Editing Jewish principles of faith (section)

===Medieval era===
Detailed constructions of articles of faith did not find favor in Judaism until the medieval era, when Jews were forced to defend their faith from both Islamic and Christian inquisitions, disputations, and polemics. The necessity of defending their religion against the attacks of other philosophies induced many Jewish leaders to define and formulate their beliefs. A number of Jewish scholars formulated such lists of principles of faith. By this time, centers of Jewish learning and law were dispersed geographically, and no central authority existed that might bestow official approval on any particular list.

[[Saadia Gaon]]'s [[Emunoth ve-Deoth |''Emunot ve-Deot'']] ({{circa | 933 CE}}) is an exposition of the main tenets of [[Judaism]]. Saadia lists these as: The world was created by God; God is one and incorporeal; belief in [[revelation]] (including the divine origin of tradition); man is called to righteousness, and endowed with all necessary qualities of mind and soul to avoid [[sin]]; belief in reward and punishment; the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] is created pure; after death, it leaves the body; belief in [[resurrection]]; [[Jewish eschatology|Messianic expectation]], retribution, and final judgement.

[[Judah Halevi]] endeavored, in his [[Kuzari]], to determine the fundamentals of Judaism on another basis. He rejects all appeal to speculative reason, repudiating the method of the Islamic [[Ilm al-Kalam|Motekallamin]]. The miracles and traditions are, in their natural character, both the source and the evidence of the true faith. In this view, speculative reason is considered fallible due to the inherent impossibility of objectivity in investigations with moral implications.