Q&A: Axiom
Axiom
Question
With God’s help,
Hello Rabbi,
I saw that you wrote in your notebooks that there are several ways to arrive at belief in God, and one of them is simply to say that it is an axiom that does not require proof, just as, for example, there is an axiom regarding the sum of the angles of a triangle being 180 degrees.
I am trying to understand what exactly this axiom means and where it comes from. Because, for example, in the case of the triangle, the axiom, as I understand it, is seemingly proven from experience in measuring triangles, in the sense that one does not find a triangle for which this is not so. But regarding the existence of the Creator, what is that based on, if not on the usual proofs you brought there (cosmological, physico-theological, and so on)? Is there something beyond that?
Answer
It seems to me that, at least in this context, an axiom means an immediate recognition of the fact that God exists. As if I see Him (not with the eyes, but with the mind’s eye). Like the axiom that what I see in front of me really does exist there. I have no real basis for this, but it is clear to me that it is true because I see it.
Discussion on Answer
Indeed. As I explained, even things that we do see with our eyes are based on the intuition that the eyes reflect reality correctly. The same is true regarding the principle of causality (that everything has a cause), and more.
Thank you.
Are there other things like this that we see with the mind’s eye, and therefore it is clear to us that they exist without proof? Would it be correct to say this, for example, about our ability to distinguish between reality and a dream, about our knowledge that we are alive and exist, and also about the identity by which we recognize a person we know from their face?
I would be glad for examples that would sharpen this.
Thank you.