Introduction to Judaism

Home > Religions > Judaism

What is Judaism? | Origins & History | Contemporary Judaism | Holy Books | Beliefs | Values & Ethics | Practice | Life Cycle Events | Holy Days | Test Your Knowledge

What Jews Believe

There is little official Jewish theology. Judaism is really more about deed rather than creed. However, one prayer recited at every Jewish worship service - the Shema - instructs Israel (the Jews) to "Hear!" (Shema, in Hebrew) - to hear that the Hebrew people have but one God and that God is "forever and ever." Judaism is, then, a strict monotheism - perhaps the first monotheistic religion to develop at a time when most peoples believed in many gods.

In the middle ages a Jewish philosopher (Maimonides) compiled a list of 13 basic tenets of Jewish faith:

1. God exists
2. God is one and unique
3. God is incorporeal
4. God is eternal
5. Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other
6. The words of the prophets are true
7. Moses's prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
8. The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
9. There will be no other Torah (perhaps a response to the existence of the Christian New Testament addition to the Hebrew Bible???)
10. God knows the thoughts and deeds of men (is omniscient)
11. God will reward the good and punish the wicked
12. The Messiah will come
13. The dead will be resurrected

However, Maimonides' list should not be mistaken as official Jewish doctrine nor a creedal statement (Judaism has nothing like the Christian Nicene creed). And neither did Maimonides himself devise this list - he was merely making an observation. Among contemporary Jews, some do not hold to all his observations regarding what Jews believe (only Orthodox Jews tend to believe in resurrection of the dead).

It might be better to discuss what Jews do not believe:

• Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah they were (and continue) awaiting.
• Jews do not believe that God would ever manifest in the flesh, as a man or any other form (remember Maimonides' observation: God is non-corporeal - does not have nor take a body).
• Jews do not believe in "original sin." Jews believe we commit our own sins and that each of us must atone for our own sins (today Jews do this on their "Day of Atonement" - their annual Yom Kippur Holy day; in ancient times they would atone for sins through sacrificial "sin offerings" presented in the Temple in Jerusalem).

 

Mark those items that Jews DO believe: a. Jesus was the messiah b. God takes on physical form c. Original sin d. Prophets e. The dead will be resurrected [mark all correct answers]

  

My academic homepage Contact me Northern Virginia Community College

return to top | previous page | next page