Q&A: God’s Knowledge
God’s Knowledge
Question
Hello, and thank you for the helpful information you publish!
I watched the series on free choice, and one small question remained open for me: if the Holy One, blessed be He, created creatures that have choice, and by doing so “caused” it to be impossible for Him to know what we choose, then you could say that He created something about which He cannot know. That’s basically like the famous question: can the Holy One, blessed be He, create a stone that He cannot lift? If I compare the two, although your answer and the seemingly required answer is that He cannot, He actually can—just as He created us and cannot know what we will choose. I’m sure you have an explanation for this, and I’d be glad to know where my reasoning went wrong. Thanks in advance!
Answer
Correct. He created something about which He cannot know. So what’s the question?
Discussion on Answer
Maybe you’re asking how this is different from the stone, where it seems that He cannot create it. It’s not different. In principle, He can create a stone that nobody can lift (it is inherently unliftable), and then He too would not be able to lift it. The question is whether the concept of a stone that is not liftable is actually well-defined and has any content. It’s not a matter of the stone’s weight, because any weight is liftable. So it would have to be unliftable for some other reason. If there is such a reason, then He really can create such a stone.
As for choice, that is well defined and understandable to us. And so there it is clear that He can create information that is not accessible to Him in advance.
By the way, He did not create that information—we did, through our choice. He only gave us the power to create it (the capacity to choose).
Okay, that definitely answers my question, and of course another one came up בעקבות your answer: can we say, based on what you said, that the Holy One, blessed be He, can grant us the possibility of knowing information that He Himself does not know—for example, information about how to build a stone that is unliftable from His perspective, while we would know the “technique” for lifting it? The question is theoretical and not all that connected to reality, but it’s still interesting. In short: could there be / could there have been in our hands the knowledge to create a stone that we could lift and the Holy One, blessed be He, could not? (In the abstract sense of a stone that can be lifted, not in the sense of a heavy stone.)
Granting us knowledge of information that He Himself does not know is one thing, and giving us knowledge to create a stone that we could lift and He could not—that’s something else entirely.
It seems to me that you yourself don’t really understand what you’re asking. Think again about the question and the wording, and if for some reason you still think there is a point here worth discussing, raise it clearly.
They asked the Tzemach Tzedek whether God can create a stone that He cannot lift, and he answered that certainly He can, since He created free choice…
The deeper point is that the root of all these questions is: how did God create another subjective existence besides Himself.
And in this question all the other questions are embedded.
O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth. Rise up, Judge of the earth; render to the proud what they deserve. How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour forth arrogant words; all the workers of iniquity boast… And they say: The Lord does not see, and the God of Jacob does not understand. Understand, you brutish among the people; and you fools, when will you become wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who disciplines nations, shall He not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge—the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
I’m talking about the second issue you raised: can the Holy One, blessed be He, give us knowledge to create a stone that we could lift and He could not?
And by the way, is the series on faith continuing? On YouTube it only goes up to episode 25.
This morning lesson 26 was given. The recording will be uploaded soon.
Your hair-splitting question lost me. I suggest we leave it here.
Absolutely. Again, many thanks—I really appreciate you for your great knowledge and your willingness to help.
The question is: if He created something about which He cannot know, why can’t we claim that He can create a stone that He cannot lift?