What can a man believe

:K ANNEX

500
8175

a Man

By
RABBI MARTIN ZIELONKA

TEMPLE MT. SINAI
EL PASO, TEXAS

Stack
Annex

£7
^ CQ

What Can a Mangy 7,
Believe?

BY RABBI MARTIN ZIELONKA

Based on the Book, "What Can a Man

Believe," by Bruce Barton.

It was in a Pullman car — I noticed
a man reading a book and he, in
turn, noticing my interest in what
he was reading said, "There ought
to be more books like this; it hits
the bull's-eye at every point: it is
what we need today." I looked at
the book and it was Bruce Barton's
"What Can A Man Believe." Noting
the enthusiasm of this man, who
seemed an average successful busi-
ness man, I deemed it best to read
the book and to see what appealed
so strongly to the average man.

Religion is a favorite topic of con-
versation wherever men forgather.
They love to show their liberalism, or
at least the veneer of liberalism.
They love to point out the places in
the Bible in which they do not be-
lieve, where moral standards seem
to be lower than our present stand-
ards, and to pick flaws in the life
story of Bible heroes, forgetting or
probably not knowing, that the sub-
limity of the Bible rests on its splen-
did human characteristics. In the
Bible no one is a goody-goody, each
one sins in some particular way and
the good of the completed life so
overshadows the slip from settled
standards of morality, that we rec-
ognize brethren, fellow workers, in
the fields of human endeavor. Not
even a Moses, was sinless. He was
not granted the right to enter the
Promised Land. Judaism knows no
perfect man at any time in the his-
tory of the world. Thus in these
conversations we gain an insight into
Mr. Average Man and Mr. Average
Man feels that this book of Bruce

i 5308175

Baton's is just about the last word
on his favorite theme

Some one in reviewing the works
of Bruce Barton said; as the author
of "Book That Nobody Knows" he
presented the Bible as only he knew
it: that as the author of "The Man
Nobody Knows" he presented a
sketch of the founder of Christian-
ity who was only known to him. If
I might carry this suggestion a lit-
tle further, I would say that in pre-
senting "What Can A Man Believe,"
he really presents a work on "The
Religion Nobody Knows." And in
saying that I am epitomizing my
comment on the book.

The author traces the origin of
faith, he shows the accomplishments
of faith and then in his own words
"The plea of this book is for a frank
recognition of the truth that the
faith which begets great Achieve-
ments and the faith which worships
are both of the same spirit: that re-
ligion is as natural and normal a part
of human experience as birth and
growth and hope and love. We say
that it is time to take religion out of
the hush-hush class: to recognize
frankly and normally that every
worth while enterprise is an act of
faith that:

There is no unbelief
Whoever plants a seed beneath the

sod

And waits to see it push away the
clod

He trusts in God."

This is splendid. As also is splen-
did his criticism of the use to which
the religious forces are put today —
"And the great forces of its organ-
ized power are exerted for what? To
keep people who like wine and who
consider there is no moral wrong in
drinking it, from having it. To sup-
pi ess Sunday games. To be very bit-
ter and unforgiving toward the girl
who yields to the impulses of hot
blood. These things which Jesus re-
garded as of less importance have
become the law and the prophets. And
the other and greater sins go usually
unrebuked."

Credit also must be granted for
pointing out to the average man
that "education in America did not
start with some millionaire donat-
ing a stadium: it started with a sin-
cere hope that learning and religious
leadership might be preserved." Not
the men of wealth are responsible for
Harvard, but the humble preachers
and teachers who gave their libraries
and donated their time and talent.
This ought to be emphasized in this
age where we believe that millions
are absolutely needed and that mil-
lionaires present the only saviors of
our schools and our public works. At
the same time we want to recognize
that "if democracy and modern ed-
ucation are the gifts of the church,
so also are hospitals for the sick and
insane, and all the multitude of ag-
encies for social forces in which our
civilization has so much pride.

The word church must be under-
stood in the broadest sense. For the
synagogue and Temple have been
leaders in these humanitarian ef-
forts and they have received their in-
spiration from the teaching of the
Old Testament. Jewish hospitals and
orphanages are the leaders in this
line of endeavor and the Jew has giv-
en to social service not only its tech-
nique but also its method of raising
funds.

