Q&A: Doubts Are Nesting Within Me
Doubts Are Nesting Within Me
Question
I see that the right thing to do is to serve God. The question that keeps coming up for me is: why do I think that? I can’t find any answer other than psychological influences, like environment, things I’ve read, the education I received, and so on. So the question is whether, in the end, all decisions of faith and commitment boil down to external psychological influences, or whether there is something beyond that—and if so, how do I distinguish between the two? And what do I answer to the question, “Why do you want to serve God?” Of course, it’s impossible to deny psychological influences.
I’d be happy for an answer, thanks 🙂
Answer
By the way, your question does not apply specifically to religious faith, but to any claim you believe in, in any area whatsoever, including science and morality, and really everything. About anything, one could ask: maybe this is just psychology.
Every argument is based on foundational assumptions, and those are based on intuition. If you have an intuition of commitment to the Holy One, blessed be He, that is not psychology—or at least not necessarily psychology. You’re looking for explanations for why to serve Him, but such explanations are always based on fundamental principles that themselves have no explanation. Commitment to the Holy One, blessed be He, is one such basic principle, and there is no logic in trying to explain it in terms of other principles. There are no moral principles without belief in God and commitment to Him (see Column 456).