RT Article
T1 Religious Naturalism before and after Auschwitz: The Immanentist Theologies of Mordecai M. Kaplan and Richard L. Rubenstein
JF The Jewish quarterly review
VO 114
IS 4
SP 603
OP 631
A1 Erlewine, Robert
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1909738875
AB In this essay, I treat the work of Richard L. Rubenstein as attempting to inherit key elements of Mordecai M. Kaplan’s theological project and carry them forward into the post-Holocaust era. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Rubenstein follows Kaplan in espousing a form of religious naturalism and in eschewing supernaturalist understandings of the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, Rubenstein remains critical of the character of Kaplan’s account of naturalism and, instead, offers an alternative account more amenable to a tragic sensibility. I then note the role that the critique of Reform Judaism plays in the elucidation of the constructive visions of both thinkers. Comparing their critiques of Reform Judaism, I further elucidate commonalities and divergences of their respective theological projects. Finally, I conclude by considering these two thinkers as part a shared theological tradition characterized by its emphasis on divine immanence.
K1 Holocaust
K1 Salvation
K1 Theodicy
K1 tragic sensibility
K1 theocentrism
K1 ethical monotheism
K1 Reconstructionism
K1 Reform Judaism
K1 Death of God
K1 Immanence
K1 Transcendence
K1 Moral Theology
K1 religious naturalism
K1 Election
K1 Mordecai Kaplan
K1 Richard Rubenstein
K1 Mordecai M. Kaplan
K1 Richard L. Rubenstein
DO 10.1353/jqr.2024.a944941