Theological Realism and its Alternatives in Contemporary Jewish Theology

doi:10.1017/9781108233705.017

17 - Theological Realism and its Alternatives in Contemporary Jewish Theology

from Part V - Analytic Philosophy and Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2020

Cass Fisher

Edited by

Steven Kepnes

Show author details

Steven Kepnes: Affiliation:
Colgate University, New York

Book contents

Get access

Summary

A basic premise of the Hebrew Bible is that God enters into relationship with humans. The beliefs that God exists independently of us and that we can acquire some knowledge of that fact would appear to make theological realism the most suitable Jewish theological orientation. While theological realism has had a number of proponents among modern and contemporary Jewish thinkers, it is a minority position that has long been overshadowed by other approaches to Jewish theological language. This chapter introduces the wider discussion of theological realism within philosophy of religion and Christian theology, places the work of Jewish proponents of theological realism within both the larger and the Jewish contexts, and then surveys the main alternatives to theological realism among Jewish thinkers including the “theo-realism” of Buber and Heschel, and Wittgensteinian, poetic, fictionalist, and apophatic approaches to Jewish theology. The chapter concludes by pointing to new resources in the theory of reference that can help bolster the case for Jewish theological realism.

Keywords

Jewish theology Jewish philosophy Modern Jewish Thought Theological Realism Theological Reference

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology , pp. 392 - 422

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108233705.017 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Selected Further Reading

Alston, William P. “Realism and the Christian Faith.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 38.1 (1995): 37–60.Google Scholar

Alston, William. “Religious Language.” In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion, 220–44. Edited by Wainwright, William J.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.Google Scholar

Berkovits, Eliezer. God, Man and History, ed. David Hazony. Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 1965.Google Scholar

Byrne, Peter. God and Realism. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003.Google Scholar

Fisher, Cass. “Absolute Factuality, Common Sense, and Theological Reference in the Thought of Franz Rosenzweig.” Harvard Theological Review 109.2 (2016): 342–70.Google Scholar

Fisher, Cass. “The Posthumous Conversion of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Future of Jewish (anti-) Theology.” AJS Review 39.2 (2015): 333–65.CrossRef Google Scholar

Fisher, Cass. “Religion without God? Approaches to Theological Reference in Modern and Contemporary Jewish Thought.” Religions 10.1 (2019): 1–25.Google Scholar

Gellman, Jerome. “God and Theoretical Entities: Their Cognitive Status.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 13.2 (1982): 131–41.Google Scholar

Gellman, Jerome. “The Name of God.” Noûs 29.4 (1995): 536–43.Google Scholar

Gellman, Jerome. “Theological Realism.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 12. 1 (1981): 17–27.Google Scholar

Hick, John. “Religious Realism and Non-realism.” In Disputed Questions in Theology and the Philosophy of Religion, 3–16. Edited by Hick, John. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993.CrossRef Google Scholar

Moore, Andrew and Scott, Michael, eds. Realism and Religion: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.Google Scholar

Trigg, Roger. “Theological Realism and Antirealism.” In A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, 2nd ed., 651–58, 657. Edited by Taliaferro, Charles, Draper, Paul, and Quinn, Philip L.. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2010.Google Scholar

Westphal, Merold. “Theological Anti-Realism.” In Realism and Religion,131–45. Edited by Moore, Andrew and Scott, Michael. New York: Routledge, 2007.Google Scholar

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Practices of Belief: Selected Essays Vol. 2. Edited by Cuneo, Terence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Google Scholar