Seems that my last few posts got a lot of people rather upset, especially the way I just took it for granted that there’s no good evidence for religion, and our beliefs in religion are based entirely on faith (a.k.a. wishful thinking).
So why did I come to this conclusion? Didn’t I myself spend many months arguing with the skeptics, and writing mega chizuk posts which contained all sorts of arguments proving Judaism and the existence of God? Yes, I did. But ultimately I found my opponents arguments more convincing than my own.
However, you may decide differently. In the interests of fairness, I will present all those arguments again (in summary form only), together with their counter-arguments, and you can be the judge which is more plausible.
1. The Mesorah Proof
Argument
The beliefs of Judaism have been passed down father to son for three thousand years, in an unbroken and traceable chain of tradition. We know our fathers wouldn’t lie to us, therefore it must be true.
Counter Argument
Many (conflicting) religious traditions are passed down father to son, yet are untrue. Parents don’t deliberately lie, however people can be misled, and myths grow over time. To claim that the great Gedolim of each generation passed these beliefs down so they must be true is circular reasoning: If the beliefs are not true then the great Gedolim are not so great.
2. The Sinai Proof
Argument
Judaism is the only religion to claim a mass revelation, i.e. Sinai in front of 2.5 million Jews. How could anyone make such a story up, and convince people it happened to their ancestors? And if it was possible to make up such a grand story, how come no other religion tried to do this, but only have revelation stories in front of a small group of people?
Counter Argument
It’s true that Sinai is a fairly unique claim. However myths form over many centuries, and it’s entirely possible that the claim grew over the years. We don’t know why other religions didn’t try the same claim, but that’s no proof of anything, except for the fact that the Jewish claim is the most audacious. Also, claims of miracles tend to decrease over the millennia, as people get wiser and less superstitious. Possibly 3,000 years ago you could make a mass revelation claim, 2,000 years ago you could make a resurrection claim, and 500 years ago you could make a Maggid claim. Nowadays you can’t even claim a talking fish without Rabbi Adlerstein publicly announcing his skepticism.
3. The Brilliant Talmud / Rishonim / Acharonim Proof Type A
Argument
Once you see the brilliance of the Gemarah / Rishonim / R Akiva Eiger, you will see how such a system can only be divine.
Counter
None of this is all that brilliant, it’s just years of complexity added upon complexity, creating a confusing mess which finely trained minds like to ponder. Objectively speaking, Science is way more brilliant and profound. Only people brainwashed in the system think it’s so brilliant. Muslims think the Koran is mindblowing too, and Mormons think the Book of Mormon is incredible.
4. The Brilliant Talmud / Rishonim / Acharonim Proof Type B
Argument
Chazal / Rishonim / R Akiva Eiger / R Moshe were all amazingly brilliant people. They believed in Judaism, so it must be true.
Counter Argument
Smart people exist in every faith. Smart people are good at justifying their childhood indoctrinated beliefs with smart aguments. Some very smart people throughout history believed some very strange things. There are plenty of smart religious people in Christianity and Islam too.
5. The History Proof
Argument
Jewish history is unique. We have survived thousands of years, incredible persecutions, we are always on the news, and we are a tiny percentage of the world’s population. In addition our contribution to society and effect on civilization has been amazing. All this has been noted with wonder by many people (including quite a few anti-semites) over the last two thousand years. Our survival and success is inexplicable, God is the only answer.
Counter Argument
Jewish history is unique, but so is many other people’s history, in other ways. We have survived many adverse circumstances, but a combination of culture, laws, non integration into society and other factors can explain our survival. Also our emphasis on education has paid enormous dividends. Our survival can be explained in natural ways.
6. The Experience Proof
Argument
Once you experience Shabbos (or Learning, or Kugel) you will see that it must be true.
Counter Argument
All religions offer great experiences, as do drugs and alcohol. Experiential emotions prove nothing, except that whatever you are experiencing has the power to create deep emotions.
7. The God Proof
Argument
We can prove there must be a First Cause i.e. God. Judaism was the first religion to promote this idea, and it has since spread worldwide. God would want us to know about Him and his mission, therefore it makes sense that Judaism is the one true religion. Also, all the other religions are just derivative of Judaism, or else don’t make any major claims about God at all, or are just idolatry. Judaism is the original and still the only pure monotheistic faith.
Counter Argument
God’s existence has not been sufficiently proven. Even if you hold it has, it doesn’t follow that Judaism is from God. Jews may have intuited God’s existence correctly, but the rest of the religion could be man made. God might even be displeased with the religion, for focusing on the wrong things, and incorrectly claiming unique status.
8. The Halachah Proof
Argument
Halachah works amazingly well to create decent people and communities, and always has done. Such an effective system can only have come from God.
Counter Argument
Only religious Jews are convinced that religious Jews are so great. Everyone else sees a community like any other, possibly with lower crime levels and stronger family ties, but that is easily explainable sociologically. Plus when you factor in the increased racism and intolerance, and all the other problems endemic in Chareidi society, including behavior of the Gedolim, it doesn't look so great.
9. The Prophecy Proof
Argument
The Torah correctly foretells the various churbanot and tragedies. It must be true.
Counter Argument
Depends when it was written. If it was written during or after the first churban, this is not so amazing. Could also be a lucky guess, many ANE texts contain dire warnings and curses.
10. The Discovery Proofs
Argument
Various clever and non intuitive proofs involving codes, the shmittah year, camels & hyraxes or whatever.
Counter Argument
Most (all?) of these don’t really work if you look into them. Others are just sophistry.
11. The Convergence Proof
Argument
While none of the above taken by themselves are strong enough proof, when you add them all together it tells a very powerful story. The original monotheistic religion survives against all odds, has many prophecies fulfilled, makes an incredible contribution to society and is still front page news 3,000 years later. So amazing it can only mean one thing. It’s all true.
Counter Argument
None of these proofs on their own amount to anything. Zero plus zero is still zero. There’s nothing here.
Conclusion
Personally I do actually find a few of these somewhat convincing, and taken all together they do tell a good story, certainly a better story than all the other religions.
But is that proof enough?
In my next post I will present a summary of all the proofs against Judaism, together with their counter arguments. Then we can judge which set of proofs are more convincing, all from a strictly rational perspective of course. If you have faith, then none of this is in any way relevant.
