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The Scientific Evidence For an Intelligent Designer Is Extremely Strong

There Are Not Enough Probabilistic Resources Available In The Universe To Reject God:
In other words, it would be utter foolishness to bet that God doesn’t exist, because the statistical and probabilistic evidence for His existence is overwhelming!

Today more than ever, science is learning that this universe has a beginning; that all the dimensions of this universe were created at some instant. That time, and space were created and that therefore before their creation, there was no time, or physical space.

Science has also seen overwhelming evidence that the universe that was created is incredibly designed. Also all our experience and evidence teaches us that only intelligence is capable of designing such complex interacting systems such as the cosmos as well as, at the microscopic level, the complex systems found in biological life such as protein machines and propellation motors.

In all the years of studying the Universe, in all the various domains from cosmology to biological systems to neuroscience, it is a fact that no example of complex and functional design has ever been found, where we can even suspect, that this design had no intelligence involved in its creation.

In fact, the exact opposite is the case. Where-ever we find such design and are able to determine the ‘designer’ we do find an intelligent source. For example, many well-accepted, uncontroversial scientific disciplines are utterly dependent on detecting design, and on inferring the past actions of an intelligent agent by examining present evidence. For example, consider the following areas of science:

  • Forensic Sciences, where a death is investigated to determine whether the person died by accident (i.e., chance/necessity) or by intent (i.e., murder).
  • Cryptanalysis, where code breakers examine patterns of characters to determine whether they convey a message or are simply random and meaningless noise.
  • Archaeology, where artifacts are examined to determine whether they were fashioned by man or by nature. Is the rock just a stone, or a tool?
  • Arson investigation, where one attempts to discern from charred remains whether the fire was set intentionally (by design) or resulted from a frayed wire (chance/necessity).
  • Copyright infringement and plagiarism, where scientists examine writings to determine whether they were accidentally or intentionally similar to the work of others.
  • the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)

All these disciplines make the same inferences that are made from the study of cosmology and astronomy, and from the study of biological information systems.

For example, it is well accepted that the motor in the ATP synthase enzyme is the most efficient motor even seen, with an efficiency close to 100%. It is remarkable to note the similarity between the structure and general operation of ATP synthase and a man-made rotary motor. This similarity extends even to the Brownian motor located within the ATP synthase rotary motor, a molecular-scale machine that drives ATP production[1].

Another paper (von Ballmoos et al., 2009) states:
“The rotational mechanism of the ATP synthase demands ingeniously designed interfaces between rotor and stator subunits, particularly between the rotating c ring and the laterally abutted subunit a, because rotation speeds up to 500 Hz must be tolerated in the absence of a stabilizing rotor axis. This proteinous interface also acts as the critical scaffold for torque generation and ion translocation across the membrane. To prohibit charge translocation without rotation, ion leakage at the interface must be efficiently prevented.”[2]

Another good example is detailed in this paper[3]  titled: ‘Sequence-Specific Peptide Synthesis by an Artificial Small-Molecule Machine’ Science, Vol. 339 no. 6116 pp. 189-193 (11 January 2013):

“Here, we report on the design, synthesis, and operation of a rotaxane-based small-molecule machine in which a functionalized macrocycle operates on a thread containing building blocks in a predetermined order to achieve sequence-specific peptide synthesis. The design of the artificial molecular machine is based on several elements that have analogs in either ribosomal or nonribosomal protein synthesis: Reactive building blocks (the role played by tRNA-bound amino acids) are delivered in a sequence determined by a molecular strand (the role played by mRNA). A macrocycle ensures processivity during the machine’s operation (reminiscent of the way that subunits of the ribosome clamp the mRNA strand) and bears a catalyst–a tethered thiol group–that detaches the amino acid building blocks from the strand and passes them on to another site at which the resulting peptide oligomer is elongated in a single specific sequence, through chemistry related to nonribosomal peptide synthesis.”

They write that their machine “is a primitive analog of the ribosome.” An analog is this case being a copy. A copy of a far more sophisticated design.

To create such complex, even if primitive, molecular motors requires these scientists to generate the complex and specified information of their designs which is then used in making the motor. Information that reliably indicates design has such high levels of such ‘complex and specified information’ (or ‘specified complexity’)[4].

Dr Stephen Meyer points out that “We have repeated experience of rational and conscious agents — in particular ourselves — generating or causing increases in complex specified information, both in the form of sequence-specific lines of code and in the form of hierarchically arranged systems of parts. … Our experience-based knowledge of information-flow confirms that systems with large amounts of specified complexity (especially codes and languages) invariably originate from an intelligent source from a mind or personal agent.” – ‘The origin of biological information and the higher taxonomic categories’, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. 117(2):213-239 (2004).

Science and our own personal experiences have shown us that only intelligence is capable of creating such ‘prescriptive’ information.

One of the intriguing ways that recent science has further demonstrated the truth of these findings is in the use of reverse engineering.

From the very large aspects of the universe (i.e., big bang cosmology and galactic and stellar evolution) to the very small (i.e., the fitness of the chemical elements and the coding of DNA for life), the cosmos is so readily and profitably reverse engineered by its human inhabitants as to suggest that it was all engineered from the beginning.

“The linking of extraordinarily complex, but stable and functional structures with the production of value provides the strong impression of a calculating intentionality, which is apparently able to operate in a transcendent (overriding, overarching) fashion” – D.Halsmer, J.Asper, N.Roman, T.Todd, “The Coherence of an Engineered World,”International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Vol. 4(1):47-65 (2009)

The most coherent view of the universe is that of a system of interdependent subsystems that efficiently interact to prepare for, develop, and support advanced life, subject to various physical constraints.

