It was not another online discussion. A person had sincere questions. He admitted that he knew very little about the Torah. He wanted to learn more. Immediately, I recommended Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman.
Rabbi Weiner and Dr. Schulman are well-known for their work on The Divine Code, the practical guide to observing the Noahide Code. Although not as comprehensive as The Divine Code, Seven Gates is an excellent book for Gentile learners of the Torah. It answers many important questions:
Is God corporeal?
God is singularly unique, and He is not limited in any way. He certainly does not have any type of body, description, or physical or spiritual form (page eight). Although He may present Himself to a person as a specific form in a prophetic vision, intellectually, that is so the person can receive God's message within his mind and senses (p 16). Likewise, all physical descriptions that are related about God in the Hebrew Bible are anthropomorphism (p 17).
Why is the Torah of Moses true?
Because of the public testimony that God Himself gave about Moses during the revelation at Mount Sinai. The entire Jewish people, which numbered over two million adults and all their children, assembled there and witnessed God's Presence and His Divine speech (p 55). Such a unique testimony to a group of millions of people is impossible to refute, because each overlapping generation serves as the witness to the next generation (p 57).
What about the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18?
A true prophet is not being sent by God to establish a new or different faith, but rather to instruct the people to fulfill their existing commandments in the Torah of Moses, and to warn against transgressing them (p 60). A specific example of a true prophet is Malachi who said „remember the Torah of Moses, My servant“ (3:22).
Why does God test people?
A challenge refines a person and his faith, and humbles the heart, and thereby brings a person closer to God. Therefore, in truth, a test is a great benefit for a person (p 129). Our perception of an event as bad is only based on our shortsightedness and limited understanding. The truth is that what we perceive as a bad event is in essence a kindness from God, and it is such a powerful good that it cannot be openly revealed, for it cannot yet be grasped by the severely limited ability and frame of reference of our human minds (p 130).
Is mankind inherently sinful?
Free will is granted to all people. If one desires to turn to the path of good and be righteous, the choice is his. Should he desire to turn to the path of iniquity, the choice is his. A person should not entertain the idea held by many fools, and what is claimed by some doctrines, that at the time of a person's conception or birth, the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees whether he will be righteous or a sinner. This is untrue. Each person is able to be righteous or bad (p 165).
Does Noahidism believe in a resurrection of the dead?
Yes. When God will resurrect the bodies of the righteous, He will not restore them to the way they were before, in the world as we know it. Instead, He will recreate them in a perfectly spiritually refined and immortal condition, in which one's very flesh will experience a unity with God (p 177).
Since most non-Jews don't understand Hebrew, the English edition is particularly helpful. An outstanding achievement in Torah scholarship.
Topic: My Review of the Book "Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge" (Read 1781 times)