Jewish Theology Part 4

All efforts of philosophy to define the essence of G.o.d are futile. "Canst thou by searching find out G.o.d?" Zophar asks of his friend Job.(174) Both Philo and Maimonides maintain that we can know of G.o.d only that He _is_; we can never fathom His innermost being or know what He is. Both find this unknowability of G.o.d expressed in the words spoken to Moses: "If I withdraw My hand, thou shall see My back-that is, the effects of G.o.d's power and wisdom-but My face-the real essence of G.o.d-thou shalt not see."(175)

2. Still, a divinity void of all essential qualities fails to satisfy the religious soul. Man demands to know what G.o.d is-at least, what G.o.d is to him. In the first word of the Decalogue G.o.d speaks through His people Israel to the religious consciousness of all men at all times, beginning, "I am the Lord, _thy_ G.o.d." This word _I_ lifts G.o.d at once above all beings and powers of the cosmos, in fact, above all other existence, for it expresses His unique self-consciousness. This attribute above all is possessed by no being in the world of nature, and only by man, who is the image of his Maker. According to the Midrash, all creation was hushed when the Lord spoke on Sinai, "_I_ am the Lord."(176) G.o.d is not merely the supreme Being, but also the supreme Self-consciousness. As man, in spite of all his limitations and helplessness, still towers high above all his fellow creatures by virtue of his free will and self-conscious action, so G.o.d, who knows no bounds to His wisdom and power, surpa.s.ses all beings and forces of the universe, for He rules over all as the one completely self-conscious Mind and Will. In both the visible and invisible realms He manifests Himself as the absolutely free Personality, moral and spiritual, who allots to every thing its existence, form, and purpose. For this reason Scripture calls Him "the living G.o.d and everlasting King."(177)

3. Judaism, accordingly, teaches us to recognize G.o.d, above all, as revealing Himself in self-conscious activity, as determining all that happens by His absolutely free will, and thus as showing man how to walk as a free moral agent. In relation to the world, His work or workshop, He is the self-conscious Master, saying "I am that which I am"; in relation to man, who is akin to Him as a self-conscious rational and moral being, He is the living Fountain of all that knowledge and spirituality for which men long, and in which alone they may find contentment and bliss.

Thus the G.o.d of Judaism, the world's great _I Am_, forms a complete contrast, not only to the lifeless powers of nature and destiny, which were worshiped by the ancient pagans, but also to the G.o.d of modern paganism, a G.o.d divested of all personality and self-consciousness, such as He is conceived of by the new school of Christian theology, with its pantheistic tendency. I refer to the school of Ritschl, which strives to render the myth of the man-G.o.d philosophically intelligible by teaching that G.o.d reaches self-consciousness only in the perfect type of man, that is, Christ, while otherwise He is entirely immanent, one with the world.

All the more forcibly does Jewish monotheism insist upon its doctrine that G.o.d, in His continual self-revelation, is the supermundane and self-conscious Ruler of both nature and history. "I am the Lord, that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another,"-so says the G.o.d of Judaism.(178)

4. The Jewish G.o.d-idea, of course, had to go through many stages of development before it reached the concept of a transcendental and spiritual G.o.d. It was necessary first that the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant prohibit most stringently polytheism and every form of idolatry, and second that a strictly imageless worship impress the people with the idea that Israel's G.o.d was both invisible and incorporeal.(179) Yet a wide step still intervened from that stage to the complete recognition of G.o.d as a purely spiritual Being, lacking all qualities perceptible to the senses, and not resembling man in either his inner or his outer nature. Centuries of gradual ripening of thought were still necessary for the growth of this conception. This was rendered still more difficult by the Scriptural references to G.o.d in His actions and His revelations, and even in His motives, after a human pattern. Israel's sages required centuries of effort to remove all anthropomorphic and anthropopathic notions of G.o.d, and thus to elevate Him to the highest realm of spirituality.(180)

5. In this process of development two points of view demand consideration.

We must not overlook the fact that the perfectly clear distinction which we make between the sensory and the spiritual does not appeal to the child-like mind, which sees it rather as external. What we call transcendent, owing to our comprehension of the immeasurable universe, was formerly conceived only as far remote in s.p.a.ce or time. Thus G.o.d is spoken of in Scripture as dwelling in heaven and looking down upon the inhabitants of the earth to judge them and to guide them.(181) According to Deuteronomy, G.o.d spoke from heaven to the people about Mt. Sinai, while Exodus represents Him as coming down to the mountain from His heavenly heights to proclaim the law amid thunder and lightning.(182) The Babylonian conception of heaven prevailed throughout the Middle Ages and influenced both the mystic lore about the heavenly throne and the philosophic cosmology of the Aristotelians, such as Maimonides. Yet Scripture offers also another view, the concept of G.o.d as the One enthroned on high, whom "the heavens and the heaven's heavens cannot encompa.s.s."(183)

The fact is that language still lacked an expression for pure spirit, and the intellect freed itself only gradually from the restrictions of primitive language to attain a purer conception of the divine. Thus we attain deeper insight into the spiritual nature of G.o.d when we read the inimitable words of the Psalmist describing His omnipresence,(184) or that other pa.s.sage: "He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? He that chastiseth the nations, shall He not correct, even He that teaches man knowledge?"(185)

The translators and interpreters of the Bible felt the need of eliminating everything of a sensory nature from G.o.d and of avoiding anthropomorphism, through the influence of Greek philosophy. This spiritualization of the G.o.d idea was taken up again by the philosophers of the Spanish-Arabic period, who combated the prevailing mysticism. Through them Jewish monotheism emphasized its opposition to every human representation of G.o.d, especially the G.o.d-Man of the Christian Church.

6. On the other hand, we must bear in mind that we naturally ascribe to G.o.d a human personality, whether we speak of Him as the Master-worker of the universe, as the all-seeing and all-hearing Judge, or the compa.s.sionate and merciful Father. We cannot help attributing human qualities and emotions to Him the moment we invest Him with a moral and spiritual nature. When we speak of His punitive justice, His unfailing mercy, or His all-wise providence, we transfer to Him, imperceptibly, our own righteous indignation at the sight of a wicked deed, or our own compa.s.sion with the sufferer, or even our own mode of deliberation and decision. Moreover, the prophets and the Torah, in order to make G.o.d plain to the people, described Him in vivid images of human life, with anger and jealousy as well as compa.s.sion and repentance, and also with the organs and functions of the senses,-seeing, hearing, smelling, speaking, and walking.

7. The rabbis are all the more emphatic in their a.s.sertions that the Torah merely intends to a.s.sist the simple-minded, and that unseemly expressions concerning Deity are due to the inadequacy of language, and must not be taken literally.(186) "It is an act of boldness allowed only to the prophets to measure the Creator by the standard of the creature," says the Haggadist, and again, "G.o.d appeared to Israel, now as a heroic warrior, now as a venerable sage imparting knowledge, and again as a kind dispenser of bounties, but always in a manner befitting the time and circ.u.mstance, so as to satisfy the need of the human heart."(187) This is strikingly ill.u.s.trated in the following dialogue: "A heretic came to Rabbi Meir asking, 'How can you reconcile the pa.s.sage which reads, "Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord," with the one which relates that the Lord appeared to Moses between the cherubim of the ark of the covenant?'

Whereupon Rabbi Meir took two mirrors, one large and the other small, and placed them before the interrogator. 'Look into this gla.s.s,' he said, 'and into that. Does not your figure seem different in one than in the other?

How much more will the majesty of G.o.d, who has neither figure nor form, be reflected differently in the minds of men! To one it will appear according to his narrow view of life, and to the other in accordance with his larger mental horizon.' "(188)

In like manner Rabbi Joshua ben Hanania, when asked sarcastically by the Emperor Hadrian to show him his G.o.d, replied: "Come and look at the sun which now shines in the full splendor of noonday! Behold, thou art dazzled. How, then, canst thou see without bewilderment the majesty of Him from whom emanates both sun and stars?"(189) This rejoinder, which was familiar to the Greeks also, is excelled by the one of Rabban Gamaliel II to a heathen who asked him "Where does the G.o.d dwell to whom you daily pray?" "Tell me first," he answered, "where does your soul dwell, which is so close to thee? Thou canst not tell. How, then, can I inform thee concerning Him who dwells in heaven, and whose throne is separated from the earth by a journey of 3500 years?" "Then do we not do better to pray to G.o.ds who are near at hand, and whom we can see with our eyes?"

continued the heathen, whereupon the sage struck home, "Well, you may see your G.o.ds, but they neither see nor help you, while our G.o.d, Himself unseen, yet sees and protects us constantly."(190) The comparison of the invisible soul to G.o.d, the invisible spirit of the universe, is worked out further in the Midrash to Psalm CIII.

8. From the foregoing it is clear that, while Judaism insists on the Deity's transcending all finite and sensory limitations, it never lost the sense of the close relationship between man and his Maker. Notwithstanding Christian theologians to the contrary, the Jewish G.o.d was never a mere abstraction.(191) The words, "I am the Lord thy G.o.d," betoken the intimate relation between the redeemed and the heavenly Redeemer, and the song of triumph at the Red Sea, "This is my G.o.d, I will extol Him,"

testifies-according to the Midrash-that even the humblest of G.o.d's chosen people were filled with the feeling of His nearness.(192) In the same way the warm breath of union with G.o.d breathes through all the writings, the prayers, and the whole history of Judaism. "For what great nation is there that hath G.o.d so nigh unto them as the Lord our G.o.d is, whenever we call upon Him?" exclaims Moses in Deuteronomy, and the rabbis, commenting upon the plural form used here, _Kerobim_, = "nigh," remark: "G.o.d is nigh to everyone in accordance with his special needs."(193)

9. Probably the rabbis were at their most profound mood in their saying, "G.o.d's greatness lies in His condescension, as may be learned from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. To quote only Isaiah also: 'Thus saith the High and Lofty One, I dwell in high and holy places, with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit.'(194) For this reason G.o.d selected as the place of His revelation the humble Sinai and the lowly thornbush."(195) In fact, the absence of any mediator in Judaism necessitates the doctrine that G.o.d-with all His transcendent majesty-is at the same time "an ever present helper in trouble,"(196) and that His omnipotence includes care for the greatest and the smallest beings of creation.(197)

10. The doctrine that G.o.d is above and beyond the universe, transcending all created things, as well as time and s.p.a.ce, might lead logically to the view of the deist that He stands outside of the world, and does not work from within. But this inference has never been made even by the boldest of Jewish thinkers. The Psalmist said, "Who is like the Lord our G.o.d, that hath His seat on high, that humbleth Himself to behold what is in heaven and on earth?"(198)-words which express the deepest and the loftiest thought of Judaism. Beside the all-encompa.s.sing Deity no other divine power or personality can find a place. G.o.d is in all; He is over all; He is both immanent and transcendent. His creation was not merely setting into motion the wheels of the cosmic fabric, after which He withdrew from the world. The Jew praises Him for every scent and sight of nature or of human life, for the beauty of the sea and the rainbow, for every flash of lightning that illumines the darkened clouds and every peal of thunder that shakes the earth. On every such occasion the Jew utters praise to "Him who daily renews the work of creation," or "Him who in everlasting faithfulness keepeth His covenant with mankind." Such is the teaching of the men of the Great Synagogue,(199) and the charge of the Jewish G.o.d idea being a barren and abstract transcendentalism can be urged only by the blindness of bigotry.(200)

11. The interweaving of the ideas of G.o.d's immanence and transcendency is shown especially in two poems embodied in the songs of the Synagogue, Ibn Gabirol's "Crown of Royalty" and the "Songs of Unity" for each day of the week, composed by Samuel ben Kalonymos, the father of Judah the Pious of Regensburg. Here occur such sentences as these: "All is in G.o.d and G.o.d is in all"; "Sufficient unto Himself and self-determining, He is the ever-living and self-conscious Mind, the all-permeating, all-impelling, and all-accomplishing Will"; "The universe is the emanation of the plenitude of G.o.d, each part the light of His infinite light, flame of His eternal empyrean"; "The universe is the garment, the covering of G.o.d, and He the all-penetrating Soul."(201) All these ideas were borrowed from neo-Platonism, and found a conspicuous place in Ibn Gabirol's philosophy, later influencing the Cabbalah.

Similarly the appellation, _Makom_, "s.p.a.ce," is explained by both Philo and the rabbis as denoting "Him who encompa.s.ses the world, but whom the world cannot encompa.s.s."(202) An utterance such as this, well-nigh pantheistic in tone, leads directly to theories like those of Spinoza or of David Nieto, the well-known London Rabbi, who was largely under Spinozistic influence(203) and who still was in accord with Jewish thought. Certainly, as long as Jewish monotheism conceives of G.o.d as self-conscious Intellect and freely acting Will, it can easily accept the principle of divine immanence.

12. We accept, then, the fact that man, child-like, invests G.o.d with human qualities,-a view advanced by Abraham ben David of Posquieres in opposition to Maimonides.(204) Still, the thinkers of Judaism have ever labored to divest the Deity of every vestige of sensuousness, of likeness to man, in fact, of every limitation to action or to free will. Every conception which merges G.o.d into the world or identifies Him with it and thus makes Him subject to necessity, is incompatible with the Jewish idea of G.o.d, which enthrones Him above the universe as its free and sovereign Master. "Am I a G.o.d near at hand, saith the Lord, and not a G.o.d afar off?

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth?"(205) "To whom will you liken Me, that I should be equal?"(206)

Chapter XIII. The One and Only G.o.d

1. From the very beginning no Jewish doctrine was so firmly proclaimed and so heroically defended as the belief in the One and Only G.o.d. This const.i.tutes the essence and foundation of Judaism. However slowly the people learned that there could be no G.o.ds beside the One G.o.d, and that consequently all the pagan deities were but "naught and vanity," the Judaism of the Torah starts with the proclamation of the Only One, and later Judaism marches through the nations and ages of history with a never-silent protest against polytheism of every kind, against every division of the G.o.dhead into parts, powers, or persons.

2. It is perfectly clear that divine pedagogy could not well have demanded of a people immature and untrained in religion, like Israel in the wilderness period, the immediate belief in the only one G.o.d and in none else. Such a belief is the result of a long mental process; it is attained only after centuries of severe struggle and crisis. Instead of this, the Decalogue of Sinai demanded of the people that they worship only the G.o.d of the Covenant who had delivered them from Egypt to render them His people.(207) But, as they yielded more and more to the seductive worship of the G.o.ds of the Canaanites and their other neighbors, the law became more rigid in prohibiting such idolatrous practices, and the prophets poured forth their unscathing wrath against the "stiff-necked people" and endeavored by unceasing warnings and threats to win them for the pure truth of monotheism.(208)

3. The G.o.d of Sinai proclaims Himself in the Decalogue as a "jealous G.o.d,"

and not in vain. He cannot tolerate other G.o.ds beside Himself. Truth can make no concession to untruth, nor enter into any compromise with it without self-surrender. A pagan religion could well afford to admit foreign G.o.ds into its pantheon without offending the ruling deities of the land. On the contrary, their realm seemed rather to be enlarged by the addition. It was also easy to blend the cults of deities originally distinct and unite many divinities under a composite name, and by this process create a system of worship which would either comprise the G.o.ds of many lands or even merge them into one large family. This was actually the state of the various pagan religions at the time of the decline of antiquity. But such a procedure could never lead towards true monotheism.

It lacks the conception of an inner unity, without which its followers could not grasp the true idea of G.o.d as the source and essence of all life, both physical and spiritual. Only the One G.o.d of revelation made the world really one. In Him alone heaven and earth, day and night, growth and decay, the weal and woe of individuals and nations, appear as the work of an all-ruling Power and Wisdom, so that all events in nature and history are seen as parts of one all-comprising plan.(209)

4. It is perfectly true that a wide difference of view exists between the prohibition of polytheism and idolatry in the Decalogue and the proclamation in Deuteronomy of the unity of G.o.d, and, still more, between the law of the Pentateuch and the prophetic announcement of the day when Israel's G.o.d "shall be King of the whole earth, and His name shall be One."(210) Yet Judaism is based precisely upon this higher view. The very first pages of Genesis, the opening of the Torah, as well as the exilic portions of Isaiah which form the culmination of the prophets, and the Psalms also, prove sufficiently that at their time monotheism was an axiom of Judaism. In fact, heathenism had become synonymous with both image-worship and belief in many G.o.ds beside the Only One of Israel, and accordingly had lost all hold upon the Jewish people. The heathen G.o.ds were given a place in the celestial economy, but only as subordinate rulers or as the guardian angels of the nations, and always under the dominion of G.o.d on high.(211)

5. Later, in the contest against Graeco-Egyptian paganism, the doctrine of G.o.d's unity was emphasized in the Alexandrian propaganda literature, of which only a portion has been preserved for us. Here antagonism in the most forcible form is expressed against the delusive cults of paganism, and exclusive worship claimed for "the unseen, yet all-seeing G.o.d, the uncreated Creator of the world."(212) The Rabbinical Haggadah contains but dim reminiscences of the extensive propaganda carried on previous to Hillel, the Talmudic type of the propagandist. Moreover, this period fostered free inquiry and philosophical discussion, and therefore the doctrine of unity emerged more and more from simple belief to become a matter of reason. The G.o.d of truth put to flight the G.o.ds of falsehood.

Hence many gentiles espoused the cause of Judaism, becoming "G.o.d-fearing men."(213)

6. In this connection it seems necessary to point out the difference between the G.o.d of the Greek philosophers-Xenophanes and Anaxagoras, Plato and Aristotle-and the G.o.d of the Bible. In abandoning their own G.o.ds, the Greek philosophers reached a deistic view of the cosmos. As their study of science showed them plan and order everywhere, they concluded that the universe is governed by an all-encompa.s.sing Intelligence, a divine power entirely distinct from the capricious deities of the popular religion.

Reflection led them to a complete rupture with their religious belief. The Biblical belief in G.o.d underwent a different process. After G.o.d had once been conceived of, He was held up as the ideal of morality, including both righteousness and holiness. Then this doctrine was continuously elucidated and deepened, until a stage was reached where a harmony could be established between the teachings of Moses and the wisdom of Plato and Aristotle. To the n.o.ble thinkers of h.e.l.las truth was an object of supreme delight, the highest privilege of the sage. To the adherents of Judaism truth became the holiest aim of life for the entire people, for which all were taught to battle and to die, as did the Maccabean heroes and Daniel and his a.s.sociates, their prototypes.

7. A deeper meaning was attached to the doctrine of G.o.d's unity under Persian rule, in contact with the religious system of Zoroaster. To the Persians life was a continual conflict between the principles of good and of evil, until the ultimate victory of good shall come. This dualistic view of the world greatly excels all other heathen religious systems, insofar as it a.s.signs ethical purpose to the whole of life. Yet the great seer of the Exile opposes this system in the name of the G.o.d of Judaism, speaking to Cyrus, the king of Persia; "I am the Lord and there is none else; beside Me there is no G.o.d. I will gird thee, though thou dost not know Me, in order that the people shall know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside Me. I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and also create evil, I am the Lord that doeth these things."(214) This declaration of pure monotheism is incompatible with dualism in both the physical and the moral world; it regards evil as being mere semblance without reality, an opposing force which can be overcome and rendered a source of new strength for the victory of the good. "Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not the evil and the good?"(215)

8. The division of the world into rival realms of good and evil powers, of angelic and demoniacal forces, which originated in ancient Chaldea and underlies the Zoroastrian dualism, finally took hold of Judaism also.

Still this was not carried to such an extent that Satan, the supreme ruler of the demon world, was given a dominion equal to that of G.o.d, or interfering with it, so as to impair thereby the principle of monotheism, as was done by the Church later on. As a matter of fact, at the time of nascent Christianity the leaders of the Synagogue took rigid measures against those heretics (_Minim_) who believed in two divine powers,(216) because they recognized the grave danger of moral degeneracy in this Gnostic dualism. In the Church it led first to the deification of Christ (_i.e._ the Messiah) as the vanquisher of Satan; afterwards, owing to a compromise with heathenism, the Trinity was adopted to correspond with the three-fold G.o.dhead,-father, mother, and son,-the place of the mother deity being taken by the Holy Ghost, which was originally conceived as a female power (the Syrian _Ruha_ being of the feminine gender).(217)

9. The churchmen have attempted often enough to harmonize the dualism or trinitarianism of Christianity with the monotheism of the Bible. Still Judaism persists in considering such an infringement upon the belief in Israel's one and only G.o.d as really a compromise with heathenism. "A Jew is he who opposes every sort of polytheism," says the Talmud.(218)

10. The medieval Jewish thinkers therefore made redoubled efforts to express with utmost clearness the doctrine of G.o.d's unity. In this effort they received special encouragement from the example of the leaders of Islam, whose victorious march over the globe was a triumph for the one G.o.d of Abraham over the triune G.o.d of Christianity. A great tide of intellectual progress arose, lending to the faith of the Mohammedans and subsequently also to that of the Jews an impetus which lasted for centuries. The new thought and keen research of that period had a lasting influence upon the whole development of western culture. An alliance was effected between religion and philosophy, particularly by the leading Jewish minds, which proved a liberating and stimulating force in all fields of scientific investigation. Thus the pure idea of monotheism became the basis for modern science and the entire modern world-view.(219)

11. The Mohammedan thinkers devoted their attention chiefly to elucidating and spiritualizing the G.o.d idea, beginning as early as the third century of Islamism, so to interpret the Koran as to divest G.o.d of all anthropomorphic attributes and to stress His absolute unity, uniqueness, and the incomparability of His oneness. Soon they became familiar with neo-Platonic and afterward with Aristotelian modes of speculation through the work of Syrian and Jewish translators. With the help of these they built up a system of theology which influenced Jewish thought also, first in Karaite and then in Rabbanite circles.(220) Thus sprang up successively the philosophical systems of Saadia, Jehuda ha Levi, Ibn Gabirol, Bahya, Ibn Daud, and Maimonides. The philosophical hymns and the articles of faith, both of which found a place in the liturgy of the Synagogue, were the work of their followers. The highest mode of adoring G.o.d seemed to be the elaboration of the idea of His unity to its logical conclusion, which satisfied the philosophical mind, though often remote from the understanding of the mult.i.tude. For centuries the supreme effort of Jewish thought was to remove Him from the possibility of comparison with any other being, and to abolish every conception which might impair His absolute and simple unity. This mental activity filled the dwellings of Israel with light, even when the darkness of ignorance covered the lands of Christendom, dispelled only here and there by rays of knowledge emanating from Jewish quarters.(221)

12. The proofs of the unity of G.o.d adduced by Mohammedan and Jewish thinkers were derived from the rational order, design, and unity of the cosmos, and from the laws of the mind itself. These aided in endowing Judaism with a power of conviction which rendered futile the conversionist efforts of the Church, with its arguments and its threats. Israel's only One proved to be the G.o.d of truth, high and holy to both the mind and the heart. The Jewish masters of thought rendered Him the highest object of their speculation, only to bow in awe before Him who is beyond all human ken; the Jewish martyrs likewise cheerfully offered up their lives in His honor; and thus all hearts echoed the battle-cry of the centuries, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G.o.d, the Lord is One," and all minds were illumined by the radiant hope, "The Lord will be King of the earth; on that day the Lord shall be One, and His name shall be One."

13. Under all conditions, however, the doctrine of unity remained free from outward compulsion and full of intrinsic vigor and freshness. There was still room for differences of opinion, such as whether G.o.d's life, power, wisdom, and unity are attributes-distinct from His being, and qualifying it,-or whether they are inherent in His nature, comprising His very essence. This controversy aimed to determine the conception of G.o.d, either by Aristotelian rationalism, as represented by Maimonides, or by the positive religious a.s.sumptions of Crescas and others.

This is Maimonides' statement of the unity: "G.o.d is one; that is, He is unlike any other unit, whether made one in point of numbers or species, or by virtue of composition, separation, and simplification. He is one in Himself, there being no multiplicity in Him. His unity is beyond all definition."(222)

Ibn Gabirol in his "Crown of Royalty" puts the same thought into poetic form: "One art Thou; the wise wonder at the mystery of Thy unity, not knowing what it is. One art Thou; not like the one of dimension or number, as neither addition nor change, neither attribute nor quality affects Thy being. Thou art G.o.d, who sustainest all beings by Thy divinity, who holdest all creatures in Thy unity. Thou art G.o.d, and there is no distinction between Thy unity, Thy eternity, and Thy being. All is mystery, and however the names may differ, they all tell that Thou art but one."(223)

14. Side by side with this rationalistic trend, Judaism always contained a current of mysticism. The mystics accepted literally the anthropomorphic pictures of the Deity in the Bible, and did not care how much they might affect the spirituality and unity of G.o.d. The philosophic schools had contended against the anthropomorphic views of the older mystics, and thus had brought higher views of the G.o.dhead to dominance; but when the rationalistic movement had spent its force, the reaction came in the form of the Cabbalah, the secret lore which claimed to have been "transmitted"

(according to the meaning of the word) from a h.o.a.ry past. The older system of thought had stripped the Deity of all reality and had robbed religion of all positiveness; now, in contrast, the soul demanded a G.o.d of revelation through faith in whom might come exaltation and solace.(224)

Nevertheless the Maimonidean articles of faith were adopted into the liturgy because of their emphasis on the absolute unity and indivisibility of G.o.d, by which they const.i.tuted a vigorous protest against the Christian dogma. Judaism ever found its strength in G.o.d the only One, and will find Him ever anew a source of inspiration and rejuvenation.

Chapter XIV. G.o.d's Omnipotence and Omniscience

1. Among all the emotions which underlie our G.o.d-consciousness the foremost is the realization of our own weakness and helplessness. This makes us long for One mightier than ourselves, for the Almighty whose acts are beyond comparison. The first attribute, therefore, with which we feeble mortals invest our Deity is omnipotence. Thus the pagan ascribes supreme power over their different realms to his various deities. Hence the name for G.o.d among all the Semites is _El_-"the Powerful One."(225) Judaism claims for G.o.d absolute and unlimited power over all that is. It declares Him to be the source and essence of all strength, the almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe. All that exists is His creation; all that occurs is His achievement. He is frequently called by the rabbis _ha Geburah_, the Omnipotence.(226)

2. The historical method of study seems to indicate that various cosmic potencies were worshiped in primitive life either singly or collectively under the name of _Elohim_, "divine powers," or _Zibeoth Elohim_, "hosts of divine powers." With the acceptance of the idea of divine omnipotence, these were united into a confederacy of divine forces under the dominion of the one G.o.d, the "Lord of Hosts." Still these powers of heaven, earth and the deep by no means at once surrendered their ident.i.ty. Most of them became angels, "messengers" of the omnipotent G.o.d, or "spirits" roaming in the realms where once they ruled, while a few were relegated as monsters to the region of superst.i.tion. The heathen deities, which persisted for a while in popular belief, were also placed with the angels as "heavenly rulers" of their respective lands or nations about the throne of the Most High. At all events, Israel's G.o.d was enthroned above them all as Lord of the universe. In fact, the Alexandrian translators and some of the rabbis actually explained in this sense the Biblical names _El Shaddai_ and _J.H.V.H. Zebaoth_.(227) The medieval philosophers, however, took a backward step away from the Biblical view when, under the influence of Neoplatonism, they represented the angels and the spirits of the stars as intermediary forces.(228)

3. According to the Bible, both the Creation and the order of the universe testify to divine omnipotence. G.o.d called all things into existence by His almighty word, una.s.sisted by His heavenly messengers. He alone stretched out the heavens, set bounds to the sea, and founded the earth on pillars that it be not moved; none was with Him to partake in the work. This is the process of creation according to the first chapter of Genesis and the fortieth chapter of Isaiah. So He appears throughout the Scriptures as "the Doer of wonders," "whose arm never waxes short" to carry out His will. "He fainteth not, neither is He weary." His dominion extends over the sea and the storm, over life and death, over high and low.

Intermediary forces partic.i.p.ating in His work are never mentioned. They are referred to only in the poetic description of creation in the book of Job: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of G.o.d shouted for joy."(229)

Proof of G.o.d's supreme power was found particularly in history, either in His miraculous changing of the natural order, or in His defeat of the mighty hostile armies which bade Him defiance.(230) Often the heathen deities or the celestial powers are introduced as dramatic figures to testify to the triumph of the divine omnipotence, as when the Lord is said to "execute judgment against the G.o.ds of Egypt" or when "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera."(231)