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Encyclopedia entry: Tolerance
- Article from:
- A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion
- Author:
Copyright© A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information)
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Tolerance
Religious tolerance is, in the main, a modern idea advanced by thinkers such as
Spinoza
, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill, who broke consciously with tradition in this matter. Pre-modern Judaism, like pre-modern Christianity and Islam, held that there could be no toleration of religious viewpoints other than its own. Jews with a historical sense appreciate that certain ideas acceptable in a pluralistic society are simply not found in the classical sources but are none the worse for that.
The most striking fact which emerges from the biblical writings in the matter of tolerance is that the prophets of ancient Israel were totally uncompromising with apostasy and
idolatry
among ...