I shall not discuss all the questions
that Bruce Barton claims are the
inspiration for his work. The first
two questions he has not answered
satisfactorily. He has often begged
the question. But when he tries to
answer — "Of the various religions
now extant which is the best?"
"What few simple things, if any, can
a business man believe" and "If there
is to be a faith of the future, what
kind of a faith will it be?" then I
want the right to question every
statement that he has made.

He discusses Buddhism, Confu-
cianism and Mohammedanism and
naturally sets these aside for Chris-
tianity. Just where he got his in-
formation about these foreign relig-
ions, I do not know, but judging
from his statements they were de-

rived from biased sources, whose ob-
ject was to prove the inferiority of
these religions to that of his own.
And in doing so he naturally magni-
fies his own. I do not know how many
followers of these faiths Bruce Bar-
ton knows, so that by his examina-
tion into their lives he might deduce
the effect of the teaching upon their
conduct? Probably very few, if any!
But he surely knows some Jews, he
knows of the activities of Jews in
every form of human endeavor, he
could easily verify Jewish facts in
the large centers of American life
and yet he has not a line about Ju-
daism and its teachings or about the
possibility that it may contain those
fundamental truths that a man can
believe, because it is the foundation
of all Christian teaching. It is
strange that in searching for truth,
for fundamentals by which the mod-
ern man can live, he should go far
afield, to Buddhism, Confucianism
and Mohammedanism, when there ex-
isted at his side a faith, from which
his own faith has developed which
still shows vitality and ability to ad-
just itself to its surroundings.

Thus for instance, he ascribes to
his form of faith those cardinal doc-
trines that belong primarily to Ju-
daism and because the sister relig-
ions have not accepted them are
still emphasized by that veteran of
faiths, Judaism. For instance, he
tells us that the message of Jesus
was — "God is a Father, who may be
approached directly by any of His
Children without mediation of tem-
ple or priest." Now . s a matter of
fact the churches that have been
founded in the name of Jesus, em-
phasize at all times that God can best
be approached, or only approached,
through the mediatorship of Jesus:
while accepting God as the Father,
they feel that it is through his son
that salvation will come. At the same
time the author is ignorant of the
fact that even within the ancient
temple walls, where priests offered
sacrifices, there were special places
where prayer alone was offered, and
that prayer was directed directly to

God. As early as in the days of Eli,
the priest, Hannah answers — "No,
my lord, I am a woman of a sorrow-
ful spirit: I have drunk neither wine
or strong drink, but I poured out
my soul before the Lord", for Han-
nah had "prayed unto the Lord and
wept sore." The Jew has always
taught and is still teaching today
that God is the Father who may be
approached directly at all times. That
is the message of our holy-day sea-
son— God, the Father, offering a
means of redemption unto his child-
ren.

And if he examines "the various
religions now extant" in order to
reach some reasonable conclusion as
to "which is best" then out of fair-
ness to his readers, out of fairness to
the struggle that Judaism has car-
ried on all these centuries, he ought
to have included that faith in his
survey. If he had done this, then he
might have found an easier answer
to the other two questions. He might
not have offered forced explanations
for miracles and other things that
need so much explaining and he may
have found the reason why "it is
likewise true that Jesus of Nazareth
might feel uncomfortable in some of
the temples erected in His name."

And then when he answers the
questions concerning religion he pre-
sents a diluted Christianity that can
hardly be accepted by any organized
Christian Church. He presents a
faith that approaches nearer and
nearer to that faith from which Chris-
tianity sprang and which this house
of God is proclaiming year in and
year out.

"What are the simplest things we
can write down?" he says. He places
them in this order, 1. I believe in my-
self (and no one who reads the book
can have any doubt that Bruce Bar-
ton believes in himself). 2. I know
that I am intelligent. 3. Because I
am, I believe in God. 4. Immor-
tality of some sort is a necessary
compliment t^ the existence and na-
ture of God."

