17 - Jewish readings of the Bible

Summary

As Jews began a process of integration into European society, they became increasingly attuned to modern intellectual currents and came to recognise that the philosophical thinking had far-reaching implications for their understanding of Judaism, including their scriptural traditions. European cultural advances further exacerbated the long-standing sensitivity to the deficiencies of Jewish education and scholarship and it resulted in calls for the disciplined and rigorous study of the Bible in particular. The religious heteronomy evident in the Bible, Moses Mendelssohn suggested, was limited exclusively to laws and rituals, which served only as a valuable if not indispensable prod towards metaphysical reflection. In the 1960s, there was a shift of biblical studies from Christian studies at American universities to a history of religion and ancient Near Eastern studies perspective.