God: The “Cause” and
the “First”
Moshe Ben-Chaim
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Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim: Maimonides’ 1st Principle is that God exists, and He is the Cause for everything else. His 4th Principle is that God is the “First”, existing before everything else. What is the distinction between these two principles; what does the 4th Principle add?
Aurora: The first principle says that God is the cause of everything else. Now this could be interpreted as regarding just the present. By saying that He is the “First”, existing before everything else. It is made clear that everything was created by Him at any time and that He is eternal.
Rabbi
Moshe Ben-Chaim: Aurora, I disagree. For
if we say that God is the cause of everything in Principle I, then we encompass
all times; past present, and Principle 4 remains unnecessary. Think about it
and see if you understand my response; if you agree with me, search for another
possibility.
Aurora:
I understood your response. Now the fact
that God existed prior to everything can be figure out from the 1st principle
(He is the Cause for everything else), and the fact that God exists after
everything can also be figure out from the 1st Principle (And if you could
contemplate a case, such that He was not to exist…then all things would cease
to exist and there would remain nothing). It seems that Principle IV and all
that can be derived from it could be figured out by Principle I. What is that I
am missing?
Rabbi
Moshe Ben-Chaim: Aurora, I believe the
answer is this: although from the First Principle we learn that God Caused
everything...this does not necessarily mean He came first. An example: a man
causes its shadow, but does not precede the shadow. But without the hand, there
cannot be any shadow...so the hand “causes” the shadow. But Maimonides wishes
to teach that God also came before everything else, not only that He is the
cause...and this is a Fundamental of Judaism. Therefore, his Fourth Principle
is that God is truly First, in addition to being the cause. If I am not
mistaken, Aristotle’s view of the universe was that God was the cause, but that
universe existed simultaneously with God, always. The universe to God is like
His shadow...both always coexisting. The question: why is this a violation of
Torah thought, and reality?
In
Genesis, God teaches that He created everything, and there was a time where nothing
but He existed. This is a factual answer, but more essentially, if we accept
Aristotle, then we diminish the greatness of God, by claiming He could not
bring matter into existence from nothingness, which is the Torah’s view.
Claiming Aristotle’s view, God did not bring everything into existence from
nothingness, and this belittles God. This is why Maimonides classifies this
idea of creation ex nihilo (from nothing) as a Torah Fundamental. Without this
concept, our view of God is not correct.