So Jewish people are more spiritually able than non-Jewish people. How did that happen? Wouldn't God have had to make you more spritually able in the first place, in which case that would be part of the choosing?
What really confuses me is the conversion then. I could understand (although, obviously, not accept) a viewpoint that said that the Jewish NATION was more spiritually able, but that seems like it would make conversion difficult. If Person X converts to Judaism, do they somehow GAIN that spiritual ability? Or is the whole point of the dissuasion process that you want to make sure that only the fluke non-Jews who ARE spritually able are allowed to convert?
And then, getting down to brass tacks.... Well, I think here's the best way I can say it. One of the Jewish objections I've heard about the messiahship of Jesus is if he really was the messiah, it would be objectively knowable: there would be objective differences in the way the world works that would be obvious to everybody, right? I think I have an analogous problem with this idea that Jews, and only jews, have an innate ability to love their neighbor. If that were true, shouldn't I see an objective difference between Jews and non-Jews? But I don't see, objectively, that Jews are more loving of their neighbors than non-Jews. (I was going to insert a snide comment about land-grabbers here, but I think we can just take it as read, no?) So what does it mean to say that Jews have this spiritual ability that non-Jews (in general, at least) don't have, if that difference isn't visible from outside?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Oh Mama! Good questions, Attentive One.
Date: 2005-06-10 10:00 am (UTC)So Jewish people are more spiritually able than non-Jewish people. How did that happen? Wouldn't God have had to make you more spritually able in the first place, in which case that would be part of the choosing?
What really confuses me is the conversion then. I could understand (although, obviously, not accept) a viewpoint that said that the Jewish NATION was more spiritually able, but that seems like it would make conversion difficult. If Person X converts to Judaism, do they somehow GAIN that spiritual ability? Or is the whole point of the dissuasion process that you want to make sure that only the fluke non-Jews who ARE spritually able are allowed to convert?
And then, getting down to brass tacks.... Well, I think here's the best way I can say it. One of the Jewish objections I've heard about the messiahship of Jesus is if he really was the messiah, it would be objectively knowable: there would be objective differences in the way the world works that would be obvious to everybody, right? I think I have an analogous problem with this idea that Jews, and only jews, have an innate ability to love their neighbor. If that were true, shouldn't I see an objective difference between Jews and non-Jews? But I don't see, objectively, that Jews are more loving of their neighbors than non-Jews. (I was going to insert a snide comment about land-grabbers here, but I think we can just take it as read, no?) So what does it mean to say that Jews have this spiritual ability that non-Jews (in general, at least) don't have, if that difference isn't visible from outside?