13 Principles of Jewish Faith

Messianic Jews are unique among other observant Jews in that we look to the Torah and Messiah and Messiah’s disciples for guidance and doctrine and theology. The rabbis of Judaism play a smaller role in our lives than in the lives of other Jews. Rabbinic rulings come behind Messiah’s and the disciples’ halakah, their interpretation of how to live a Godly life according to the commandments.

Nonetheless, the rabbis of Judaism remain an essential reference point for us as we can look to Judaism to help solve issues left unresolved by Scripture.

Today we look at some of Judaism’s guiding principles and how we Messiah-believers relate to them.

During the 12th century, as Christianity and Islam formulated and codified their theologies, Judaism – its adherents long-since dispersed from Israel – was prone to all kinds of strange doctrines and more importantly, assimilation into the gentile cultures and religions. Without a central home in Israel, Judaism needed guidance and unification.

During this period, an influential Spanish rabbi by the name of Moshe ben Maimon, better known as his Greek name, Maimonides (“my-MON-eh-dees”) or by his acronym Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon), formulated what became the basic statements of faith among many observant Jews.

In his commentary on the Mishna, Maimonides laid a foundation for observant Jewish belief in the form of his 13 Principles of Jewish Faith:

1. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.
   
   
2. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is One. There is no unity that is in any way like His. He alone is our G-d He was, He is, and He will be.
   
   
3. I believe with perfect faith that G-d does not have a body. physical concepts do not apply to Him. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him at all.
   
   
4. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is first and last.
   
   
5. I believe with perfect faith that it is only proper to pray to G-d. One may not pray to anyone or anything else.
   
   
6. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
   
   
7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true. He was the chief of all prophets, both before and after Him.
   
   
8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses.
   
   
9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be changed, and that there will never be another given by G-d.
   
   
10. I believe with perfect faith that G-d knows all of man's deeds and thoughts. It is thus written (Psalm 33:15), "He has molded every heart together, He understands what each one does."
    
    
11. I believe with perfect faith that G-d rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who transgress Him.
    
    
12. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. How long it takes, I will await His coming every day.
    
    
13. I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when G-d wills it to happen.

With Judaism being an essential point of reference for us, it’s worth evaluating these to see where the line really divides us as believers in Messiah.

One common thread throughout all these principles is …faith! “I believe with perfect faith…” This runs counter to all-too-common Christian characterization of Judaism, painting Judaism to be an entirely works-based religion, without God’s grace and without a requirement of faith.

It may be argued that certain sects of Judaism today has evolved, or perhaps, devolved, into a works-based, purely traditional and ritual religion, but for Maimonides, faith is a crux of real Judaism.

The first principle is something you’ll find repeated in many Jewish prayers.

#1. “I believe with perfect faith that G-d is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.”

Traditional Jewish prayers often start, “Blessed are you, L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe…”. Even the blessing over the drink begins, “Blessed are you, L-rd our G-d, Creator of the Fruit of the Vine…”

I’m 100% on board with this principle that God made it all. In fact, my prayers have recently aligned with the idea of coming to God in prayer and giving him praise: saying how he made it all, is our King, our head, our leader. And when Messiah taught his disciples to pray, he also started the sample prayer in a similar fashion, saying, “Our Father in Heaven, sanctified is your name…”

 

Anti-Christian?

Now surely others have suggested this, but I suspect the 2nd and 3rd principles were introduced in part to combat Christianity’s influence on Judaism. Let’s look at them:

#2 can be summed up as, “God is one” and “There’s nobody else; only God.”

#2. “I believe with perfect faith that G-d is One. There is no unity that is in any way like His. He alone is our G-d He was, He is, and He will be.”

Now, dear blog readers, do you take issue with this statement? Some Christians don’t like this statement, as it suggests Jesus cannot be God, because that would make 2 gods. Or maybe 3 gods if you count the holy spirit.

Dear blog readers, I’m here to tell you, Maimonides is 100% correct on this principle. God is one. If you have trouble swallowing this idea, consider that the Bible states this explicitly in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:

Hear, Israel, the LORD our God is one. Love the LORD with all your heart, soul, and strength!

