Across families
Nizari Ismailism and Orthodox Judaism
Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.16 (0 would be identical).
Reads scripture allegorically through ta’wil, guided by a living hereditary Imam whose interpretation is authoritative for the present. The combination of esoteric reason and highly centralised living authority is close to unique in this matrix.
Covenant with a people, worked out in a law that covers ordinary life in detail, under an interpretive authority that is rabbinic rather than priestly. The lowest E3 value in the matrix: belonging here is inherited, not chosen.
Where they agree
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.00.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Both sit at an intentional act — a gap of 0.03.
D3 The body
Both sit at between to be disciplined and to be celebrated — a gap of 0.04.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.06.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at clergy and tradition decide — a gap of 0.07.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at between one true path and many valid paths — a gap of 0.07.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound and leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound respectively — a gap of 0.08.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.08.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.08.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at leaning a personal being one can address and a personal being one can address respectively — a gap of 0.10.
Where they part company
B2 Reading of sacred text
Nizari Ismailism: leaning metaphorical, or no text at all. Orthodox Judaism: literal and binding. A gap of 0.63 on an axis running from “literal and binding” to “metaphorical, or no text at all”.
B1 Source of truth
Nizari Ismailism: between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience. Orthodox Judaism: revealed and fixed. A gap of 0.47 on an axis running from “revealed and fixed” to “reason and direct experience”.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Nizari Ismailism: between essential and prescribed and optional or absent. Orthodox Judaism: essential and prescribed. A gap of 0.43 on an axis running from “essential and prescribed” to “optional or absent”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Nizari Ismailism | Orthodox Judaism | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.00 |
| A2 Personhood | leaning a personal being one can address | a personal being one can address | 0.10 |
| A3 Plurality | strictly one | strictly one | 0.06 |
| A4 Locus | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within it | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within it | 0.14 |
| B1 Source of truth | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | revealed and fixed | 0.47 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | leaning metaphorical, or no text at all | literal and binding | 0.63 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | clergy and tradition decide | 0.07 |
| C1 Survival of the self | continues in some form | leaning continues in some form | 0.23 |
| C2 Shape of time | one life, then judgment | one life, then judgment | 0.00 |
| C3 The human condition | between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.08 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | 0.08 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | between essential and prescribed and optional or absent | essential and prescribed | 0.43 |
| D3 The body | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | 0.04 |
| E1 Exclusivity | between one true path and many valid paths | between one true path and many valid paths | 0.07 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | an intentional act | an intentional act | 0.03 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning a people, inherited | a people, inherited | 0.27 |
| E4 Standing of nature | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | 0.08 |
Positions for Nizari Ismailism rest principally on Ismaili ta’wil literature and contemporary Imamate guidance; for Orthodox Judaism, on Tanakh, Mishnah and Shulchan Aruch. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.