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A Jewish theology
A systematic chronological study by one of the world's leading Jewish theologians. A masterly guide to the major currents of Jewish thought.
342 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1973
About the author
Louis Jacobs
61 books14 followersLouis Jacobs was the founder of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and theologian. He was also the focus of what has become known as "The Jacobs Affair" that took place in the British Jewish community in the early 1960s.
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March 20, 2017
More Christians need to read Jewish theology.
Studying at University of Toronto, I took notice that the University, blocks from the historic Jewish community, has a thriving center of Jewish theology. I became interested to see the differences between Jewish theology and Christian. I read through philosophers like Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, literary theories like George Stein and Walter Benjamin, critical theorists like Adorno and Fromm, and, probably my favorite, the mystic-philosopher-activist, A. J. Heschel.
I had this one on my shelf for a few years, and decided to finished it last night. As a leading theologian of conservative Judaism, his differences from conservative Christian theology were stark:
Since Jewish theology does not have the trinity or the incarnation, it is often more simple with its doctrine of God. Jacobs speaks about negative theology, understanding God's goodness and transcendence, and goes into detail about the meaning of God's names. Interestingly enough, God is a paradox of imminence and transcendence in a very similar way to what Christians insist is going on in Jesus.
His theology proper is more mystical and ethically driven. Rather than belabor metaphysical speculation on divinity, Jewish theology would rather talk about the human duty to respond faithfully: how to love and fear God, the meaning of repentance, prayer, worship, all are given much more weight. Christian theology could learn from this.
Jewish theology, even conservative theology, recognizes the historical-archeological difficulties in the Old Testament. Virtually no conservative Jewish theologian upholds Mosaic authorship of the Torah in the way some conservative Christians still want to insist. What some conservatives teach as "biblical inerrancy" is completely absent in Jewish theology.
Also interesting is the strong resistance in Jewish theology to Zionism and any doctrine that produces exceptionalism. Jacobs is highly critical of the equation of the Jews with the nation of Israel. He sees it as destroying the witness of Judaism in centering the Jews in their obedience to Torah as a light to the world, throughout the world. For him, Zionism is Judaism construed as militant nationalism, not faithfulness to Torah.
Jewish theology holds that God is the Father over all humankind, the Jews' election was not to salvation exclusively, but to the service of bringing all people to salvation. Election has, as Jacobs states, a universalist terminus.
While Jewish theology tends to focus on life with God now rather than hereafter ("being heaven rather than going to heaven"), there is belief in the final judgment and resurrection of the dead. Interestingly here, hell is seen to be "eternal" purely as a deterrent to the wicked. Jacobs points out that "olam" denotes intensity, not duration, and so, most Jewish theologians see the eternal punishment as a temporary period where evil is purged from the wicked, with some (like Maimonides) arguing that some of the wicked will simply be annihilated.
Jewish notions of the messianic are interesting. Jewish theology tends to see the messianic as collective: the future possibility that God will empower his people to be obedient, and in doing so, restore the world to what it ought to be. It is very similar to what Christians insist began at Pentecost.
Studying at University of Toronto, I took notice that the University, blocks from the historic Jewish community, has a thriving center of Jewish theology. I became interested to see the differences between Jewish theology and Christian. I read through philosophers like Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, literary theories like George Stein and Walter Benjamin, critical theorists like Adorno and Fromm, and, probably my favorite, the mystic-philosopher-activist, A. J. Heschel.
I had this one on my shelf for a few years, and decided to finished it last night. As a leading theologian of conservative Judaism, his differences from conservative Christian theology were stark:
Since Jewish theology does not have the trinity or the incarnation, it is often more simple with its doctrine of God. Jacobs speaks about negative theology, understanding God's goodness and transcendence, and goes into detail about the meaning of God's names. Interestingly enough, God is a paradox of imminence and transcendence in a very similar way to what Christians insist is going on in Jesus.
His theology proper is more mystical and ethically driven. Rather than belabor metaphysical speculation on divinity, Jewish theology would rather talk about the human duty to respond faithfully: how to love and fear God, the meaning of repentance, prayer, worship, all are given much more weight. Christian theology could learn from this.
Jewish theology, even conservative theology, recognizes the historical-archeological difficulties in the Old Testament. Virtually no conservative Jewish theologian upholds Mosaic authorship of the Torah in the way some conservative Christians still want to insist. What some conservatives teach as "biblical inerrancy" is completely absent in Jewish theology.
Also interesting is the strong resistance in Jewish theology to Zionism and any doctrine that produces exceptionalism. Jacobs is highly critical of the equation of the Jews with the nation of Israel. He sees it as destroying the witness of Judaism in centering the Jews in their obedience to Torah as a light to the world, throughout the world. For him, Zionism is Judaism construed as militant nationalism, not faithfulness to Torah.
Jewish theology holds that God is the Father over all humankind, the Jews' election was not to salvation exclusively, but to the service of bringing all people to salvation. Election has, as Jacobs states, a universalist terminus.
While Jewish theology tends to focus on life with God now rather than hereafter ("being heaven rather than going to heaven"), there is belief in the final judgment and resurrection of the dead. Interestingly here, hell is seen to be "eternal" purely as a deterrent to the wicked. Jacobs points out that "olam" denotes intensity, not duration, and so, most Jewish theologians see the eternal punishment as a temporary period where evil is purged from the wicked, with some (like Maimonides) arguing that some of the wicked will simply be annihilated.
Jewish notions of the messianic are interesting. Jewish theology tends to see the messianic as collective: the future possibility that God will empower his people to be obedient, and in doing so, restore the world to what it ought to be. It is very similar to what Christians insist began at Pentecost.
Displaying 1 of 1 review