rigid conservatives, such as Isaac
Abravanel and David ben Zimra, altogether disapproved the attempt to
formulate articles of faith. The former maintained that every word in the
Torah is, in fact, a principle of faith, and the latter(51) pointed in the
same way to the 613 commandments of the Torah, spoken of by R. Simlai the
Haggadist in the third century.(52)

The present age of historical research imposes the same necessity of
restatement or reformulation upon us. We must do as Maimonides did,--as
Jews have always done,--point out anew the really fundamental doctrines,
and discard those which have lost their holdup on the modern Jew, or which
conflict directly with his religious consciousness. If Judaism is to
retain its prominent position among the powers of thought, and to be
clearly understood by the modern world, it must again reshape its
religious truths in harmony with the dominant ideas of the age.

Many attempts of this character have been made by modern rabbis and
teachers, most of them founded upon Albo's three articles. Those who
penetrated somewhat more deeply into the essence of Judaism added a fourth
article, the belief in Israel's priestly mission, and at the same time,
instead of the belief in retribution, included the doctrine of man's
kinship with God, or, if one may coin the word, his _God-childship_.(53)
Few, however, have succeeded in working out the entire content of the
Jewish faith from a modern viewpoint, which must include historical,
critical, and psychological research, as well as the study of comparative
religion.

12. The following tripartite plan is that of the present attempt to
present the doctrines of Judaism systematically along the lines of
historical development:

I. GOD

_a._ Man's consciousness of God, and divine revelation.

_b._ God's spirituality, His unity, His holiness, His perfection.

_c._ His relation to the world: Creation and Providence.

_d._ His relation to man: His justice, His love and mercy.

II. MAN

_a._ Man's God-childship; his moral freedom and yearning for God.

_b._ Sin and repentance; prayer and worship; immortality, reward and
punishment.

_c._ Man and humanity: the moral factors in history.

III. ISRAEL AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

_a._ The priest-mission of Israel, its destiny as teacher and martyr among
the nations, and its Messianic hope.

_b._ The Kingdom of God: the nations and religions of the world in a
divine plan of universal salvat