s of
God. He sees himself, a moral being, guided by motives which lend a
purpose to his acts and his omissions, and thus feels that this purpose of
his must somehow be in accord with a higher purpose, that of a Power who
directs and controls the whole of life. The more he sees purpose ruling
individuals and nations, the more will his God-consciousness grow into the
conviction that there is but One and Only God, who in awful grandeur holds
dominion over the world. This is the developmental process of religious
truth, as it is unfolded by the prophets and as it underlies the historic
framework of the Bible. In this light Jewish monotheism appears as the
ripe fruitage of religion in its universal as well as its primitive form
of God-consciousness, as the highest attainment of man in his eternal
seeking after God. Polytheism, on the other hand, with its idolatrous and
immoral practices, appeared to the prophets and lawgivers of Israel to be,
not a competing religion, but simply a falling away from God. They felt it
to be a loss or eclipse of the genuine God-consciousness. The object of
revelation, therefore, is to lead back all mankind to the God whom it had
deserted, and to restore to all men their primal consciousness of God,
with its power of moral regeneration.

4. In the same degree as this God-consciousness grows stronger, it
crystallizes into _belief_ in God, and culminates in _love_ of God. As
stated above,(61) in Judaism belief--_Emunah_--never denotes the acceptance
of a creed. It is rather the confiding trust by which the frail mortal
finds a _firm_ hold on God amidst the uncertainties and anxieties of life,
the search for His shelter in distress, the reliance on His ever-ready
help when one's own powers fail. The believer is like a little child who
follows confidingly the guidance of his father, and feels safe when near
his arm. In fact, the double meaning of _Emunah_, faith and faithfulness,
suggests man's child-like faith in the paternal faithfulness of God. The
patriarch Abraham is presented in both Biblical and Rabbinical writings as
the pattern of such a faith,(62) and the Jewish people likewise are
characterized in the Talmud as "believers, sons of believers."(63) The
Midrash extols such life-cheering faith as the power which inspires true
heroism and deeds of valor.(64)

5. The highest triumph of God-consciousness, however, is attained in
_love_ of God such as can renounce cheerfully all the boons of life