Video
Twitter
RSS Feed
Maimonides and Post-Holocaust Theology
Maimonides' ideas about divine providence reveal a depth and sophistication lacking in modern Jewish thought, in particular "post-Holocaust theology" ("Where was God in Auschwitz?"). Actually, judging from his writings, we may infer that he would see no reason for a new theology that explains this unimaginable catastrophe.
The core of Maimonides' theology is that God is absolutely unknowable and ineffable. We know only that he exists. When essential attributes are ascribed to God, they must be thought of as ascribed in a negative sense. When we say that God exists, we mean that his nonexistence is impossible. The most appropriate phrase in speaking of God is the saying, Silence is praise to you (Ps 65:2) or commune with your heart upon your bed, and be silent (Ps 4:5).
When we say that God is eternal, we think of time stretched out to infinity, but the true meaning of God's eternity is that he is beyond time. How he intersects with cosmic time is a mystery. We cannot ask whether he foresaw something, because there is no past, present, or future for him. Since this is the case, there is no meaning to the question of God's foreknowledge of events or determination of the future.
Maimonides understood the grandeur of the universe and how minute we and our planet are in the vast scheme. When we view nature from our human perspective, we see it as governed by chance and threatening. However, human beings are not the purpose of creation. Maimonides sees each being as an end in itself. If a ravenous lion meets a prophet and devours him (Guide, part 3, ch.17), we consider the act as evil, but the lion sees it as augmenting his life.
Cosmologists nowadays estimate the universe to be about 15 billion light years in extent. Cosmic awareness eradicates human hubris and comfort zone theologies that treat God as a parent. Contemporary theologians speak of God as hiding and choosing to be powerless. The eclipse of God has become the most common solution to the theological mystery raised by the Holocaust. The idea that God was hiding his face (haster panim) (Deut 31:17-18, Isa 59:2), according to Maimonides, is inconceivable, for God cannot change in any way, and the true meaning of hiding his face is our distancing ourselves from him by our conduct.
Holocaust theologies are unavailing, because the evils perpetrated by human beings upon their own species cannot be blamed on God. The fallacies in religious thought concerning divine providence and the problem of evil arise from our thinking of God as a human being with a human will and choices before him. A Holocaust historian has said that either God knew about the concentration camps and did nothing, and is therefore unjust, or he did not know, and then we do not need him.
We must judge the world from a universal perspective, not from a limited human viewpoint. We must be aware that no being is alone, that we are all parts of a whole, all humanity and the totality of the universe. Then we feel serene, aware that the only evil is moral evil, and that this depends upon us.
Rather than making God responsible for evils in the world, Maimonides defined three causes of what human beings consider evil. One of these three evils is natural, whereas the other two are moral.
(1) Natural evils occur because we are made of matter, of flesh and bones, and we are subject to coming into being and passing away. We die and make room for others of our species.
(2) Human beings inflict evil upon one another by tyrannical domination and wars. These evils are more numerous than natural evils. This kind of evil afflicts many people in wars, yet they are not the majority of events if we consider the world as a whole.
(3) Individuals inflict evil upon themselves by eating, drinking and indulging themselves to excess. A bad regimen produces diseases of the body and soul.
Either God is the Lord of the universe and of all humankind or he is a tribal god, the god of a specific group, a chosen people or nation. As he cannot be a local tribal god, a particularistic Jewish theology makes no sense. For a theology to be meaningful, it must be universal and pertain to all humans, indeed to all beings in the universe.
This is a philosophical theology, which Maimonides presents in his Guide of the Perplexed.
The Great Flood of the Huang He (Yellow River) in 1931 caused between 800,000 and 4,000,000 deaths. The massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire after World War I caused between one and one-and-a-half million fatalities. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused huge tsunamis and destroyed the lives of at least 229,000 people. The genocide in Darfur has had 400,000-500,000 victims, and the genocide in Rwanda has had 800,000 to 1,000,000 victims. All these catastrophes raise the same questions as does the Holocaust about God's omniscience and justice. Human beings have been inflicting evil upon one another in wars from the beginning of time without God's intervention. God cannot be considered as good and justice or evil and unjust, but beyond good and evil.