Similarly, human-engineered systems are characterized by stability, predictability, reliability, transparency, controllability, efficiency, and (ideally) optimality.

These features are also prevalent throughout the natural systems that make up the cosmos. However, the level of engineering appears to be far above and beyond, or transcendent of, current human capabilities, as well as having been in place long before human beings developed any such sophisticated systems.

Along with the overwhelming evidence that the production of ‘complex specified information’ requires an intelligent source and the growing appreciation that the very best of human designed systems prove to only be primitive analogs of existing biological and astronomical systems, is the apparent, but unexpected, match between the comprehensibility of the universe and the ability of mankind to comprehend it.

This unexplained matching is actually a prerequisite for any kind of reverse engineering activity to be even remotely successful. That is, we can’t effectively design a copy of a machine of system, if we don’t understand how it works. Such understanding, while sufficient to build ‘primitive’ copies, has to date normally proven inadequate to come close to matching the efficiency and effectiveness of the machines or systems being ‘copied’ via such reverse engineering.

Even more intriguing it seems is that we appear to be progressing in a step-by-step fashion, both in our ability to reverse engineer and our subsequent ability to design and produce our ‘copies’. That is, when we reflect on this step-by-step progress, it appears as if we have been led forward in our understanding and wisdom in a tutorial like manner as the puzzles of nature slowly unravel before us.

For example, Science was able to progress to Einstein’s theory of relativity in part because there existed an elegant mathematical description of gravity that approximated reality, namely the one Newton formulated. In a similar manner, much of todays progress in technology can be traced back to the successes of Einstein and others at the turn of last century.

The universe has proven so readily and profitably reverse engineered as to make a compelling argument that it was engineered in the first place, and further that this engineered design was built with humanity in mind.

It may help to appreciate that ‘reverse engineering’ is similar to the historical sciences, which essentially proceed by inferring history from its results; that is they reason from clues back to causes.

Further than this, they investigate various hypotheses to see which hypothesis, if true, would best explain the known data.

This may sound simple but where there are a number of possibly adequate competing hypotheses, this can prove very difficult. Also to establish a casual claim, that is a valid and logically consistent link between the ‘probable’ events of the past and our current understanding or interpretation, this scientific approach requires the identification of three things:

  1. Evidence that the cause proposed was present;
  2. Evidence that on other occasions it has demonstrated the capacity to produce the effect under study, and
  3. That there is an absence of evidence, despite a thorough search, of any other possible causes.

In investigating the apparent design in nature with this approach, we may struggle to explicitly be able to establish that the ‘cause’  was present (namely, the Creator or Intelligent Designer), but we are on strong ground for point 2 in that the evidence of human design does demonstrate such capacity. In terms of point 3, we have not been able find any other possible or plausible causes. Therefore, the analogous nature of our evidence from point 2 certainly gives strong circumstantial evidence for the existence of the Cause of point 1, the Intelligent Designer.

This is also the case with examples like the ATP Synthase motor and the bacterial flagellum motor for example. While their incredibly sophisticated and superior designs to not prove an Intelligent Designer, there are no other known or even hypothetical causes behind such designs.

The biological systems that these motors are part of are in fact, superior analogs of today’s computer systems:

“In each cell, there are multiple Operating Systems, multiple programming languages, encoding/ decoding hardware and software, specialized communications systems, error detection and correction mechanisms, specialized input/output channels for organelle control and feedback, and a variety of specialized “devices” to accomplish the tasks of life.”

– ‘Programming of Life’ by Dr. Donald E Johnson

Science has also learned that all living beings contain a blueprint, a code that determines their design, their structure, their function, etc. We now know that code is in the DNA and RNA of the cells of living organisms[5].

While there is still an awful lot we don’t know about the design of biological systems and the ‘coding’ used in them, and also for example, the complexities of neuroscience, the evidence continues to grow that such complex specified information and functional design is the result of an intelligent designer.

With respect to our lack of knowledge, Nobel prize-winner David Hubel of Harvard University (Medicine 1981 -Research on information-processing in the visual system) wrote in 1995:  “… This abiding tendency for attributes such as form, colour and movement to be handled by separate structures in the brain immediately raises the question how all the information is finally assembled, say, for perceiving a bouncing red ball. These obviously must be assembled—but where and how, we have no idea.“[6]


Since he wrote this very little progress has been made towards answering the question he posed (certainly none of his further papers answer it). The point being that there is still much to learn. However, what we do learn only confirms the incredible design involved that far exceeds our capabilities even today. We also continue to find no other causal agent, even in principle, that can adequately explain such design.

The conclusion that an object has been engineered is only a result of the success of reverse engineering and the consequential success of human designs analogs (almost all of which are only pale comparisons). Whether it is our cameras that mimic the human eye, our memory storage techniques that are still a trillion times less in memory/size of DNA storage, or our various, but much more inefficient motors, all these designs are still not comparable in functionality and sophistication.  These biological objects and systems that we are making analogs of clearly have purpose, in the same way that our ‘copies’ are designed with a purpose or ‘goal in mind’.

To repeat, when we look for evidence of plausible alternatives for the existence of such engineered systems, we can not find any. The great weight of evidence for any complex machine (like a car), is that that machine was designed. When the design is far better than the very best that humans can so far achieve the inference is even stronger.

