Editing Maimonides (section)

===Skepticism of astrology===
{{further|Jewish views on astrology}}
Maimonides answered an inquiry concerning astrology, addressed to him from [[Marseille]].<ref>Joel E. Kramer, "Moses Maimonides: An Intellectual Portrait," p. 45. In {{cite book |title=The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides |editor=Kenneth Seeskin |date=September 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52578-7}}</ref> He responded that man should believe only what can be supported either by rational proof, by the evidence of the senses, or by trustworthy authority. He affirms that he had studied astrology, and that it does not deserve to be described as a science. He ridicules the concept that the fate of a man could be dependent upon the constellations; he argues that such a theory would rob life of purpose, and would make man a slave of destiny.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rudavsky|first=T.|title=Maimonidies|date=March 2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Singapore|isbn=978-1-4051-4898-6|page=10}}</ref>

Unlike some of his contemporaries, Maimonides did not believe that Greek knowledge had originated with the Jews originally, but he does believe that the sages and [[Solomon]] knew science and philosophy, however he does not believe those books have survived down to his time. He notes that rabbinical knowledge of mathematics was imperfect because it was learned from contemporary men of science, and not divinely inspired prophecy. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fuss |first=Abraham M. |date=1994 |title=The Study of Science and Philosophy Justified by Jewish Tradition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40914819 |journal=The Torah U-Madda Journal |volume=5 |pages=101–114 |jstor=40914819 |issn=1050-4745}}</ref>