Clear faith
Hello, I would like to know your opinions on the following questions:
1) Do you believe that the entire Torah (from “Genesis 1:1-11” to “In the sight of all Israel”) is from heaven? If not, then what is?
2) What is your belief regarding the books of the NIV (all are prophetic, some are prophetic {what is? and what is not?}, all are not prophetic)?
- I assume that a significant portion came from Sinai, although it is certainly possible that there were later additions and later editing. I do not know of them, and therefore I am acting on the basis of presumption. As long as nothing else is proven – the verse was given from Sinai. And even what was not given from Sinai could have been said/edited by the Holy Spirit by a prophet.
- Same as above.
Is it correct to say that, for you, the entire Bible is a prophetic text that reflects the Creator's messages to His creatures?
I wrote that there is a presumption that it is true until some verse proves otherwise. What the Bible reflects is a different question. In my opinion, not much, at least for us today. I have written here in the past (and will expand on this in my trilogy) that it is difficult to learn anything from Bible verses. Everyone interprets them according to their own insights. I do not know anyone who has learned anything from the Bible and given up their own perception because of it.
I tend to think that the book was not written by Moses, after all the book speaks in the past tense and in the third person, what else does it say in the Torah that Moses wrote the Torah to put in the ark…
Well, I guess I lost my share in the afterlife right now…
Is there a rabbi who can save me from the rebellion of Shat and convince me that it was indeed written by Moses?
What is the problem with saying that God dictated the Torah to him (as is common among most of the sages of Israel) and therefore it is formulated in the third person?
Shai, ask here, he has a lot of information to answer.
https://rationalbelief.org.il/
There are also rabbis who are very knowledgeable about the Bible, I would suggest you ask them.
I'm not sure that the book speaks in the third person past tense, it was not the accepted form in those days, especially since you have no hypothesis about how God would write the Torah. (According to religious belief), and in any case the question is basically a lie.
Lashi –
The claim that the fact that the book speaks of Moses in the third person is an indication that the author is a different personality is an old claim. This is the language of Rabbi Baruch Spinoza at the beginning of Chapter 8 of a political theological essay (available for download online):
”Not only does the author of these books speak of Moses in a hidden language (third person in our languages), but furthermore he testifies a lot about Moses, such as ‘God spoke to Moses’, ‘God spoke to Moses face to face’, ‘and the man Moses was very humble above all men’, ‘and Moses was very angry with the commanders of the army’, ‘and there has never arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses’.
The evidence that the scripture says that Moses wrote the Torah and placed it in the ark, and hence that the book before us is not the original Torah, is attributed by the above to Eben Ezra himself, who alludes to this at the beginning of Deuteronomy (see Beyond the Jordan). In other words, Spinoza hangs himself from a tall tree, claiming that the Bible itself proves that the text that Rabbi Nathanael gave to the Israelites is short and different from the text of the Torah before us.
There have been many correspondences on the site regarding this, see for example here (further down the thread):
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8-%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%99-%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95/
Of course, I did not come to put my head between the mountains, but rather I show you a place, and give it to the wise and add a lesson, and he will merit the Lord of the northern worlds among the righteous in the land.
I didn't ask you what the intention of the verses was, but rather whether the verses reflect the Creator's messages to His creatures (whatever they may be)?
Assumption A: God wants to convey messages to His creatures.
Assumption B: God conveys His messages through prophets.
Assumption C: The Bible is the words of the prophets.
Assumption D: You believe in the Bible.
Conclusion: You are supposed to believe that the Bible reflects the Creator's messages to His creatures (whatever they may be).
Dear So-and-so. From what I answered, you can learn that the 4 premises are acceptable to me. You ask whether the conclusion is also so? Why don't you ask me whether I think 2+2 =4? If you intend to ask me what my opinion is on tautologies, my opinion is very positive. They are always true.
I wanted to receive a written confession from you that you believe that the Bible is our most basic source for knowing the will of the Creator (I have not received it yet).
I did not ask you about the exercise and the tautology, because from my impressions of your positions, I did not find loopholes in these areas. But if you truly believe in the above conclusion (which I have not yet received confirmation of), I will understand that this belief is the basic common denominator between us, and from this point, I can try to convince you that it may be necessary to recalculate some of your positions.
Do you also want a lawyer's signature?
I do agree that the Bible was given by God. Is it given through it to know His will? I wrote that I highly doubt it. Unfortunately, I do not have a lawyer to sign here.
I did not ask whether it is possible to know the will of the Creator through the Bible alone, but rather whether you believe that the Creator wanted to teach His creatures something (whatever it is) through the Bible (I have not received it yet).
It seems to me that for some reason, you are afraid to admit this. You admit that you believe that the Bible was given by the Creator and I assume that you do not believe that the Bible was given without a reason, but logic says that there is a reason for the giving of the Bible, and the reason is to convey messages to His creatures (whatever they may be).
Recognizing the Bible as the book of messages from the Creator (whatever they may be) is the introduction to the next stage I am aiming for (deciphering the messages, depends first and foremost on this basic recognition).
I didn't mean that deciphering the messages is the next step, but rather that in order to arrive at deciphering the messages, one must first recognize that the Bible is the book of messages from the Creator, and then it will be possible, through logical arguments, to continue to additional steps, until, with God's help, we arrive at the most plausible deciphering of the messages.
This is already starting to become harassment. I wrote the things in black and white, and if there is a problem with reading comprehension, it should be addressed, but not here. I will not return to this again. If you have something to add – be respectful and write it.
Overall, I want to try to reach the truth (as much as logically possible).
Your positions on certain issues contradict the tradition of the Sages as it has been accepted over the generations to the present day, and cause you and others to abandon it in favor of a new path.
You have influence over various people and some tend to adopt your positions, just because they trust you.
I assume you will respond that you do not force others to think like you, etc., but in practice they are influenced by you.
Question: Why does this bother me?
Answer: The consequences of abandoning (according to the tradition you rejected) are fatal and can harm the people who adopted your positions, so it is appropriate to examine whether your positions are indeed more plausible than the traditional positions.
Don't think that I want to be a thought policeman and try to silence you. On the contrary, I want to open up the controversial issues and find out with you where logic leans more, toward the accepted tradition or toward your new positions.
We've already talked about reading comprehension, haven't we? Your motivations don't really matter to me and they're not the subject of the discussion. For my part, they can be dark or wonderful. To fix or to ruin. It doesn't matter. I'm dealing with claims, not motivations or the person making the claim. I repeat, all your questions have been answered, and if you want to continue and raise something new, you're welcome.
The previous response was important to me, because I wanted to appease you for the feeling of harassment and explain my intentions to you.
For now, I will be content with the questions and answers that have been given so far and without a vow I will continue (probably after the holiday is over) from the common assumption that the Bible is the basic source for understanding the Creator's messages.
A kosher and happy holiday, to you and to all Israel.
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