as known to the [[Arab]]s, was translated into Latin in 1342 at the request of [[Pope Clement VI]].

''The Wars of the Lord'' is modeled after the plan of the great work of Jewish philosophy,  the ''Guide for the Perplexed'' of [[Maimonides]].  It may be regarded as a criticism of some elements of Maimonides' [[syncretism]] of Aristotelianism and rabbinic Jewish thought.  Ralbag's treatise strictly adhered to Aristotelian thought.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Samuel |last=Taikh |author2=Hersh Goldwurm |date=2001 |title=The Rishonim: biographical sketches of the prominent early rabbinic sages and leaders from the tenth-fifteenth centuries |location=[[Brooklyn]] |publisher=[[Mesorah Publications]] |page=182 |oclc=60850988}}</ref>  The ''Wars of the Lord'' review:

:1. the doctrine of the soul, in which Gersonides defends the theory of impersonal reason as mediating between [[God]] and man, and explains the formation of the higher reason (or acquired intellect, as it was called) in humanity—his view being thoroughly realist and resembling that of [[Avicebron]];
:2. prophecy;
:3. and 4. God's knowledge of facts and providence, in which is advanced the theory that God does not decide individual facts. While there is general providence for all, special providence only extends to those whose reason has been enlightened;
:5. celestial substances, treating of the strange spiritual hierarchy which the Jewish philosophers of the middle ages accepted from the [[Neoplatonist]]s and the [[pseudo-Dionysius]], and also giving, along with astronomical details, much of astrological theory; and
:6. creation and miracles, in respect to which Gersonides deviates widely from the position of Maimonides.

Gersonides was also the author of commentaries on the [[Pentateuch]], [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]], [[Book of Judges|Judges]], [[Books of Samuel|I & II Samuel]], [[Books of Kings|I & II Kings]], [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], [[Book of Job|Job]], [[Ecclesiastes]], [[Song of Songs]], [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]], [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Ezra–Nehemiah|Ezra-Nehemiah]], and [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]. He makes reference to a commentary on [[Isaiah]], but it is not extant.

===Views on God and omniscience===
In contrast to the [[theology]] held by other Jewish thinkers, Jewish theologian [[Louis Jacobs]] argues, Gersonides held that God does not have complete foreknowledge of human acts. "Gersonides, bothered by the old question of how God's [[Omniscience|foreknowledge]] is compatible with human freedom, holds that what God knows beforehand is all the choices open to each individual.  God does not know, however, which choice the individual, in his freedom, will make."<ref>{{Cite book|first=Louis |last=Jacobs |author-link=Louis Jacobs |title=God, Torah, Israel: traditionalism without fundamentalism |publisher=Hebrew Union College Press |location=[[Cincinnati]] |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-87820-052-8 |oclc=21039224}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>

Another neoclassical Jewish proponent of self-limited omniscience was [[Abraham ibn Daud]]. "Whereas the earlier Jewish philosophers extended the [[omniscience]] of God to include the free acts of man, and had argued that human freedom of decision was not affected by God's foreknowledge of its results, Ibn Daud, evidently following [[Alexander of Aphrodisias]], excludes human action from divine foreknowledge. God, he holds, limited his omniscience even as He limited His omnipotence in regard to human acts".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Julius |last=Guttmann |author-link=Julius Guttmann |title=Philosophies of Judaism: The History of Jewish Philosophy from Biblical Times to Franz Rosenzweig |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company|Holt, Rinehart and Winston]] |location=[[New York City]] |date=1964 |pages=150–151 |oclc=1497829}}</ref>

:The view that God does not have foreknowledge of moral decisions which was advanced by ibn Daud and Gersonides (Levi ben Gershom) is not quite as isolated as [[J. David Bleich|Rabbi Bleich]] indicates, and it enjoys the support of two highly respected [[Acharonim]], Rabbi [[Isaiah Horowitz|Yeshayahu Horowitz]] (''Shelah haKadosh'') and Rabbi [[Chaim ibn Attar]] (''Or haHayim haKadosh'').  The former takes the views that God cannot know which moral choices people will make, but this does not impair His perfection. The latter considers that God could know the future if He wished, but deliberately refrains from using this ability in order to avoid the conflict with free will.<ref>''Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought'', Vol. 31, No.2, Winter 1997, From ''Divine Omniscience and Free Will'', Cyril Domb, pp.&nbsp;90–91{{Verify source|what is the title and page number for the magazine article; is cyril domb's work a book, magazine?|date=April 2009}}</ref>

Rabbi [[Isaiah Horowitz|Yeshayahu Horowitz]] explained the apparent paradox of his position by citing the old question, "Can God create a rock so heavy that He cannot pick it up?" He said that we cannot accept free choice as a creation of God's, and simultaneously question its logical compatibility with omnipotence.

See further discussion in ''[[Free will in theology#Judaism|Free will in Jewish thought]]''.

===Views of the afterlife===
Gersonides posits that people's souls are composed of two parts: a material, or human, intellect; and an acquired, or agent, intellect. The material intellect is inherent in every person, and gives people the capacity to understand and learn. This material intellect is mortal, and dies with the body. However, he also posits that the soul also has an acquired intellect. This survives death, and can contain the accumulated knowledge that the person acquired during his lifetime. For Gersonides, [[Seymour Feldman]] points out, <blockquote>Man is immortal insofar as he attains the intellectual perfection that is open to him. This means that man becomes immortal only if and to the extent that he acquires knowledge of what he can in principle know, e.g. mathematics and the natural sciences. This knowledge survives his bodily death and constitutes his immortality.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Levi |last=ben Gershom |others=trans. Seymour Feldman |title=The Wars of the Lord: Book one, Immortality of the soul |publisher=[[Jewish Publication Society of America]] |location=[[Philadelphia]] |date=1984 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=job_de-tUvcC&pg=PA81 81] |isbn=978-0-8276-0220-5 |oclc=220214037}}</ref></blockquote>

===Talmudic works===
Gersonides was the author of the following Talmudic and halakhic works: 
*''Shaarei Tsedek'' (published at Leghorn, 1800): a commentary on the thirteen halachic rules of [[Rabbi Yishmael]];
*''Mechokek Safun'', an interpretation of the aggadic material in the fifth chapter of Tractate ''Bava Basra'';
*A commentary to tractate ''Berachos'';
*two responsa.
Only the first work is extant.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |title=INTRODUCTION |date=2010-07-01 |work=Torah in the Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs |pages=11 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781618110183-003/html |access-date=2025-03-02 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781618110183-003 |isbn=978-1-61811-018-3|url-access=subscription }}</ref>