Teaching Materials
Shmooze
Teaching Materials
Does belief in God require a leap of faith?
Q: One evening Carol shares her doubts about the existence of God with her friend Steve. Steve tells her "Believing in God is like believing in the tooth fairy - you just have to take a leap of faith. In fact every religion boils down to blind faith." Do you agree with Steve's statement?
A. Does belief in God require a leap of faith? What does it take to believe that the Torah was given by God at Mount Sinai? Is Judaism based on faith or knowledge?
Let's define our terms.
Webster's Dictionary defines faith as "firm belief in something for which there is no proof." Faith is a product of desire. If you desperately want to make a quick buck, you may decide to put all your faith in a wild stock market tip that guarantees tripling your money in one month. Your mind may be saying, "Don't do it!" But if your emotional need is so great, you'll ignore the evidence and go with your feelings instead. And you'll probably lose your money.
Knowledge, on the other hand, is defined as "an acquaintance with truth, facts or principles through study or investigation." Knowledge is based on evidence. It's rational.
Even if we haven't been to China, we know that the country exists, because there is an overwhelming amount of evidence. It appears on maps, is featured in the news, and it says "Made in China" on the bottom of our coffee mugs. It's unreasonable to conclude that there is a worldwide conspiracy made up of mapmakers, manufacturers, news reporters and friends who claim to have visited China.
Of these two approaches, "faith" and "knowledge", which would be better to base your life on?
Imagine a car mechanic tells you that you need a new carburetor costing $500. When you ask him why, he raises his hands in the air saying, "You see these hands? These are very sensitive hands. I just put my hands over the hood of the car and I feeeel the vibes...and buddy, you need a new carburetor."
No one spends their hard-earned money based on the vibes of a car mechanic. We demand evidence. Facts. When deciding on an issue as critical as the existence of God, don't just follow your feelings and "vibes". Try to reach a conclusion based on rational information and evidence. Only clear knowledge can show us what is actually real, whereas feelings alone can distort reality. Faith is what one wishes to be true -- not what is necessarily true. Knowledge is what one knows to be true.
Judaism tells us to build a rational basis for our belief. The first of the Ten Commandments is to know that there is a God. It says, "And you shall know this day and return it to your heart that the Lord, He is God - in the heavens above and on the earth below - there is none other." (Deut. 4:39.)
Intellectual knowledge is the foundation - but not the entire edifice - of our relationship with God. The Torah is not telling us to reduce this vibrant connection to a sterile equation. Once a rational foundation is in place, the Torah says to "return it to your heart." We must then work on creating an intimate, deeply personal and satisfying relationship with God, assimilating what we know in our minds into our feelings. We need to use our intellect to guide our emotions. Emotions are powerful tools, but when they are in the driver's seat, we are taken into dangerous territory. Feelings can sweep us off our feet and carry us to a world of illusion.
How much evidence does one need in order to believe in the existence of God? The criminal justice system provides a benchmark. After the prosecution and defense present their case, the jury weighs all the evidence and decides if the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Not beyond a shadow of doubt, but beyond a reasonable doubt. As mortal beings with limited capacities, we rarely reach 100% certainty. In fact we make major decisions all the time without utter certainty. Faced with a decision, we strive for the most reasonable course of action. Only those who wish to base their belief on faith, as opposed to knowledge, would choose the less sensible alternative over the more reasonable option.
IN SUMMARY
Faith is "belief without proof," a product of desire. It expresses what one wishes to be true, not what is actually true.
- Knowledge is based on information and evidence.
- Knowledge is a better basis for belief since only knowledge can point to what is actually real.
- The first of the Ten Commandments is to know that there is a God. Judaism tells us that our intellect should direct our emotions. When emotions lead the mind, we're in dangerous territory.
- To base a decision on knowledge requires sufficient evidence, that is, evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Ignoring the more reasonable option in favor of the less sensible alternative is a decision based on faith, not knowledge.
1. The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of all wisdom is to know that there is a First Being who brought every existing thing into existence. All existing things...exist only through His true existence.
Maimonides, Mishna Torah, The Book of Knowledge, 1:1.
2. Regarding the question of whether or not we are under an obligation to investigate the doctrine of God's Unity...anyone capable of investigating this and similar philosophical themes by rational methods is obligated to do so according to one's powers and capacities. Anyone who neglects to inquire belongs to the class of those who fall short in wisdom and conduct.
He is like a sick man who, though knowing well the nature of his disease and its correct treatment, relies on a doctor who treats him with various remedies, while he himself is too lazy to use his knowledge and reasoning powers to test whether or not the doctor is treating the matter correctly, even though he could easily have done so...
The Torah says, (Deut. 4:6) "And you shall observe and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations." It is impossible that other nations will admit to the greatness of our wisdom and understanding unless there are proofs and reasonable evidence of the truth of our Torah and the veracity of our belief.
Rabeinu Bachya, The Duties of the Heart, The Unity of God, Chapter 3.
3. Only a belief that is true, and only the truth, is worthy for a person to place his belief in. One should not believe in something that doesn't exist and think it does exist, nor should one deny something that does exist and think it doesn't exist.
Sefer HaIkkarim, Rabbi Yosef Albo, 1:22.
4. Every Jew must believe and know that there exists a first Being, without beginning or end, who brought all things into existence and continues to sustain them. This being is God.
These things are known by the body of wisdom handed down from the Patriarchs and prophets. With the revelation at Sinai, all Israel perceived them and gained a clear grasp of their true nature. They then taught them to their children, generation after generation, until this very day. Moses had thus commanded them (Deut. 4:9), "You shall not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes.... and you shall make them known to your children and to your children's children."
These concepts can also be logically verified by demonstrable proofs. Their veracity can be demonstrated from what we observe in nature and its phenomena. Through such scientific disciplines as physics and astronomy, certain basic principles can be derived, and on the basis of these, clear evidence for these concepts deduced.
The Way of God, 1:1:1,2, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
5. The Torah says, "And you shall know this day and return it to your heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below..." "You shall know" refers to intellectual knowledge; "return it to your heart" means knowledge which penetrates into the subconscious and so influences our actions. There is a vast empty space in the human psyche, situated between intellectual knowledge and its realization in the heart. Only when a person achieves a close association of "knowledge" and "heart," with no gulf in between, will a person's actions accord with his knowledge.
Strive for Truth Vol. 3, Torah and Mitzvot, Rabbi E.E. Dessler
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Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith is the co-editor of Aish.com and director of Research and Development for Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. He is the author of Shmooze: A Guide to Thought-Provoking Discussion on Essential Jewish Issues. |
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