This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.furman.edu/~ateipen/Religion12/protected/Rambam-Guide.html.
G o o g l e's cache is the snapshot that we took of the page as we crawled the web.
The page may have changed since that time. Click here for the current page without highlighting.

Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
 
Excerpts: Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed
Chapters 32-35

CHAPTER XXXII

  On considering the Divine acts, or the processes of Nature, we get an insight  into the prudence and wisdom of God as displayed in the creation of animals,  with the gradual development of the movements of their limbs and the relative positions of the latter, and we perceive also His wisdom and plan in the  successive and gradual development of the whole condition of each individual. The gradual development of  the animals' movements and the  relative position of the limbs may be illustrated by the brain. The front  part is very soft, the back part is a little hard, the spinal marrow is still harder,  and the farther it extends the harder it becomes. The nerves are the organs  of sensation and motion. Some nerves are only required for Sensation, or  for slight movements, as, e.g., the movement of the eyelids or of the jaws;  these nerves originate in the brain. The nerves which are required for the  movements of the limbs come from the spinal marrow.  But nerves, even  those that come directly from the spinal cord, are too soft to set the joints in  motion; therefore God made the following arrangement: the nerves branch  out into fibres which are covered with flesh, and become muscles; the nerves  that come forth at the extremities of the muscles and have already commenced to harden, and to combine with hard pieces of ligaments, are the  sinews which are joined and attached to the limbs. By this gradual development the nerves are enabled to set the limbs in motion.  I quote this one instance because it is the most evident of the wonders described in the book  On the use of the Limbs; but the use of the limbs is clearly perceived by all  who examine them with a sharp eye.  In a similar manner did God provide  for each individual animal of the class of mammalia.  When such an animal  is born it is extremely tender, and cannot be fed with dry food. Therefore  breasts were provided which yield milk, and the young can be fed with moist  food which corresponds to the condition of the limbs of the animal, until the  latter have gradually become dry and hard. 

