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Beliefs
There is no official creed
in the Jewish religion. Closest is the Shema: a statement of monotheism
("Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One"). This most
important statement (taken from Deut.
6:4-9) is a central part of every Jewish
worship service.
Nature of God (essay):
:
eternal, omnipotent, controller; creation is seen as good ("and God saw
that it was good")
Personal :
concerned and communicates with human beings
Spiritual :
not limited by space or time or human conceptions, distinguished from physical
and material
Henotheism
(a family/tribal god): Originally (up until the Babylonian exile) the early
Hebrew belief was more a henotheism rather than a strict monotheism: a
recognition that there are many gods but that only one is to be worshipped:
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Many of the early
books of the Bible clearly indicate a recognition by the Hebrew people
that other people around them worshipped other gods. There is no
suggestion that those gods did not exist, simply the repeated emphasis
that they are less powerful than the "God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob" and that the Israelites are not to worship these other gods.
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In the creation
stories in Genesis, God refers to Himself in the plural ("us") [see
Gen. 1:26, 3:22] and the plural term for God, "Elohim",
rather than the singular, "El", is used.
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Many stories in the
Bible pit the Hebrew God against other gods (e.g., Ba’al)
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Universal God :
In later times, the Jews came to understand that their family god was the
One Universal true God of all. By the 1st cent. CE this true monotheism was
well entrenched and prepared the way for Christianity to pick it up and
spread the faith in the Jewish God to all peoples (to Gentiles -
i.e., non-Jews)
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The Name of God: [see
Ex. 3:13-15] Although the Christians came to call this God by the
name "Yahwah" or the Anglicized "Jehovah"
(from the Hebrew consonant letters: YHVH, "I AM"), the Jews do not
and never have referred to their God by a personal name (Orthodox Jews do
not even write "God" in English without leaving out the
vowel). They refer to God as "The Lord" ("Adonai"),
"Elohim", or "HaShem" ("the
Name" - the unpronounceable name of God). "I AM" = God is; to
say anything more is to say less (i.e., not enough)
Importance of History &
the Hebrew People:
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As we have seen, God is
understood by the Jews to intervene, to act, in and through history time and
again, especially in the history of Israel (the people)
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God, history and Israel
are intricately linked: Judaism looks to God’s action in and for the
history and purpose of the Nation of Israel in relation to the rest of the
world
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To be a "chosen
people" is to be chosen for responsibility and for service to
others. It is a hard task, not a privilege: to be a "nation of
priests," "a holy people," to exemplify God’s moral
standard for others.
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How God relates with
people : The Jewish relationship with God is
through one’s relationship with the Jewish community - through ethnic
identity and heritage (historic connections to the past). For Judaism, God
relates to a people more than to individuals ("you will be my people
and I will be your God" - a "chosen" people). To identify
oneself with this people is how an individual Jew benefits from a
relationship with God. (In contrast, the Christian relationship with
God is personal and individualistic - e.g., through monasticism and personal
conversion)
Nature of Humanity:
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Human beings are
superior over the rest of creation and are responsible for it as
"caretakers" of creation
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The dignity of humanity
is expressed in the creation story: "Man created in the image of
God"
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Jews do not
believe in "original sin" (thus see no need for a
"savior" in the Christians sense)
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Traditionally, Judaism
sees little separation between body and soul: in Genesis man is a
"living soul" not an incarnated soul [see Gen.
2:7].
Later beliefs in a division between body and soul were likely influenced by
Greek thinking. Life in this world is valued.
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