God in Search of Man (1955) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism is a companion volume to Man Is Not Alone in which Heschel discusses the nature of religious thought, how thought becomes faith, and how faith creates responses in the believer. He discusses ways people can seek God's presence and the radical amazement we receive in return. He offers a criticism of nature worship, a study of humanity's metaphysical loneliness, and his view that we can consider God in search of humanity. The first section concludes with a study of Jews as a chosen people. Section two deals with the idea of revelation and what it means for one to be a prophet. This section gives us his idea of revelation as an event instead of a process. This relates to Israel's commitment to God. Section three discusses his views on how a Jew should understand the nature of Judaism as a religion. He discusses and rejects the idea that mere faith (without law) alone is enough but then cautions rabbis against adding too many restrictions to Jewish law. He discusses the need to correlate ritual observance with spirituality and love and the importance of Kavanah (intention) when performing mitzvot. He discusses religious behaviorism—when people strive for external compliance with the law, yet disregard the importance of inner devotion.
god in search of man (1955) god in search of man a philosophy of judaism is a companion volume to man is not alone in which heschel discusses the nature of religious thought how thought becomes faith and how faith creates responses in the believer he discusses ways people can seek god's presence and the radical amazement we receive in return he offers a criticism of nature worship a study of humanity's metaphysical loneliness and his view that we can consider god in search of humanity the first section concludes with a study of jews as a chosen people section two deals with the idea of revelation and what it means for one to be a prophet this section gives us his idea of revelation as an event instead of a process this relates to israel's commitment to god section three discusses his views on how a jew should understand the nature of judaism as a religion he discusses and rejects the idea that mere faith (without law) alone is enough but then cautions rabbis against adding too many restrictions to jewish law he discusses the need to correlate ritual observance with spirituality and love and the importance of kavanah (intention) when performing mitzvot he discusses religious behaviorism—when people strive for external compliance with the law yet disregard the importance of inner devotion