Greek: So tell us about your gods, Mr. Maccabee. Jew: Um, thats singular. Greek: Okay, tell me about your gods. Jew: No, not you. G-d. G-d is singular. Only one god. Greek: Dont worry, weve got so many Im sure we can spare a few. Jew: Thats okay, one is enough. Greek: So, this one G-d, what does He look like? Wed love to make some nice statues for you. You poor, uncultured people, you have no statues! Jew: Thats because He doesnt have looks. Greek: No looks? Ugly? Thats cool! A god of ugliness! Dont worry, we can make ugly statues, too. Jew: No, no. He has no looks at all. You cant see Him. Greek: An invisible G-d? Well, maybe we can do that in glass. But you have to give us some description. Jew: Nope. Sorry. No description. Greek: You mean nobody ever saw Him? How can you worship something if you dont know what it looks like? I mean, how do you know He exists in the first place? Jew: Its not that we dont know what He looks like. He doesnt have any looks. He has no image. Greek: Well, Im sorry then. If He has no image, we cant make a statue. Jew: Thats fine with us. Greek: But wed like to write books about Him. So just give us some definition and well work around it. Jew: Oh, our G-d cant be defined. Greek: Come, now. Everything has to have a definition. Or else its not a thing. J: But G-d is not a thing. He creates things. But He isnt a thing. G: Oh! So He is the Cosmic Mind Who conceives and shapes all forms from the primal essence-matter. J: No, He doesnt just form them, He creates them. Out of nothing. G: Now youre getting silly. You cant make something out of nothing. You need stuff to make it out of. J: But there wasnt any stuff when things began. G: There was always stuff. How else could the Cosmic Mind make anything? J: Out of nothing! G: Look, you Jews dont really think straight. But thats okay. Weve conquered all sorts of primitive cultures. Youll learn, too. So, you worship the Cosmic Mind -- youll get along just great with Aristotle and… J: No, Hes not just the Cosmic Mind. G: Well, nothings higher than the Cosmic Mind. J: Because thats not who He is. I mean, even if He didnt make a world, He would still be G-d. So you cant say, thats who He is -- the One that makes a world. There doesnt have to be a world for Him to exist. G: Of course there has to be a world. Otherwise, why is there a world if there doesnt have to be one? The world makes sense. The Cosmic Mind makes sense. Thats what its all about. Reason. The highest and most perfect of all things. We Greeks will teach you all about that. So, now tell me about your rituals. We Greeks really dig rituals. Any that have to do with wine? Parties? J: Sure, we make kiddush on Friday night to commemorate the Creation of the world from nothing. G: Well, you can give up that one now, since Ive just shown you that creation of the world from nothing makes no sense whatsoever. J: We dont eat milk with meat. G: Why not? J: G-d says so. G: For what reason? J: Reason? He needs a reason? For the same reason He created heaven and earth! G: Which is? J: He just wanted to. G: Thats not a reason! J: Sure it is. He decided He would like a world where there would be milk and meat and He would tell people, Dont eat that milk and meat together! and they would listen. G: That makes no sense. Thats not a reason! J: Reason is just another of His creations. G: Reason is the ultimate! There is nothing higher than Reason! J: Okay then, explain to me why the world is the way it is. Why does one plus one equal two? Why does the square of the length of the hypotenuse equal the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides? Why do parallel lines never meet? G: Because those are the rules of geometry! J: So why does the Cosmic Mind, as you call Him, have to follow your rules of geometry? G: Theyre not our rules! They are the self-evident truths of nature! J: Why are these the truths and not something else? G: You stubborn Jew! Dont you see that this is the most elegant, rational way things could be? J: Ill bet you He could break them. Ill bet our G-d could make a world where parallel lines meet. He could break any of the laws of nature. G: You cant break laws of nature! Theyre not like laws of the state or like your silly laws about cheeseburgers. They are truths. They are perfect. They are the ground of reality. They are because they have to be. J: Nothing has to be. Nothing but the Source of Being. But He could be any way He wants. G: Geometry has to be. Cause and effect has to be. Logic has to be. If A = B then B = A. That is an absolute Truth. It must be. J: Why? G: Why?! Because if they dont have to be, then I and you and this whole world have no real substance! And that cannot be! J: Thats just what I was trying to tell you. This world has no real substance. The only truth is… G: Dont say it, Mr. Maccabee! You people are downright dangerous. And that is why the Greeks did not forbid Jewish practice altogether. What they (initially) forbade were those practices that they saw as irrational. Those practices that Jews do simply because they believe they have a relationship with a Being who is higher than reason. That, they could not tolerate. -Emmanuel
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:40:33 +0000
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