  When the sage is reminded, however, that the philosophers believe in the past-eternity of the world and support their claims by scrupulous investigation, the sage rejects the philosopher's view of the past-eternity of the world as well. However, he also excuses the philosophers for being mistaken because their lineage and geographical environment have left them poorly equipped to receive or acquire, not to mention preserve and transmit, reliable information on the matter. As Greeks, they were descendents of Yaphet rather than Shem, which means that they lacked knowledge confirmed by a divine order (i.e., a prophetic experience apprehended by the divine faculty that sees things as they really are). Accordingly, they could only speculate about the matter. In addition, the variability and instability of the northern climates contributed to the destruction or loss of what knowledge they did have. The opposite holds true for the descendents of Shem and the region that was their home. Having no special claim to credibility, Aristotle's view should not be accepted. In fact, the arguments for the two positions turn out to be evenly balanced against each other and are therefore inconclusive. In the end, Aristotle preferred the idea of the world's past-eternity because of an essentially cultural predilection for the abstract argumentation supporting it and, of course, because he lacked a reliable tradition supporting the contrary view. Having no such tradition of his own, he never even thought to ask others about theirs. Had he lived within a nation that possessed such a tradition, like Israel's own, Halevi contends that he would certainly have argued for the possibility of creation, for, as the sage points out most emphatically in an oath, the Torah teaches nothing that directly contradicts the clear evidence of sense experience or the conclusion of a genuine demonstration. Halevi does not spell out why he thinks Aristotle would have decided to argue for the opposing view, but it seems to have some connection with the status and function of oaths, which calls for further reflection. In any event, even if it were eventually proven that matter is eternal into the past and many worlds preceded this one, an adherent of the Law would still be able to maintain that traditions about the temporal origin of this world and its earliest inhabitants remain intact and his faith unimpaired.