The Anthropic Principle:

The anthropic principle (first proposed in the early 1970’s) states that the universe appears “designed” for the sake of human life. More than a century of astronomy and physics research, but most especially new evidence found since 1998) yields this unexpected observation:

–   the emergence of humans and human civilization requires physical constants, laws, and properties that fall within certain narrow ranges

–   and this truth applies not only to the cosmos as a whole but also to the galaxy, planetary system, and planet humans occupy.

To state the principle more dramatically, a preponderance of physical evidence points to humanity as the central theme of the cosmos.

While this is an inference from the best evidence (meaning it could conceivably be shown to be false), to date, on a daily basis, the evidence from the study of both the universe continues to confirm the reasonableness of this inference. When all of the factors that are at least somewhat understood are considered together, the prospects of a Universe evolving that is suitable for human life[7] turns out to be astronomically small.

Oxford physicist Roger Penrose said one parameter, the ‘original phase-space volume’, required fine-tuning to an accuracy of one part in ten billion multiplied by itself one hun­dred and twenty three times.

Penrose remarked that it would be impossible to even write down that number in full, since it would require more zeroes than the number of elementary particles in the entire universe! This showed, he said, ‘the precision needed to set the universe on its course.’

Support for the anthropic principle comes from an unwavering and unmistakable trend line within the data[8]: the more astronomers learn about the universe and the requirements of human existence, the more severe the limitations they find governing the structure and development of the universe to accommodate those requirements. In other words, additional discoveries are leading to more indicators of large-scale and small-scale fine-tuning.

In 1961, astronomers acknowledged just two characteristics of the universe as “fine-tuned” to make physical life possible. The more obvious one was the ratio of the gravitational force constant to the electromagnetic force constant.

It cannot differ from its value by any more than one part in 1040 (one part in ten thousand trillion trillion trillion) without eliminating the possibility for life. Today, the number of known cosmic characteristics recognized as fine-tuned for life—any conceivable kind of physical life—stands at around 38.

Of these, the most sensitive is the ‘space energy density’ (the self-stretching property of the universe). Its value cannot vary by more than one part in 10120 and still allow for the kinds of stars and planets physical life requires.

Evidence of specific preparation for human existence shows up in the characteristics of the solar system, as well. In the early 1960s astronomers could identify just a few solar system characteristics that required fine-tuning for human life to be possible. By the end of 2001, astronomers had identified more than 150 finely-tuned characteristics. In the 1960s the odds that any given planet in the universe would possess the necessary conditions to support intelligent physical life were shown to be less than one in ten thousand.

By 2001 those odds had shrank to less than one in a number so large it might as well be infinity (10173)[9].

 

As Sir Fred Hoyle commented, `A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”

In the opinion of physicist Paul Davies, `The impression of design is overwhelming.”

Physics today accepts  that some model of ‘Big Bang’ cosmology is the correct model for the creation of the universe from nothing and that this event was not a chaotic, disorderly event. Instead, it appears to have been fine-tuned for the existence of intel­ligent life with a complexity and precision that literally defies human comprehension.

In other words, the universe we see today-and our very existence-depends upon a set of highly special initial condi­tions. This phenomenon is strong evidence that the ‘Big Bang’ was not an accident, but that it was designed.

The Big Bang model is the standard paradigm of contemporary cosmology, its broad framework is very securely established as a scientific fact. Stephen Hawking has said, ’Almost  everyone now believes that the universe, and time itself, had a begin­ning.’

What some renown Physicists say:

Tony Rothman, (a theoretical physicist):

The medieval theologian who gazed at the night sky through the eyes of Aristotle and saw angels moving the spheres in harmony has become the modern cosmologist who gazes at the same sky through the eyes of Einstein and sees the hand of God not His  angels but in the constants of nature. . . . When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it’s very tempting to take the leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it.

Bernard Carr (cosmologist):

One would have to conclude either that the features of the universe invoked in support of the Anthropic principle are only coincidences or that the universe was indeed tailor-made for life. I will leave it to the theologians to ascertain the iden­tity of the tailor!

Stephen Hawking:

It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us.”
Allan Sandage, winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy (equiv­alent to the Nobel prize), remarked,

“I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle.  God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of exis­tence, why there is something instead of nothing.””

Robert Griffiths, who won the Heinemann prize in mathematical physics, observed,

“If we need an atheist for a debate, I go to the philosophy department. The physics department isn’t much use.”

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-proclaimed agnostic:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of rea­son, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the moun­tains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” 

The evidence for an Intelligent Designer may not be conclusive in the sense that mathematics tells us two plus two equals four, but it is a cumulative argument. The extraordinary fine-tuning of the laws and constants of nature, their beauty, their discoverability, their intelligibility, all combine to make the Intelligent Designer hypothesis the most reasonable choice we have[10]. All other theories fall short.

“Rather than being one planet among billions, Earth now appears to be the uncommon Earth. The data imply that Earth may be the only planet `in the right place at the right time’.”

– ‘Chance Or Dance: An Evaluation of Design’ By Jimmy H. Davis, Harry L. Poe.

It appears that the evidence for a Designer and Creator of the Universe grows daily and exponentially. So accepting that there is a Creator, a God or perhaps Gods, behind it all, the next valid question may be, is he interested in us?

Recognizing that humanity is the pinnacle of creation and that the human brain and the human mind is the pinnacle of the universe being both the most complex and most intelligent creation, we immediately start to sense that this Universe was created with mankind in mind.

There is much cosmological evidence to support this contention; from the unique placement of our Solar System and of Planet Earth, as the book ‘The Privileged Planet’ explains, to the unique time in the evolution of the cosmos that allows us to be in the perfect epoch of time to investigate it.

