Two Diverse Notions of the Deity in Jewish Thought

Аннотация

The essay presents two different concepts of God in Jewish thinking. The first underlines the perfection of God, in the Aristotelean manner, and the second the personhood of God. It seems as if the second concept reflects better the approach of the Hebrew Bible, however, traces for the first concept can also be found in the same biblical text. On the one hand, the Maimonidean approach that rejects totally the anthropomorphic portray of God is deeply accepted, but, on the other hand, the biblical God is not unmoved mover or nature, but he is a person. His way with human beings is not blind or mechanical but intentional and deliberate. He reacts and responds to the actions of human beings. The essay discusses two modern Jewish thinkers: Abraham Joshua Heschel, a philosopher who emphasized the personhood of God, and Yeshayahu Leibowitz who is the successor of the Maimonidean approach.