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This Inspiring and Eminently Readable Book by John C “This inspiring and eminently readable book by John C. Merkle, Heschel’s leading Christian interpreter, provides a lucid introduction to the Jewish thinker and activist’s God-centered thought. Written with earnestness, analytical subtlety, and faith, Approaching God demonstrates how Heschel’s radical interpretations of traditional Judaism can favor theological humility, religious diversity, and interfaith dialogue.” — Edward K. Kaplan Kaiserman Professor in Humanities, Brandeis University Author of Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America “John Merkle has pondered the thought of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel for many years. In Approaching God, Merkle provides readers with a discerning analysis of the wisdom of this eminent religious figure. Those who follow Merkle’s sensitive exploration of Heschel will partake of this wisdom themselves.” — Mary C. Boys, S.N.J.M. Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology, Union Theological Seminary Author of Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Understanding “John Merkle has produced a first-class study of the life and writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, a man who has deeply influenced today’s generation of theologians. Merkle has engaged thoughtfully with Heschel’s approach to the divine-human encounter and Approaching God will be welcomed by Jews and Christians alike. Readers of this work are extremely fortunate to benefit from the author’s lifelong interest in Heschel. The book not only provides an insight into this hugely significant Jewish theologian but also offers profound wisdom on the spiritual journey, daily undertaken by each and everyone of us.” — Edward Kessler Executive Director, Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, Cambridge, England Author of What Do Jews Believe? “Here is a lucid, powerful, and beautiful guide to one of the most compelling theolo- gians of our time. If you do not know Heschel, prepare to be amazed and uplifted. If you do know Heschel, you will find in these pages even more to ‘surprise the soul’ and to delight the seeking heart.” — David J. Wolpe Rabbi of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles Author of Why Faith Matters Approaching God The Way of Abraham Joshua Heschel John C. Merkle A Michael Glazier Book LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press Cover design by Ann Blattner Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC: Excerpts from MAN IS NOT ALONE: A PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1951 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1979 by Sylvia Heschel. Excerpts from THE SABBATH: ITS MEANING FOR MODERN MAN by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1951 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1979 by Sylvia Heschel. Excerpts from GOD IN SEARCH OF MAN by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1955 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1983 by Sylvia Heschel. Excerpts from THE INSECURITY OF FREEDOM by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1966 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1994 by Sylvia Heschel. Excepts from ISRAEL: AN ECHO OF ETERNITY by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1967 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1995 by Sylvia Heschel. Excerpts from A PASSION FOR TRUTH by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1973 by Sylvia Heschel. Excerpts from MORAL GRAN- DEUR AND SPIRITUAL AUDACITY by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright © 1996 by Sylvia Heschel. Introduction Copyright © 1996 by Susannah Heschel. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2009 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Merkle, John C. Approaching God : the way of Abraham Joshua Heschel / John C. Merkle. p. cm. “A Michael Glazier book.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8146-5456-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. God (Judaism) 2. Heschel, Abraham Joshua, 1907–1972—Views on God. I. Title. BM610.M47 2009 296.3092—dc22 2008051002 To Harold Kasimow, enlightened student of Heschel; enlightening teacher of Heschel’s thought, of Judaism, and of other religions; extraordinary contributor to interfaith dialogue and understanding; esteemed and cherished friend. Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction Heschel’s Witness to God 1 Chapter One Nature, Humanity, and God 13 Chapter Two God’s Revelation to the Jewish People 33 Chapter Three Jewish Responses to God 55 Chapter Four God and Religious Diversity 74 Abbreviations 93 Notes 94 Bibliography 110 Index 115 vii Preface By giving this book the title and the subtitle it has, I mean to suggest that it explores both how Abraham Joshua Heschel perceives God relat- ing to the world (God as an approaching God) and how he himself thinks about and responds to God (how he approaches God). By suggesting that God is an approaching God, Heschel does not mean to imply that God is coming toward us because of being away from us. No, for Heschel, God is always present to us. But because we are not always present to God, Heschel suggests that God must “reach out” to us (from around us and from within us) to elicit our presence, our re- sponsiveness. We dwell within the sphere of God’s presence, yet God must strive to get us to appreciate that presence. God dwells within us, yet God must awaken us to the divine indwelling. Heschel represents the best of monotheistic understanding when he claims that God’s being “transcends mysteriously all conceivable being.”1 This means, among other things, that God’s presence transcends all other types of presence. Though incomparably intimate, God’s presence is, so to speak, “incognito” in ways unlike any other. Consequently, we must “search for God,” strive to “find God,” even though God is closer to us, more present within us, than we could ever begin to imagine. We approach this ever-present (and yet in some sense unapproach- able) divine reality by thinking about God, by trying to discern God’s transcendent presence, and by striving “to live in a way that is worthy of that presence.”2 I can think of no better guide for our efforts at approach- ing God than Rabbi Heschel, whose thinking about God is replete with the most creative and provocative of theological insights, whose writings are evocative of God’s presence in ways that challenge us to strive to live in harmony with that presence. The main purpose of this book is to explore Heschel’s insights about God in the hope that they might help readers in their own approaches ix x Approaching God to God. But before engaging in a sustained exposition and analysis of Heschel’s theological insights, I begin with an introduction, “Heschel’s Witness to God,” that offers a brief overview of Heschel’s life and works in the service of God. There was real harmony between Heschel’s way of living and his way of thinking, and I offer this biographical introduction in the hope that readers will find that harmony just as inspirational for their own ways of approaching God as they will find the insights explored beyond the introduction. Chapter 1, “Nature, Humanity, and God,” explores Heschel’s insights about how human experiences of nature and humanity convey the reality and presence of God and constitute grounds for faith in God. This kind of exploration is often referred to as “natural theology,” focusing on what is called the “general revelation” of God through nature, including human nature and existence, as distinct from God’s “special revelation” attested to in the Bible. Heschel’s approach to this special revelation is the subject of the second chapter, “God’s Revelation to the Jewish People.” This is followed in chapter 3, “Jewish Responses to God,” with a discussion of what in many of his writings Heschel elucidates as the principal com- ponents of Jewish religious life: worship, learning, and ethical action. Chapter 4, “God and Religious Diversity,” then explains how Heschel, unwavering in his commitment to one particular religion, sees diversity of religions as the will of God. It is now more than two decades since the publication of my book The Genesis of Faith: The Depth Theology of Abraham Joshua Heschel (Mac- millan, 1985). Since then a number of colleagues and friends have urged me to publish an abridged and more accessible version of that book, filled as it is with lengthy philosophical arguments and explanatory endnotes. Grateful for their encouragement, I have decided to write this new book in the hope of introducing Heschel’s approach to God to a wider audi- ence than I have reached through The Genesis of Faith. While this book is very different than would be an abridged version of that earlier work, it incorporates in revised form some material from it. In my view, Heschel was the most creative and insightful American religious thinker of the twentieth century. I know of no author from any religious tradition who has written more eloquently than he about the reality and presence of God. Heschel’s prose is highly poetic and reads like outbursts of insight woven together into evocative paragraphs and chapters. Because of this, many of his readers find it difficult to perceive any sustained philosophical or theological arguments in his writings. But I am convinced that these arguments are there amidst the inspired and Preface xi inspiring pages—even if they are not cast in typical academic fashion.
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