“The remarkable cosmic coincidence that we happen to live at the only time in the history of the universe when the magnitude of dark energy and dark matter densities are comparable has been a source of great current speculation, leading to a resurgence of interest in possible anthropic arguments limiting the value of the vacuum energy. But this coincidence endows our current epoch with another special feature, namely that we can actually infer both the existence of the cosmological expansion, and the existence of dark energy.

Thus, we live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe: the time at which we can observationally verify that we live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe!

Observers when the universe was an order of magnitude younger would not have been able to discern any effects of dark energy on the expansion, and observers when the universe is more than an order of magnitude older will be hard pressed to know that they live in an expanding universe at all, or that the expansion is dominated by dark energy. By the time the longest lived main sequence stars are nearing the end of their lives, for all intents and purposes, the universe will appear static, and all evidence that now forms the basis of our current understanding of cosmology will have disappeared.”

– ‘The Return of a Static Universe and the End of Cosmology’
by Lawrence M. Krauss and Robert J. Scherrer (June 27, 2007)

“The idea that the natural world was designed especially for mankind is the very bedrock of the Greek, as well as of the Judeo-Christian world view. Western philosophers of the post-Roman era went so far as to formalize a discipline called teleology —the study of the evidence for overall design and purpose in nature. Teleology attracted such luminaries as Augustine, Maimonides, Aquinas, Newton and Paley, all of whom gave it much of their life’s work.” – ‘Design and the Anthropic Principle’ by Hugh Ross

Those who place their faith in materialism are the scientists who, despite the great funding and resources that they enjoy, are making limited progress in their research.

Most of the ground-breaking research especially in biological systems and neuroscience is coming from those who do assume design.

A good example is the research by Brain Surgeon, Dr Michael Egnor. In trying to understand how cerebral blood flow and how the brain was buffered from the force of blood pumped by the heart, he looked to human engineered pumps that did that same thing. Once he understood how they worked, he was able to then find and explain how the brain did a similar thing (another use of the principle of reverse engineering)[11].

For more details on the scientific evidence for God; for the Creator and Intelligent Designer of this Universe I recommend my series of Lessons on Intelligent Design – see the Intelligent Design tab at www.circumcisedheart.info

[1] A research paper which discusses its efficiency is here – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1692765/

[4] Something is complex if it is unlikely, and it is specified if it matches a pre-existing pattern.

[5] Two excellent books that go into detail on these issues are William Dembski’s ‘The Design Revolution’ and Stephen C Meyer’s ‘Signature in the Cell’

[7] Scientists now have a good understanding of what the basic requirements are for human life  – essentially carbon, water, oxygen, & energy but within an extremely narrow range of values.

[8] I give a more detailed summary of this ‘fine-tuning’ evidence in my Session 2 on Intelligent Design – see http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Christian%20site/Intelligent%20Design/ID%20Session%202.pdf

[9] William Dembski, in his ‘The Design Revolution’ shows most convincingly that any probability with less than 1 in 10150 is as good as impossible. That is, it can not possibly have happened by chance, even if given the resources of the full history of time and space of the Universe. That is, if something exists and it’s likelihood of existing is less than 1 in 10150, then it must only exist because it was created.

[10] A great book on this is ‘The Privileged Planet’ by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards.

[11] A good speech on all this was recently given by the science writer Dr James Le Fanu – http://intelligentdesign.podomatic.com/entry/2013-07-17T12_17_54-07_00 (1 of 3 parts)

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Fighting Evil with Grace: We are called to put out the fire!

After a recent presentation, the former Chief Rabbi of London, Lord Jonathan Sacks responded to a question with these comments (excerpts only[1]):

“Abraham sees a palace. That means that he sees the world has order. Therefore, it has a Creator. But the palace is in flames! – which means the world is full of disorder. It is full of evil, violence, injustice. Now nobody builds a building and then goes away and deserts it. Therefore, if there is a fire there must be somebody in charge to put it out. The building must have an owner. Where is he? And that is Abraham’s question. Where is God in this world?

That is the question that gives Abraham no peace. Here, if I am right, that is the starting point of Jewish faith.

In Judaism, faith does not begin with an answer. It begins with a question. It doesn’t begin in harmony. It begins in dissonance.

Here it is: if God created the world then God created man. Why then does God allow man to destroy the world? How can we reconcile the order of the world with the disorder of human society? Can God have made the world only to desert it? That is Abraham’s question. Can it be the world has no-one in charge, no owner? That is his question. …”

Rabbi Sacks goes on to explain that there are only two logical possibilities here and what they are and imply, but that Abraham rejects both of them[2]!

“ … Either God exists, in which case there is no evil. Or evil exists, in which case there is no God. But supposing both exist? Supposing there are both God and evil? Supposing there are both the palace and the flames?

Now if that is so, if my interpretation is right, then Judaism begins not in the conventional place where faith is thought to begin, namely in wonder that the world is. Judaism[3] begins in the opposite, in the protest against a world that is not as it ought to be.

At the very heart of reality, by which I mean reality as we see it, from our point of view, there is a contradiction between order and chaos: the order of creation and the chaos we make.

Now the question is: how we do we resolve that contradiction?

And the answer is that that contradiction between the palace and the flames, between the world that is and the world that ought to be, cannot be resolved at the level of thought. It doesn’t exist! You cannot resolve it! Logically, philosophically, in terms of theology or theodicy, you cannot do it!

The only way you can resolve that tension is by action; by making the world better than it is. That is the only way you can lessen the tension between the palace and the flames. When things are as they ought to be, when there is only a palace and no flames – then we have resolved the tension. Then we have reached our destination. But that is not yet.

