Q&A: Misunderstanding the Ontological Proof
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Misunderstanding the Ontological Proof
Question
Hello Rabbi,
When Anselm wrote, in defining the concept of God,
"something than which nothing greater can be conceived,"
was he actually trying to argue that God can be conceived by the mind?
But that doesn't seem to be the case… so what does he mean?
Thank you!
Answer
Why doesn't that seem to be the case? One can conceive of His concept (think about Him). It doesn't have to be a visual image. So what? After all, if you believe, that itself is mentally conceiving of His concept; otherwise, you do not believe in Him.