Q&A: Convinced of God's existence but not of the Torah's reliability—what should I do?
Convinced of God's existence but not of the Torah's reliability—what should I do?
Question
Your arguments really did succeed in convincing me of God's existence, after years of atheism. I always said that if someone showed me rational arguments, I would be honest enough to change my mind—and so that happened. I'm not coming to argue or to win a debate, only to look for the truth.
Your argument from outside the laws convinced me that someone designed the laws.
As for what comes next—the tradition and the Torah—I can't manage to believe in that. I can't see the text of the Torah or the commandments in Jewish law as the words of God. It may be that I'm mistaken; I could observe these commandments as a kind of Pascal's wager, but that doesn't seem to me to be the idea. I truly and sincerely believe in God, but not in Judaism (or any other religion).
What do you think I should do?
Again, I'm not asking in order to argue or to win, I really want to understand what you think.
The only thing I can know with certainty is that God wants me to behave morally, because morality is embedded in me, as is the choice of the good. Beyond that, I have no idea. It may be that God wants me to acknowledge that He exists and to try, as much as possible through reason, to understand His meaning.
But beyond that, is there anything I can do on a practical level? I'm basically dividing it into two parts.
1. Can I do something practical that is "service of God"—that is, to please God—without believing in religion, other than being moral?
2. Can I take any steps in order to become convinced that God wants me to observe commandments?
I'm sure that if I knew with certainty (or close to certainty, as much as is rationally possible) that God expects me to observe commandments, I would do it. As evidence, I'm vegan for moral reasons. As far as I'm concerned, the moral imperative demands going beyond veganism, and that is a sacrifice of "pleasure" that I have no problem making because I know with certainty (as much as possible) that it is the right thing to do.
If I knew, for example, that God expects me not to turn on a light on the Sabbath, I would also willingly give up that pleasure.
Answer
Hello,
I don't know where you read my arguments. In the book The First Existent, I continue beyond the philosophical God in a theistic direction as well. Perhaps you were not convinced, but if you haven't read it, it may be worth reading.
In general, I don't think I can tell you anything beyond morality. The very act of honestly examining whether there is something that is God's will is itself a fulfillment of God's will. Whatever your examination yields, it yields. From what you have described so far, I don't see anything I can say, other than that if you have not examined enough, perhaps you should examine further.
Discussion on Answer
By reasoning.
How does the Rabbi know that the very act of honest inquiry is a fulfillment of God's will?