The idea
This idea states that Judaism closely bound the law to God’s presence, and that this linkage emerged as a historical response to the loss of the kingdom and the Temple. The law thus ceased to be merely a legal system and became a sign of the continuing relationship with the divine within the community. The meaning here is that law carries both a religious and a symbolic function at once.
Concise formulation
Judaism: the identification of the law with God’s presence
Its place in the book’s argument
This idea appears in the book as an example that shows how the relationship between religion and history takes shape. It is not mentioned for its own sake alone, but to demonstrate that religious systems change according to the historical shocks they undergo. It therefore contributes to the argument that understanding religions requires reading the history of their formation, not merely their abstract form.
Why it matters
This idea helps explain Arkoun’s way of comparing religions from within their historical development rather than from an external polemical standpoint. It also reveals to the reader that the law may carry a spiritual function that goes beyond legal rulings, because it preserves a sense of continuity after the loss of political or symbolic centrality. This illuminates an important aspect of the structure of the sacred in communities.
Brief evidence
In Judaism, there is an identification between the law and God’s presence after the loss of the kingdom and the Temple. The law thus became not merely a legal system, but a sign of the continuity of the relationship with the divine within the community. Here, law carries both a religious and a symbolic function at once.
Reading questions
- How does law become a sign of divine presence?
- What is the relationship between the loss of the historical center and the growing importance of the law?
Documentation level
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.