Q&A: An Obligation to Reach a Conclusion on Fundamental Principles
An Obligation to Reach a Conclusion on Fundamental Principles
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Regarding someone who is unsure about the truth of the Documentary Hypothesis (or some other fundamental principle).
Your view is well known, and it is clear that someone who reached his conclusion through careful analysis is not judged as a heretic.
But… if the principles of faith are in fact correct, then he is a heretic (or at least in doubt). He is not simply “mistaken in his analysis,” because he did not examine the matter sufficiently.
Is there an obligation to reach a conclusion?
Answer
I don’t know what “the status of a heretic” means. As a matter of fact, he may indeed be a heretic (“poor fellow, an apikores,” in Rabbi Chaim’s phrasing), but no sanctions apply to him.
I didn’t understand the question. If someone did not examine the matter sufficiently, then he is negligent. I am speaking about someone who did examine it and reached a different conclusion. Someone who believes may also not have examined the matter sufficiently.