It was not yet for Abraham and it is not yet for us. And from this initial contradiction, from this cognitive dissonance, are born the following … fundamental features (of Judaism):

Firstly, the primary thing (in Judaism) is ‘doing’, is action, is deed, is mitzvah. Because only the mitzvah makes the world a little less dissonant between what it is and what it ought to be.

Secondly: the whole programme of Judaism, the project of the Torah, is ‘tikkun olam’ in the precise sense ‘mending a fragmented, fractured, world’. …” <end quote>

This is, I believe, the perfect definition of the ‘grace’ we are called to exhibit, if we desire to receive the Grace of YHVH!

We are to act with grace, with ‘overflowing love’ toward our neighbour, and our fractured, hurting world.

The Christian world is big on grace, but perhaps they are a little confused about it. I discuss this in my article ‘Amazing Grace’ – see here

[2] Part of the answer is a sense in which evil is not evil after all – confused? Read Rabbi Sacks article and book.

[3] Or we could say, the message of the Tanakh, the message of YHVH and His Son, begins here

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Maintaining Holiness Through Confronting Error

There are a number of verses that in some way sum up, or encapsulate the whole message of the Almighty and His Word.

Micah 6:8 springs to mind as does the Sh’ma (Deut 6:4 …).

Another of these is Gal 5:14 where the Apostle Paul states: “For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

Two important points to note here. The Apostle Paul is quoting from Leviticus 19:18 (part of this weeks Torah Portion, Kedoshim – Leviticus 16:1-20:27).

Here we read: “Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.”

I believe, both from the context, and what I am about to share that the phrase ‘tacked’ on the end here, ‘I am Adonai’ or ‘I am YHVH’ (the God of Israel), actually means, ‘love your neighbour BECAUSE, or IF, you love Me’.

Consider Lev 19:17 “‘Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbour frankly, so that you won’t carry sin because of him.”

I believe that argument and wisdom being presented here is that, when someone wrongs you in some way, loving them is clearly not easy, but just avoiding them or keeping silent is not good either. If you do not speak with them about the issue(s) and try to get them to see where they have erred and hopefully, help them to recognize their sin and seek forgiveness, you are likely to resent them, and anger and bitterness are likely to grow in your heart and lead you into some error, mistake or sin.

If we recognize our Yetzer HaRa (our evil inclination or fleshly heart) as well as our Yetzer HaTov (our good or spiritual heart), we will recognize our tendency to err in this way and the call of the Shema to turn both our hearts to the Almighty (see my articles on the Hebraic Mindset for more on this).

Consider the case of Absalom. When he heard how Ammon had raped his sister Tamar, he keep his anger hidden in his heart for some two years and then had Ammon killed. This is the exact sinful consequence that Moses warns against in Leviticus 19:17 and also very much the theme that the Apostle Paul is speaking on in Galatians 5 when he quotes from Leviticus 19.

Returning to the idea that IF or BECAUSE we love God we are to love our neighbour, we see here a summary of the Ten Words and a summary of Yeshua’s answer to what were the two greatest commandments. The Ten Words were on two tablets. The first involves 5 commands that all relate to loving God and the second tablet has 5 commands that relate to loving our neighbor.

So again we are drawn back to the Ten Words, to the ‘moral code of the universe’.[1]

This Torah Portion is about holiness, about being holy because He is holy. This call to ‘rebuke your neighbor frankly’, is about acting to avoid sin entering your heart and therefore removing your holiness.

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks paraphrases this in a very practical way:

“Love your neighbor as yourself. But not all neighbors are loveable. There are those who, out of envy or malice, have done you harm. I do not therefore command you to live as if you were angels, without any of the emotions natural to human beings. I do however forbid you to hate. That is why, when someone does you wrong, you must confront the wrongdoer. You must tell him of your feelings of hurt and distress. It may be that you completely misunderstood his intentions. Or it may be that he genuinely meant to do you harm, but now, faced with the reality of the injury he has done you, he may sincerely repent of what he did. If, however, you fail to talk it through, there is a real possibility that you will bear a grudge and in the fullness of time, come to take revenge – as did Absolom.”

I again strongly recommend the Rabbi’s Torah Portion, Of Love and Hate’ at Aish.com

– see http://www.aish.com/tp/i/sacks/202908911.html

ChiefRabbiLordSacks290x150

April 18th 2013

[1] For more on this see my articles ‘Siblings of the King’ and ‘The Path of the Circumcised Heart’ at www.circumcisedheart.info

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Deeds matter more than creeds

Prof Paul Johnson:
“… another characteristic of Judaism: the relative absence of dogmatic theology. … Their view of God is very simple and clear (he’s comparing it with the huge problems of dogmas and innumerable heresies within Hellenistic Christianity). Some Jewish scholars argue that there is (also) in fact, a lot of dogma in Judaism.

That is true in the sense that there are many negative prohibitions – chiefly against idolatry. But the Jews usually avoided the positive dogmas which the vanity of theologians tends to create and which are the source of so much trouble.  They never adopted, for instance , the idea of Original Sin. Of all the ancient peoples, the Jews were perhaps the least interested in death, and this saved them from a host of problems. It is true that belief in the resurrection ansd the afterlife was the main distinguishing mark of Pharisaism, and thus a fundament of rabbinic Judaism. Indeed the first definite statement of dogma in the whole of Judaism, in the Mishnah, deals with this: ‘All Israel share in the world to come except the one who says resurrection has no origin in the Law’. But the Jews had a way of concentrating on life and pushing death – and its dogmas – intro the background.”