Many Precepts in our Law are the result of a similar course adopted by the  same Supreme Being.  It is, namely, impossible to go suddenly from one  extreme to the other; it is therefore according to the nature of man impossible for him suddenly to discontinue everything to which he has been  accustomed. Now God sent Moses to make [the Israelites] a kingdom of  priests and a holy nation (Exod. xix. 6) by means of the knowledge of God. (323) Comp. "Unto thee it was showed that thou mightes know that the Lord is God" (Deut. iv. ); "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord is God" (ibid. V. 39). The Israelites were commanded to devote themselves to His service; comp. "and to serve him with all your heart" (ibid. xi. 13); "and you shall see the Lord your God" (Exod. xxiii. 25); "and ye shall serve him" (Deut. xiii. 5).  But the custom which was in those days general among all me; and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up, consisted in sacrificing animals in those temples which contained certain images, to bow down to those image; and to burn incense before them; religious and ascetic persons were in those days the persons that Were devoted to the service in the temples erected to the altars, as has been explained by us.  It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God, as displayed in the whole Creation, that He did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service; for to obey such a commandment it would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that he should not pray to Him, not fast, not seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action.  For this reason God allowed these kinds of service to Continue; He transferred to His service that which had formerly served as a worship of created beings, and of things imaginary and unreal, and commanded us to serve Him in the same manner; viz., to build unto Him a temple; comp. "And they shall make unto me a sanctuary" (Exod. iiv. 8); to have the altar erected to His name; comp. "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me " (ibid. xx. 21); to offer the sacrifices to Him; Comp. "If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord" (Lev. i. 2), to bow down to Him and to burn incense before Him.  He has forbidden to do any of these things to any other being; comp. "He who sacrificeth Unto any God, save the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed" Exod. xxii. 19); "For thou shalt bow down to no other God" (ibid. xxxiv. 14). He selected priests for the service in the temple; comp. "And they shall minister unto me in the priest's office" (ibid. xxviii. 41).  He made it obligatory that certain gifts, called the gifts of the Levites and the priests, should be assigned to them for their maintenance While they are engaged in the service of the temple and its sacrifices.  By this Divine plan it was effected that the traces of idolatry were blotted out, and the truly great principle of our faith, the Existence and Unity of God, was firmly established; this result was thus obtained without deterring or confusing the minds of the people by  the abolition of the service to which they were accustomed and which alone  was familiar to them.  I know that you will at first thought reject this idea  and find it strange; you will put the following question to me in your heart:  How can we suppose that Divine commandments, prohibitions, and important acts, which are fully explained, and for which certain seasons are fixed,  should not have been commanded for their own sake, but only for the sake  of some other thing; as if they were only the means which He employed for  His primary object ?  What prevented Him from making His primary  object a direct commandment to us, and to give us the capacity of obeying  it?  Those precepts which in your opinion are only the means and not the (324) object would then have been unnecessary. Hear my answer, which will cure  your heart of this disease and will show you the truth of that which I have pointed out to you. There occurs in the Law a passage which contains exactly the same idea; it is the following: "God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said,  Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to  Egypt; but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of  the Red Sea," etc. (Exod. xiii. 17).  Here God led the people about,  away from the direct road which He originally intended, because He feared  they might meet on that Way with hardships too great for their ordinary  strength; He took them by another road in order to obtain thereby "is  original object In the same manner God refrained from prescribing what  the people by their natural disposition would be incapable of obeying, and  gave the above-mentioned commandments as a means of securing His chief  object, viz., to spread a knowledge of Him [among the people], and to cause  them to reject idolatry. It is contrary to man's nature that he should  suddenly abandon all the different kinds of Divine service and the different customs in which he has been brought up, and which have been so general,  that they were considered as a matter of course; it would be just as if a person  trained to work as a slave with mortar and bricks, or similar things, should interrupt his work, clean his hands, and at once fight with real giants. It  was the result of God's wisdom that the Israelites were led about in the  wilderness till they acquired courage.  For it is a well-known fact that traveling in the wilderness, and privation of bodily enjoyments, such as bathing,  produce courage, whilst the reverse is the source of faint-heartedness;  besides, another generation rose during the wanderings that had not been  accustomed to degradation and slavery.  All the traveling in the wilderness  was regulated by Divine commands through Moses; comp. "At the  commandment of the Lord they rested, and at the commandment of the  Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord and the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses "(Num. ix. 23).  In the same  way the portion of the Law under discussion is the result of divine wisdom,  according to which people are allowed to continue the kind of worship to  which they have been accustomed, in order that they might acquire the true  faith, which is the chief object [of God's commandments].  You ask, what  could have prevented God from commanding us directly, that which is the  chief object, and from giving us the capacity of obeying it?  This would  lead to a second question, What prevented God from leading the Israelites  through the way of the land of the Philistines, and endowing them with  strength for fighting? The leading about by a pillar of cloud by day and a  pillar of fire by night would then not have been necessary. A third question  would then be asked in reference to the good promised as reward for the  keeping of the commandments, and the evil foretold as a punishment for  sins. It is the following question: As it is the chief object and purpose of  God that we should believe in the Law, and act according to that which is  written therein, why has He not given us the capacity of continually believing  in it, and following its guidance, instead of holding out to us reward for  obedience, and punishment for disobedience, or of actually giving all the  predicted reward and punishment?  For [the promises and the threats] are (325)but the means of leading to this chief object.  What prevented Him from giving us, as part of our nature, the will to do that which He desires us to do, and to abandon the kind of worship which He rejects?  There is one general answer to these three questions, and to all questions of the same character; it is this: Although in every one of the signs [related in Scripture] the natural property of some individual being is changed, the nature of man is never changed by God by way of miracle.  It is in accordance with this important principle that God said, "0 that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me," etc. (Deut. v. 26).  It is also for this reason that He distinctly stated the commandments and the prohibitions, the reward and the punishment.  This principle as regards miracles has been frequently explained by us in our works; I do not say this because I believe that it is difficult for God to change the nature of every individual person; on the contrary, it is possible, and it is in His power, according to the principles taught in Scripture; but it has never been His will to do it, and it never will be. If it were part of His will to change [at His desire) the nature of any person, the mission of prophets and the giving of the Law would have been altogether superfluous. 

