MAIMONIDEAN CONTROVERSY, a vast complex of disputed cultural,
religious, and social problems, focusing around several central
themes. Some of the elements of this controversy considerably
antedate *Maimonides (1135–1204); and of the questions brought
into sharp relief by his ideas and writings, some have remained
topical in many Jewish circles. Vast fields of human experience
and thought are encompassed by it: reason and philosophy in
their relation to faith and tradition; what components are
permitted and what prohibited in the education of a man
following the Torah; the proper understanding of
*anthropomorphism as expressed in the Bible Although it is
convenient to frame the four climaxes of the controversy as
distinct historical stages, recent research has led to a
reappraisal, in light of which these climaxes cannot be
characterized as separate stages in a homogeneous process. It is
certainly true that there were some essential differences among
the stages. For example: in the fourth and final stage Maimo