From one century to the other…the universal character of the world.

From the builders of the Tower of Babel until the great conquerors, passing through the thinkers and political actors of today, the attempt to universalize the world has a long story. But apart from its idyllic character, is it an utopia or a concrete reality ?

From time immemorial, men associated their efforts in an attempt to universalize the world, and pursuant of a supreme objective of bequeathing" one large planetary village " to the inheritance of humanity. Alexandre the Great, Napoleon Ier, many kings engaged in this illusory project, ultimately obtaining opposite effects. The biblical account establishes that the intentions of the instigators of the Tower of Babel, true universalist pioneers, were only the prelude of this hegemonic and arrogant concept, where all men would be freed from divine Providence, united for the worst. However, the program to universalize prompts deep interrogations : which is the ultimate objective, which morals and what justice are being applied ? How to justify such a normative tendency and under which banners should it be placeed ? Can the perpetuation of the universalism enterprise depend, without danger, on the absolute power of men ? Shouldn't one rather realize that this universalism must refer itself to the creation of man by one single G.d, and that consequently these men are free and equal, united by a common destiny ? That is what the Bible declares while making correspond G.d the Creator with the G.d of the peoples.

Since the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Pentateuch realized under Ptolemeus II, and the Vulgate, its Latin version, one notes that the biblical writings acquired an international dimension, as well as gained in credibility amongst the citizens of the world. From then on, the idea that G.d is both immanent and transcendent penetrated the whole world. It would be impossible to quote all those who adhered to the biblical message, and elected it like the only universal declaration, either while adhering to these laws, or by observing the 7 Noa’hide laws. Let us quote simply Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu : " the Revolution was only one application of the ideal that Israel had brought to the world. The idea of social justice is a Jewish idea (…) to find the source first of 1789 (…), it is necessary to go up, through traditional antiquity (…) down to the Bible, with the Torah and the Prophets. ".

And if the Jewish people are the agent of the collective divine will, all citizens of the world have their share of responsibility, morality and faith in an effort of universality while adhering to the 7 Noa’hide laws , as explains rabbi Elie Bénamozegh, author of " Israel and L’Humanité " : " Jewish particularism tends towards universal ends ; it does not have any other "raison d'être" than the faith in a single God, no other goals than the establishment of its reign among all peoples ".

During the 1st century, Rome is the theatre of divergences between the absolute fascination towards sheer power, the reform of the biblical writings and the way without compromise which the Bible delineates. From Antonin, who will convert to Judaism, to Julien, who will order in 361 that the Temple of G.d be rebuilt, through the himyarites and the khazars, the idea of only one G.d sustains the world is conquering the minds. The followers of universal laws appear on the horizon. In 1640, inspired by the biblical laws, John Selden, lawyer and member of the English Parliament will publish " the national law and the law of nations according to the Hebrews ". In 1777, Jean Antoine Fabre, Chief engineer of the "Ponts et Chaussées" accepts the Noa’hide laws following his meeting with famous Rabbin Haïm Yossef David Azoulay. Chateaubriant will write : "(...) Here are laws that the Eternel engraved, not only on the stone of the Sinai, but still in the heart of man. One is struck by the character of universality which distinguishes this divine tablet from human tablets which precede it. It is here the law for all the people, for all times. "Minister of Education (1863), Victor Duruy will note : " the Jews were for the very whole humanity like the sacerdotal caste of the worship of the Eternal, universal G.d, that they are meant to reveal in the world when the times will be ripe ". Beyond the controversies about him, the journalist Aimé Pallière will write : " the Judaism is the core, the center of the universal religion, and all other worships are attached to it, and consequently legitimated, insofar as they are faithful to its principles ".

In 1980, Pr John Wheeler publishes the article "Delayed Choice Experiment", which will be read in front of Royal Society, then in front of the American Philosophical Society. It compares the elementary quantum process with an act of ex-nihilo creation which would be the result of the participation of an observer for each real phenomenon. It results from it that without the presence of man, there would be neither universe, nor physical laws. Wheeler finds an allusion to this approach in biblical texts. According to Wheeler, "Humanity - which thus plays, according to quantum Theory, the most central role in the cosmos - needs a thinker of such a breadth that he will be able to reveal the total meaning of the existence of our universe, and to thus play a part of Guide within a reality often replete with mysteries". The universal character of the Bible thus becomes undeniable. It is what proclaims Isaïe the prophet: " world was not created for chaos, but for one residing in it ". It's up to us, with the 7 laws of Noah, to make so that this world becomes a residence for G.d and that humanity lives here according to Its will.

Photographs : The tower of Babel by Breughel, the emperor Antonin Marc-Aurèle, the lawyer John Selden and the physicist John Wheller.