Jewish Perspectives
Judaism is the most ancient of three Abrahamic religions (the other two being Christianity and Islam) that are distinct from other world religions in at least three respects: they are all strongly monotheistic; they claim divine or supernatural intervention (revelation) into the world through their historical founders in ways that are in tension with natural reason; and they place special authority on one or more written texts. Judaism (like Christianity) also has a close historical relation with modern science and technology; historians of science have argued that in its origins science was dependent on a view of the world as well ordered and subject to human investigation and control precisely in the ways presented by the Jewish revelation, and certainly Jewish scientists especially are disproportionately represented in the technical community. At the same time, science and technology have presented specific challenges to Jewish tradition and identity, the responses to which offer special contributions to more general discussions of science, technology, and ethics.
Approaches to Judaism
Individuals explain their adoption of a Jewish designation by their adherence in various degrees to one or more facets of the "Jewish way of life." Among the most important aspects are the beliefs that there is only one God; that the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (known as the Torah, containing 613 commandments and canonized between 700 and 200 B.C.E.) were handed down from God to Moses around 1500 B.C.E.; and that Jews should follow both the oral and written laws that have been handed down through the generations.
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