nor corollaries from principles. Abarbanel agrees with and supports some of Maimonides' ideas, but he assails Maimonides' conception that the prophetic visions were the creations of imagination. Abarbanel will not hear of this explanation, even for the bat kol of the Talmud, which, according to him, was an actual voice made audible by God — a miracle, in fact. In like manner, Abarbanel exceeded all his predecessors in combating Maimonides' theory of the "Heavenly Chariot" in Ezekiel. Apologetics Abarbanel felt deeply the hopelessness and despair, which possessed Spanish Jews in the years following their expulsion from Spain, and set himself, therefore, to champion and strengthen their Messianic belief. With this aim, he wrote these works: "The Wellsprings of Salvation" (, Maʿyānei haYəshuʿāh, 1496), which is a commentary on the Book of Daniel; "The Salvation of His Anointed" (, Yəshuʿot Meshiho, 1497), an interpretation of rabbinic literature about the Messiah "Announcing Salvation" (, 1498), a commentary on the messianic prophecies in the prophetical books These three books are considered the separate parts of a larger work entitled Tower of Salvation (, Migdāl Yəshuʿot). The first work is in the form of a commentary upon Daniel, in which he controverts both the Christian exposition of and the Jewish rationalistic approach to this book. Curiously enough, in opposition to the Talmud and all later rabbinical tradition, he counts Daniel among the prophets, coinciding therein—but therein only—with the current Christian interpretation. He is impelled to this by the fact that Daniel furnishes the foundation for his Messianic theory. The remainder of his commentary is devoted to an exhaustive and caustic criticism of the Christian exposition. The second work is probably unique in being an exposition of the doctrine concerning the Messiah according to the traditional testimony of Talmud and Midrash. His third apologetic work contains a collection of Messianic passages of the Bible and their interpretations, in the course of which Abarbanel criticizes the Christian interpretation of these passages. Other works Other works by Abarbanel include: "The Crown of the Ancients" (Ateret Zkenim) "The Pinnacle of Faith" (Rosh Amanah) "Inheritance of the Fathers" (Nachlat Avot) "The Forms of the Elements" (Tzurot Hayesodot) "New Heavens" (Shamayim Hadashim) "Deeds of God" (Mifalot Elohim) "Passover Offering" (Zevach Pesach) Assessment of his works Race and slavery Ironically, according to David Brion Davis, a Yale historian who specializes in slavery, Abarbanel played a pivotal role in providing the conceptual