The problem of Judaism would not be so acute if the traditional doctrine of revelation were merely obsolete. The trouble is that to cherish that doctrine is as unethical as being guilty of bigamy. To believe that we are in possession of the authentically revealed will of God is incompatible with religious tolerance to say nothing of religious equality.
[Kaplan biographer Mel Scult writes: Kaplan was truly a revolutionary and I would like to maintain that we have not yet begun to understand the radical nature of his theological commitments. The central event of Sinai which we celebrate on Shavuot is not reinterpreted here or put into language that is more acceptable to us. It is rather dismissed as unethical because it assumes the existence of some eternal truth, a doctrine that Kaplan dismisses. Many moderns are in the same situation but they refuse to face it squarely and to see our situation for what it is.
Kaplan challenges us to face the fact that we cannot grasp the eternal and that whatever the basic truths are they are changeable and not the special property of any group. It is not easy to accept such ideas and make them part of a religious commitment but if we are followers of Kaplan that is what we must do. It is also clear that pluralism and tolerance for the beliefs of others is more important to Kaplan than any supposed revelation. . —Mel Scult]