Vilna Gaon Quotes
All that has ever happened or ever will happen is in the Torah.
Elijah Ben Solomon -- Vilna Gaon. The Torah is the first 5 books of the Old Testament which the Jewish People regard as the basis of religion. For many, the interpretation is that of many Fundamentalist Christians and Jews that the Bible contains truth and all truth. However, there were those who have claimed that in addition to the words and their meaning, there is a code in the Bible that gives prophetic information, claiming that all major subsequent historical events were predicted in the Biblical code.
Elijah of Vilna, 1720-1797, Lithuanian Rabbi and Talmudic Scholar, Statement on the Completeness of the Bible
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This quotation illustrates that in the late 19th Century, there were still very prominent American scientists who were Biblical Literalists as well—a virtual intellectual impossibility. Dana was a Yale professor, and yet he rejected Evolution and had the age of the rocks he studied all wrong. At the time, America had only 1 great world class scientist (Physicist Albert A. Michelson) and American Science really became great in the 20th century. Dana was not a total incompetent however. He had amassed vast descriptive knowledge of California and other areas and was at the time considered America’s preeminent Geologist despite his lack of understanding of many fundamental aspects of his own science which was understood by many English and European scientists.
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, (April 23, 1720 – Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Lithuanian Jewish Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of misnagdic (non-hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha-Gaon mi-Vilna, "the genius from Vilnius".
