The Jewish Background and the Kingdom of God



Table of Content

Introduction3

Concepts in Judaism3

Discussion5

Historical Justification of Division12

God and Early Judaism13

Sanctification of the Holy and the Unclean13

The Concept of Sabbath14

The Story of Judaism14

Myths and other effects of the Story of Judaism14

Representation of Judaism in World History16

Symbols and Synagogues16

Beliefs as opposed to Faiths17

The Representation of Dreams and Visions in Judaism17

Conclusions18

The Jewish Background and the Kingdom of God

Introduction

History regards Judaism as being present before Christianity came forward, and thus, Judaism had a major influence on all Western society of the time and later on. As it is a monotheistic religion, it emphasized man's relationship with God and all things in between, before Christianity had come into being as being the dominant Western religion. The religion bases its ethical, ceremonial and legislative actions in the Old Testament as well as the teachings of the Rabbi's who were present in the Talmud. It is the religion that basically formed the cultural and social identity of the Jews, and its origin dates back from 1485 onwards, although expert opinion may vary. In contemporary society, interest has grown over the years in world religions. Followers of Christianity attempt to come up with a theological religious pluralism theory, which Jewish thinkers disregard this entirely without a second thought, even though there has been worldwide debate on the consistent developments of Jewish-Christian dialogue. While Judaism exclusively follows the singular theoretical framework of monotheism, opinions vary in Christianity which renders all progress in the pluralism of both religions as useless. Not only this, the approach towards understanding Judaism with respect to other World Religions has not been very successful over the years, but I will attempt to formulate in this paper the theories and definitions of Jewish culture and traditions.

Concepts in Judaism

Oneness of God:

This is the concept of oneness of God that has been preached by many world religions, not just Judaism. It is the proposition that God is absolute. However and the use of the name of God in Judaism is inconsistent, as sometimes the name is Yahweh, and other times, “Lord”, “Adonai” and “Elohim”. Although Judaism does not have a definition of absolute faith in the religion, it shares a core of monotheistic principles with other religions such as Christianity. There are several attempts to define religion in Talmud but no established formulation of the principles of faith come forward. Maimonides has approached the subject with his 13 principles of Faith which are widely accepted and acknowledged as the best formulation defining Judaism's core principles.

The development of Jewish thought and belief about God in History

“Principles of faith" in Judaism have been detailed over the prevailing centuries, however they offer no different theories than what are already present, some relating directly to prophecy, which is considered to have been lost in the 4th or 5th century BCE. There is no concept of “Bishop” as in Christianity, but the Sanhedrin, which is the supreme Jewish court, offers a solid belief system based on Jewish teachings, sacred writings, laws, and ...