The Nature of God

The Nature of God
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Why do Jews believe in God?
Jews believe that there is only one God and that he
created the Universe. They believe that we have only to
look at the world around us to know that he exists. The
world is complex with everything having its place and
interacting with everything else. This, say Jews, could not
have happened by chance. The world must have had a
creator, and this creator was God.
Jews believe that God has chosen them to be His special
people and has revealed Himself to them throughout their
history. He first revealed Himself to Abraham and made a
covenant with him. He has also intervened in history to
protect the Jews (the Exodus) and punished them when
they have done wrong (the Exile).
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For Jews the whole of their history is proof that God exists.
Even the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust is proof
of God’s existence for many Jews because they felt His
presence in their suffering. The Shoah eventually led to the
re-establishment of the State of Israel, a fulfilment of Gods
promise to Abraham.
For Jews, Jerusalem is their
historical homeland. The
Western Wall is their most
sacred place of worship.
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What do Jews think God is like?
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God intervening in the world
The Jews believe that God has influenced what has
happened in the world through the prophets that He has
sent to them.
If Jews were not living the way that God wanted them to, the
prophets were sent to tell them what was wrong, how they
should put it right, and how God would punish them if they
did not.
Sometimes the prophets told of a perfect time to come, the
Messianic Age, when the world would live in peace and
harmony in the way that God had intended at creation,
before humans used their free will to turn away from Him.
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Miracles
Jews believe that God has physically intervened in the
world by performing miracles. On these occasions, God has
suspended the normal laws of nature for a specific purpose,
to either help the Jews (e.g. providing manna for them in
the desert) or to teach them something (e.g. the contest
between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel).
Do you believe that miracles are possible?
Can you think of any other explanations for
events believed to be miracles?
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