Theology, Sociology, Ideology: Jewish Thought in America

Publication Date: January 1982

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University. Press

Author(s): Arnold Eisen

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: American Jews; Jewish culture; Academic research

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The purpose of the present essay is to account for the nontheological character of American Jewry thought during the first decade following the Second World War, and to show the functions served by the form which American Jewish thought did assume. This inquiry should in turn shed light on our contemporary theological situation, particularly on the dilemmas posed for the theology when it gives way to functionalism and to what we term religious ideology. Our focus shall be on the question whether and in what sense the Jews are God's chosen people.