Review of James A. Diamond, Jewish Theology Unbound.

Abstract

In his commentary on Exodus 20, Abraham ibn Ezra reports that his friend, Judah Halevi, asked him why God identifies himself as “your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” rather than “your God, who created heaven and earth—and who created you!” James Diamond reads this question as a fundamental inquiry into the nature of God and the nature of a relationship with God. Is God a philosophical ideal, a “prime mover,” a “first cause,” knowable through contemplation of divine perfection? Or is God a living, breathing entity, immensely powerful but dynamic, capable of growth and change?