Responsa are replies given by
prominent rabbinic authorities to questions put to them by other scholars,
asking for rulings on specific issues, generally of a practical nature. The
responsa literature is thus a repository of the learning and sound sense of
some of the greatest rabbinic authorities over a period of more than a thousand
years down to the present, and relates to all the countries where Jews have
lived. Although most of the emphasis in the responsa literature is undoubtedly
on practice, nearly all the great compilations of responsa also contain
discussions of a theological nature since changing conditions posed problems
for belief as well as practice.



In this volume, first published in
1975 and unrivalled in its treatment of the subject, Louis Jacobs examines
those responsa in which theology is considered and highlights the changes that
have occurred in the theological principles affecting the rabbis’ attitudes to
such questions as life after death, reward and punishment, and the problem of
suffering.