The witness’s argument
Hello Rabbi.
I read the last two parts of your theological trilogy, “No Man Is Ruler Over His Spirit” and “Walking Between Standing People.” I understood that the rabbi’s central argument about a religious God is the argument of the witness. It is clear to me that the rabbi deals with the matter at great length in “The First Commandment.” Therefore, if the answer to my question is complex, I will hold off until I have a chance to read it.
The witness’s argument has always felt very weak to me. And isn’t it possible that a story for toddlers could slowly evolve into a myth, which in turn would become a legend of unclear origin, until it was inflated beyond recognition into a core belief? (Let’s say the story began 3500 years ago – roughly the classical dating of the Mount Sinai situation. The story would have had at least 1500 years to develop before historians/archaeologists would notice that it had evolved.)
The scale of the drama and the evidence built into the story are indeed extraordinary, but extraordinary is not proof. There is a first time for everything, and on smaller scales similar things have happened and are happening.
I’d love to know what you think about it. If it’s complicated, I’ll settle for showing places.
Thank you very much!
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Is there any reference in the book to the assumption that perhaps the ”evident” part of the story, such as the number of spectators and the matter of tradition from father to son, is part of the story's progression (it is said that at the beginning it is told about a group of people and gradually the numbers were inflated and the matter of tradition entered in turn as the story went in the direction of belief – mainly from interests (even unconscious ones). So is there any reference to these assumptions or are the things rejected outright in the book, and if so why?
I'm just curious, have you read Yom's words on the subject? (Of course, there is no greater relevance to his words than to the words or the words of a random homeless person – only the content itself. But I'm curious to know)
Thank you
Hello David
I read the book “The First Found”, and I really recommend you read it too.
You can read it here (although I'm not sure it's the current edition) https://mikyab.net/%d7%9b%d7%aa%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9d/%d7%9e%d7%97%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%91%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%99%d7%a0%d7%99-%d7% 90%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%94/%d7%9e%d7%97%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%aa-5-%d7%9e%d7%93%d7%90%d7%99%d7%96%d7%9d-%d7%9c%d7%aa%d7%90%d7%99%d7%96%d7%9d).
It contains, of course, among other things, a reference to Yom's words.
The above link only contains the fifth notebook, which deals with the transition from deism to theism.
I still recommend purchasing the book itself.
Leave a Reply
Please login or Register to submit your answer
