Semantics in faith

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asked 4 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
I think there is a mistake in the conceptualization of the term ‘faith’. In my opinion, the question that should be asked is whether I think there is a God, not whether I believe there is a God.
This is because faith means trusting in something, so I can believe in God to give me longevity, or Abraham, for example, believes in God’s promise and God counts it as righteousness. But trusting in the very reality of God is an empty statement that means nothing.
On the other hand, if a person has calculated and concluded that there probably is a God, then he currently *thinks* that there is a God, and does not believe in it.

What do you think?

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מיכי Staff answered 4 years ago

Why is the semantic question important? The question is what is important, not what the word ‘faith’ means.
In essence, the concept of God includes the fact that His commands are binding. God is someone for whom the mere fact that He commands is enough to commit to it. Anyone who does not see God in this way (for example, if he says: I know that God has commanded, but why should I obey?) does not believe in God (at least does not understand the concept of God correctly). Just as someone who asks: I know that morality says X, but why am I obligated to do X? does not understand what morality is.

ח' replied 4 years ago

In your article Philosophical Gratitude, didn't you try to explain this?

It seems that the explanation there is not "God is the one whose mere fact of commanding is enough to commit to it. Whoever does not see God in this way (for example, if he says: I know God commanded, but why should I obey?) does not believe in God (at least does not correctly understand the concept of God)".

In other words, could a rabbi clarify what the explanation there is based on in light of your words here?

מיכי Staff replied 4 years ago

This is precisely the meaning of philosophical gratitude. When G-d is the foundation upon which everything is built (including me and the rest of the world), then by His very being there is an obligation to obey and worship Him.