04-08-2019, 08:37 PM
Please forgive me if that are some stupid questions. I have so far heard and read about a variety of references to the concept of messiah and what is expected to happen once he comes. To summarize my fragmentary knowledge so far (and please correct me if I got something wrong):
- there has not been a messiah yet
- if he comes, the world will enter a state of peace and people will live in harmony
and (according to one hassidic jew, so I'm not sure if that's a specific hassidic belief or universal to Judaism) the world will recognize the teachings of Judaism as the ultimate truth and all non-jews will too support the cause (with varying interpretations of what exactly that entails).
Also, the messiah is not g-d and can have flaws, but it will be known that he has arrived because of the effects that are accompanying him.
So, I was wondering, is it specifically said that the messiah will be ONE person? Or could it also be several people, a collective? Or several people at the same time? And even, is it specified that it will be one PERSON? Could the messianic age also be started by, let's say, a revolutionary innovation or something like this? Maybe far fetched, but what about AI (Artificial Intelligence, not suggesting this, just as a hypothetic question)?
How open are such statements for interpretation in front of our modern world and the technologies and societal developments that this entails? And, independently, how "set" are those statements (for example, if it is written about a male messiah because of the reference to a gramatically male gender, would it still be possible to have a female person being the messiah?)?
- there has not been a messiah yet
- if he comes, the world will enter a state of peace and people will live in harmony
and (according to one hassidic jew, so I'm not sure if that's a specific hassidic belief or universal to Judaism) the world will recognize the teachings of Judaism as the ultimate truth and all non-jews will too support the cause (with varying interpretations of what exactly that entails).
Also, the messiah is not g-d and can have flaws, but it will be known that he has arrived because of the effects that are accompanying him.
So, I was wondering, is it specifically said that the messiah will be ONE person? Or could it also be several people, a collective? Or several people at the same time? And even, is it specified that it will be one PERSON? Could the messianic age also be started by, let's say, a revolutionary innovation or something like this? Maybe far fetched, but what about AI (Artificial Intelligence, not suggesting this, just as a hypothetic question)?
How open are such statements for interpretation in front of our modern world and the technologies and societal developments that this entails? And, independently, how "set" are those statements (for example, if it is written about a male messiah because of the reference to a gramatically male gender, would it still be possible to have a female person being the messiah?)?