Q&A: Speaking about the Master of the Universe
Speaking about the Master of the Universe
Question
Rabbi,
Hello, I wanted to ask what, in your opinion, can be said about God.
For example, the accepted approach is that nothing can be said (negative theology / Hasidism).
On the other hand, from your words I get the feeling that you anthropomorphize God quite a lot.
You prove that He exists, you say it is reasonable that He wants us to listen to Him, and that He coordinated us with the world and with morality.
You even presume to know the reason for creation, by claiming that it cannot be part of the world itself.
That is, all the time you think of Him as operating within a framework of cause and effect.
Do you disagree that Kant already proved that nothing can be said about God? All these thoughts are within us, and certainly not in a factor that is outside the world or outside our perception. Is this humility invalid?
Answer
That humility is not invalid, but it is not correct. None of these are anthropomorphisms. Just as applying the laws of logic to Him is not anthropomorphism. It is possible that these claims are not true, but it is more reasonable that they are.
Negative theology does not mean that you cannot say that He exists. Existence is not an attribute. Beyond that, in my view negative theology is nonsense.
As for Hasidism and its nonsense, I prefer not to elaborate.
Discussion on Answer
How can you understand it from the Guide if he is the originator of that doctrine?
See Column 109. And a proposed solution in Column 662.
Of course, I meant that I wasn’t able to identify the nonsense there on my own. In any case, thanks; I’ll look at the columns.
Hello, I would be glad to know whether there is some place where you elaborate on the nonsense in negative theology. And if not, could you write briefly, or something along those lines? Because from the Guide itself I wasn’t able to understand the nonsense in it.