Editing Elliot N. Dorff (section)

==Philosophy of religion==
Among other topics, Dorff is interested in [[Jewish philosophy]], especially [[epistemology]]. As a philosopher, Dorff asks about the difference between [[belief]] and [[knowledge]]. Given the philosophical definition that knowledge differs from belief (knowledge is often defined as a ''justified, true belief''), Dorff's works explicitly analyze epistemological questions. His [[philosophy of religion]], as illustrated especially in his book ''Knowing God: Jewish Journeys to the Unknowable'',<ref>{{cite book|author=Elliot N. Dorff|title=Knowing God: Jewish Journeys to the Unknowable|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfluAAAAQBAJ|year=1996|publisher=Jason Aronson, Incorporated|isbn=978-1-4616-2931-3}}</ref> stems from the analytic tradition in philosophy, with careful attention to the grounds of justified belief. He claims, however, that the Jewish tradition did not base its belief in God primarily on intellectual activity because Judaism is theistic, believing in a [[personal God]]: just as we do not come to know people through creating proofs of their existence, so too that has not been the primary way in which Jews have come to know God. Instead, he writes, to know people we talk with them and do things with them, and the same is true for how we come to know God: We talk to God through prayer; God talks to us through [[revelation]]; we do things with God through following God's [[613 commandments|commandment]]s; and God does things with us by acting in history. In ''Knowing God'' there is a chapter on each of those aspects of the interaction that Dorff says gives us knowledge of God.

In his book ''Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants'',<ref>{{cite book|author=Elliot N. Dorff|title=Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=diqTpD-UbW0C|year=1978|publisher=U'd Syn Conservative Judaism|id=GGKEY:4ZJDQ31X11K}}</ref> Dorff creates and then explains a chart of various views of revelation and Jewish law, including the mainstream Orthodox approach, four Conservative approaches, and the [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] approach. In it he describes himself as "Conservative III," according to which revelation holds no content in of itself; rather, God inspired people with His presence by coming into contact with them.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} In this view the Bible is a human response to our ancestors' encounters with God, and revelation continues each time we study and reinterpret Jewish classical texts.