An Interreligious Conversation Part III
Holly,
Thank you for answering my second set of questions.
To my question, “If there is no Heaven or Hell, No Eternal Reward or Punishment, why live a Godly life?” you answered:
Because we’re supposed to do so! It’s the right thing to do and the essence of being a Jew. Even a Jewish atheist can do it.
I find this to be quite a dogmatic answer. It reminds me of my mother answering my ‘why’ question with “because I told you so.” Let me put it like this, why are we supposed to do so? Why should one live a Godly life? God, I understand, wants us to live a good life, but why? What is the ‘big plan’ that we are working towards, or does such a big plan not exist according to Judaism?
When I asked, “Is Judaism materialistic rather than spiritual? Is it only about life on this earth?” you answered:
Judaism does not separate between material and spiritual as Christianity does. Everything (and especially the material) is spiritual. Judaism has prayers for going to sleep and waking up, for eating and excreting, even for seeing beautiful things in the world.
I find this aspect of Judaism to be fascinating. Indeed, like you point out in the paragraph below the one I quote, Christianity focuses more on death than Judaism does (although I would not say that we Christians are “obsessed” with death). In this regard, Judaism reminds me of Buddhims: seeing God in every day life, in the little things one does, and doing everything - even the seemingly insignificant things - very consciously. In how far do you agree with that comparison?
Lastly, to my question, “Why suffer so much” (if there is no afterlife you answered):
Expectation of an afterlife helps some Jews do justly and remain Jews I’m sure, but this expectation is not necessary for everyone. Yes, life is full of suffering but can also be full of joy.
We can believe that one day all will be good without expecting that we will exist individually at such a time. In most cases, those Jews who became Christians out of persecution continued to be persecuted by Christians. I doubt that very many Jews have ever become Christian out of belief - it was generally to get a job, go to university, or even stay alive. Islam, being more purely monotheistic, is more palatable to Jews than is Christianity. As for Fighting Back - we just DO! BTW, did you know that the Dalai Lama put that same question to a group of Jewish scholars?
Could one, then, in essence say that Judaism is more positive about life / about the world than Christianity? In essence, Christians (especially early Christians who were persecuted) considered life to be full of suffering, but they were able to persist because they believed that they would be rewarded after they died. In a way, that is positive of course (I’ll get my reward), but also negative (life sucks).
Lastly, yes, you sent me a couple of e-mails with booktips, but I will publish those at the end of our conversation (’if you want to know more,’ etc.).
Re Holly’s comment about materialism vs. spirituality-
I have always felt that Catholicism also takes the view that Holly ascribes to Judaism. We also don’t differentiate so much, and that’s why the Catholic Mass is very physical and feeds the senses, that’s why we use incense, why we believe in the actual physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist, why artificial birth control is considered a barrier to marital intimacy, etc. And, we also have prayers for everything throughout the day (the Liturgy of the Hours)
That’s a very good point Christine. Of course, Catholicism has more in common with Judaism than Protestantism. protestantism is - in a way - an offspring of Catholicism, while Catholicism is an offpspring of Judaism.
Yes, I was thinking along those lines as well.
I’m not sure that Catholics are closer to Jews than Protestants–there is the whole Messiah thing you know.
It might be useful to note that the material/spiritual dichotomy is not really Jewish or Christian, but more of a Greek concept. (though as Christine said, Protestants tend more towards that than Catholics).
Alan: Protestants believe in Jesus as the Savior as well… I’m not saying that Catholicism is closer related to Catholicism than to Protestantism, I’m saying Catholicism is closer related to Judaism then Protestantism is related to Judaism.
Like this:
Judaism—————————Catholicism—–Protestantism.