And consider the words of our Master, the Messiah:

A teacher of the Torah tested Messiah with this question,

“Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”

Yeshua replied: “The most important one is this: ‘Hear, Israel, the LORD our God, the Lord is one. Love the LORD with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’”

Believers in Messiah should take no issue with the idea that God is one. Messiah himself said it was the most important commandment to acknowledge that God is one and that we are to love God with everything. But I suspect some Christian Trinitarians of the 12th century did not much like the idea of God being one!

One final note about the 2nd Principle is that it ends with “He was, He is, and He will be”, a phrase repeated in the New Testament in a vision of God’s throne in heaven.

The 3rd principle of Jewish faith also may be in response to the problem of Jewish assimilation into Christianity. It states clearly that God doesn’t have a body.

#3. “I believe with perfect faith that G-d does not have a body. Physical concepts do not apply to Him. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him at all.”

I have mixed feelings about this 3rd principle. Logically, if God cannot have a body, Messiah can’t be God or part of God. This presents an obvious problem for Christianity. But, ironically, this also presents a problem for Judaism: the Torah states that the Lord appeared to Avraham in the form of a man. So while God does not have a body, he certainly can take any form he wishes! If God’s all-powerful, we should not box Him in and say He cannot do this or cannot do that. With this in mind, I really do not have an issue with the 3rd principle of Jewish faith; God does not have a body, God is not a physical being.

As an interesting side note, in the 1950s when the first Russian manned spacecrafts broke out of earth’s atmosphere, one Russian stated something to the effect of, “We see no God here!”, as if expecting to see God physically sitting up above the clouds or in outer space! To most of us now, this seems silly; we don’t expect God or heaven to be a physical entity for us to seek out.

Principle #5 also takes a stab at Christianity, with Christians praying to Jesus.

#5. “I believe with perfect faith that it is only proper to pray to G-d. One may not pray to anyone or anything else.”

I also have mixed feelings about this. First, it must be stated that when Messiah’s disciples asked him how to pray, our Master did not pray to himself. Rather, he told us to pray simply to God:

“When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, sanctified is your name. May your Kingdom come. Give us our daily bread each day. Forgive our sin, for we also forgive those who sin against us. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

We must admit that our Master did not say, “Pray to me” or even, “End your prayers with, ‘In Jesus’ name’”.

Perhaps where the dividing line is, is that we who believe Messiah believe he’s one with God. We believe this because he said it plainly:

I am the way, truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said, "Master, show us the Father and that will be enough for us!"

Yeshua answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

And again, Messiah said:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

For this statement, Jews tried to stone him! They said they were going to stone him “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Our Master, the Messiah, responded:

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in the Law, 'I have said you are gods'? [Psalm 82] If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

We Messiah-followers believe Messiah and God are one. There is no distinction between praying to Messiah and praying to God. You can’t pray to God and then, if He doesn’t answer your prayer, go pray to Messiah and hope for a better answer. Messiah and God are one. Praying to God is praying to Messiah, just as seeing Messiah was seeing the Father; God is indeed one.

Observant Jews will disagree with us on this, just as they did 2000 years ago. It is a dividing line. If we can’t achieve agreement, at least we can have clarity where the line is drawn.

 

Messianic Redemption and Life from the Dead

Now, fine blog readers, I do wish to comment on all 13! But alas, your precious, limited attention span is drawing you away to other and better places on the internet. I will comment on just the final of the 13 Principles of Jewish Faith.

#12. “I believe in perfect faith in the coming of Messiah. How long it takes, I will await his coming every day.”

Wooo! Wow. I love this principle. It’s a good principle for us, as believers in Messiah. We should adopt this principle! Believe in perfect trusting that Messiah will come, no matter how long. Yes!

I think it’s no coincidence that Maimonides arranged the this principle and the next to be coupled together.

#13. “I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when G-d wills it to happen.”

While #13 may have been written to counteract the sect of Judaism that suggested there is no resurrection, this principle has a deeper meaning that is intimately tied with the coming of Messiah.

One of Messiah’s disciples, Paul, a student of the Hillel school of Judaic philosophy and learned under Rabbi Gamaliel, told the gentiles believers in Messiah:

The Master himself will come down from heaven, with a loud shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s shofar blast, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

And again he says,

I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last blast of the shofar. For the shofar will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

Yes!

I don’t know about you fine blog readers, but I do believe in perfect faith in the coming of Messiah, no matter how long it takes, and that God will raise the dead when the times comes. Amen!

What do you fine blog readers think of Maimonides’ 13 Principles?