Knowing God
Jewish Journeys to the Unknowable
1st Edition
Published on 1. May 1996
300 pages
978-1-4616-2931-3 (ISBN)
Description
Contemporary Jews often find meaning in Judaism's family and communal orientation, its beautiful rituals, its enriching culture, its sense of ethnic rootedness, and its moral values. For the classical Jewish tradition, however, all of these features of Judaism depend on a belief in God. Since many modern Jews do not know what to make of that belief, it is often ignored. They may be inspired by Judaism's high regard for education and its passion for justice, but their belief in God rests on childhood images of the Almighty. They are often embarrassed and uneasy, for they sense that their attachment to Judaism may be based upon intellectual quicksand.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN-13
978-1-4616-2931-3 (9781461629313)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/1996
Jason Aronson Publishers
€65.30
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Book
09/1992
Jason Aronson Publishers
€135.80
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Elliot N. Dorff was ordained a rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1970 and earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1971. Since then he has directed the rabbinical and master's programs at the University of Judaism, where he is currently rector and professor of philosophy.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- CONTENTS
- Preface
- Acknowledgment
- 1 A Personal Quest
- Seeking an Honest, Integrated Faith
- The Traditional Stance
- The Modern Reality of Jewish Belief
- My Own Growth into Religious Belief
- Epistemological Moorings
- God in Contemplation versus God in Action and Prayer
- 2 Using Reason to Know God
- Knowing God as One Knows an Object
- Discerning Patterns in Experience: Knowledge through Nonhypothetical Discovery
- Appropriate Methods to Know a Personal God
- 3 Knowing God through Human Action
- Methodology: How Action Affords Theological Knowledge
- Content: Two Examples of What We Learn of God through Action-Duties to Parents and Observance of the Sabbath
- The Role of Law in Effectuating Principles
- The Truth Value and Wisdom of These Theological Claims
- 4 Knowing God through Words of the Divine: Revelation
- Understanding Revelation
- Experiencing Revelation
- 5 Knowing God through Divine Action
- The Related Problem of Evil
- Fusing Conceptions of God
- Differentiating the Two Definitions of God
- God's Justice and Goodness
- Truth at the Price of Consistency and Fantasy
- 6 Knowing God through Human Words: Prayer
- Experiencing God through Prayer
- The Philosophical Problems and Promise of Prayer
- 7 Our Images of God
- Anthropomorphism as a Form of Idolatry
- Images, Creeds, and Symbols
- The Functions of Images in Worship
- How Images Mean
- The Truth of Images
- The Authority of Images
- A Sample Case: Feminine Images for God
- Good and Bad Images
- Epilogue
- Endnotes
- Index
