Chapter VI, Judaism, Meaning in Creation, Summary and Analysis

Judaism affirms the goodness of the world through the idea that "God created it". It tells not only the origins of the world, but also of the character of its originator. In this manner, the Jewish affirmation provided a resource for meaning in the form of God who endures forever and combines the spiritual with the physical, material components of existence. In Judaism then, there developed an appreciation of nature and all natural functions of the human being. There follows three concepts: material aspects of life are important; matter can participate in salvation itself (as in the doctrine of bodily resurrection); and nature can host the Divine (p. 279). The Jewish concepts appear in opposition to Hindu thought and more in keeping with the profound love of nature observed in Far Eastern...