Faith

by Louis Jacobs

Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have been as passionate in their concern about the meaning and nature of faith as Christian theologians. This is a lucid and profound examination of Jewish approaches to belief, by a controversial and respected scholar who analyses the nature of God through a critical study of all vital philosophical sources. We are shown the conflicts--and how they are resolved--between rational and traditional views on faith, between instinctive acceptance and a more sophisticated, polemical approach. The views of mediaeval and modern theologians, Christian and Jewish (Kabbalists, religious existentialists, fundamentalists, mystics) are appraised and contrasted in the most open-minded manner. Of special interest, perhaps, is the understanding critique of the Freudian and Marxist opposition to belief in a deity. On a more mundane level, those seeming contradictions in the structure of existence which confound most men, such as the problem of evil, are analyzed in a way that is both practical and heartening. Dr. Jacobs has succeeded in demonstrating, to readers of all faiths, that particular nature of Judaism which is both universalistic and, at the same time, deeply concerned about the individual.

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Louis Jacobs was the founder of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and theologian. He was also the focus of what has become known as "The Jacobs Affair" that took place in the British Jewish community in the early 1960s.

Reviews

[Yonatan Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clear overview of the various challenges to Faith that exist today, with a wonderful theme of guiding the reader towards a much more mature understanding of what it means to be a believer. All through a Jewish Lens, Jacobs uses the entire canon of Judaic sources to offer a new-yet-old vision of Faith.