“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee [Abraham] and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”
This is a topic about which I have long wanted to become knowledgeable. If one wants to become an amateur Biblical scholar, one has to know something about the Jewish culture and religion. This culture looms large in both the Old and New Testaments. As I will discuss later, Christianity began as a Jewish faith. And even after the advent of Christianity, the Jews continued to be players in world affairs (including first-century affairs), with their revolt against Ancient Rome figuring prominently in the later first century. In 70 CE, this revolt culminated in the unfortunate destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans – something that has not been remembered as much as it should be.
Artist's depiction of the First Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem
Reconstruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem
I noticed that this audiobook was written by a Jewish scholar from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Thus, its portrayal of Judaism is extremely positive – something that I welcome. They emphasize common ground between Christians and Jews, even though they note the differences between them at times. Some Jewish beliefs that are not shared by many Christians include the belief in the importance of the temple, and the absence of belief in the Trinity – beliefs that are remarkably similar to those of fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who have much of the Old Testament in them. (Or as Jews would call it, the “Hebrew Bible” – a book that I would love to read in Hebrew at some distant future point.)
A copy of the Hebrew Bible in the original
The audiobook definitely mentions Antisemitism, but this is not really the focus of the presentation. Rather, the emphasis is on their beliefs, and on the different religious sects that have arisen within the faith. This seemed to do a good job of comparing and contrasting the different sects, and talking about both religious and secular Jews today. You might already know that Jewishness is as much an ethnicity as it is a religion, and that this ethnicity is shared even by many who are agnostics and atheists. Antisemitism has often been based as much on their ethnicity as it is on their heartfelt differences of belief, and this tendency has manifested itself in such bitter persecutions as the twentieth-century Holocaust – the most infamous of all of the anti-Semitic persecutions.
Starving prisoners at Mauthausen concentration camp, 1945
This audiobook almost made me want to be a Jew. This doesn't mean that I want to convert to their faith, but it does mean that I love the culture of the Hebrew people, and deeply respect it. Christianity started out as a Jewish faith (as noted earlier), with Jesus and Paul being ethnic Jews. Those who have accused Jews of being “Christ-killers” (an unfortunate name) would do well to remember this. The Jewish roots of Christianity are hard to ignore, and Jews are right to regard Christianity and Islam as Judaism’s “daughter religions” – all three being religions in the “Abrahamic” tradition. Judaism was the first of them, and made massive contributions to world history.
Flag of Israel
This audiobook about Judaism is among the best that I've ever heard. Much recommended to anyone who wants to learn about the Jewish faith, or even the Jewish culture.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah …”
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of an audiobook series
Religions, Scriptures, and Spirituality
Judaism
Others to be covered later
See also the audiobook series
The World of Philosophy
Others to be covered later
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