Aversion to Rationality

The communication between God and Moses on Mount Sinai is such a powerful narrative in the Holy Book that the subsequent fusion of revelation and reason - a process explored in earlier episodes of this essay - fades into the background, even stimulating a certain Jewish aversion to the rational approach to holiness as inappropriate or, at best, subordinate.

The incognoscibility that distinguishes God from known entities establishes the mysterious nature of His name - the Tetragram YHWH is His sign, not a name, and it is not allowed to be vocalized - and even justifies the assertion that "God exists" is a step towards atheism, as it projects onto Him the human notion of existence.

The idea is convenient for the convergence between faith and atheism, eliminating the subject of conflict, as "to be or not to be" transforms from an ontological alternative into a linguistic one: "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" ("I am that I am") is a circular expression in which, taken as a logical proposition, the logical subject and the logical predicate switch places, depending on the side of the thought in the loop of infinity (9).

It is a field of intertwined paradoxes, as erasing this boundary between faith and atheism gives free rein to the rational exploration of faith, in which - another paradox - faith becomes an experience of the thinking process, so that atheism and faith, in forms that avoid proselytism, become just nuances of attitude.

D. Reason - Yet Divine

Contrary to negative theology, in the only place in the Old Testament where the expression "Kingdom of God" appears (10), it is linked to wisdom (a notion that includes rationality): "10. And wisdom rescued the righteous man when the ungodly were perishing, he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities; as a testimony to his wickedness, for their wickedness is still in evidence to this day. 11. Because they practised sorcery and unholy rites, and not even at their death did they cease from their evil-doings. 12. They left as a monument of their folly a people without sense, which even to this day pays the penalty of their iniquity. 13. And as a result of the sins of those wicked men the earth was overwhelmed, and their lawless deeds were revealed." (Wisdom of Solomon 10:10-13)

The case is spectacular: The Wisdom of Solomon has not been admitted into the Tanakh - it is considered apocryphal by the Hebrew (and Protestant) canon - but, despite being pseudonymous, it appears in the Old Testament in Orthodox and Catholic traditions.

Beyond suspicion of Christian influence - historians accept that it, at the latest, would have been written, possibly, in the first Christian century - whoever reads in this the sign of Jewish reluctance towards the hymn raised by the Wisdom of Solomon to wisdom will still have to adopt a flexible position: distrust in the human capacity to penetrate the divine is usually combated with the verse "26. Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,'" (Genesis 1), which instills an optimism supported by great scholars:

- Rashi equates "likeness" with "the power to understand and discern," interpreting that it also speaks here of reason;

- Sforno says that the expression "in our image" signifies a "species designed to live forever, as it is predominantly intellectual";

- Vilna Gaon (11) explains the verse: "All things in the world are found in man, and his soul is similar to his Creator by D'varim [...]," where D'varim ("words" in Hebrew), in the mentioned context, refers to the human capacity to express thoughts, ideas, and emotions through words;

- For Irenaeus, Clement, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa (12), translating from Hebrew with the term "likeness" should be understood as the Platonist "assimilation" (in Plato, true knowledge consists in recognizing the similarity between the human soul and ideas).

In Hebrew, the expression "בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים" ("B'tzelem Elohim"), which has been translated as "in His image," translates literally to "In the image of God," opening up the possibility for Sforno's generous commentary (13), in which he shows that its meaning is "reflecting the divine."

From here, it follows that the development of logic and reason matters as a process of drawing closer to God, reflecting Him more adequately. Therefore, in terms of faith, their progress is not a cause for blame but sanctification.

Similarly, it is not an act of arrogance for God's words to be scrutinized; it is precisely what He insists upon.

In that first century of the new millennium, Judaism and Christianity seem to have capitalized on the virtues of reason and logic, resulting in increasingly sophisticated proposals in the principles of interpreting sacred texts, even leading to the development of "pilpulistic" research (rejected by some conservative rabbis).

(To be continued)

Notes

(9) Exodus:3:

"14. Then God answered Moses: "I am that I am".

- In Hebrew the expression "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" has an uncertain meaning, being translated variously:

- "I am what I am" or "I am what I am";

- "I am Who I Am" or "I am Who I Am";

- "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be".

- The sentence "I am that which I am" can be developed to infinity: "{[(I am that which I am) I am that which I am] I am etc."

(10) The notion of "Kingdom of God" is also involved here, but the expression as such is not used:

"20. Therefore, the desire of wisdom leads to the eternal kingdom".

(Book of the Wisdom of Solomon:6)

(11) Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon, or by his Hebrew acronym Gra (1720-1797), was a Lithuanian Jewish Talmudist, Halakhist, Kabbalist and foremost leader of the Misnagdic (non-Hasidic) Jews. from the last few centuries. He is called in Hebrew ha-Gaon he-Chasid mi-Vilna, "the pious genius of Vilnius". Through his annotations and amendments to the Talmud and other texts, he became one of the most well-known and influential figures in rabbinic scholarship from the Middle Ages onward.

(12) Septuagint/ Vol.1/pag.54/POLIROM/2004

(13) Sforno:

"בצעם אלוקים ("B'tzelem Elohim" - "In the Image of God"), when the word "אלוהים" (Elohim) appears as a description, i.e. in the nature of an adjective, it refers to creatures who are spiritual in their essence, not only that they possess a spiritual potential. Such beings are devoid of physical matter, they are completely disembodied. This gives them a fundamentally infinite nature. This is also why such an adjective, attribute, is applied to both God and His angels. The term is also used in connection with judges, that is, to describe the predominant intellectual function which they must perform in order that their decisions may reflect true justice. While it is an indisputable fact that the human intellect functions without direct dependence of any part of the body, that it does not grow old with the rest of the body it inhabits, but, on the contrary, sometimes improves while the body grows old and becomes scarcely capable of supporting the soul that inhabits it, and while it is also a fact that the exercise of the intellect does not lead to fatigue, etc., yet it is not called "אלוהים" (Elohim), something divine, but only "צלם אלוחים" (tzelem Elohim), "something that reflects something divine". Until this intellect has acquired קחמה (hochmah - wisdom), that is, a reverence for God and a love for Him, its Creator, it is imperfect. It follows from this that man's task is to perfect his God-given intelligence by acquiring the knowledge and understanding that can only be offered through the study of the Torah and the practice of the laws of the Torah. If atheist intellectuals do not use their intellect in the way God intended it to be used, it actually becomes a negative asset, a hindrance, so that in the end it proves to be completely futile, as indicated in Psalm 49 :21: "Man, in his pride, does not understand; he is like animals that perish." This entire lesson is condensed into the two words "בצלם אלויהום" (b'tzelem Elohim)."