The nature of God
According to Jewish belief, God has many qualities:
- One - Judaism is a monotheismBelief in one God. religion. According to Jewish teachings, God does not have multiple parts. God is one.
- Omnipotent - God is all-powerful.
- Omnibenevolent - God is all-loving.
- Omniscient - God is all-knowing.
- Omnipresent - God is everywhere at all times.
- Transcendent - God is not limited in ways that humans are, eg he is beyond the constraints of time and space.
- Immanent - God is present in the world and sustains it.
- Eternal - God has always and will always exist. He is without beginning and without end.
- The creator - God made everything in the universe.
- The lawgiver - God created humans to live in a certain way, and he gave them many spiritual and ethical rules or laws. There are 613 of these laws in the TorahLaw; teaching. The word Torah can be used in a narrow sense to mean the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (The Five Books of Moses) and also in a wider sense to include the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud..
- The judge - God will judge everyone and punish those who disobey his laws.
- Merciful - God shows compassionUnderstanding and appreciation of the pain and suffering of others..
Shekhinah
Shekhinah (also Shekhina or Shechina) is the Hebrew word for 鈥榩resence鈥, which in Jewish theology explains God鈥檚 presence on Earth.
The earth shone with His glory.
The Shema
The ShemaMajor Jewish prayer affirming belief in one God. The Shema is found in Exodus 20:2-14, Deuteronomy and Numbers. is a prayer from the Torah that is used in morning and evening services in synagogues as well as being said at home by Jews to express belief in one God:
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
In full, the Shema consists of three paragraphs of verses taken from Deuteronomy and Numbers. It shows how God should be respected. A lot of Jews believe that they can experience God鈥檚 presence when they are praying together or discussing the Torah. God鈥檚 closeness to Jews means that he can understand human suffering and so prayer is an important part of Jews developing their relationship with God.
An example of God鈥檚 closeness can be found in the TanakhThe collected 24 books of the Jewish Bible. There are three sections: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim (TaNaKh). May also be spelled Tenakh. , which describes how the Jews were led at times by a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light
Exodus 13:21-22 when they were fleeing from Egypt. This shows God鈥檚 presence and power.
God鈥檚 influence over Jewish people
- Jewish people believe that they must follow God鈥檚 law in order to serve him.
- They believe in free willThe idea that humans are free to make their own moral choices. but also that they must follow God鈥檚 laws in order to use this freedom in the way that God wants.
- Jews believe that all aspects of their lives are ruled by God.
- In Judaism, God will punish or reward people depending on how well they have followed his laws.
Question
How many parts does God have?
God does not have multiple parts. He is one.