The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion

Contents

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY MEL SCULT ix FOREWORD TO i%2 EDITION xxii PREFACE xxiv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: HOW TO REINTERPRET THE GOD IDEA IN THE JEWISH RELIGION . . i i. How to maintain the continuity of the Jewish religion in a changing world (p. i). 2. Refusal to recognize the chasm between the traditional and the modern world-view responsible for ambiguous theology of Conservative Judaism (p. 9). 3. Reformist theology irrelevant because of its failure to realize that religion must express itself in the context of a civilization (p. 14). 4. The synthesis of incompatible notions about God a heritage from the past (p. 20). 5. What belief in God means, from the modern point of view (p. 25). 6. God not known unless sought after (p. 29). 7. The Jewish Sabbath and Festivals as focal points in the context of Jewish life, which can yield a conception of God that is Jewish, modern and relevant (p. 34). II. GOD AS THE POWER THAT MAKES FOR SALVATION 40 1. The traditional conception of salvation (p. 43). 2. What salvation must mean in our day (p. 51). 3. Why the Sabbath should serve as the symbol of this-worldly salvation (p. 57). 4. God as the creative life of the universe the antithesis of irrevocable fate and absolute evil (p. 61). 5. God as manifest in life's holiness which presupposes personality (p. 81). 6. Commitment to Judaism a source of salvation to the Jew (p. 90). vi฀ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB III. GOD AS THE POWER THAT MAKES FOR SOCIAL REGENERATION 104 1. The change in the conception of God's sovereignty necessitated by the modern emphasis upon God's immanence (p. 106). 2. The revaluation of the concept of God's sovereignty in terms of individual responsibility (p. 112). 3. The revaluation of the concept of God's sovereignty in terms of social reconstruction (p. 119). 4. The ethical versus the communist conception of social reconstruction as the alternative to the traditional one (p. 126). 5. What constitutes the religious attitude toward social evil? (p. 130). 6. How to cultivate faith in the possibilities for good in human life (p. 135). 7. Social crises an evidence of God's sovereignty (p. 140). 8. God fully manifest only in the maximum attainment of individuality and cooperation (P- 145). IV. GOD AS THE POWER THAT MAKES FOR THE REGENERATION OF H U M A N NATURE . . 149 1. The evolution of the sense of sin (p. 150). 2. The gradual moralization of the sense of sin (p. 154). 3. The traditional conception of the Torah not conducive to the complete moralization of the sense of sin (p. 158). 4. The ethical revaluation of the traditional conception of sin (p. 160). 5. The ethical revaluation of the traditional conception of atonement as symbolized by the ritual of fasting and the 'Abodah (p. 166). 6. Repentance as the remaking of human nature (p. 178). V. GOD IN NATURE AND IN HISTORY . . . . 188 1. The consciousness of history as an ethical influence (p. 188). 2. The continuity of the Jewish religion due to its emphasis upon the ethical conception of God (p. 192). 3. The ethical versus the utilitarian function of religion (p. 194). 4. The reason for retaining the nature aspect of the Pilgrimage Festivals (p. 199). CONTENTS vii CHAPTER PAGE VI. GOD AS THE POWER THAT MAKES FOR COOPERATION 202 1. The original connotation of the Sukkah the basis of its significance for our day (p. 204). 2. The sacredness of human rights (p. 212). 3. The meaning of equality (p. 215). 4. How civilizations have destroyed equality (p. 218). 5. The dispensing of happiness as the norm of a civilization (p. 225). 6. Cooperation the chief source of happiness; competition its principal menace (p. 228). VII. GOD FELT AS A PRESENCE 243 1. Public worship as a means to awareness of God's presence (p. 244). 2. Why individual religion is not enough (p. 250). 3. The arguments against public worship (p. 257). 4. The prerequisites to public worship as a means of experiencing the divine presence (p. 261). VIII. GOD AS THE POWER THAT MAKES FOR FREEDOM 265 1. The meaning of freedom (p. 268). 2. The significance of individuality (p. 272). 3. The liberation of personality (p. 281). 4. The relation of freedom to life (p. 289). 5. The divine dialectic of freedom (p. 293). IX. "GOD AS...