DEUT148 Our religious mode of life was the first to give humanity a God who, within Himself, incorporated all that was ideal and who demanded the same combination of virtues in those who followed Him. Those who spoke in the name of the Jewish God made it clear from the outset that to serve Him was not to indulge in theoretical discussions of ethical tracts but to translate His moral demands into a life of good deeds. Jewish authorities never compiled an "Index Expurgatorius", before the people. The only recorded instance in the Talmud of an attempt being made to exclude the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Esther was triumphantly frustrated by an authority no less eminent than R. Akiva (See Meg. 7a). Man was to be judged by his actions, the only true criterion of Godliness. (See Leviticus xviii. 5; [this verse], Jer. vii. 3-7; Amos v. 14-15; Ps. xxxiv 12-15; xxxvii. 27; cf. Kiddushin 40b).