I now return to my theme.  As the sacrificial service is not the primary object [of the commandments about sacrifice], whilst supplications, prayers, and similar kinds of worship are nearer to the primary object, and indispensable for obtaining it, a great difference was made in the Law between these two kinds of service.  The one kind, which consists in offering sacrifices, although the sacrifices are offered to the name of God, has not been made obligatory for us to the same extent as it had been before.  We were not commanded to sacrifice in every place, and in every time, or to build a temple in every place, or to permit any one who desires to become priest and to sacrifice. On the contrary, all this is prohibited unto us.  Only one temple has been appointed, "in the place which the Lord shall choose"  (Deut. xii.26); in no other place is it allowed to sacrifice; comp. "Take heed to thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest" (ibid. v.13); and only the members of a particular family were allowed to officiate as priests. All these restrictions served to limit this kind of worship, and keep it within those bounds within which God did not think it necessary to abolish sacrificial service altogether. But prayer and supplication can be offered everywhere and by every person. The same is the case with the commandment of zizit (Num. xv. 38); mezuzah (Deut. vi. 9; xi. 21); tefillin (Exod. xiii. 9, 16); ***and similar kinds of divine service. 

Because of this principle which I explained to you, the Prophets in their books are frequently found to rebuke their fellow-men for being over-zealous and exerting themselves too much in bringing sacrifices; the prophets thus distinctly declared that the object of the sacrifices is not very essential, and that God does not require them.  Samuel therefore said, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice ol the Lord" (1 Sam. xv. 22)?  Isaiah exclaimed, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ?  Saith the Lord" (Isa. i. 11); Jeremiah declared: "For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices.  But this thing commanded I them, saying, obey my voice, and (326) I will be your God, and ye shall be my people" (Jer. vii. 22, 23). This passage has been found difficult in the opinion of all those whose words I read  or heard; they ask, "How can Jeremiah say that God did not command us  about burnt-offering and sacrifice, seeing so many precepts refer to sacrifice ?"  The sense of the passage agrees with what I explained to you. Jeremiah  says [in the name of God] the primary object of the precepts is this, Know me, and serve no other being; "I will be your God, and ye shall be my  people" (Lev. xxvi. 12).  But the commandment that sacrifices shall be  brought and that the temple shall be visited has for its object the success of  that principle among you; and for its sake I have transferred these modes  of worship to my name; idolatry shall thereby be utterly destroyed, and  Jewish faith firmly established.  You, however, have ignored this object,  and taken hold of that which is only the means of obtaining it; you have doubted my existence, "ye have denied the Lord, and said he is not" (Jer.  v. 12); ye served idols; "burnt incense unto Baal, and walked after other gods whom ye know not.  And come and stand before me in this house"  (ibid. vii. 9-10); i.e., you do not go beyond attending the temple of the Lord, and offering sacrifices; but this is not the chief object.-I have another  way of explaining this passage with exactly the same result  For it is  distinctly stated in Scripture, and handed down by tradition, that the first  commandments communicated to us did not include any law at all about burnt-offering and sacrifice. You must not see any difficulty in the Passover  which was commanded in Egypt; there was a particular and evident reason  for that, as will be explained by me (chap. xlvi.). Besides it was revealed in the land of Egypt; whilst the laws to which Jeremiah alludes in the above passage are those which were revealed after the departure from Egypt  For this reason it is distinctly added, "in the day that I brought them out from  the land of Egypt." The first commandment after the departure from  Egypt was given at Marah, in the following words, "If thou wilt diligently  hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in  His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments" (Exod. iv. 26).  "There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them" (ibid. ver. 25).  According to the true traditional explanation,  Sabbath and civil laws were revealed at Marah; "statute" alludes to Sabbath, and "ordinance" to civil laws, which are the means of removing  injustice. The chief object of the Law, as has been shown by us, is the  teaching of truths; to which the truth of the creatio ex nihilo belongs. It  is known that the object of the law of Sabbath is to confirm and to establish  this principle, as we have shown in this treatise (Part. II. chap. xxxi.). In  addition to the teaching of truths the Law aims at the removal of injustice  from mankind. We have thus proved that the first laws do not refer to  burnt-offering and sacrifice, which are of secondary importance. The same  idea which is contained in the above passage from Jeremiah is also expressed  in the Psalms, where the people are rebuked that they ignore the chief object, and make no distinction between chief and subsidiary lessons. The Psalmist says: "Hear; 0 my people, and I will speak; 0 Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.  I will not reprove thee for thy sacrificies or thy burnt-offerings, they have been continually before me.  I will take no bullock out of thy house; nor he-goats out of thy folds" [Ps. 1. (327)  29].-Wherever this subject is mentioned, this is its meaning.  Consider it  well, and reflect on it.


