Q&A: Faith / Belief
Faith / Belief
Question
Hello Rabbi,
A. I wanted to ask: how can one be commanded to believe or to investigate faith / belief (as the Rabbi suggested in Maimonides) if it is something intuitive? You either have it or you don't..
B. Can faith / belief be grounded in something intuitive? And what place is there for direct divine revelation, which cannot be denied, in grounding our faith / belief?
C. I still haven't understood why there is an obligation to obey morality.
Maybe all value-laden things cannot be explained logically, and rather a person has to choose them when he has some intuitive part that identifies them as good and moral..
Answer
A. Even intuitive claims can be examined and clarified. Sometimes they can be derived from other claims that are themselves based on intuition. For example, the argument from complexity is based on the assumption that every composite thing must have a component. A person can intuitively accept that claim, and derive from it the existence of God (which was not obvious to him beforehand).
B. I didn't understand the question. Who said that this has a place? Who said that it cannot be denied? And beyond all that, the arguments in favor of belief in God give you a philosophical God. Revelation gives you a religious God. That cannot be derived from philosophy.
C. There is no answer. If you understand on your own what morality is, then it is self-evident that one must obey it. If you do not understand, then it cannot be explained. It is like an axiom in geometry. Someone who does not grasp this cannot have it explained to him. But it is clear that it is true.
The alternative of choosing it because you identify it as good is itself the obligation I am talking about. Therefore there is an obligation to obey, because you identify it as good.