Who designed the Designer? But this misses the point. The cosmological argument does not argue that everything needs a cause. It says that everything that begins to exist needs a cause. All finite, contingent reality needs a cause. God, by definition, is a different kind of reality—necessary and eternal and uncaused.
One can certainly deny that such a reality exists, but then the thing being denied is understood to be the uncaused Causer, the unmoved Mover. Whether the cosmological argument gets you to a personal Creator is less obvious.
Why is Jerusalem important? You asked Google – here’s the answer
But it suggests there is some kind of cause, and it certainly opens the door to the possibility that this cause is a personal God. After all, I would argue that it would be quite surprising if the cause of the universe were less than personal, beautiful, and intelligent, since the universe contains persons, beauty, and intelligence. Effect is generally not greater than the cause. One of the most interesting and open-minded perspectives on the intersection of science and faith was that of Albert Einstein. Einstein could be a called a kind of mystical Deist. Let me explain what I mean by this.
Einstein said several things that reveal this. To name just a few:. While he certainly rejected the idea of a personal God as this ulterior force, he did not do so on scientific grounds. You accept the historical existence of Jesus? No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus.
His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.
It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. The metaphor of a child in a vast library is indeed appropriate for our relation to God , given our smallness and frailty when compared to reality. But the Bible claims there is more to be said about the whole matter. To pick up the metaphor, the Bible claims that the Librarian showed up, walked over to the child, and offered to explain the meaning of the books.
According to the Bible, what is whispered and hinted at in the stars above is proclaimed in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. There is a friendly Librarian walking around the library. Suppose for a moment that, at least hypothetically, something like God exists—an infinitely beautiful and loving Person who made the world. Where might this God reveal himself? Where on the grid might he show up? The Christian view is that God has hidden himself in our world. In the Christian view, God did not come with pomp and parade, with accolades and audience.
No, he arrived in a small, unimportant place—a dirty manger in a small village, to be precise. The God who made everything has come very close to us. The Highest One took the lowest place. He not only descended down into a manger but ultimately onto a shameful cross, dying in love for the forgiveness of our sins. Perhaps as you read this article, you are struggling with doubts about faith.
Maybe your doubts are related to scientific issues; maybe they are related to something more personal. Either way, here are a few pieces of advice. All doubts are based on some alternative faith. How do I know that proposition is true?
The Kohanim’s Blessings
Bring your doubts into the light and interrogate them, just as they are interrogating your faith. Let it be a fair fight. Many doubts that initially feel significant crumble on closer investigation of their hidden premises. Issues of doubt are never merely intellectual. In the Bible, faith and obedience are always connected. Struggles of faith are often related to struggles of obedience, and struggles of obedience are often related to struggles of faith.
Ask God to help you. Do your best to live in response to the light he has already given you, and he will show you the next step. The better question is: Where have you seen God already at work in your life? What evidence do you already see of him? See your doubts in context, and then make an informed decision based on everything you see. I remember vividly what it felt like to struggle with doubt. In the throes of it, I had a breakthrough and wrote out the following in my journal.
I go back to this passage again and again. I share it in the hope that it might help you:. Why does anything exist at all? This is the great mystery, says Wittgenstein. Where did the universe come from? What is the Beginning which stands behind all other beginnings, the Reality which gives ground to all other realities? Unless theism is presupposed, all thought and action becomes absurd—without purpose and suspended over nothingness.
Unless the infinite exists, the finite would never have come to be.
- Evergreen (a suspenseful murder mystery).
- Kindling the Menorah;
- Ohr Somayach.
- Further Extracts from "Journey of Faith" « Literary Corner « Ohr Somayach?
- The Man Without a Country and Other Tales!
What sense does the painting make unless there is paper on which it is drawn? God is the great truth; we are his dream.
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- God Is Not Fair, He Is More Than Fair;
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Or, as our friend Albert Einstein put it: Copy the following code and paste it into your website's code to display this article on your site. Two modern origin stories are abiogenesis and Genesis. Can science and faith coexist? James Choung explores the realms of religion and science and whether or not they are contradictory. Can a person believe in science and faith or are they mutually exclusive? Michael Frost explores how one affects the other. Does believing in science require just as much faith as religion?
Corey Widmer explores how it takes faith not only to believe in God, but also to not believe in Him. Can science disprove religion or vice-versa? See what others across the world have to say. Sally Breen discusses her father's journey to find his purpose in life and the peace that came with embracing faith. Don't have an account? Forgot Password Reset Check your email for a link to change password.
