Judaism

Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The tenets and history of Judaism are the major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam.

Religious doctrine and Principles of Faith

While Judaism has always affirmed a number of Jewish principles of faith, no creed, dogma, set of orthodox beliefs, or fully-binding "catechism," is recognized, an approach to religious doctrine that dates back at least two thousand years and that makes generalizations about Jewish theology somewhat difficult. While individual rabbis, congregations, or movements have at times agreed upon a firm dogma, generally other rabbis and groups have disagreed, and because there is explicitly no central religious authority, no specific formulation of Jewish principles of faith could take precedence over any other. In attempting to define who is a Jew, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and traditions rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe traditional customs, and suggesting the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Notably, in Orthodox Judaism some principles of faith (e.g., the Divine origin of the Torah) are considered important enough that public rejection of them can put one in the category of "apikoros" (heretic).

Related Topics:
Jewish principles of faith - Catechism - Jewish theology - Rabbi - Who is a Jew - Josephus - Apostasy - Circumcision - Orthodox Judaism - Heretic

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Over the centuries, a number of clear formulations of Jewish principles of faith have appeared, many with common elements, though they differ in certain details, and comparisons demonstrate a wide variety of tolerance for varying theological perspectives. Of these formulations, the one most widely considered authoritative is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith:

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• God is one - strict unitarian monotheism, in which the eternal creator of the universe is the source of morality.
• God is all powerful (omnipotent), as well as all knowing (omniscient), and the different names of God are ways to express different aspects of God's presence in the world (see also: Names of God in Judaism).
• God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. All statements in the Hebrew Bible and in rabbinic literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God.
• One may offer prayer to God alone — any belief in an intermediary between man and God, either necessary or optional, has traditionally been considered heretical.
• The Hebrew Bible, and much of the beliefs described in the Mishnah and Talmud, are held to be the product of divine revelation. How revelation works, and what precisely one means when one says that a book is "divine", has always been a matter of some dispute. Different understandings of this subject exist among Jews.
• The words of the prophets are true.
• Moses was the chief of all prophets.
• The Torah (five books of Moses) is the primary text of Judaism.
• God will reward those who observe His commandments, and punish those who violate them.
• God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with Him (see also: Jews as a chosen people).
• There will be a moshiach (Jewish Messiah), or perhaps a messianic era.
• The soul is pure at birth, and human beings have free will, with an innate yetzer ha'tov (a tendency to do good), and a yetzer ha'ra (a tendency to do bad).
• People can atone for sins through words and deeds, without intermediaries, through prayer, repentance, and tzedakah (dutiful giving of charity), if accompanied by a sincere decision to cease unacceptable actions and if appropriate amends to others are honestly undertaken, always providing a "way back" to God. (see also: Jewish views of sin)