The Encyclopedia of World Religions

theodicy S 445

thew 7.12). Indeed, according to rabbinical tradi tion there are 613 mitzvot (commandments) in T ORAH , the first five books of the B IBLE . But the Ten Commandments are the most important. According to the Bible, the Ten Command ments were the first instructions given to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai (or Horeb) when they entered into a COVENANT with God. As such, they can be seen as analogous to the stipulations that rulers in the ancient Near East passed down whenever they took charge of a people. For Jews and Christians today, however, they are of univer sal significance. The commandments may be divided into two “tables” or parts. The first part deals with obliga tions human beings have to God. They are not to WORSHIP any God but YHWH (“the Lord”); they are not to make any images for worship; they are not to use the name YHWH improperly; and they are to observe the Sabbath rest. As a result of the third commandment, it has become common in J UDAISM never to utter the name YHWH. When the SCRIPTURES are read, the word Adonai, roughly, “the Lord,” is substituted for God’s name. In accordance with the fourth commandment, observing the Sab bath is one of the major practices of Judaism. The second table or part of the Ten Command ments deals with relationships between human beings. It is similar to prescriptions found in other religions, for example, the Five Precepts in B UD DHISM : Respect your parents; do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not testify falsely; and do not covet or desire what belongs to someone else. Although certainly not a com plete and sufficient guide on how to act, these six commandments provide basic guidelines for life in society. The Ten Commandments are an important symbol of Judaism. They are often depicted in the form that recalls the two tablets that M OSES received from God (Exodus 31.18): as two rectangles, taller than they are wide, with rounded tops on which are inscribed in Hebrew the first letters of each com mandment. In this form, the commandments can often be seen in SYNAGOGUES , displayed above the doors of the ark where the Torah scrolls are kept.

Tenrikyo One of the “new religions” of Japan. Tenrikyo was founded by Nakayama Miki (1798– 1887) as a result of a commission she received while in trance in 1838 to serve as herself the shrine of “the true and original G OD ,” also called Oyagami, “God the Parent.” Tenrikyo emphasizes the story of the creation of the world received through the Foundress, and says that God is try ing to call human beings back to himself through revealing this story to the world through her. The worship is based on attractive dances enacting the creation story, and sweeping away “dusts” that have accumulated since then. It is headquartered in Tenri City, a large town near Nara that is cen tered on the religion and where one finds a striking temple, university, hospital, hostels for pilgrims, and administrative buildings. The religion is wide spread in Japan and has been brought to other countries, largely within communities of Japanese immigrants. ( See J APAN , NEW RELIGIONS IN .) theodicy An attempt to answer a theologi cal question: If G OD is good, omnipotent, and omniscient, why is there EVIL and suffering in the world? Theodicy has been one of the most persistent and troubling questions in J UDAISM and C HRISTIANITY . That is because Jews and Christians want to say several things about God: God desires good for creation, including human beings; God is all-powerful; and God knows everything. If all three of these statements are true, it becomes difficult to explain why evil and suffering exist. Archibald Macleish expressed this difficulty clev erly in his play, J.B.: “If God is God he is not good; if God is good he is not God; take the even, take the odd.” The same difficulty confronts a child whose mother or father is killed in an auto mobile accident: “Why did God let Mommy—or Daddy—die?” One response says that, despite our experi ences of suffering and evil, God has in fact made the best world possible. This was the position of the German philosopher G. W. Leibniz (1646– 1716). But this position is not without its critics. In his book Candide the French writer Voltaire