Reflection on Judaism human nature
Various religions have different beliefs on human nature. This paper seeks to analyze the human nature as presented in the Judaism philosophy as recorded in Torah. Judaism hold that the origin of human beings is creation i.e. humans were created by a supernatural being-God (Harold Coward, 2008). I partially agree on this philosophical approach because the origin of humans as we may know today is subject to serious debate. There is no any specific evidence on the origin if humans that leaves no doubts and various question unanswered.
The created human beings are in the image of the creator. From this point of view, therefore, God, the creator of humans is in exact likeness as the humans. Although one may wonder how this came to be, Judaism presumes that God created all human in his own image. Such a situation is subject to questioning because humans are different in many aspects. For example, humans do not think alike, act alike, or even resemble each other. Is such diversity a reflection of a single Supernatural being? To answer this question, I came to know that Judaism has a more specific definition of “image”.
The “image” as used in the Judaism philosophy does not refer to the physical appearance, but the ability to reason and discern. God is incorporeal with no physical appearance. It is evident that humans, regardless of their race, gender, physical appearance, and any other differentiating characteristics have the fundamental similarities in the power to reason and discern. It is imperative that God has the capability to reason and discern, i.e. the main characteristics of God is the ability to reason and discern. On the same note, the ideology of creation with similar likeness is extended in the explanation of the inherent equality of all humans (Jonathan Jacobs, 2009). In particular, Judaism upholds equality of all Jews. There is no less good Jew. Such a standing is true, at least with all other factors held constant, humans are similar in their nature. They propagate in the same way, reason in an almost similar manner and as such, are equal, regardless of gender, race, and age. The idea on image increased my understanding on the creation theories.
During the process of creation, humanity was created with two opposing impulses. These are the good and the evil impulse (“human Nature,” n.d). It is true that the human nature has two conflicting sides especially in making decisions. One voice reminds the humans of the demands set out by God the creator, and the others oppose such aspects (the evil). The evil has domination of the humans as one tries to fulfill the desires of the body, such as food, shelter, sex, and clothing. To limit the desires of the flesh and hence reduce evil, one has to actively engage the good side. Such a situation presents the real-life occurrences. As humans strive to survive in the highly competitive world, the human desirers guided one’s actions. Without the human desire, no one would work, marry, constructive a house, among other activities. The free will inherent in humans guides one on the impulse to follow.
In conclusion, Judaism holds that humans were created by God, in his own image. The “image” as described in the creation refers to the ability to reason and discern. The nature of human is that one has to either incline towards the good or the evil. The choice is based on the free will of the person. These aspects define the true nature of humans.
Works cited
Judaism 101: “Human Nature” (n.p). Accessed from http://www.jewfaq.org/human.htm on October 31, 2014.
Harold Coward. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Jewish Thought Chapter 3; 2008. Accessed from http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780791478851?auth=0 on October 31, 2014.
Jonathan Jacobs. Judaism and Natural law. Colgate University. 2009. Accessed from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2265.2008.00429.x/pdf on October 31, 2014.
