Q&A: The Ontological Nature of God
The Ontological Nature of God
Question
Hello and blessings, Rabbi,
Beyond belief in the Father in Heaven whom we pray to and believe in, when I think about God as an eternal omnipotent being, I can’t ignore the fact that anger, joy, desire, patience, all of these are emotions / states of mind that conscious creatures bound by time can experience.
#If He does not experience such emotions, what does that say about the whole conception of the wrath of God, patience, kindness, the interaction between the Jewish people and God in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)? a0
#I wanted to ask what your logical answer is to the view of a God who is not good, that is, a God who is not good in His essence, neutral, or even in the other direction, evil.
#In my opinion this question connects to the two questions above: what is the problem with logical contradictions beyond the materialistic world? a0
When I imagine the metaphysical world without the material world, I can conceive in my head of logical contradictions, like the law of identity, for example the cat is not a cat, or the well-known example of a square circle. a0
If the laws of logic necessarily exist in themselves, where is God’s role in all this? It reflects an almost pantheistic world. a0
A playful question just to think about these things more deeply: if God is one and indivisible (with the help of the laws of morality, the laws of logic, His attributes, etc.), could it be that we (and the cosmos) are only His way of experiencing something in another way that we do not understand, or simply to experience a0through us.
Thank you very much in advance 😃
Answer
This is the ancient question of the attributes. What do you want me to add that’s new? As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see any problem at all. These are metaphors whose purpose is to bring the matter within our understanding.
I didn’t understand the question about a God who is not good. When you moved on to the contradictory claims, I completely lost you.
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Discussion on Answer
1. Not true. That’s just an unfounded assumption, and I don’t see what even needs to be explained here.
2. I don’t see a logical problem with that.
3. You can search the site; I’ve discussed this in several places here.
If the Rabbi has nothing new to add, that’s okay.
I’ll still try to explain the questions.
What I mean is that if God does not experience emotions, then He cannot be patient, or express kindness; this goes beyond mere attributes used to describe Him — it has a moral implication.
Regarding the question of a God who is not good: what is the logical problem with a God who does not seek to do good, but the opposite, seeks to do evil, and that is the reason He created.
Last question: why must God be bound by the laws of logic.
Thanks in advance 😃.