Who wrote the medieval Jewish philosophical work Guide for the Perplexed?

Moses Maimonides wrote the medieval Jewish philosophical work Guide for the Perplexed. Written in Judeo-Arabic in the late 12th century, it addressed readers struggling to reconcile Jewish tradition with Aristotelian philosophy and scientific reasoning.

Maimonides, also known as Rambam, was born in Córdoba around 1138 and later lived in North Africa and Egypt. He became a major rabbinic authority, philosopher, physician, and legal scholar. The Guide was composed for an educated reader who found tension between the literal language of scripture and philosophical conclusions.

The work discusses creation, prophecy, divine attributes, biblical interpretation, and the purpose of the commandments. Maimonides often argues that statements describing God physically should not be understood literally, because Judaism teaches that God is not a body.

The Guide was influential but controversial. Some Jewish thinkers criticized its philosophical approach, while others treated it as a landmark of Jewish intellectual history. It should not be confused with Maimonides’ legal code, the Mishneh Torah.