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Monica Cellio
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That philosophy violates some core tenets of Judaism:

  • The concepts of teshuva and atonement are very important in Judaism, and say that we can repair a damaged relationship with God. The "you're damned and there's nothing you can do about it" idea is in direct opposition to that. Even non-Jews who God had decreed against (Nineveh in the book of Yonah) were able to save themselves. Every year we have Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, on which -- if we have returned from our bad ways, made amends, and asked for forgiveness -- we receive atonement. For more about atonement, see this article from Chabad.

  • Christianity, and thus Calvinism, has as a core concept "original sin", that people are born sinful and must be "saved". Judaism, on the other hand, holds that we have a yetzer tovhatov (good inclination) and a yetzer hara (bad inclination) (more information) and that we need both. Having the yetzer hara does not make us evil or sinfulsinful; in fact, it is necessary for life (Yoma 69b).

  • It sounds like Calvinism has quotas -- some people are going to Heaven and some to Hell (we don't really do Hell either, not in the way Christians do), and there's nothing you can do about it. Judaism aspires to a time when the whole world will follow God, as expressedexpressed in the Aleinu prayer that is part of every service.

That philosophy violates some core tenets of Judaism:

  • The concepts of teshuva and atonement are very important in Judaism, and say that we can repair a damaged relationship with God. The "you're damned and there's nothing you can do about it" idea is in direct opposition to that.

  • Christianity, and thus Calvinism, has as a core concept "original sin", that people are born sinful and must be "saved". Judaism, on the other hand, holds that we have a yetzer tov (good inclination) and a yetzer hara (bad inclination) and that we need both. Having the yetzer hara does not make us evil or sinful.

  • It sounds like Calvinism has quotas -- some people are going to Heaven and some to Hell (we don't really do Hell either, not in the way Christians do), and there's nothing you can do about it. Judaism aspires to a time when the whole world will follow God, as expressed in the Aleinu prayer that is part of every service.

That philosophy violates some core tenets of Judaism:

  • The concepts of teshuva and atonement are very important in Judaism, and say that we can repair a damaged relationship with God. The "you're damned and there's nothing you can do about it" idea is in direct opposition to that. Even non-Jews who God had decreed against (Nineveh in the book of Yonah) were able to save themselves. Every year we have Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, on which -- if we have returned from our bad ways, made amends, and asked for forgiveness -- we receive atonement. For more about atonement, see this article from Chabad.

  • Christianity, and thus Calvinism, has as a core concept "original sin", that people are born sinful and must be "saved". Judaism, on the other hand, holds that we have a yetzer hatov (good inclination) and a yetzer hara (bad inclination) (more information) and that we need both. Having the yetzer hara does not make us evil or sinful; in fact, it is necessary for life (Yoma 69b).

  • It sounds like Calvinism has quotas -- some people are going to Heaven and some to Hell (we don't really do Hell either, not in the way Christians do), and there's nothing you can do about it. Judaism aspires to a time when the whole world will follow God, as expressed in the Aleinu prayer that is part of every service.

Source Link
Monica Cellio
  • 57k
  • 10
  • 117
  • 365

That philosophy violates some core tenets of Judaism:

  • The concepts of teshuva and atonement are very important in Judaism, and say that we can repair a damaged relationship with God. The "you're damned and there's nothing you can do about it" idea is in direct opposition to that.

  • Christianity, and thus Calvinism, has as a core concept "original sin", that people are born sinful and must be "saved". Judaism, on the other hand, holds that we have a yetzer tov (good inclination) and a yetzer hara (bad inclination) and that we need both. Having the yetzer hara does not make us evil or sinful.

  • It sounds like Calvinism has quotas -- some people are going to Heaven and some to Hell (we don't really do Hell either, not in the way Christians do), and there's nothing you can do about it. Judaism aspires to a time when the whole world will follow God, as expressed in the Aleinu prayer that is part of every service.