The first creed of Judaism (Gaon around 900 CE) did not come into acceptance until Judaism was some 2500 years old! Even Maimonides 13 articles of faith, which have given ‘little rise to controversy’ have not been ‘endorsed by any authoritative body’.

“Judaism is not so much about doctrine – that is taken for granted – as behaviour; the code matters more than the creed.”

Quote from Johnson, ‘A History of the Jews’, p 161 

Or as put in the Mishnah: “Deeds matter more than Creeds”.

While Prof. Paul Johnson is a Roman Catholic, I doubt that few, even Jewish historians (and I love the work of Rabbi Ken Spiro), have given as good a history of the Jewish people as Prof. Johnson – he clearly loves the Jewish people; he explains the rise of both anti-Semitism and Jewish self-hatred so well, and he shows how dependent the entire world really has been on the wisdom and endeavours of the Jewish people.

His book should be read by all Jews (to encourage and uplift them) and by all Gentiles to enlighten them!

It is a big book – it took me awhile to digest but it was so worth it. 

The only time he goes a little wrong in my opinion, is when he tries to explain certain Christian perspectives rather than any Jewish ones!

His personal website is: http://pauljohnsonarchives.org/

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Are You Rich?

Do you have riches that will last? What do you really own? Are the material riches you have really yours?

A famous Rabbi(1) once said: “If you were to give me all the silver, gold, precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not dwell anywhere but in a place of Torah.”

In this statement he was to some degree echoing the words of King David who stated in Psalm 119:72 “The Torah you have spoken means more to me than a fortune in gold and silver.”

King David recognized that the Torah was worth far more to man than material riches. But perhaps he recognized even more, and that is that the riches of the world, the gold and silver is really the Almighty’s anyway, to do with as He sees fit. In fact, the Almighty, has promised that one day he will repeat on a bigger scale, the giving of gold and silver from the Gentiles to the Jewish people that he orchestrated for the Exodus.

Just as the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is a bigger miracle and a more incredible act of the Almighty than the Exodus, so too it appears, will be this latter day gift of Gentile gold and silver.

Jeremiah declared that a greater miracle was to come in Jeremiah 16:14-15

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.”

We have witnessed this greater miracle in our lifetime!

Similarly, the Almighty speaks of a rebuilding of His ‘Tent of Meeting’, His Temple in the last days:

“4 Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: 

‘6 Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 

9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give shalom, declares the LORD of hosts.” – Haggai 2

So not only are the material riches of the world really in the control of the Almighty and thus, these are not the riches that we should seek to keep for ourselves, there are many passages in Scripture that speak of the great treasure that is Torah and obedience to Torah.

Another common one is:

20 My son, obey your father’s command (i.e. Torah), and don’t abandon your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them always on your heart, tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you wake up, they will talk with you.
23 For the mitzvah (commandment) is a lamp, Torah is light, and reproofs that discipline are the way to life.” –      Proverbs 6

Some of the Rabbi’s have an interesting take on verse 22. They argue that it speaks of the eternal nature of Torah and its role in our death and resurrection.

They understand this verse as stating:

‘When you walk, they (Torah or the commandments of Torah) will lead you’ – that is, in this life you should be lead by the divine instructions that are Torah;

‘when you lie down, they will watch over you’ – meaning that when you are in the grave Torah will protect you even there; and

‘when you wake up, they will talk with you (or ‘they will be your speech’).’ – meaning that when you awaken to the World to Come, Torah will be what you speak.

As the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 will, at last be fully instituted, all will know Torah in their hearts,  – ‘… says Adonai: “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts …’ – Jeremiah 31:32.

May you discover that true treasure that is the Torah!

May you be abundantly wealthy in the only treasure that you can take with you when you die!

(1) Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma- see Pirkei Avot, ch. 6

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The Great Craftsman and Father

Torah Portion: Trumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) – the making of the Tabernacle:

“How many are your works, Lord; in wisdom You made them all” (Ps. 104: 24).

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains that the word “wisdom” here – as in the many times it occurs in the account of the making of the tabernacle – means, “precise, exact craftsmanship” (see Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, III:54).

For some 40+ years now Physicists have been increasingly demonstrating that the creation of the Universe is extremely, mind-numbingly precise. In 1973-74 Brandon Carter, a British mathematician proposed that the universe appears “designed” for the sake of human life.

More than a century of astronomy and physics research has yielded this unexpected observation: the emergence of humans and human civilization requires physical constants, laws, and properties that fall within certain extremely narrow ranges—and this truth applies not only to the cosmos as a whole but also to the galaxy, planetary system, and the planet humans occupy.

This proposal and understanding is now called The Anthropic Principle. To state the principle more dramatically, a preponderance of physical evidence points to humanity as the central theme of the cosmos (for more on this see my 4 part series on Intelligent Design at www.circumcisedheart.info ).

But note also from Ps 104:24 the importance of order, of precision, of exactness. This Universe, with us human beings as its central focus, has been created with such incredible care.

We have also been created in the image of the Creator Himself. That is, He has instilled within us, the power to create, and to create with precision and great care as well.

So if we are to be all that we have been designed to be, we too need to align ourselves with our creative wisdom; with our ability and natural affinity for the creation of order. When we align our lives with the order and instructions (laws) of our Creator, then we separate ourselves from the creation that was not ‘made in His image’ and we in turn approach holiness (separation to God). order 2

The Almighty is Spirit and is so far above and beyond our limited minds that it is very hard to fully grasp His ‘wisdom’, His order and precision.

