A. G.o.d As He Makes Himself Known To Man
Chapter V. Man"s Consciousness of G.o.d and Belief in G.o.d
1. Holy Writ employs two terms for religion, both of which lay stress upon its moral and spiritual nature: _Yirath Elohim_-"fear of G.o.d"-and _Daath Elohim_-"knowledge or consciousness of G.o.d." Whatever the fear of G.o.d may have meant in the lower stages of primitive religion, in the Biblical and Rabbinical conceptions it exercises a wholesome moral effect; it stirs up the conscience and keeps man from wrongdoing. Where fear of G.o.d is lacking, violence and vice are rife;(54) it keeps society in order and prompts the individual to walk in the path of duty. Hence it is called "the beginning of wisdom."(55) The divine revelation of Sinai accentuates as its main purpose "to put the fear of G.o.d into the hearts of the people, lest they sin."(56)
2. G.o.d-consciousness, or "knowledge of G.o.d," signifies an inner experience which impels man to practice the right and to shun evil, the recognition of G.o.d as the moral power of life. "Because there is no knowledge of G.o.d,"
therefore do the people heap iniquity upon iniquity, says Hosea, and he hopes to see the broken covenant with the Lord renewed through faithfulness grounded on the consciousness of G.o.d.(57) Jeremiah also insists upon "the knowledge of G.o.d" as a moral force, and, like Hosea, he antic.i.p.ates the renewal of the broken covenant when "the Lord shall write His law upon the heart" of the people, and "they shall all know Him from the least of them unto the greatest of them."(58) Wherever Scripture speaks of "knowledge of G.o.d,"(59) it always means the moral and spiritual recognition of the Deity as life"s inmost power, determining human conduct, and by no means refers to mere intellectual perception of the truth of Jewish monotheism, which is to refute the diverse forms of polytheism. This misconception of the term "knowledge of G.o.d," as used in the Bible, led the leading medieval thinkers of Judaism, especially the school of Maimonides, and even down to Mendelssohn, into the error of confusing religion and philosophy, as if both resulted from pure reason.
It is man"s moral nature rather than his intellectual capacity, that leads him "to know G.o.d and walk in His ways."(60)
3. It is mainly through the _conscience_ that man becomes conscious of G.o.d. He sees himself, a moral being, guided by motives which lend a purpose to his acts and his omissions, and thus feels that this purpose of his must somehow be in accord with a higher purpose, that of a Power who directs and controls the whole of life. The more he sees purpose ruling individuals and nations, the more will his G.o.d-consciousness grow into the conviction that there is but One and Only G.o.d, who in awful grandeur holds dominion over the world. This is the developmental process of religious truth, as it is unfolded by the prophets and as it underlies the historic framework of the Bible. In this light Jewish monotheism appears as the ripe fruitage of religion in its universal as well as its primitive form of G.o.d-consciousness, as the highest attainment of man in his eternal seeking after G.o.d. Polytheism, on the other hand, with its idolatrous and immoral practices, appeared to the prophets and lawgivers of Israel to be, not a competing religion, but simply a falling away from G.o.d. They felt it to be a loss or eclipse of the genuine G.o.d-consciousness. The object of revelation, therefore, is to lead back all mankind to the G.o.d whom it had deserted, and to restore to all men their primal consciousness of G.o.d, with its power of moral regeneration.