  CHAPTER XXXIII
It is also the object of the perfect Law to make man reject, despise, and reduce his desires as much as is in his power. He should only give way to them  when absolutely necessary.  It is well known that it is intemperance in  eating, drinking, and serial intercourse that people mostly rave and indulge in; and these very things counteract the ulterior perfection of man, impede at the same time the development of his first perfection, and generally disturb  the social order of the country and the economy of the family.  For by  following entirely the guidance of lust, in the manner of fools, man loses his  intellectual energy, injures his body, and perishes before his natural time; sighs and cares multiply; there is an increase of envy, hatred, and warfare  for the purpose of taking what another possesses. The cause of all this is the circumstance that the ignorant considers physical enjoyment as an object to  be sought for its own sake. God in His wisdom has therefore given us such commandments as would counteract that object, and prevent us altogether from directing our attention to it, and has debarred us from everything that leads only to excessive desire and lust.  This is an important thing included in the objects of our Law. See how the Law commanded to slay a  person from whose conduct it is evident that he will go too far in seeking the enjoyment of eating and drinking.  I mean "the rebellious and stubborn son"; he is described as "a glutton and a drunkard" (Deut xxi. 20).  The law commands to stone him and to remove him from society lest he grow up in this character, and kill many, and injure the condition of good men by his great lust.

Politeness is another virtue promoted by the Law.  Man shall listen to  the words of his neighbour; he shall not be obstinate, but shall yield to the wish of his fellow-men, respond to their appeal, act according to their desire, and do what they like. Thus the Law commands, "Circumcise therefore  the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked" (Deut. x.16); "Take heed and hearken " (ibid. xxvii. 9). "If you be willing and obedient" (Isa. i. 19).  Those who listen [to the words of others] and accept as much as is right are represented as saying, "We will hear and do" (Deut. v. 24)  or in a figurative style, "Draw me, we will run after thee" (Song i. 4).
The Law is also intended to give its followers purity and holiness; by teaching them to suppress sensuality, to guard against it and to reduce it to a minimum, as will be explained by us.  For when God commanded [Moses]  to sanctify the people for the receiving of the Law, and said, " Sanctify them to-day and to-morrow" (Exod. xix. 10), Moses [in obedience to this command] said to the people, "Come not at your wives " (ibid. ver. 15).  Here  it is clearly stated that sanctification consists in absence of sensuality. But abstinence from drinking wine is also called holiness; in reference to the Nazarite *** it is therefore said, "He shall be holy" (Nurn. vi. 5). According  to Siphra the words, "sanctify yourselves and be ye holy" (Lev. xx. 7),  refer to the sanctification effected by performing the divine commands.  As the obedience to such precepts as have been mentioned above is called by (328)  the Law sanctification and purification, so is defilement applied to the transgression of these precepts and the performance of disgraceful acts, as will be shown.  Cleanliness in dress and body by washing and removing sweat and dirt is included among the various objects of the Law, but only if connected with purity of action, and with a heart free from low principles and bad habits.  It would be extremely bad for man to content himself with a purity obtained by washing and cleanliness in dress, and to be at the same time voluptuous and unrestrained in food and lust. These are described by Isaiah as follows: "They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens, but continue their sinful life, when they are in the innermost [of their houses], eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse" (Isa. lxvi. 17): that is to say, they purify and sanctify themselves outwardly as much as is exposed to the sight of the people, and when they are alone in their chambers and the inner parts of their houses, they continue their rebelliousness and disobedience, and indulge in partaking of forbidden food, such as [the flesh of] swine, worms, and mice.  The prophet alludes perhaps in the phrase "behind one tree in the midst" to indulgence in forbidden lust.  The sense of the passage is therefore this: They appear outwardly clean, but their heart is bent upon their desires and bodily enjoyments, and this is contrary to the spirit of the Law.  For the chief object of the Law is to [teach man to] diminish his desires, and to cleanse his outer appearance after he has purified his heart. Those who wash their body and cleanse their garments whilst they remain dirty by bad actions and principles, are described by Solomon as "a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness; a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes!" etc. (Prov. xxx. 12-13).  Consider well the principles which we mentioned in this chapter as the final causes of the Law; for there are many precepts, for which you will be unable to give a reason unless you possess a knowledge of these principles, as will be explained further on.