In describing the Tabernacle in such precise detail though and promising to dwell or live amongst the children of Israel (“They are to make me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.” – Ex 25:8), the Almighty not only enables the Jewish people to emulate His creative precision and order in their creating of this ‘meeting place’, but he practically and dramatically aligns Himself with them.

The call to build a Tabernacle may seem very strange though, as we know that the Almighty can not be contained within this Universe; and also that He is already everywhere within this Universe as well!

In Psalm 24:1 we read “The earth is YHVH’s and the fullness thereof, …”

We also read in Isaiah 6:3 “And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is YHVH of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

That is, everything is God’s and God is in everything. So how can we give Him anything and how can he dwell in a Tabernacle made with human hands?

Part of the answer to the question of everything already belonging to God, is that there is one thing that does not belong to Him, and that is the ‘fear of heaven’. The Almighty has given us the gift of free will. It is always our choice as to whether we give Him our hearts; whether we ‘circumcise’ our hearts. Whenever we give gifts to God (as per Ex 25:2), the real gift is not the object but the repentant and obedient heart that does the giving.

So the Tabernacle enabled the Jewish people to demonstrate their ‘circumcised hearts’.

May I also suggest though, that when we consider the background of these slaves in Egypt, we can imagine how they would have struggled for a great many years to accept the presence and protection of their God throughout this ordeal. Now, He has rescued them from Egypt; He has demonstrated His awesome power and bestowed great blessings upon them. But they are perhaps still reprehensive and anxious like small children. They may need much assurance and comfort.

So how can this loving Father demonstrate on a daily basis that He truly is with His people?

He can create a place amongst them, where in a physical as well as spiritual manner, the people can see and sense His presence; His protection, salvation and love. More than the daily miracle of the Manna, the glory of God emanating from the Tabernacle presents a visible and tangible reminder of His presence.

As usual, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks brings this all out most eloquently in his Torah Portion here –http://www.aish.com/tp/i/sacks/139679273.html

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Mt Sinai & the Messiah: Miracles precede Revelation

This week’s Torah Portion, Yitro (Exodus 18-20) is about the 10 Words. At Mt Sinai “God’s self-disclosure was not to an individual (a prophet) or a group (the elders) but to an entire nation, young and old, men, women and children, the righteous and not yet righteous alike.” (quoting Sacks – see below)

This revelation is unique in the history of man. It was preceded by some of the greatest miracles as well. And yet, the Almighty declares, through Jeremiah, that a greater miracle will occur:

Jeremiah 16:14-15: “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.”

In the last 65 years since 1948 we had been most privileged to witness this greater miracle. Could this greater miracle be the fore-runner to a greater revelation!?

Scholars estimate that some 2 million witnessed the revelation at Mt Sinai – how many more will witness the coming revelation of the Messiah?

One strange aspect of this miracle(s) though is that the world at large has not recognized it. With the miracles of the Exodus, while many Egyptians may initially have denied that the Creator of the Universe, the mighty Yehovah was behind the plagues, surely no-one who witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, whether Israelite of Egyptian soldier, could have denied the miracle before them.

In comparison, many through a lack of knowledge and the deliberate deluding influence of today’s mainstream media, can not see the awesome miraculous nature of the creation of the State of Israel in one day. Israel today is a place of daily miracles. Perhaps these miracles will soon extend throughout the earth and perhaps some event or events may occur which will be as undeniable as the parting of the Red Sea.

Then the world may be a little more ready for the greater revelation. I believe this greater revelation will occur on Yom Teruah – may this year’s Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting)  be THE day when the shouting will overwhelm everything else; when the glory of Yehovah will shine brighter than the – see The Day of Trumpets & the Return of the King  for more on this.

Rabbi Sacks writes a great Torah portion about this revelation – see http://www.aish.com/tp/i/sacks/188580691.html

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Revealing God: Kindness in the midst of awesome power

In this weeks Torah Portion (Exodus 6:2-9:35) we read about the story of Exodus and the great plagues of Egypt.

The Pharoah, the King of Egypt has for months and months hardened his heart against the Hebrew people despite all the increasingly miraculous events demonstrating the great power of he Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Then we read about the great plague of hail and finally, Pharoah recognizes the righteousness of YHVH and his and his peoples own sinfulness.

What was it that lead him to recognize YHVH at this time when he had already witnessed YHVH’s great power?

He already knew that the God of Israel was a mighty god who had great power over nature, but in the events surrounding this plague he saw the kindness of YHVH.

Just read this section of the story below:

Exodus 9:13
Then the LORD said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.

20 Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses,

21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.

23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

Read verse 19 again:

“Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”

Remember, that the Pharaoh is a man of great power over his nation and people. Yet here, in the midst of this great display of Someone else with incredible  power, the Pharaoh sees the Great Power offering a way out, offering a hand of kindness, to those who heed His warning from amongst the Egyptians.

Some of the Egyptians did hear and heed this call, this offer of kindness and brought their slaves and animals inside and saved them from the great hail.

Pharaoh recognizes the God of Israel, not just because of His great power, he had been witnessing this already for some time, but because of His grace, His offer of kindness extended even to the Pharaoh and his people.

Here is a great example that kindliness is Godliness; that extending ‘unmerited favour’ (grace), especially from a position of great power and authority, so powerfully demonstrates the truth and validity of God, and especially to those most resistant, most ‘hardened’ against Him.

When we reflect on this powerful message we might like to consider how, we being made in the image of God, might be effective in helping others to recognize Him.

