Editing The Guide for the Perplexed (section)

=== The first part ===
[[File:14c ed of the Guide for the Perplexed by Maimonides.jpg|thumb|A page from a 14th-century manuscript of the ''Guide''. The figure seated on the chair with [[Star of David|Stars of David]] is thought to be [[Aristotle]].]]

The part begins with Maimonides' thesis of the unity, omnipresence, and incorporeality of God, explaining biblical [[anthropomorphism]] of divine attributes as homonymous or figurative.  The first chapter explains the Genesis 1 description of Adam the first as in the "[[image of God]]", as referring to the intellectual perception of humankind rather than physical form.  In the Bible, one can find many expressions that refer to God in human terms, for instance the "hand of God". Maimonides strongly opposed what he believed to be a [[heresy]] present in unlearned Jews who then assume God to be corporeal (or even possessing positive characteristics).

To explain his belief that this is not the case, Maimonides devoted more than 20&nbsp;chapters in the beginning (and middle) of the first part to analyzing Hebrew terms. Each chapter was about a term used to refer to God (such as "mighty") and, in each case, Maimonides presented a case that the word is a [[homonym]], whereby its usage when referring to a physical entity is completely different from when referring to God. This was done by close [[Content analysis|textual analysis]] of the word in the Tanakh in order to present what Maimonides saw as the proof that according to the Tanakh, God is completely incorporeal:
{{blockquote|[The [[Rambam]]] set up the incorporeality of God as a dogma, and placed any person who denied this doctrine upon a level with an idolater; he devoted much of the first part of the ''Moreh Nevukhim'' to the interpretation of the Biblical anthropomorphisms, endeavoring to define the meaning of each and to identify it with some transcendental metaphysical expression. Some of them are explained by him as perfect homonyms, denoting two or more absolutely distinct things; others, as imperfect homonyms, employed in some instances figuratively and in others homonymously.”<ref name=JE>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=905&letter=M&search=Maimonides#3053 |title=Moses ben Maimon |last1=Jacobs |first1=Joseph |last2=Broydé |first2=Isaac |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |access-date=2007-10-11}}.  See also, Maimonides, ''Guide for the Perplexed,'' Introduction, [https://books.google.com/books?id=a2dRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA211 page 2] of M. Friedländer's translation, 1919 ed.</ref>}}

This leads to Maimonides' notion that God cannot be described in any positive terms, but rather only in [[Negative theology#In the Jewish tradition|negative conceptions]]. ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' notes his view that "As to His essence, the only way to describe it is negatively. For instance, He is not physical, nor bound by time, nor subject to change, etc. These assertions do not involve any incorrect notions or assume any deficiency, while if positive essential attributes are admitted it may be assumed that other things coexisted with Him from eternity."<ref name=JE/>

Unrestrained anthropomorphism and perception of positive attributes is seen as a transgression as serious as [[idolatry]], because both are fundamental errors in the metaphysics of God's role in the universe, and that is the most important aspect of the world.

The first part also contains an analysis of the reasons why philosophy and mysticism are taught late in the Jewish tradition, and only to a few. Maimonides cites many examples of what he sees as the incapability of the masses of understanding these concepts. Thus, approaching them with a mind that is not yet learned in [[Torah]] and other Jewish texts can lead to heresy and the transgressions considered the most serious by Maimonides.

The part ends (Chapters 73–76) with Maimonides' protracted exposition and criticism of a number of principles and methods identified with the schools of [[Jewish Kalam]] and [[Islamic Kalam]], including the argument for creation ''[[ex nihilo]]'' and the unity and incorporeality of God. While he accepts the conclusions of the Kalam school (because of their consistency with Judaism), he disagrees with their methods and points out many perceived flaws in their arguments: "Maimonides exposes the weakness of these propositions, which he regards as founded not on a basis of positive facts, but on mere fiction ... Maimonides criticizes especially the tenth proposition of the ''Mutakallimīn'', according to which everything that is conceivable by imagination is admissible: e.g., that the terrestrial globe should become the all-encompassing sphere, or that this sphere should become the terrestrial globe."<ref name=JE/>