 CHAPTER XXXIV
    It is also important to note that the Law does not take into account exceptional circumstances; it is not based on conditions which rarely occur. Whatever the Law teaches, whether it be of an intellectual, a moral, or a practical character, is founded on that which is the rule and not on that which is the exception; it ignores the injury that might be caused to a single person through a certain maxim or a certain divine precept  For the Law is a divine institution, and [in order to understand its operation] we must consider how in Nature the various forces produce benefits which are general, but in some solitary cases they cause also injury.  This is clear from what has been said by ourselves as well as by others.  We must consequently not be surprised when we find that the object of the Law does not fully appear in every individual; there must naturally be people who are not perfected by the instruction of the Law, just as there are beings which do not receive from the specific forms in Nature all that they require.  For all this comes from one God, is the result of one act; "they are all given from one shepherd" (Eccles. xii. 11).  It is impossible to be otherwise; and we have already explained (chap. xv.) that that which is impossible always remains (329) impossible and never changes. From this consideration it also follows that the laws cannot like medicine vary according to the different conditions of persons and times; whilst the cure of a person depends on his particular constitution at the particular time, the divine guidance contained in the Law must be certain and general, although it may be effective in some cases and ineffective in others. If the Law depended on the varying conditions of  man, it would be imperfect in its totality, each precept being left indefinite.  For this reason it would not be right to make the fundamental principles of  the Law dependent on a certain time or a certain time or place; on the contrary,  the statutes and the judgments must be definite, unconditional, and general,  in accordance with the divine words: "As for the congregation, one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger" (Num. xv. 15); they are intended, as has been stated before, for all persons and for all times.  After having premised these introductory remarks I will now proceed to the exposition of that which I intended to explain.