4. In the same degree as this G.o.d-consciousness grows stronger, it crystallizes into _belief_ in G.o.d, and culminates in _love_ of G.o.d. As stated above,(61) in Judaism belief-_Emunah_-never denotes the acceptance of a creed. It is rather the confiding trust by which the frail mortal finds a _firm_ hold on G.o.d amidst the uncertainties and anxieties of life, the search for His shelter in distress, the reliance on His ever-ready help when one"s own powers fail. The believer is like a little child who follows confidingly the guidance of his father, and feels safe when near his arm. In fact, the double meaning of _Emunah_, faith and faithfulness, suggests man"s child-like faith in the paternal faithfulness of G.o.d. The patriarch Abraham is presented in both Biblical and Rabbinical writings as the pattern of such a faith,(62) and the Jewish people likewise are characterized in the Talmud as "believers, sons of believers."(63) The Midrash extols such life-cheering faith as the power which inspires true heroism and deeds of valor.(64)
5. The highest triumph of G.o.d-consciousness, however, is attained in _love_ of G.o.d such as can renounce cheerfully all the boons of life and undergo the bitterest woe without a murmur. The book of Deuteronomy inculcates love of G.o.d as the beginning and the end of the Law,(65) and the rabbis declare it to be the highest type of human perfection. In commenting upon the verse, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might," they say: "Love the Law, even when thy life is demanded as its price, nay, even with the last breath of thy body, with a heart that has no room for dissent, amid every visitation of destiny!"(66) They point to the tragic martyrdom of R. Akiba as an example of such a love sealed by death. In like manner they refer the expression, "they that love Thee,"(67) to those who bear insults without resentment; who hear themselves abused without retort; who do good unselfishly, without caring for recognition; and who cheerfully suffer as a test of their fort.i.tude and their love of G.o.d.(68) Thus throughout all Rabbinical literature love of G.o.d is regarded as the highest principle of religion and as the ideal of human perfection, which was exemplified by Job, according to the oldest Haggadah, and, according to the Mishnah, by Abraham.(69) Another interpretation of the verse cited from Deuteronomy reads, "Love G.o.d in such a manner that thy fellow-creatures may love Him owing to thy deeds."(70)
All these pa.s.sages and many others(71) show what a prominent place the principle of love occupied in Judaism. This is, indeed, best voiced in the Song of Songs:(72) "For love is strong as death; the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench that love, neither can the floods drown it." It set the heart of the Jew aglow during all the centuries, prompting him to sacrifice his life and all that was dear to him for the glorification of his G.o.d, to undergo for his faith a martyrdom without parallel in history.
Chapter VI. Revelation, Prophecy, and Inspiration
1. Divine revelation signifies two different things: first, G.o.d"s self-revelation, which the Rabbis called _Gilluy Shekinah_, "the manifestation of the divine Presence," and, second, the revelation of His will, for which they used the term _Torah min ha Shamayim_, "the Law as emanating from G.o.d."(73) The former appealed to the child-like belief of the Biblical age, which took no offense at anthropomorphic ideas, such as the descent of G.o.d from heaven to earth, His appearing to men in some visible form, or any other miracle; the latter appears to be more acceptable to those of more advanced religious views. Both conceptions, however, imply that the religious truth of revelation was communicated to man by a special act of G.o.d.
2. Each creative act is a mystery beyond the reach of human observation.
In all fields of endeavor the flashing forth of genius impresses us as the work of a mysterious force, which acts upon an elect individual or nation and brings it into close touch with the divine. In the religious genius especially is this true; for in him all the spiritual forces of the age seem to be energized and set into motion, then to burst forth into a new religious consciousness, which is to revolutionize religious thought and feeling. In a child-like age when the emotional life and the imagination predominate, and man"s mind, still receptive, is overwhelmed by mighty visions, the Deity stirs the soul in some form perceptible to the senses.
Thus the "seer" a.s.sumes a trance-like state where the Ego, the self-conscious personality, is pushed into the background; he becomes a pa.s.sive instrument, the mouthpiece of the Deity; from Him he receives a message to the people, and in his vision he beholds G.o.d who sends him.
