Where does the Rambam state that the non-Halachic parts of the Gemara - for instance, Agadata, Science etc - aren't to be taken literally or simply aren't factually correct?
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Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/65973– Kazi bácsiCommented Oct 27, 2017 at 9:30
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Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/a/53351/8775.– mevaqeshCommented Oct 27, 2017 at 13:25
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Why do you assume that Rambam writes this? Did you see or hear this quoted somewhere? Clarifying this would improve the post.– mevaqeshCommented Oct 27, 2017 at 14:06
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Authenticity is not the right word. That would mean he thought it was forged or something. You probably mean accuracy.– HeshyCommented Oct 27, 2017 at 17:42
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1 Answer
I suppose you are referring to Rambam's introduction to Perek Helek. See the English translation of Abelson on WikiSource:
The first class is, as far as I have seen, the largest in point of their numbers and of the numbers of their compositions; and it is of them that I have heard most. The members of this class adopt the words of the Sages literally, and give no kind of interpretation whatsoever. With them all impossibilities are necessary occurrences. This is owing to their being ignorant of science and far away from knowledge. They do not possess that perfection which would spur them on of their own accord, neither have they found any means for rousing their attention. They think that in all their emphatic and precise remarks the Sages only wished to convey the ideas which they themselves comprehend, and that they intended them to be taken in their literalness. And this, in spite of the fact that in their literal significance some of the words of the Sages would savour of absurdity.
answered Oct 27, 2017 at 9:49
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See also letter of R Avraham son of Rambam included in Ayin Yaakov in the beginning of Zeraim. It deals with the Aggadot and how reliable they are.– BachCommented Oct 29, 2017 at 1:23