n0mesorah: The cornerstone of theistic religion (to exclude some forms of Buddhism) is a personal God i.e. an omniscient and omnipotent God, and free will i.e. reward and punishment. To claim the contrary seems to me be equivalent of saying that Deism (as it was incepted) is congruent with Judaism (or Christianity for that matter). Hence denying any of these two pillars of faith, one denies the basis for any form of religion. I fail to see how one can defend the contrary. (I do not think it necessary to give sources for such a basic principle, however I’d be happy to provide them).
As to Rabbi Chisdai Cresces, I think you might have misunderstood him to the extreme; God forbid to call him a determinist. In a nutshell, R. Cresces moves free will from the action to the emotion of the action, and hence reward (at least in the afterlife) from the actual performance of the commandments to the attitude one takes towards it. [The exact view of his is still subject to scholorally debate, however it is not germane to our discussion]. Therefore, R. Cresces is by absolutely not a determinist.
MaskilDoresh: Thank you for you kind words.
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