This appearance of G.o.d upon the background of the soul, which reflects Him like a mirror, is Revelation.(74)
3. The states of the soul when men see such visions of the Deity predominate in the beginnings of all religions. Accordingly, Scripture ascribes such revelations to non-Israelites as well as to the patriarchs and prophets of Israel,-to Abimelek and Laban, Balaam, Job, and Eliphaz.(75) Therefore the Jewish prophet is not distinguished from the rest by the capability to receive divine revelation, but rather by the intrinsic nature of the revelation which he receives. His vision comes from a moral G.o.d. The Jewish genius perceived G.o.d as the moral power of life, whether in the form expressed by Abraham, Moses, Elijah, or by the literary prophets, and all of these, coming into touch with Him, were lifted into a higher sphere, where they received a new truth, hitherto hidden from man. In speaking through them, G.o.d appeared actually to have stepped into the sphere of human life as its moral Ruler. This self-revelation of G.o.d as the Ruler of man in righteousness, which must be viewed in the life of any prophet as a providential act, forms the great historical sequence in the history of Israel, upon which rests the Jewish religion.(76)
4. The divine revelation in Israel was by no means a single act, but a process of development, and its various stages correspond to the degrees of culture of the people. For this reason the great prophets also depended largely upon dreams and visions, at least in their consecration to the prophetic mission, when one solemn act was necessary. After that the message itself and its new moral content set the soul of the prophet astir. Not the vision or its imagery, but the new truth itself seizes him with irresistible force, so that he is carried away by the divine power and speaks as the mouthpiece of G.o.d, using lofty poetic diction while in a state of ecstacy. Hence he speaks of G.o.d in the _first_ person. The highest stage of all is that where the prophet receives the divine truth in the form of pure thought and with complete self-consciousness.
Therefore the Scripture says of Moses and of no other, "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to another."(77)
5. The story of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai is in reality the revelation of G.o.d to the people of Israel as part of the great world-drama of history. Accordingly, the chief emphasis is laid upon the miraculous element, the descent of the Lord to the mountain in fire and storm, amid thunder and lightning, while the Ten Words themselves were proclaimed by Moses as G.o.d"s herald.(78) As a matter of fact, the first words of the narrative state its purpose, the consecration of the Jewish people at the outset of their history to be a nation of prophets and priests.(79) Therefore the rabbis lay stress upon the acceptance of the Law by the people in saying: "All that the Lord sayeth we shall do and hearken."(80) From a larger point of view, we see here the dramatized form of the truth of Israel"s _election_ by divine Providence for its historic religious mission.
6. The rabbis ascribed the gifts of prophecy to pagans as well as Israelites at least as late as the erection of the Tabernacle, after which the Divine Presence dwelt there in the midst of Israel.(81) They say that each of the Jewish prophets was endowed with a peculiar spiritual power that corresponded with his character and his special training, the highest, of course, being Moses, whom they called "the father of the prophets."(82)
The medieval Jewish thinkers, following the lead of Mohammedan philosophers or theologians, regard revelation quite differently, as an _inner_ process in the mind of the prophet. According to their mystical or rationalistic viewpoint, they describe it as the result of the divine spirit, working upon the soul either from within or from without. These two standpoints betray either the Platonic or the Aristotelian influence.(83) Indeed, the rabbis themselves showed traces of neo-Platonism when they described the ecstatic state of the prophets, or when they spoke of the divine spirit speaking through the prophet as through a vocal instrument, or when they made distinctions between seeing the Deity "in a bright mirror" or "through a dark gla.s.s."(84)
The view most remote from the simple one of the Bible is the rationalistic standpoint of Maimonides, who, following altogether in the footsteps of the Arabic neo-Aristotelians, a.s.sumed that there were different degrees of prophecy, depending upon the influence exerted upon the human intellect by the sphere of the Highest Intelligence. He enumerates eleven such grades, of which Moses had the highest rank, as he entered into direct communication with the supreme intellectual sphere. Still bolder is his explanation of the revelation on Sinai. He holds that the first two words were understood by the people directly as logical evidences of truth, for they enunciated the philosophical doctrines of the existence and unity of G.o.d, whereas the other words they understood only as sounds without meaning, so that Moses had to interpret them.(85) In contrast to this amazing rationalism of Maimonides is the view of Jehuda ha Levi, who a.s.serts that the gift of prophecy became the specific privilege of the descendants of Abraham after their consecration as G.o.d"s chosen people at Sinai, and that the holy soil of Palestine was a.s.signed to them as the habitation best adapted to its exercise.(86) The other attempt of some rationalistic thinkers of the Middle Ages to have a "sound created for the purpose"(87) of uttering the words "I am the Lord thy G.o.d," rather than accepting the anthropomorphic Deity, merits no consideration whatever.
