Which idea of God resonates most with you? How does it compare with the view of God with
which you grew up?
After reading the book, Finding God,
there is one primary Jewish theology that I connect with the most, those of
Rabbi Milton Steinberg. Rabbi Milton
Steinberg believed:
- There is only one God.
- God is a being of all beings, purposive and ethical, but God is not all-powerful.
- God has a relationship with the world and needs humankind’s help to improve it.
- God needs and wants us to work for a more decent world.
- God allows us free will so that we can work together with God.
I philosophically agree with all of the
above beliefs. However, the reason I
feel I most connect with Steinberg is his philosophy that "Judaism as a religion which, while, like any other religion,
based on faith, is supported by reason. To be sure, the medieval thinkers who
sought to prove the existence of God were swayed too much by logic and failed
to appreciate that 'reason can always argue against reason,' yet an
anti-intellectual approach to religion is similarly misguided.” I strongly believe that science and religion
can co-exist. And as a matter of fact, I
feel that religion can sometimes be overanalyzed, but science still has the
right to be utilized in a person’s religious faith.
As I think back on my
childhood, many of the beliefs above were introduced and taught to me although
not as a Jewish belief. Fundamentally, I
was raised as a Christian, but was never baptized. My parents wanted to give me a choice in what
religion I wanted to follow. My family
had a strong believe in charity and giving to others in order to make the world
a better place. They also created an
atmosphere of free will and informed choices.
These are just some of the reasons the Jewish faith really connects with
me.
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