Joseph Albo יוסף אלבו
reduced the principles of faith to three — and defended them at the Tortosa disputation
Joseph Albo, a student of Crescas, was among some twenty Jewish delegates at the Tortosa disputation of 1413–1414. It was convened and personally presided over by the antipope Benedict XIII, and the chief accuser was the convert Jerónimo de Santa Fe, before his baptism Joshua HaLorki. It ended in mass baptisms in the course of the proceedings and in the excision of passages from the Talmud.
Afterwards Albo wrote Sefer HaIkkarim, "The Book of Principles," completed in 1425. Its purpose is plain from the circumstances: it was necessary to say briefly and defensibly what Judaism believes.
He named three roots: the existence of God, revelation of the Torah, and reward and immortality. From them he derived eight further principles and six secondary branches — that is, he did not abolish Maimonides' thirteen but rebuilt their hierarchy: some became consequences rather than axioms.
The argument over how many principles Judaism has, and whether it has any, began with Maimonides and has not ended; Sefer HaIkkarim is one of the two or three books without which it cannot be set out.
On the timeline
Sources
Rishonim
- Sefer HaIkkarim — the three roots of faith and the principles derived from them
Documents of the period
- The Tortosa disputation, 1413–1414 — convened by Benedict XIII; the accuser was Jerónimo de Santa Fe
Basis: documents and evidence.