7. It is an indisputable fact of history that the Jewish people, on account of its peculiar religious bent, was predestined to be the people of revelation. Its leading spirits, its prophets and psalmists, its law-givers and inspired writers differ from the seers, singers, and sages of other nations by their unique and profound insight into the moral nature of the Deity. In striking contrast is the progress of thought in Greece, where the awakening of the ethical consciousness caused a rupture between the culture of the philosophers and the popular religion, and led to a final decay of the political and social life. The prophets of Israel, however, the typical men of genius of their people, gradually brought about an advance of popular religion, so that they could finally present as their highest ideal the G.o.d of the fathers, and make the knowledge of His will the foundation of the law of holiness, by which they desired to regulate the entire conduct of man. Thus, religion was no longer confined by the limits of nationality, but was transformed into a spiritual force for all mankind, to lead through a revelation of the One and Holy G.o.d toward the highest morality.
8. The development of thought brought the G.o.d-seeking spirits to the desire to know His will, or, in Scriptural language, His ways, in order to attain holiness in their pursuit. The natural consequence was the gradual receding of the power of imagination which had made the enraptured seer behold G.o.d Himself in visions. As the Deity rose more and more above the realm of the visible, the newly conceived truth was realized as coming to the sacred writer through the spirit of G.o.d or an angel. _Inspiration_ took the place of _revelation_. This, however, still implies a pa.s.sive att.i.tude of the soul carried away by the truth it receives from on high.
This supernatural element disappears gradually and pa.s.ses over into sober, self-conscious thought, in which the writer no longer thinks of G.o.d as the Ego speaking through him, but as an outside Power spoken of in the third person.
A still lower degree of inspiration is represented by those writings which lack altogether the divine afflatus, and to which is ascribed a share of the holy spirit only through general consensus of opinion. Often this imprint of the divine is not found in them by the calm judgment of a later generation, and the exact basis for the cla.s.sification of such writings among the holy books is sometimes difficult to state. We can only conclude that in the course of time they were regarded as holy by that very spirit which was embodied in the Synagogue and its founders, "the Men of the Great Synagogue," who in their work of canonizing the Sacred Scriptures were believed to have been under the influence of the holy spirit.(88)
9. Except for the five books of Moses, the idea of a mechanical inspiration of the Bible is quite foreign to Judaism. Not until the second Christian century did the rabbis finally decide on such questions as the inspiration of certain books among the Hagiographa or even among the Prophets, or whether certain books now excluded from the canon were not of equal rank with the canonical ones.(89) In fact, the influence of the holy spirit was for some time ascribed, not only to Biblical writers, but also to living masters of the law.(90) The fact is that divine influence cannot be measured by the yardstick or the calendar. Where it is felt, it bursts forth as from a higher world, creating for itself its proper organs and forms. The rabbis portray G.o.d as saying to Israel, "Not I in My higher realm, but you with your human needs fix the form, the measure, the time, and the mode of expression for that which is divine."(91)
10. While Christianity and Islam, its daughter-religions, must admit the existence of a prior revelation, Judaism knows of none. It claims its own prophetic truth as _the_ revelation, admits the t.i.tle Books of Revelation (Bible) only for its own sacred writings, and calls the Jewish nation alone the People of Revelation. The Church and the Mosque achieved great things in propagating the truths of the Sinaitic revelation among the nations, but added to it no new truths of an essential nature. Indeed, they rather obscured the doctrines of G.o.d"s unity and holiness. On the other hand, the people of the Sinaitic revelation looked to it with a view of ever revitalizing the dead letter, thus evolving ever new rules of life and new ideas, without ever placing new and old in opposition, as was done by the founder of the Church. Each generation was to take to heart the words of Scripture as if they had come "this very day" out of the mouth of the Lord.(92)
Chapter VII. The Torah-the Divine Instruction
1. During the Babylonian Exile the prophetic word became the source of comfort and rejuvenation for the Jewish people. Now in its place Ezra the Scribe made the Book of the Law of Moses the pivot about which the entire life of the people was to revolve. By regular readings from it to the a.s.sembled worshipers, he made it the source of common instruction. Instead of the priestly Law, which was concerned only with the regulation of the ritual life, the Law became the people"s book of instruction, a Torah for all alike,(93) while the prophetic books were made secondary and were employed by the preacher at the conclusion of the service as "words of consolation."(94) Upon the Pentateuch was built up the divine service of the Synagogue as well as the whole system of communal life, with both its law and ethics. The prophets and other sacred books were looked upon only as means of "opening up" or ill.u.s.trating the contents of the Torah. These other parts of the _Mikra_ ("the collection of books for public reading") were declared to be inferior in holiness, so that, according to the Rabbinical rule, they were not even allowed to be put into the same scroll as the Pentateuch.(95) Moreover, neither the number, order, nor the division of the Biblical books was fixed. The Talmud gives 24, Josephus only 22.(96) Tradition claims a completely divine origin only for the Pentateuch or Torah, while the rabbis often point out the human element in the other two cla.s.ses of the Biblical collection.(97)
2. The traditional belief in the divine origin of the Torah includes not only every word, but also the accepted interpretation of each letter, for both written and oral law are ascribed to the revelation to Moses on Mt.
