Hi Maggie, Lawrence, Bodvar, Rasheed and all,
LAWRENCE:
> Christianity and Islam believe that they have a divine mandate to
> spread their beliefs, certainly by the book (missionaries and
> teachers) and at certain times in both their histories, by the sword
> if the book failed. . . .
MAGGIE
which interestingly, is a trait that Christianity picked up as a
Hellenistic Judaism, a combination of the Jewish traditions of prayer
with the philosophic schools' imperative to spread their philosophy, to
be "right." This prosyletizing WAS new as a component of religion. And
it came from the philosophers, the pioneers in intellectual thought.
Actually Maggie, I would say that mainstream Judaism was also strongly
influenced by Hellenism.
We can perhaps divide the development of the Jewish religion into three
main periods.
1. The establishment of a monotheistic desert tribe as a nation and
their invasion of Canaan. According to the bible, the invasion was to be
a ruthless and bloody affair, aimed at the total physical obliteration
of the Canaanites. The historical evidence is that the Israelites didn't
fully live up to their divine decree.
2. Judaism as a temple-based religion. The emphasis was on rituals (e.g.
animal sacrifice) performed strictly according to a prescribed formula,
by specific people in specific places. This was the priestly Judaism of
the Sadducees.
3. Judaism as a study-based religion. The rabbis started forming
"schools" of disciples while the temple was still standing.
I assume that the striking similarity to the "Academies" set up across
the sea were not coincidental. The Jews and the Greeks already knew each
other well as trading partners and adversaries. Contrary to the
impression given by the Gospels, the rabbis (Pharisees) were frequently
at loggerheads with Sadducee officialdom.
With the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, it was rabbinical
Judaism that survived. It was the rabbis who set up great schools of
learning in Babylon, Palestine and later Europe. These institutions
produced the Talmud and other works that came to define Judaism as we
know it today. As a result of this, the Jewish world has had
institutionalised universal education for boys for 2000 years.
Thus, for Bodvar, perhaps Judaism had its "enlightenment" long ago.
Regarding the question of the relationship of Judaism to science and
other non-religious study, things are not clear cut. The Talmudic rabbis
has little trouble assimilating what was common knowledge of their
times. In modern times, it is a bit more complicated. Many educated
orthodox Jews continue to take a pro-science view and work to find
explanations compatible with tradition. However, there are also Jewish
fundamentalists who favour a simplistic and literal interpretation of
ancient texts - these are typically people who lack a proper scientific
education.
Bodvar appropriately brought up Baruch Spinoza and his "excommunication"
from the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Today, it is still not popular,
but I know of at least one prominent Rabbi who studies Spinoza. I think
that the excommunication was probably the result of ignorance and
perhaps influenced by the non-Jewish society around (at that time, the
church was having trouble with its own radicals).
Let me finally add a comment about the attitude of Judaism to other
religions. Judaism rejects idol worship and pantheism as options (hence
the violence towards the Canaanites). However, the attitude is tolerant,
e.g. Hindu artefacts and gods are regarded as symbolic, and not as
explicit paganism.
Regarding Christianity, Judaism is uncomfortable with the splitting of
God into a trinity, and especially with worship directed to a humanized
god (Jesus). However, Judaism can ill afford to take a hostile view.
Regarding Islam, Judaism has the least problems. Islam represents pure
unadulterated monism, and qualifies as 100% kosher.
I hope this clears up some questions,
Jonathan
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