Perspectives Regarding Judaism

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Religion is a wide range of concepts as different traditions and cultures are influenced by it. As it carries the image and character of its believers, religion has a significant role in society. Judaism falls under the category of religion and is passed on from the different generations up until now. This paper will summarize the two perspectives regarding Judaism from the writings of two different authors.
Chapter 1 relates, from the title itself, the perception of Judaism to people who are not followers of this religion. In this chapter, Cunningham (2017) wrote the various areas of knowledge, such as the special relationship between Christians and Judaism. He also described the features of Judaism, such as its believers and the God himself. Also, Cunningham (2017) explained his concept of Judaism and a brief historical background regarding Israel and the formation and concept of Rabbinic Judaism. With the modern society at hand, he also presented the current forms of Judaism that function today. Overall, this biased perspective creates another image of Judaism compared to the people who follow it.
There are valuable pieces of information that can be retrieved in this chapter: first, how Judaism functions as a religion and a group that is different from other religions. Cunningham (2017) described Judaism as “more than a ‘religious’ one” (p. 19) since he explained that even though Jews deny the beliefs of Judaism, they are still considered part of the religion. Also, he stated that “Debating the interpretation and meaning of sacred texts” (p. 24) is the character of Rabbinic Judaism. This implies that different from the first explanation of Judaism, this version focuses on the sacred texts and their influence on society. Lastly, I learned that there is an event i...