Freedom in Thought
However, in spite of many concessions to Rabbinism, Benjamin adhered firmly to the principle, expressed by Anan, of penetrating research of the Scripture. In Benjamin's opinion one ought not to tie oneself down to the authorities, but to follow one's own convictions: the son may differ from the father, the disciple from the master, provided they have reasons for their different views. Inquiry to Benjamin was a duty, and he held that errors arrived at through sincere inquiry do not constitute a sin (compare Yefet ben Ali's commentary, cited in Dukes's "Beiträge," ii. 26).
Read more about this topic: Benjamin Nahawandi
Famous quotes containing the words freedom in, freedom and/or thought:
“Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.”
—Richard Lovelace (1618–1658)
“No matter what a man does, he is not fully sane or human unless there is a spirit of freedom in him, a soul unconfined by purpose and larger than the practicable world.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“For it is not metres, but a metre-making argument, that makes a poem,—a thought so passionate and alive, that, like the spirit of a plant or an animal, it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)