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Rabbis on God

Started by kowalskil, September 30, 2015, 06:05:04 PM

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kowalskil

Those who have read my essay "What is God," at:

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/god.htm

might be interesed in God-related conceptual difficulties of some preachers, quoted at: 

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/god2.htm

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia).

Please share these links with those who might be interested.
Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia) is the author of a FREE ON-LINE  autobiography, entitled "Diary of a Former Communist: Thoughts, Feelings, Reality."

http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html

It is based on a diary kept between 1946 and 2004 (in the USSR, Poland, France and the USA).

The more people know about proletarian dictatorship the less likely will we experience is. Please share the link with those who might be interested, especially with young people. Thank you.

josephpalazzo

#1
I don't subscribe to NOMA's claim, "The first step toward mutual respect between theists and atheists should be the recognition that most people on earth are surrounded by material structure and by spiritual superstructure." Maybe to you it is the equivalent of an axiom, it isn't to me. You are postulating something existing outside of scientific enquiry, and that leaves the door open to any unverifiable hypothesis. We might as well believe in invisible unicorns, elves, Zeus or any imaginary entity that our mind can create.

Baruch

My favorite rabbi is a rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Bratislav.  He was a spiritual storyteller, prayer warrior and died 200 years ago.  He was initially intrigued by Kabbalah, being a descendant of Baal Shem Tov, but dropped that particular "spiritual superstructure" in favor of humble simplicity.

So yes, imaginary entities are wonderful creations of human beings ... but they aren't epistemology, they are aesthetics.  I agree with my Rebbe, that speculative metaphysics is ... questionable and arrogant.  If I created a story ... and someone doesn't appreciate it, then they can listen to another or make their own.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Solitary

#3
Here we go again with the God of the gaps in our knowledge and many assumptions about the universe and imaginary magical aspects of energy.  :021: :1rij: :ecomcity: This is an example of top down thinking with the assumption and faith of a God first, to explain everything below that is unknown.  :wall:
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

Baruch

"Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler" ... Einstein.  Sophisticated theology doesn't adhere to this advice.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Solitary

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

josephpalazzo

Quote from: Baruch on September 30, 2015, 07:52:26 PM
My favorite rabbi is a rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Bratislav.  He was a spiritual storyteller, prayer warrior and died 200 years ago.  He was initially intrigued by Kabbalah, being a descendant of Baal Shem Tov, but dropped that particular "spiritual superstructure" in favor of humble simplicity.

So yes, imaginary entities are wonderful creations of human beings ... but they aren't epistemology, they are aesthetics.  I agree with my Rebbe, that speculative metaphysics is ... questionable and arrogant.  If I created a story ... and someone doesn't appreciate it, then they can listen to another or make their own.

Unfortunate this not the mind of the religious nutcase who wants his fantasy to be your fantasy, or is offended when you question the nature of his fantasy. The fantasy has become the truth, the only truth and how dare you to not believe in it!

Baruch

Generally rabbis are smarter than priests and imams .. but then I am prejudiced ;-)  Some Jews are storytellers, others are physicists.  Wanting everyone to be a physicist is just as manic as our Catholic poster.  Because as any mathematician can tell you, physicists don't understand math ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

josephpalazzo

Quote from: Baruch on October 02, 2015, 06:53:07 AM
Generally rabbis are smarter than priests and imams .. but then I am prejudiced ;-)  Some Jews are storytellers, others are physicists.  Wanting everyone to be a physicist is just as manic as our Catholic poster.  Because as any mathematician can tell you, physicists don't understand math ;-)

I beg to differ. A great part of math was invented by physicists - and most of contemporary is directly from String theorists. Know your facts before...

stromboli

Physicists don't understand math? All this time........

josephpalazzo

Quote from: stromboli on October 02, 2015, 09:34:28 AM
Physicists don't understand math? All this time........

Guilty. We're the one saying that AxB not necessarily equal to BxA...:d030:

Baruch

#11
Quote from: stromboli on October 02, 2015, 09:34:28 AM
Physicists don't understand math? All this time........

That is what mathematicians say ... when the physicists aren't at the cocktail party ;-)  Sometimes even the mathematicians don't understand their own stuff ... but they only think about that when on the potty.  If mathematicians understood numbers, there would be no need for number theory.  It took over 2000 years for Euclidean geometry to be rigorously understood.  So obviously even Euclid didn't fully understand what he was doing.

Yes, Fourier did some excellent mathematics.  But when he was doing it, was he a physicist or was he a mathematician ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

josephpalazzo

Quote from: Baruch on October 02, 2015, 01:21:04 PM


Yes, Fourier, Euler, Lagrange, Gauss, Riemann, Hamilton did some excellent mathematics.  But when he was they were  doing it, was he were they  physicists or was he were they mathematicians ;-)

FIFY

Baruch

On that last question, I paraphrase Newton ... i make no hypotheses ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

stromboli

My math is along the lines of measure twice, cut once.