Q&A: As a Follow-Up to the Question About Providence
As a Follow-Up to the Question About Providence
Question
I’m attaching a link to an article by Moshe Rat about your remarks—have you addressed them? If so, where?
http://mysterium.co.il/ArticleView/tabid/268/ArticleId/475/.aspx
If not, could you address them?
(He argues that since you already believe in God, it is not a priori implausible to believe in His intervention.
In addition, he objects to your dismissal of stories on this topic from the sages of Israel, intuitions, studies about the effect of prayers, and the fulfillment of prophecies in the recent political events (the establishment of the State of Israel, the Return to Zion, etc.), and says that you are inconsistent, since even though statistically there is only a small chance of this, once it happened, it is reasonable to think there is a guiding hand behind it.
You argue against determinism—even though it is also backed by scientific proof—on the basis of intuitions that there is free choice, so why can’t one say that there are intuitions of divine intervention? In general, according to the morality of the Torah, why would He create a world and then throw it away and neglect it?).
At the end he sums up and accuses you of inconsistency and lack of continuity: when it is convenient for you, you accept intuitions like these, and when not, you adopt the rational approach and stick to what can be proven regarding God and the Torah. This can create internal contradictions (and can also run contrary to a large part of the Oral Torah and the Written Torah—at least according to one interpretation of them).
Thank you
Answer
As I answered you in your previous question, I recommend that you search the site before asking. My debates with him appear here.