Sinai, to be transmitted thence from generation to generation. Whoever denies the divine origin of either the written or the oral law is declared to be an unbeliever who has no share in the world to come, according to the Tannaitic code, and consequently according to Maimonides(98) also. But here arises a question of vital importance: What becomes of the Torah as the divine foundation of Judaism under the study of modern times? Even conservative investigators, such as Frankel, Graetz, and Isaac Hirsch Weiss, not to mention such radicals as Zunz and Geiger, admit the gradual progress and growth of this very system of law, both oral and written. And if different historical conditions have produced the development of the law itself, we must a.s.sume a number of human authors in place of a single act of divine revelation.(99)
3. But another question of equal importance confronts us here, the meaning of Torah. Originally, no doubt, Torah signified the instruction given by the priests on ritual or juridical matters. Out of these decisions arose the written laws (_Toroth_), which the priesthood in the course of time collected into codes. After a further process of development they appeared as the various books of Moses, which were finally united into _the Code_ or _Torah_. This Torah was the foundation of the new Judean commonwealth, the "heritage of the congregation of Jacob."(100) The priestly Torah, lightly regarded during the prophetic period, was exalted by post-exilic Judaism, so that the Sadducean priesthood and their successors, the rabbis, considered strict observance of the legal form to be the very essence of religion. Is this, then, the true nature of Judaism? Is it really-as Christian theologians have held ever since the days of Paul, the great antagonist of Judaism-mere nomism, a religion of law, which demanded formal compliance with its statutes without regard to their inner value?
Or shall we rather follow Rabbi Simlai, the Haggadist, who first enumerated the 613 commandments of the Torah (mandatory and prohibitive), considering that their one aim is the higher _moral law_, in that they are all summed up by a few ethical principles, which he finds in the 15th Psalm, Isaiah x.x.xIII, 15; Micah VI, 8; Isaiah LVI, 1; and Amos V, 4?(101)
4. All these questions have but one answer, a reconciling one, Judaism has the two factors, the priest with his regard for the law and the prophet with his ethical teaching; and the Jewish Torah embodies both aspects, law and doctrine. These two elements became more and more correlated, as the different parts of the Pentateuch which embodied them were molded together into the one scroll of the Law. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah, in denouncing the priesthood for its neglect of the principles of justice, and rebuking scathingly the people for their wrongdoing, pointed to the divine law of righteousness as the one which should be written upon the hearts of men.(102) Likewise, in the book of Deuteronomy, which was the product of joint activity by prophet and priest, the Law was built upon the highest moral principle, the love of G.o.d and man. In a still larger sense the Pentateuch as a whole contains priestly law and universal religion intertwined. In it the eternal verities of the Jewish faith, G.o.d"s omnipotence, omniscience, and moral government of the world, are conveyed in the historical narratives as an introduction to the law.
