The will of God or divine will is a religious concept found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, and a number of other texts and worldviews, according to which God's will is the cause of everything that exists.
The will of God or divine will is a religious concept found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, and a number of other texts and worldviews, according to which God's will is the cause of everything that exists.
Adam Smith (baptised 16 June [O.S. 5 June] 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by many as the "father of economics" or the "father of capitalism", he is primarily known for two classic works: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is regarded as his magnum opus, marking the inception of modern economic scholarship as a comprehensive system and an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of divine will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic, legal, environmental and technological factors, as well as the interactions among them. The work is notable for its contribution to economic theory, particularly in its exposition of concept of absolute advantage.
Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and at the University of Oxford, where he was one of the first students to benefit from scholarships set up by John Snell. Following his graduation, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at the University of Edinburgh, that met with acclaim. This led to a collaboration with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow, where he taught moral philosophy. During this period, he wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Subsequently, he assumed a tutoring position that facilitated travel throughout Europe, where he encountered intellectual figures of his era.
In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a prophet) by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or preternatural knowledge, for example of future events. They can be revealed to the prophet in various ways depending on the religion and the story, such as visions, or direct interaction with divine beings in physical form. Stories of prophetic deeds sometimes receive considerable attention and some have been known to survive for centuries through oral tradition or as religious texts.
Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (Hebrew: ר׳ שְׁלֹמֹה בֶּן יְהוּדָה אִבְּן גָּבִּירוֹל, romanized: Šəlomo ben Yəhūdā ʾībən Gābīrōl, pronounced [ʃ(e)loˈmo ben jehuˈda ʔibn ɡabiˈʁol]; Arabic: أبو أيوب سليمان بن يحيى بن جبيرول, romanized: ’Abū ’Ayyūb Sulaymān bin Yaḥyá bin Jabīrūl, pronounced [ˈʔæbuː ʔæjˈjuːb sʊlæjˈmæːn bɪn ˈjæħjæː bɪn dʒæbiːˈruːl]) was an 11th-century Jewish poet and philosopher in the neoplatonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of Hebrew Biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics, and satire. One source credits ibn Gabirol with creating a golem, possibly female, for household chores.
In the 19th century, scholars discovered that medieval translators had Latinized ibn Gabirol's name to Avicebron or Avencebrol; his work on Jewish neoplatonic philosophy had become highly regarded in Islamic and Christian philosophical circles but attributed to only his Latinized name during the intervening years. Ibn Gabirol is well known in the history of philosophy for the doctrine that all things, including souls and intellects, are composed of matter and form ("Universal Hylomorphism") and for his emphasis on divine will.