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• - THE DETROIT WSW NEWS
19:1982
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Vudatsm and Gentile Faiths' Volume Compares Major Religions
comparative religion "from
the vantage of Judaism."
Prof. Schultz commences
his study of comparative
religion by contrasting the
Confucian and rabbinic tra-
ditions.
The Chinese classical
age, he points out, coincided
with the period of the War-
ring States (481-221 BCE).
In the land of Israel, it
began in the Fifth Century
BCE following the return of
many of the exiled Jews to
their homeland by
By ALLEN WARSEN
"Judaism and the Gentile
Faiths: Comparative
Studies in Religion,"
authored by Joseph P.
(Fairleigh-
Schultz
University
Dickinson
Press), treats the study of
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Nebuchadnezzar of Baby-
lonia.
In China, Confucius
and his disciples Mencius
and Hsun-tzu laid the in-
tellectual foundation that
inaugurated the Confu-
cian political and social
order "which endured
for more than 2,000
years."
In Israel, "Ezra, the priest
and scribe, together with a
collegium of priests, edited
the Pentateuch and laid the
foundation for post-exilic
Judaism, in which rabbinic
Judaism is the most char-
acteristic form. The
Pharisaic-rabbinic tradi-
tion begun by Ezra and
further developed by a long
line of teachers has per-
sisted to the present."
In Confucianism, "Li re-
presents the ideal social
order of the golden age of
antiquity." In Judaism,
"Torah refers to the Pen-
tateuch, the oral law and
the Jewish literary creativ-
ity of all ages."
In the teaching of Li, filial
piety is unconditional, In
rabbinic ruling, as ex-
pounded by Maimonides, a
son may disobey an unethi-
cal order given him by his
father. In other words, in
Judaism filial obedience is
conditional.
Li, moreover, stressed
the idea of eternal har-
mony which is co-
existence with Heaven
(God), and failed to pro-
vide for change. In
Judaism, "the Torah,
though prior in time to
the world, is a creation of
God," and social orders if
imperfect may be mod-
ified and if oppressive
overthrown.
Profound is the author's
examination of the literary
classic "Bhagavad Gita"
("Song of the Blessed Lord")
and the classic text of the
Jewish mystics, the
"Zohar."
Interwoven into the
famous epic "Mahbharata,"
the "Gita" contends that
God is imminent and tran-
scendent. The eminence
---
"that created the cosmos is explores the messianic con-
no illusion, but an emana- cept in Judaism and Chris-
tion, a development from tianity.
The term mashiakh (mes-
God."
The "Zohar" likewise as- siah) does not appear in the
serts that the universe was prophetic writings of the
the effect of God's emana- pre-Babylonian period. The
belief in a redeemer first
tions or "Sefirot."
"Sefu-ah," incidentally, developed during the
as Gershom Sholem Babylonian exile and be-
pointed out, signifies came firmly established
"brilliance or luminary during the time of Roman
oppressive rule.
or sphere."
Various messianic
Kabalistic mysticism,
moreover, considers God as movements then
"Ein Sof' (infinite) and in- emerged in Judea, in-
comprehensible, whose es- cluding the Judean Des-
sence is known only to Him- ert Sect, whose members
believed in two Messiahs:
self.
The concept of an incom- "a priestly Messiah of the
prehensible "Ein Sor the House of Aaron and a
author states, (in Hin- royal Messiah of the
duism) "is strikingly re- House of David."
Christianity, too, made
miniscent of the higher
Brahman of pure intelli- its appearance in Judea at
gence." In contrast, the that time. The very name
"Sefirot" that are com- Christianity denotes mes-
prphensible remind of the sianism, and the Greek
lower Brahman, "the god of word "christos" is a transla-
the phenomenal world, the tion from the Hebrew term
mashiakh.
world of the senses."
Unlike the Jewish view of
Enlightening is the
author's comparison be- the Messiah as God's or-
tween the Israelite wars dained representative,
since the days of Joshua and Christian theology con-
the Islamic holy war, ceives of Christ as "the in-
carnation of God" and re-
"jihad."
Whereas the Israelite gards him "the suffering
wars, with the only ex- Messiah who redeems hu-
ception "the forcible
conversion of the Idu- Local Authors
maens by John Hyr-
canus" (135-105 BCE), in New Volume
Thomas LoCicero, who
were waged either for
wrote "Murder in the
territorial expansion (the
Davidic wars) or the de-
Synagogue," an account of
fense of the land of Israel,
the assassination of Rabbi
Morris Adler, is one of 23
the "jihad" aimed at con-
quering the world and Michigan authors with
converting its peoples to
short stories in "The Third
Coast: Contemporary
Mohammedanism.
Moslem law, further-
Michigan Fiction" (WSU
more, divided the world into
Press).
the "dar-al-Islam," territory
The book is edited by
ruled and inhabited by Mus-
James Tipton and Robert E.
lims, and "dar-al-harb,"
Wegner, both of Alma Col-
land outside of Islam. The
lege and features authors
jihad the Mohammedans from the Detroit area,
considered their best Kalamazoo, Battle Creek
weapon to transform non-
andthe northern portion of
Islamic into Islamic land.
the state.
Thus the "jihad" closely
LoCicero, an Oak Park
resembled the Roman "be- resident, is a graduate of the
llum justum," the just law.
University of Michigan. His
In the chapter "Road to
contribution to the book, "A
the Millenium," the author
Round with J.C.," is a fic-
tionalized account of his ex-
periences while working at
a local golf course and tells
of his encounter with J.C.,
an unusual course employee
who plays the game using
an "imaginary ball."
HONEYMOONING
.
manity by his agony and
death."
The conception of the
agonizing Jesus is reminis-
cent of "the rabbinical
legend that the Messiah
dwells among the lepers and
beggars at the gate of
Rome."
The belief in the com-
ing of the Messiah has
continued throughout
the last two millenia of
Jewish history, and has
become an integral pars --
of the Jewish religion.
is best expressed by the
12th "Principle of Faith":
"I believe with perfect
faith in the coming of the
Messiah; and, though he
tarry, I will wait daily for
his coming." (Translation
by the late Dr. Joseph H.
Hertz.)
"Judaism and the Gentile
Faiths" is a pioneering work
in the field of comparative
religion and is a major con-
tribution to the scientific
study of the world's reli-
gions.
The author, Joseph P.
Schultz, is professor of
Judiac studies at the Uni-
versity of Missouri, Kansas
City.
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