5. Thus the Torah as the expression of Judaism was never limited to a mere system of law. At the outset it served as a book of instruction concerning G.o.d and the world and became ever richer as a source of knowledge and speculation, because all knowledge from other sources was brought into relation with it through new modes of interpretation. Various systems of philosophy and theology were built upon it. Nay more, the Torah became divine Wisdom itself,(103) the architect of the Creator, the beginning and end of creation.(104)
While the term Torah thus received an increasingly comprehensive meaning, the rabbis, as exponents of orthodox Judaism, came to consider the Pentateuch as the only book of revelation, every letter of which emanated directly from G.o.d. The other books of the Bible they regarded as due only to the indwelling of the holy spirit, or to the presence of G.o.d, the _Shekinah_. Moreover, they held that changes by the prophets and other sacred writers were antic.i.p.ated, in essentials, in the Torah itself, and were therefore only its expansions and interpretations. Accordingly, they are frequently quoted as parts of the Torah or as "words of tradition."(105)
6. Orthodox Judaism, then, accepted as a fundamental doctrine the view that both the Mosaic Law and its Rabbinical interpretation were given by G.o.d to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This viewpoint is contradicted by all our knowledge and our whole mode of thinking, and thus both our historical and religious consciousness constrain us to take the position of the prophets.
To them and to us the real Torah is the unwritten moral law which underlies the precepts of both the written law and its oral interpretation. From this point of view, Moses, as the first of the prophets, becomes the first mediator of the divine legislation, and the original Decalogue is seen to be the starting point of a long process of development, from which grew the laws of righteousness and holiness that were to rule the life of Israel and of mankind.(106)
7. The time of composition of the various parts of the Pentateuch, including the Decalogue, must be decided by independent critical and historical research. It is sufficient for us to know that since the time of Ezra the foundation of Judaism has been the completed Torah, with its twofold aspect as _law_ and as _doctrine_. As _law_ it contributed to the marvelous endurance and resistance of the Jewish people, inasmuch as it imbued them with the proud consciousness of possessing a law superior to that of other nations, one which would endure as long as heaven and earth.(107) Furthermore, it permeated Judaism with a keen sense of duty and imprinted the ideal of holiness upon the whole of life. At the same time it gave rise also to ritualistic piety, which, while tenaciously clinging to the traditional practice of the law, fostered hair-splitting casuistry and caused the petrifaction of religion in the codified Halakah.
As _doctrine_ it impressed its ethical and humane idealism upon the people, lifting them far above the narrow confines of nationality, and making them a nation of thinkers. Hence their eagerness for their mission to impart the wisdom stored in their writings to all humanity as its highest boon and the very essence of divine wisdom.
Chapter VIII. G.o.d"s Covenant
1. Judaism has one specific term for religion, representing the moral relation between G.o.d and man, namely, _Berith_, covenant. The covenant was concluded by G.o.d with the patriarchs and with Israel by means of sacrificial blood, according to the primitive custom by which tribes or individuals became "blood brothers," when they were both sprinkled with the sacrificial blood or both drank of it.(108) The first covenant of G.o.d was made after the flood, with Noah as the representative of mankind; it was intended to a.s.sure him and all coming generations of the perpetual maintenance of the natural order without interruption by flood, and at the same time to demand of all mankind the observance of certain laws, such as not to shed, or eat, blood. Here at the very beginning of history religion is taken as the universal basis of human morality, so developing at the outset the fundamental principle of Judaism that it rests upon a religion of humanity, which it desires to establish in all purity. As the universal idea of man forms thus its beginning, so Judaism will attain its final goal only in a divine covenant comprising all humanity. Both the rabbis and the h.e.l.lenistic writers consider the covenant of Noah with its so-called Noahitic commandments as unwritten laws of humanity. In fact, they are referred to Adam also, so that religion appears in its essence as nothing else than a covenant of G.o.d with all mankind.(109)
