Doubtful Believer
A person who has philosophically examined whether, in his opinion, God exists and truly gave the Torah, and has come to the conclusion that he is not more convinced by either side than the other. That is, he is in complete doubt as to whether God exists or not, and in complete doubt as to whether the Torah is true; both sides make about the same amount of sense in his eyes.
A. Do you think such a person should keep a mitzvah from doubt?
on. Can such a person be counted in the minyan?
A. Should is not the question. He himself will decide if he wants to observe. The question is whether the mitzvot arise for him in such a situation. I think so, as long as he has a significant side that does.
B. I tend to think so.
I will add to the question -
A similar person, who believes that the likelihood of the existence of God and the truth of the Torah is lower than the likelihood of atheism, but chooses to keep the commandments out of doubt and fear of punishment. Does the commandments apply to him and does he join the minyan?
This is Pascal's wager. In my opinion, it has no value. See column 661.
I read your words in column 661.
A. What about a person who believes for philosophical reasons? That is, it is not half that he directly believes in the existence of God, but rather that he has considered philosophical arguments and by virtue of them he thinks that 50% that God must exist? Apparently, according to your words in the column, such a person cannot be considered a believer.
B. What about a person who does have a direct intuition about the existence of God, but whose doubt is about the validity of this intuition, can it be taken seriously or is it, let's say, an evolutionary/cultural product or something like that?
A. I didn't understand the question. As far as I remember, that column wasn't about such a person.
B. It's a doubt like any other doubt.
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