Q&A: Semantics in Faith
Semantics in Faith
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I think a mistake has been made in conceptualizing the term "faith / belief." In my opinion, the question that should be asked is whether I think there is a God, not whether I believe there is a God.
That is because faith / belief means placing trust in something. So I can believe in God that He will grant me long life, or Abraham, for example, believes in God's promise, and God counts it to him as righteousness. But placing trust in God's very existence is an empty statement that says nothing.
By contrast, if a person calculated and reasoned things through and reached the conclusion that there probably is a God, then he currently *thinks* that there is a God, and does not believe it.
What do you think?
Answer
Why is the semantic question important? The question is what matters, not what the word "faith / belief" means.
As for the matter itself, the concept of God includes within it the fact that His commands are binding. God is one such that the very fact that He commands is enough to create an obligation. Someone who does not see God this way (for example, if he says: I know that God commanded, but why must I observe it?) does not believe in God (or at least does not correctly understand the concept of God). Exactly like someone who asks: I know that morality says X, but why is it incumbent on me to do X?—such a person does not understand what morality is.
Discussion on Answer
That is exactly the meaning of philosophical gratitude. When God is the foundation on which everything is built (including me and the rest of the world), then by virtue of His being such, there is an obligation to obey and serve Him.
In your article "Philosophical Gratitude," weren’t you trying to explain this?
It seems that the explanation there is not, "God is one such that the very fact that He commands is enough to create an obligation. Someone who does not see God this way (for example, if he says: I know that God commanded, but why must I observe it?) does not believe in God (or at least does not correctly understand the concept of God)."
That is, could the Rabbi sharpen what the explanation there is based on in light of what you write here?