Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Continuing the author’s commitment to neo-traditional constructive Jewish theology, this book is a sequel to Gellman’s trilogy of constructive Jewish theology with Academic Studies Press. The book treats three topics which revise and clarify the author’s views in light of critics and further thought. The book includes a new concept of the Jews as God’s Chosen People for our times; a reply to an argument for the reliability of Torah history; and an approach, not a solution, to the problem of evil for troubled believers and want to be believers.
“Gellman’s exploration exemplifies the heights to which theology can go in conversation with philosophy, while also showcasing the limits of traditional responses when faced with modern challenges… In that his target goal is justifying Jews who already believe, one might call it a successful project in Jewish apologetics… The People, The Torah, The God is an invitation to all of us to think about Judaism more seriously and confidently.”— Steven Gotlib, Lehrhaus
In this book we have a masterful Jewish theology for the twenty-first century written by one of the foremost Jewish theologians in the world. Gellman’s knowledge of Judaism is vast from Bible to Talmud, Medieval philosophy to Hasidism. This is combined with an excellent philosophical mind, trained in the best of the analytic philosophical tradition, and a rich spiritual and moral sensibility. The book reworks the traditional theological triad of the people Israel, Torah, and God in accordance with the latest scholarship and attention to the most compelling contemporary issues. The book is a theological feast and a necessary read for all traditionally minded Jews who desire a philosophically rigorous, ethical, and spiritually rewarding Judaism.”
— Steven Kepnes, Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies, Colgate University
Jerome Yehuda Gellman is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Philosophy at Ben-Gurion University. He has published widely in the philosophy of religion and constructive Jewish theology. Gellman was a fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, the Alvin Plantinga Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame University, and a senior fellow at the Hartman Institute. His present project is The Problem of God in Jewish Thought, forthcoming Cambridge University Press.
Introduction
Part 1: The People
1. A Designated People I: A Figurational View
2. A Designated People II: Figuration and Racism
3. A Designated People III: Michael Wyschogrod
Part 2: The Torah
4. A Critique of Torah History
5. On a Failed Argument for Torah History
6. Moderate Divine Providence
Part 3: The God
7. The Autobiographical Problem Of Evil
8. A Perfectly Good God
9. A Conceivable, Partial, Soul-Making Theodicy for the Autobiographical Problem of Evil
Bibliography