 CHAPTER XXXV
    In accordance with this intention I find it convenient to divide all precepts into fourteen classes.
The first class comprises those precepts which form fundamental principles, such as we have enumerated in Hilkot yesode ha-torah.  Repentance and fasts belong also to this class, as will be shown.  The second class comprises the precepts which are connected with the  prohibition of idolatry, and which have been described by us in Hilkot  a'bodah-zarah.  The laws concerning garments of linen and wool, concerning the fruit of trees in the first three years after they have been planted, and concerning divers seeds in a vineyard, are likewise contained in this class.  The object of these precepts is to establish certain true principles and to  perpetuate them among the people.  The third class is formed by commandments which are connected with  the improvement of the moral condition [of mankind]; these are mentioned in Hilkot de'ot. It is known that by a good moral state those social relations, which are indispensable for the well-being of mankind, are brought to  perfection.  The fourth class includes precepts relating to charity, loans, gifts, and the  like, e.g., the rules respecting "valuations," (scil., of things devoted to sacred  purposes, Lev. xxvii. 1-27); "things devoted" (ibid. ver. 28); laws concerning  loans and servants, and all the laws enumerated in the section Zera'im, except the rules of "mixtures" and "the fruit of trees in the first three years."  The object of these precepts is clear; their benefit concerns all people by turns; for he who is rich to-day may one day be poor - either he himself or  his descendants; and he who is now poor, he himself or his son may be rich tomorrow.  The fifth class contains those precepts which relate to the prevention of  wrong and violence; they are included in our book in the section Nezikin.  Their beneficial character is evident.  The sixth class is formed of precepts respecting fines, e.g., the laws on  theft and robbery, on false witnesses, and most of the laws contained in the (330) section Shofetim belong to this class.  Their benefit is apparent; for if sinners and robbers were not punished, injury would not be prevented at all: and persons scheming evil would not become rarer.  They are wrong who suppose that it would be an act of mercy to abandon the laws of compensation for injuries; on the contrary, it would be perfect cruelty and injury to the social state of the country.  It is an act of mercy that God commanded "judges and officers thou shalt appoint to thee in all thy gates" (Deut. xvi. i8).  The seventh class comprises those laws which regulate the business transactions of men with each other; e.g., laws about loans, hire, trust, buying, selling, and the like; the rules about inheritance belong to this class.  We have described these precepts in the sections Kinyan and Mishpatim. The object of these precepts is evident, for monetary transactions are necessary for the peoples of all countries, and it is impossible to have these transactions without a proper standard of equity and without useful regulations.  The eighth class includes those precepts which relate to certain days, as Sabbaths and holydays;  they are enumerated in the section Zemannim.  The Law states clearly the reason and object of each of these precepts; they are to serve as a means for establishing a certain principle among us, or securing bodily recreation, or effecting both things at the same time, as will be shown by me.  The ninth class comprises the general laws concerning religious rites and ceremonies, e.g., laws concerning prayer, the reading of Shema', and the other rules given in the section Ahabah, with the exception of the law concerning circumcision.  The object of these laws is apparent; they all prescribe actions which firmly establish the love of God in our minds, as also the right belief concerning Him and His attributes.  The tenth class is formed of precepts which relate to the Sanctuary, its vessels, and its ministers; they are contained in the section `Abodab.  The object of these precepts has already been mentioned by us (supra, chap. xxxii).  The eleventh class includes those precepts which relate to Sacrifices. Most of these laws we have mentioned in the sections `Abodab and Korbanot.  We have already shown the general use of the sacrificial laws, and their necessity in ancient time.  The twelfth class comprises the laws concerning things unclean and clean. The general object of these laws is, as will be explained by me, to discourage people from [frequently] entering the Sanctuary; in order that their minds be impressed with the greatness of the Sanctuary, and approach it with respect and reverence.  The thirteenth class includes the precepts concerning forbidden food and the like; we have given them in Hilkot maakalot asurot; the laws about vows and temperance belong also to this class.  The object of all these laws is to restrain the growth of desire, the indulgence in seeking that which is pleasant, and the disposition to consider the appetite for eating and drinking as the end [of man's existence].  We have explained this in our commentary on the Mishnah, in the Introduction (chap. iv.) to The Sayings of the Fathers.  The fourteenth class comprises the precepts concerning forbidden sexual intercourse; they are given in the section Nashim and Hilkot issure-biah. (331) The laws Concerning the intermixture of cattle belong to this class.  The object of these precepts is likewise to diminish serial intercourse, to restrain as much as possible indulgence in lust, and [to teach] that this enjoyment is not, as foolish people think, the final cause of man's existence.  We have explained this in our Commentary on The Sayings of the Fathers (Introd., chap. viii.).  The laws about circumcision belong to this class.  As is well known, the precepts are also divided into two classes, viz., precepts concerning the relation between man and God, and precepts concerning the relation between man and man.  Of the classes into which we divide the precepts and which we have enumerated, the fifth, sink, and seventh, and part of the third, include laws concerning the relation of man to man. The other classes contain the laws about the relation of man to God, i.e., positive or negative precepts, which tend to improve the moral or intellectual condition of mankind, or to regulate such of each man's actions which [directly] only concern him and lead him to perfection.  For these are called laws concerning man's relation to God, although in reality they lead to results which concern also his fellow-men; because these results become only apparent after a long series of intermediate links, and from a general point of view; whilst directly these laws are not intended to prevent man from injuring his fellow-man. Note this.  Having described the laws of these classes, I will now again consider the precepts of each class, and explain the reason and use of those which are believed to be useless or unreasonable, with the exception of a few, the object of which I have not yet comprehended.