Abstract

The anti-apocalyptic approach to messianism advocated by Medieval Jewish rationalists shall not be reduced to their will to preserve the authority of the law. It aims rather at offering a certain understanding of the law, envisaged through both its relationship with exile and with truth. This dispositive lies on the articulation or disarticulation of the notions of creation, revelation and redemption. From Maimonides to Yosef Albo, two paths were proposed. Maimonides turned the messianic era into a guaranty of the eternity and of the perfection of the Torah. Some post-Maimonidean thinkers contrarily reduced redemption to the status of a belief that was revealed in the Torah, but that is in no way one of its necessary conditions. An analogous movement might be observed as regards the belief in creation.