1. We recognize in every religion an attempt to grasp the
Infinite, and in every mode, source or book of revelation held
sacred in any religious system the consciousness of the indwelling
of God in man. We hold that Judaism presents the highest conception
of the God-idea as taught in our Holy Scriptures and developed
and spiritualized by the Jewish teachers, in accordance with
the moral and philosophical progress of their respective ages.
We maintain that Judaism preserved and defended midst continual
struggles and trials and under enforced isolation, this God-idea
as the central religious truth for the human race.
2. We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration
of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one
God, and value it as the most potent instrument of religious
and moral instruction. We hold that the modern discoveries of
scientific researches in the domain of nature and history are
not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the Bible reflecting
the primitive ideas of its own age, and at times clothing its
conception of divine Providence and Justice dealing with men
in miraculous narratives.
3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training
the Jewish people for its mission during its national life in
Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws,
and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our
lives, but reject al such as are not adapted to the views and
habits of modern civilization.
4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate
diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under
the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental
and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with
a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is
apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.
5. We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of
heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel
s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of
truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves
no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore
expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship
under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws
concerning the Jewish state.
6. We recognize in Judaism a progressive religion, ever striving
to be in accord with the postulates of reason. We are convinced
of the utmost necessity of preserving the historical identity
with our great past.. Christianity and Islam, being daughter
religions of Judaism, we appreciate their providential mission,
to aid in the spreading of monotheistic and moral truth. We acknowledge
that the spirit of broad humanity of our age is our ally in the
fulfillment of our mission, and therefore we extend the hand
of fellowship to all who cooperate with us in the establishment
of the reign of truth and righteousness among men.
7. We reassert the doctrine of Judaism that the soul is immortal,
grounding the belief on the divine nature of human spirit, which
forever finds bliss in righteousness and misery in wickedness.
We reject as ideas not rooted in Judaism, the beliefs both in
bodily resurrection and in Gehenna and Eden (Hell and Paradise)
as abodes for everlasting punishment and reward.
8. In full accordance with the spirit of the Mosaic legislation,
which strives to regulate the relations between rich and poor,
we deem it our duty to participate in the great task of modern
times, to solve, on the basis of justice and righteousness, the
problems presented by the contrasts and evils of the present
organization of society.
--Quoted from James G. Heller, _Isaac M. Wise: His Life, Work
and Thought_ (New York: 1965, The Union of American Hebrew Congregations,
Library of Congres Catalogue Card No. 64-24340), pp. 464-465.