Q&A: Nachmanides’ Approach to Divine Providence
Nachmanides’ Approach to Divine Providence
Question
At the end of Parashat Bo, Nachmanides writes: “A person has no share in the Torah of Moses our rabbi until we believe that in all our affairs and all our occurrences, all of them are miracles; there is no nature or ordinary course of the world in them, whether for the community or for the individual. Rather, if one performs the commandments, his reward will make him prosper, and if he transgresses them, his punishment will cut him off; everything is by the decree of the Most High.”
Is there any person ever in history who really believed that there is no such thing as the laws of nature? That the sun would not rise regularly? Does Nachmanides really mean that there are no laws of nature? If so, how could a wise person like Nachmanides say such a thing?
I know you don’t like answering about other people’s views, but still, it seems very puzzling to me that a wise person like Nachmanides would say things like this. I’d be glad if the Rabbi would explain what he means.
Answer
Notice that Nachmanides is speaking about our occurrences (= those of people who keep the commandments), not about everything that happens in the world. Beyond that, people have already pointed out that there are contradictions between this and other places in his writings.
But it may be that he holds the view of double causality (that everything has both a natural cause and a divine cause). Many fine people hold that strange view, even though it is simply a logical contradiction and clearly incorrect.
Discussion on Answer
See here at the end of the paragraph about Nachmanides
It is also possible that he was using hyperbolic language, and when he said “all our occurrences” he meant much of what happens to us—that is, not everything is nature.