Monotheism and Multifaith Engagement

Christians recognize and emphasize monotheism in the Bible, but on closer look at appears to have developed over time. This is important not only for a more careful understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith, but also as we develop arguments and critiques of other religions on their view of God such as the Latter-day Saints. In this episode we discuss the development of monotheism with Kenneth Seeskin, a Jewish scholar.Seeskin is the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor Emeritus of Jewish Civilization. After receiving his PhD from Yale in 1972, he joined the faculty of Northwestern and has remained there ever since. He served for nearly 20 years as Chair of the Philosophy Department and with the start of the 2010-11 academic year, served as Chair of Religious Studies. He has won several teaching awards since coming to Northwestern and served as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence from 1995-1998.Seeskin is best known for his interpretation and defense of the rationalist tradition in Jewish Philosophy, including such figures as Maimonides, Spinoza, and Cohen. His most recent books include the Cambridge Companion to Maimonides (CUP, 2005), Maimonides on the Origin of the World (CUP, 2005), Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy (CUP, 2001), and Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides (OUP, 2000). The latter was awarded the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, co-edited with Judith Baskin, is scheduled to appear in 2010.

His published articles dealing with religious themes are wide-ranging including studies on the Book of Job, the meaning of the Holocaust, negative theology, the concept of holiness, and recent studies on the role of reason in Jewish philosophy, the role of miracles in Jewish philosophy, and the Greek background to Jewish Philosophy. He is currently working on a book on messianism that will take up issues pertaining to evil, rationality, and the philosophy of history.

Kenneth Seeskin: https://religious-studies.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/emeritus-faculty/kenneth-seeskin.html

Related journal article by Dr. Seeskin: "When Did the Bible Become Monotheistic?" at TheTorah.com: https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-did-the-bible-become-monotheistic

For a discussion that connects the dots between a careful discussion of monotheism in relation to Mormonism see the chapter by Carl Mosser, "Classifying Mormon Theism:" https://www.academia.edu/219780/_Classifying_Mormon_Theism_

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