Some questions I encountered
Hello Rabbi, I have a few questions that I came across and I didn’t know how to answer them all, and for some I would prefer to hear another side of the matter:
- Occam’s Razor Argument: Occam’s Razor claims that when we have two explanations that explain the same phenomenon, we should prefer the simpler explanation. It is argued that God is a complex explanation and we should prefer the naturalistic explanation, on the grounds that it achieves the same quality of explanation for the world and is based on a less complex explanation.
Why is this not true? And is it really better to let God go?
If all natural phenomena can be explained without God.
2.
The argument from lack of motivation: If God is omnipotent, then he can satisfy all his desires, aspirations and dreams without creating anything. Since there is a universe and it is claimed that God created it, therefore he has needs – he is not omnipotent. If God exists as a perfect being, then he would not have created the universe – a perfect being has no desires and needs. God created the universe, meaning he has desires and needs – therefore he is not perfect.
3.
Spinoza ‘s natural divinity argument: If God exists, he occupies all of space-time (“there is no space free from it”). Therefore, God has no sense of a personal “I”; he has no self-awareness because everything is a part of him, and does not distinguish between “I” and “not I.” If God has no self-awareness, then there is no difference between him and an unconscious universe governed by natural laws.
4
God-time relationship: God is not “above time ” because He acts and is therefore subject to change and causality , and is therefore subject to time (and of course He did not create it). God is not eternal because He had a reason to create the universe and the motive for the reason did not come into existence until after an infinite period of time had passed. For an infinite period of time, God had no reason to create the universe, and at some point in time, a reason emerged to create the universe. It is impossible that for an infinite period of time, God had no reason to create the universe and then – because such a reason was among the other possibilities God had regarding the nature of His actions later.
5. Why is it not a disadvantage that God does not know the future?
Thanks in advance, maybe some people feel disrespectful for copying and pasting, but I don’t think so, and if so, I apologize in advance.
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Very briefly, regarding the question about pantheism. If we are not part of God, even though He is not matter, does that not mean He is not infinite (because we occupy His “place”)? How does the simple reduction fit in with this?
Also, if the reduction of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is possible, why in cases asked here in other contexts such as “Can the Holy One, Blessed be He, transform himself into a human being?” the answer was negative? (Isn’t reduction an infinite contradiction? Why is it reasonable here and not here?)
There are several possible answers to this. For example, think of a two-dimensional form that does not occupy three-dimensional space. This is how we are in relation to God. This is what the Hadith says about the reduction.
The problem with turning oneself into a human is not because a person is finite but because if I shoot him he will die and not exist, but he is the necessity of reality (which necessarily exists). And if he does not die, then he would not be a human (because a person who is shot dies).
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