We will not quarrel with the order
in which these axioms are placed :

we would simply point out that there-
in is said nothing of the great body
of doctrine that is essential to Chris-
tianity. Nor is such a statement a
satisfactory one for the religion of
today. If this is the order of the
credos of modern belief then has
man m:.de God in his own imagt and
he believes as Barton says that "In-
telligence is God." Surely there is
not found in such a statement the
sanctions and urge for further en-
deavor along these lines which he
previously pointed out as the gifts
of religion to the civilization of all
times — education, hospitals, orphan-
ages and general recognition of our
duty to the lowly. Surely that can-
not be the "faith of the futture," it
would be a sferile faith.

And before giving our answer as
to "What Can a Man Believe," let
us note the strictures that he places
upon the modern church. Whether
they apply to the modern synagogue,
I shall let yo.. answer for yourselves.
He says — First — "In one respect the
church can learn honesty from busi-
ness." He makes this statement with
reference to church statistics about
which we heard so much a few
months ago. I am under the impres-
sion that it is the business of relig-
ion to tea«.h ^onesty to business. At
least, I believe that business needs
that lesson if the record of a famous
lawsuit recently tried in Washing-
ton is a criterion as to what is going
on in the business world, and if the
innumerable lawsuits that crowd the
courts of every commuitv in America
prove anything. Secondly — "It
sounds almost shocking, ytet it is
true, that in some respects the church
does not have as much faith as bus-
iness." There is a kernel of truth in
this matter. Somehow or another
the business man lives day by day
through faith and carries on his bus-
iness through faith, but when he
faces the real issues of life then he
lacks that strength of faith that wLl
move mountains. As Barton tells us
— The whole modern commercial
structure is built on a foundation of
credit. And what is the world credit,

where does it come from? Credo — I
believe. Business is good or bad,
statisticians point out, according to
the degree of confidence. What is
confidence? Confides, with faith.
Such and such a concern is weak be-
cause its personnel lacks fidelity.Fi-
delity: fidelis: faithful." The same
belief, confidence and faith we need
in the affairs of our churches and
synagogues.

Third — Business is endlessly flex-
ible and adaptable: the church is too
often rigid and unadaptable. There-
in is a valid criticism of many mod-
ern churches but it is not valid so far
as this temple or its interpretation of
religion is concerned. It does adopt
itself to the needs of the day; it has
set aside the outworn garments of
the fathers and is seeking to clothe
in greater splendor the strong body
of Jewish teachinp-s that is funda-
mental to all faith. Fourthly — Busi-
ness checks up on itself frequently
to be sure ihat it is still headed for
its original goal. Is there not need
for a similar check up on the part
of the church?" Yes. and the church
or synagogue that fails to do this, is
not meeting the demands of a mod-
ern church

I must hasten to a close. If Bruce
Barton had been honest in his search
for an answer to the question, "What
Can A Man Believe" and if he had
turned to the teaching of the Reform
Jewish Synagogue, he would have
found his answer if he were open
minded to accept it. Let me place it
in the words that our confirmation
classes learn each year —

1. "We believe with a sincere and
steadfast faith that there is a God,
who is one and only one the Crea-
tor, Preserver and Ruler of the
World."

2. "We believe with a sincere and
steadfast faith that man is created
in the image of God, innocent and
pure, with the impulse to develop to-
ward perfection."

3. "We believe with a sincere and
steadfast faith that the soul of man
is immortal, its righteousness brings
reward, its wickedness punishment.

4. "We believe with a sincere and
steadfast faith in the common father-
hood of God and the comrr.on brother-
hood of man."

To the latter we, as Jews, add —
"To realize this is the great aim and
hope — the mission of Israel."

Without this latter phrase, here is
a statement of fundamentals, begin-
ning with God and not with man,
which we feel that every honest man
can accept. We have here the teach-
ings which have been and will con-
tinue to be the inspiration for all the
splendid fellowship work for which
Barton gives the Church credit. We
have here a statement that does not
need to apologize for or explain away
some of the teachings ascribed to
religion. These answer definitely the
question of his book "What Can A
Man Believe" and we present it to
him for consideration. For the re-
ligion he presents to the American
public is a "Religion that Nobody
Knows" and that no Christian Church
woul accept arf its teachings and its
program.

J1NIV. GE CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELE!

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