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Judaism—Revelation of Moses, or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal (2010)
York Publishing Company, P.O. Box 1038 Hollister, California, 95024
In Judaism, Philip Neal takes the reader on a behind the scenes documentary
style look at Judaism. Step-by-step, Neal walks the reader through the history of
the Jews, from the first Diaspora and rebuilding of the temple, through the work
of Nehemiah and Ezra to the Hellenization of Palestine after it was conquered by
Alexander the Great.
I'll admit that this book changed my personal paradigms about Judaism. When I
went to Bible college, I always tried to take classes that were taught by those like
the Apostle Paul, former Pharisaic Jews that had converted to Christianity. I
thought that because the Jews were given the oracles of God (Romans 3:2) that
Rabbinic Jews had special cultural information and a deeper knowledge of the
Torah and God that gentile teachers did not have. From a historical perspective
Neal shows that understanding of the Torah began to erode with the
Hellenization of Palestine by Alexander the Great and the generals that followed
him. This was followed by the development of the Talmud, the writings that
contained the supposed “oral law” of Moses. In the end, different sects of
Judaism emerged, and the conflicting world of Judaism was as varied and as
secularized as many Christian churches are today. When Jesus arrives in Judea,
the pagan traditions of the Jews had become a veil of blindness for the nation. It
is fascinating to see how Christ addresses the fallacies of each sect with differing
beliefs. It is also easy to see why the average Jew had little interest in the
religious sects of first century Palestine.
In reviewing my notations in the book, I find that nearly a dozen times I wrote
“wow” in the column. From the fact that the vast majority of Jews in first century
Palestine were not interested in religion to the fact that in rabbinical Judaism, the
Talmud rules over the Torah, I found myself surprised often.
Neil does a fantastic job of sharing key elements of the Talmud, the “Oral” Torah,
which contains the words God supposedly whispered into Moses’ ear. From ritual
hand washing to how many steps one can journey on the Sabbath, Neil gives a
behind the scenes look at how these traditions developed. In the end, he reveals
how these traditions were encapsulated into the Talmud. The resulting internal
nature of Jewish religion is far different than the previous paradigm I held, which
looked more like Hollywood's production of Fiddler on the Roof.
At the end of the book, there are several appendices that are of great value. It is
here that Neal takes a deeper look at a number of key concepts such as the
Jewish Code of Law, Kabbalah–Judaism's dark side, and the Judeo-Christian
myth. The appendix on Paul's perspective on Judaic “works of law” was a gold
mine. After Philip Neal introduces this topic, he includes a full paper on the topic
by Fred R. Coulter. This detailed 50-page section is excellent. Although I studied
this topic in college, I can’t say that I have ever been comfortable with Paul's
difficult scriptures. In this appendix, Coulter brilliantly begins by analyzing “works
of laws” from the perspective of Paul's easy-to-understand Scriptures. Then
Coulter works his way through scriptures of increasing levels of difficulty. I now
feel much more ready to give an answer for the hope that is in me after studying
this appendix in depth.
Overall, this is a fantastic book. I give it two thumbs up. It changed my views and
perspectives on Judaism. It also helped sharpen my sword in a big way. I
recommend it wholeheartedly.