2. Accordingly, Judaism is a special basis of relationship between G.o.d and Israel. Far from superseding the universal covenant with Noah, or confining it to the Jewish people, this covenant aims to reclaim all members of the human family for the wider covenant from which they have relapsed. G.o.d chose for this purpose Abraham as the one who was faithful to His moral law, and made a special covenant with him for all his descendants, that they might foster justice and righteousness, at first within the narrow sphere of the nation, and then in ever-widening circles of humanity.(110) Yet the covenant with Abraham was only the precursor of the covenant concluded with Israel through Moses on Mt. Sinai, by which the Jewish people were consecrated to be the eternal guardians of the divine covenant with mankind, until the time when it shall encompa.s.s all the nations.(111)
3. In this covenant of Sinai, referred to by the prophet Elijah, and afterward by many others, the free moral relationship of man to G.o.d is brought out; this forms the characteristic feature of a revealed religion in contradistinction to natural religion. In paganism the Deity formed an inseparable part of the nation itself; but through the covenant G.o.d became a free moral power, appealing for allegiance to the spiritual nature of man. This idea of the covenant suggested to the prophet Hosea the a.n.a.logy with the conjugal relation,(112) a conception of love and loyalty which became typical of the tender relation of G.o.d to Israel through the centuries. In days of direst woe Jeremiah and the book of Deuteronomy invested this covenant with the character of indestructibility and inviolability.(113) G.o.d"s covenant with Israel is everlasting like that with the heaven and the earth; it is ever to be renewed in the hearts of the people, but never to be replaced by a new covenant. Upon this eternal renewal of the covenant with G.o.d rests the unique history of Judaism, its wondrous preservation and regeneration throughout the ages. Paul"s doctrine of a new covenant to replace the old(114) conflicts with the very idea of the covenant, and even with the words of Jeremiah.
4. The Israelitish nation inherited from Abraham, according to the priestly Code, the rite of _circ.u.mcision_ as a "sign of the covenant,"(115) but under the prophetic influence, with its loathing of all sacrificial blood, the _Sabbath_ was placed in the foreground as "the sign between G.o.d and Israel."(116) In ancient Israel and in the Judean commonwealth the Abrahamitic rite formed the initiation into the nationality for aliens and slaves, by which they were made full-fledged Jews. With the dispersion of the Jewish people over the globe, and the influence of h.e.l.lenism, Judaism created a propaganda in favor of a world-wide religion of "G.o.d-fearing" men pledged to the observance of the Noahitic or humanitarian laws. Rabbinism in Palestine called such a one _Ger Toshab_-sojourner, or semi-proselyte; while the full proselyte who accepted the Abrahamitic rite was called _Ger Zedek_, or proselyte of righteousness.(117) Not only the h.e.l.lenistic writings, but also the Psalms, the liturgy, and the older Rabbinical literature give evidence of such a propaganda,(118) but it may be traced back as far as Deutero-Isaiah, during the reign of Cyrus. His outlook toward a Jewish religion which should be at the same time a religion of all the world, is evident when he calls Israel "a mediator of the covenant between G.o.d and the nations," a "light to the peoples,"-a regenerator of humanity.(119)
5. This hope of a universal religion, which rings through the Psalms, the Wisdom books and the h.e.l.lenistic literature, was soon destined to grow faint. The perils of Judaism in its great struggles with the Syrian and Roman empires made for intense nationalism, and the Jewish covenant shared this tendency. The early Christian Church, the successor of the missionary activity of h.e.l.lenistic Judaism, labored also at first for the Noahitic covenant.(120) Pauline Christianity, however, with a view to tearing down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, proclaimed a new covenant, whose central idea is belief in the atoning power of the crucified son of G.o.d.(121) Indeed, one medieval Rabbinical authority holds that we are to regard Christians as semi-proselytes, as they practically observe the Noahitic laws of humanity.(122)
6. Progressive Judaism of our own time has the great task of re-emphasizing Israel"s world-mission and of reclaiming for Judaism its place as the priesthood of humanity. It is to proclaim anew the prophetic idea of G.o.d"s covenant with humanity, whose force had been lost, owing to inner and outer obstacles. Israel, as the people of the covenant, aims to unite all nations and cla.s.ses of men in the divine covenant. It must outlast all other religions in its certainty that ultimately there can be but the one religion, uniting G.o.d and man by a single bond.(123)