To this day, all synagogues face Jerusalem, so that our prayers are directed there in accordance with that tradition. As Psalm declared: It means there is horror at the thought of dividing Jerusalem as part of a political settlement, although some form of sharing would be acceptable.
Over the centuries Jerusalem has also taken on a redemptive significance, based on its root meaning — ir shalom - city of peace — with the hope that it becomes a place of harmony for all peoples and the capital of a world at one with itself. Step into any Roman Catholic church and the images on the walls take you straight to Jerusalem. These are the Stations of the Cross, a series of 14 pictures that depict the journey of Jesus Christ to his death, and are usually meditated on during Lent by people walking round the church, pausing for prayer before each picture.
Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus, Nazareth where he grew up, but Jerusalem is the city that really matters to Christians. This was where Christ preached, ate the Last Supper with his disciples before his death, where he was arrested, put on trial, condemned to death, crucified, and died, a man mocked and tortured by the occupying Romans.
It is where, Christians believe, his tomb was found empty and he rose from the dead. Jerusalem, then, is a place of deep sorrow, utter desolation but also of hope and redemption. It is the sacred heart of the Christian story. Jerusalem has been a major focus of pilgrimage ever since the Roman emperor Constantine converted to the new religion of Christianity. But with the desire for pilgrimage has come issues of authority, power and ownership. Hashem decreed that the people would die off gradually, over a period of forty years, for a number of reasons:.
The tribe of Levi was also excluded from the decree. As explained earlier comm. Not only was the incident of the spies a turning point for the Jewish people in the desert, but it also tragically affected the future history of the nation. In practice, this meant giving it to His representatives, the Kohanim. Only after first separating challah from their dough would they be allowed to eat their bread. However, since the Torah does not specify a minimum amount of challah that must be separated, even the smallest quantity would suffice Rashi , The order of the passages.
Why is Jerusalem important? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Opinion | The Guardian
Hashem taught this mitzvah to Bnei Yisrael immediately after the incident of the spies for the following reasons:. Fulfilling the purpose of creation. The owner thereby comes to recognize that Hashem created both him and the world, and that He continues to sustain him at every moment see Maharzu , Bereishis Rabbah 1: Hence, by fulfilling the mitzvah of challah, not only would the people rectify the sin of the spies, but they would also achieve the purpose of Creation.
Before explaining why he thought he was justified, it is important to note that he was someone of great importance and distinction. The Torah makes this clear from the outset by detailing his illustrious lineage: Chazal say that he was actually one of those honored with carrying the holy Aron itself. They also tell us that he was very wise Tanchuma 2 and, as we will see, blessed with prophetic powers Rashi , Nevertheless, despite all his greatness, he became involved in a terrible dispute with Moshe Rabbeinu that led to his death.
He craved honor and could not bear to have a lower status than Elitzafan. He therefore embarked on a dispute with Moshe, with the goal of either becoming the leader of Kehas, or, as many suggest, becoming the Kohen Gadol see Tanchuma 10 and Rashi , It should be noted that even if a Kohen is not particular in observing the mitzvos, his blessings can still take effect since, as explained above, they were ultimately dependent on Hashem and not the Kohen Rambam , Hilchos Tefillah The wicks of the lamps on the left side of the Menorah had to lean to the right, toward the middle lamp, while the wicks of the lamps on the right side had to lean to the left.
Only the wick in the middle lamp remained perfectly central Rashi , according to Gur Aryeh. This demonstrated that they died because of their sins, and not because the food was in some way poisonous Emek HaNetziv. According to Ramban According to the Midrash, more people died as a result of the quails falling on their heads than from eating them Sifri. The ones affected were the eirev rav and the animals and servants of Yisrael who camped on the outskirts of the camp Emek HaNetziv. If challah was not taken from the dough, it must be taken from the baked bread Rambam , Hilchos Bikkurim 8: Challah is taken only from bread made from one of the five grains — wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt ibid.
This was the amount of mann eaten daily by each individual in the desert Shemos There is a dispute if nowadays challah is a Torah-mandated mitzvah as Rashi on He suggests that it is repeated here in order to clarify that he was an important person, yet to his eternal shame was drawn to rebel. Alternatively, Tzeidah LaDerech suggests that by detailing his lineage, the Torah alludes to the reason for the dispute: Korach felt that he was the rightful heir to the leadership of Kehas, as will be explained shortly.
The new hierarchy that came into existence with the rearrangement of the camp was based on merit individual and tribal , not lineage. See the overview in Parashas Bamidbar. As explained in the commentary on 8: