Does God Exist?

After spending the first 70 chapters of the Moreh indoctrinating us in thinking of a transcendental God that is unfathomable, Rambam lays out in chapter 71 his approach to proving God’s existence. (It is a worthwhile read if we want to see how intellectually honest the man was.) He then discusses all the different approaches that philosophers used to prove God’s existence finding fault with every one of them. In the beginning of Book 2 he then lays out his position. It is important to note Rambam’s insistence on God’s transcendence and non-corporeality to the point that he believes it must be taught even to children and the simple. He makes that point very strongly in Moreh 1:35:

“That God is incorporeal, that He cannot be compared with His creatures, that He is not subject to external influence; these are things which must be explained to every one according to his capacity, and they must be taught by way of tradition to children and women, to the stupid and ignorant, as they are taught that God is One, that He is eternal, and that He alone is to be worshipped.”.

Before one starts to prove something, one needs to first define what one wants to prove. That is why Rambam insists on transcendence. He does not plan to prove the existence of a personal, involved and easily grasped God. He plans to prove one thing only; that a transcendental God exists, no more or less.

Rambam’s basic approach is that being that God’s essence is unfathomable all we can do is infer His existence from His actions, which is the Universe we live in. Isaac Frank very eloquently and succinctly presents Rambam’s case: (I posted this before)

“Without knowing the nature or essence of G-d, we know that G-d exists because we know from our experience that things, contingent things exist. If anything exists, and obviously finite, contingent things, such as you and I, do exist, then it cannot be the case that everything that exists is contingent. To be contingent means that the existence of the contingent thing is contingent upon, depends upon, some other thing or being. But not everything can be dependent on something else, i.e., not everything can have been caused by, or brought into being by, something else. At least one entity must be in existence by itself, independent of anything else, must have come into being (if it did not exist eternally) by itself, must be its own cause, i.e. must exist necessarily not contingently, and its non - existence is inconceivable. This necessarily existent being is what we call G-d... G-d is the absolute existent, to whom existence is so essential as to be His very essence.”

I am aware that there are those who disagree with this approach however I have not found their objections compelling. As we are trying to prove the existence of a transcendental God there can be no empirical evidence other than inference from His actions which is the universe we live in. Understanding the universe is therefore the only way to find God, understand His objectives and emulate them. That is the meaning of Ve’ahavta es Hashem Elokecha, to love God. It is not an ecstatic emotional reaction but a rational one that ends up with awe and trembling before the greatness we glimpse. The emotions are triggered not by our neediness or imagination, but by an intellectual understanding of how great God’s actions are.

ו מַה-גָּדְלוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהוָה; מְאֹד, עָמְקוּ מַחְשְׁבֹתֶיךָ.
6 How great are Thy works, O LORD! Thy thoughts are very deep.
ז אִישׁ-בַּעַר, לֹא יֵדָע; וּכְסִיל, לֹא-יָבִין אֶת-זֹאת.
7 A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this.

For someone to understand God’s ways, one has to be an intelligent and sensitive person. The Torah sets out to make us into that type of a person. That is why we keep the Mitzvos, why we pray and so on. It is only when we understand God’s ways that He becomes a personal God. We have to personalize Him. The personal God of the masses is just a figment of their imagination. That God is accepted on faith and His existence need not be nor can it be proven.

I am always struck when I see the skeptics discussing God’s existence, questioning it and stating with such self-importance that it is only a matter of faith, that they are right. The God they are looking for does not exist. He may be the God of Christianity but he certainly is not the God of Israel. Our God is unique in all senses – Echad – which translates into transcendental, beyond all thought and experience, which is the ultimate uniqueness. That God is the one we are looking for and He is findable.

כט וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם מִשָּׁם אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וּמָצָאתָ: כִּי תִדְרְשֶׁנּוּ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֶׁךָ.
29 But from there you will seek the LORD thy God; and thou shalt find Him, if thou search after Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.