DY: I disagree here also. If the Rambam didn’t take such a prominent place in philosophical history in Yiddishkeit, it’s entirely possible that standard Jewish thought would be quasi-corporealist (certainly Mekubalim would have a much easier time than just calling everything a Mashal, when concepts like Shiur Komah and Heichalot are relatively prominent). Most of Kaballah is probably K’firah according to the Rambam anyway. The point is that as history moves on, Judaism has had beliefs that are accepted and aren’t accepted. The Rambam changed what those are (quite drastically if you were an Ashkenazi), and we have slowly changed away from some of the Rambam’s. Which is fine. We are Noheg what we assume to be acceptable beliefs, which is how we can “Pasken” on these Inyanim and why those Psakim aren’t necessarily K’vuim L’olam Va’ed. (Someday maybe I’ll tell the story about the Rav from Lakewood who thought that Spinoza’s theology of pantheism was closer to Emes than K’firah.) This is what PAA refuses to acknowledge. He thinks if something was ever not-K’firah, then it has to remain not-K’firah L’olam Va’ed. You are the opposite extreme. You think the definitions of K’firah always remain the same but the P’sak about them sometimes can change (e.g. before a consensus is reached). P’shat is probably like GAW. There is an objective M’tziyus. If we’re being honest we have to admit that there is some dispute as to what it is. However, we are not obligated (nor are we capable) to discover it. We believe the current consensus of what K’lal Yisrael has accepted throughout the generations because to do otherwise would be to be Motzi ourselves from K’lal Yisrael. And if it turns out that the minority opinions (which have since been rejected) were correct on some Ikkarei Emunah, that’s okay. HKBH doesn’t expect us to discover the M’tziyus when we have no ability to do so. He expects us to do what we can.
As far as I know, the only Rishon whose Shittah precludes any Machlokes in matters regarding Ikkarei Emunah (sort of, he has two different types of Ikkarim in this regard) is the Rambam’s. Needless to say, we don’t hold like him in that regard.