Post-Holocaust theologians do not ask where God was when the river flooded, or when the earthquake erupted, or when millions of people were being massacred. They maintain that the Holocaust was radically different from any other occasion of human suffering. Yet the suffering and death of innocent children, which Brother Ivan Fyodorovich raises with his brother, the novice priest Alyosha, in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, book 5, ch. 4, raises the same questions as suffering on a large scale.
Maimonides expressed his view on divine providence in his philosophical exegesis of the Book of Job. The final message of Job is that after all is said and done, we really do not understand very much, and the most appropriate response to this world is one of humility. Job's friends thought that they had all the answers, but the finale is the God speech that says, Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? (38:4). And further on, Who is wise enough to give an account of the heavens? (38:37). It may not give us all the answers, but it helps us reconcile ourselves to our limitations, to get a sense of the very miraculousness of any existence at all and to get on with making the most of our lives.
Joel L. Kraemer, John Henry Barrows Professor Emeritus in the Divinity School and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, is the author of "Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds." He also wrote "Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam and Philosophy in the Renaissance of Islam," and is the editor of "Perspectives on Maimonides." He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
By Joel L. Kraemer |
October 27, 2008; 9:21 AM ET
Save & Share:
Previous: Unbuckling the Bible Belt from the Legacy of Slavery |
Next: And Atwater Begat Rove, who Begat Schmidt...
Posted by: Farnaz2 | October 28, 2008 12:50 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Prof. Kraemer,
I guess I can say I love the "Guide," so much so that I have resisted reading scholarship on it to the greatest extent possible, although I have often contemplated reading yours.
My fantasy is that one day, in Heaven, I will witness a discussion between Maimonides and Judah HaLevi, with Aristotle looking on, but I guess that will have to wait. Three philosophers, two of them also doctors, one a poet as well. A jug of wine, and thou, Dr. Kraemer, as "moderator."
Maimnonides will have at hand his ancient Aristotle, and HaLevi will
Posted by: Farnaz2 | October 28, 2008 12:49 PM
Report Offensive Comment
due
Posted by: Mary_Cunningham | October 28, 2008 4:47 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Intelligent article Prof Kraemer, and I only hope it doesn't degenerate into the type of slugfest such thoughtful articles all too often precipitate.
I am not so sure the influence that Maimonides had on Aquinas and the scholastics--probably a lot. But the God he wrote of is close to the Platonic God, which is to say, is contrary to God as man--ancient and contemporary--understands Him. As a person. The Platonic God is difficult to contemplate and impossible to meet. He almost doesn't seem alive, well, not as we define it.
The faith of the ancient Christians--that the Jesus who walked the earth was the Messiah who would return again and soon--when translated into the vernacular of the Roman Empire (Greek)became more, well, Greek. Greek ideas seeped in. Philosophers who had studied Greek became Christian. This created a tension that is with us (at least in Catholicism) to this day.
But the God who revealed himself to the prophets and afterwards to the great Christian mystics--St Paul the most wonderful example--was a person. And easy to understand.
Still, thank you and WaPo for this article. As I slam "On Faith" very often, I should give kudos when they are do.
Posted by: Mary_Cunningham | October 28, 2008 4:45 AM
Report Offensive Comment
f
Posted by: observer12 | October 27, 2008 10:31 PM
Report Offensive Comment
kengelhart :
"Contemporary theologians speak of God as hiding and choosing to be powerless."
Pure arrogance. As is "post-holocaust theology." This is the idea that your "holocaust" is more important than anyone else's, and your suffering is more meaningful than every one else's. This is usually the excuse for making others suffer like you do and retribution against those who are imagined to have caused your suffering, even though they left this world generations ago
You poor lost, arrogant, racist soul. What do you know of Joel Kraemer and whom has he made suffer? Where in his post to you find anything suggesting that he holds the views you attribute to him.
Hard to say what you are, but my guess is Christian or Catholic. No other group has wrought so much hell on earth for so many people, continues to do so, and racializes freely away, all the while raping the earth. Yup. IMO, you're a Chrustian all right, a Chrustofascist chrustian.
Posted by: observer12 | October 27, 2008 10:30 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Okay, I'm not Jewish, so I'm coming from a very different cultural context. But to me, the Divine was present in the people who were trying to save the Jews from the death camps. People like Raoul Wallenberg, Corrie Ten Boom, the White Rose Society, Oskar Schindler, etc. Does that make sense?
Posted by: Athena4 | October 27, 2008 2:46 PM
Report Offensive Comment
JOEL L KRAEMER
You wrote, "The core of Maimonides' theology is that God is absolutely unknowable and ineffable.".
The core of Maimonides' theology is wrong for the simple reason that I have met God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the Catholic Eucharist is Jesus, so I have met the whole Trinity, I know God is real and is a Trinity, also God is a BEING OF PURE LOVE.
Then you wrote, "We know only that he exists.", by the "theology" of Maimonides there is no way that one could "know" that God exists, only that one could believe that God exists. Believing and knowing are two different words and they do not mean the same thing.
Then you wrote, "When we say that God is eternal, we think of time stretched out to infinity, but the true meaning of God's eternity is that he is beyond time.", God created time and even tho time is not eternity, God created time to not end, it is everlasting.
Then you wrote, "Cosmic awareness eradicates human hubris and comfort zone theologies that treat God as a parent.", God created us, all of us, we do not create other human beings but since we are human and our language is human, we have to use human words to speak of God.
Then you wrote, "Holocaust theologies are unavailing, because the evils perpetrated by human beings upon their own species cannot be blamed on God.", if one wishes to blame God for giving us free will and the ability to reason then I guess that you could but if we did not have free will and the ability to reason then we would be nothing more than puppets on a string, so to speak.
Then you wrote, " A Holocaust historian has said that either God knew about the concentration camps and did nothing, and is therefore unjust, or he did not know, and then we do not need him.", we have free will, what we do with it is our choice, this present life is not the end.
Then you wrote, "Either God is the Lord of the universe and of all humankind or he is a tribal god, the god of a specific group, a chosen people or nation", God is the Lord of the universe and of all humankind and the reason that the Jews are the Chosen People is that God chose and formed them so that He could become One of Us.
God's Plan is for ALL to be with Him in the everlasting Kingdom, the new heavens and the new earth.
Take care, be ready.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: ThomasBaum | October 27, 2008 1:58 PM
Report Offensive Comment
"Contemporary theologians speak of God as hiding and choosing to be powerless."
Pure arrogance. As is "post-holocaust theology." This is the idea that your "holocaust" is more important than anyone else's, and your suffering is more meaningful than every one else's. This is usually the excuse for making others suffer like you do and retribution against those who are imagined to have caused your suffering, even though they left this world generations ago. If only we had more contemporary understanding of Maimonides, and maybe even encouraged others to expand on his philosophy, the world would be a far more pleasant place because we would have a more healthy attitude about tragedy.
Posted by: kengelhart | October 27, 2008 1:48 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Awesome explanation of faith. The more something seems to not exist, the more it proves that it exists. Man, I wish I had thought of this racket myself. And tax-free on top of it!
I'm going to sell you this car, except you can't see it and it may or may not get you anyplace. In fact, you just have to take my word (since I'm the manager of this particular dealership) that it exists at all. If you doubt that this car exists then you're forsaken and won't get to go to the big party in the sky that exists because I say it does. That will be 10% of everything you ever own or make in your lifetime, please.
Posted by: screwyou | October 27, 2008 12:18 PM
Report Offensive Comment
If God is as unknowable as Maimonides and Augustine claimed then why bother with Him at all? If you cannot understand what he wants of you you need pay him no mind. He might as well not exist.
Posted by: ravitchn | October 27, 2008 10:37 AM
Report Offensive Comment
"... we mean that the nonexistence of God is impossible."
I can't help wondering what other nonexistences you believe are impossible -- UFOs? Santa? Hula hoops? Zarathustra? Thor? Elvis?
Sorry if I put that in a way that sounds like I'm sneering.
Posted by: YondCassius | October 27, 2008 10:35 AM
Report Offensive Comment
The comments to this entry are closed.
look at it from time to time, and, say, well, at this point, given where we are....