Those of us who are parents can certainly use this approach in our interactions with our children, and quite probably almost all parents do to some degree. We might even reflect on how this kindness of our own parents helped us come to recognize the truth and righteous of the Almighty.

What about other situations where we have some power over others who we know, who have hardened hearts and don’t accept the God of Israel?

We might wish to try and teach them of all His awesome power and how He is manifest in this Creation of His. And yet, perhaps they already know this, even in their hardened hearts?

Perhaps what will most impact them is where we offer them a kindness, a hand of grace that is unexpected and even seemingly uncalled for. Surely this is how we can best demonstrate in our actions that truth that ‘God is righteous’ and that He loves us.

Shalom!

Thanks to Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier for sharing this insight – see http://www.aish.com/tp/i/shmuz/185780532.html

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Les Miserables: Reconciling God’s attribute of Justice with Mercy

The Tanakh (OT) teaches that the ultimate Lover is He who combines in a perfect blend, justice and mercy (also called loving kindness or grace – unmerited favour).

In Hebrew the word transliterated as ‘elohim’ (often just as God), means ‘God of Justice’ and the word for God that can’t really be transliterated  at all, YHVH means ‘God of Mercy’.

Thus in Exodus we see the Creator of the Universe being described by as the embodiment of both justice and mercy:

“And Elohim (God of Justice) spoke unto Moshe saying: I am YHVH (God of Mercy)” – Ex 6:2

Quoting Rabbi Jeff Kirshblum: “The verse (Exodus 6:2) seems to be contradictory. How can the God of Justice declare Himself to be the God of Mercy? Justice seems to be strict and unyielding. Mercy seems to be lenient and bending.

(This very challenge is addressed in the play, now just out as a movie, Les Miserables – more on this later).

The ancient pagans were confronted by that very problem. How could there be Justice and Mercy co-existing in the world. They concluded that there must be more than one god: gods who constantly struggled for supremacy. The Egyptians in the time of Pharaoh envisioned the great fight between Set, the god of justice, and Horus, the god of mercy.

G-d tells Moshe that there is only one G-d. He has both attributes and each one is constantly present. It is only our lack of perception that has difficulty uniting Justice with Mercy. This concept sums up the very basic philosophy of Judaism. “Hear O Israel! YHVH (the G-d of Mercy), our Elokim (the G-d of Justice), G-d is One” (Devarim 6:4)…

In our own families we play a G-d-like role. We too must temper our Justice with Mercy. Justice and punishment can never be inflicted in a state of anger. Such a punishment will convey the wrong message. Justice can only be served when the punishment is carried out in a state of love…

I once saw a small child run out into the street. A car was rushing by. The driver slammed on his brakes, screeching to a halt inches in front of the child. The mother, who had seen the whole incident from the porch, came running out to her child. She picked up her precious youngster. She hugged him dearly; then she slapped his hands hard. She had tears in her eyes. She screamed at him, “Don’t you ever run out in the street again.” She shook him hard. “Never, ever run out in the street. I love you, poor baby.”

That was Justice and Mercy.” – from http://www.torah.org/learning/outsidethebox/5764/vaera.html

Judaism understands that love is this perfect blend of justice and mercy. When those of us who are parents reflect on how we best deal with our children, perhaps this can teach us this fuller meaning of love. As a parent we learn to give, we learn to put our children’s needs before our own, to recognize that often, their needs must come first, but as they grow we also learn how vital it is to exercise fair judgment with them, to demonstrate and practice justice as well as grace/mercy if we are to raise well-balanced and capable children.

In his famous discourse on loving kindness, Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler states that: ‘Giving leads to love’.

Gila Manolson writes:

“True giving, though, as Erich Fromm points out, is other-oriented, and requires four elements.

The first is care, demonstrating active concern for the recipient’s life and growth.

The second is responsibility, responding to his or her expressed and unexpressed needs (particularly, in an adult relationship, emotional needs).

The third is respect, “the ability to see a person as he [or she] is, to be aware of his [or her] unique individuality,” and, consequently, wanting that person to “grow and unfold as he [or she] is.”

These three components all depend upon the fourth, knowledge. You can care for, respond to, and respect another only as deeply as you know him or her.” – see http://www.aish.com/d/w/48952241.html

Consider how well these 4 attributes are actualized by our Father, the Creator of the Universe. He cared enough to create this world for us and to create us. He takes responsibility for it on a daily and moment by moment basis and yet is also able to delegate some of this responsibility to us, even giving us greater and greater responsibility as we grow and become more capable of handling it.

Also, no-one could possibly respect each and every one of us as our heavenly Father does!  He knows oh so intimately how unique and gifted each of us are because He made us that way and gave us the environment to allow our potential to grow and unfold.

Finally His knowledge of us, is superior to our own. So superior in fact that He calls us to know Him, rather than seek to know ourselves[1], because it is through knowing Him that we may grow to fully be all the reflection and image of Him that he planted within us, and in doing so, come to know who He meant us to be.

In fact, Jeremiah summed up these attributes of the Almighty very well when he wrote:

‘Here is what Adonai says: “The wise man should not boast of his wisdom,
the powerful should not boast of his power,
the wealthy should not boast of his wealth; instead, let the boaster boast about this:
that he understands and knows me —
that I am Adonai, practicing grace,
justice and righteousness in the land;
for in these things I take pleasure,” says Adonai.’ – Jeremiah 9:22-23

If we strive to be like Adonai, then surely we will heed the call of Micah 6:8 and Matthew 23:23.

Which leads me back to Les Miserables. The brilliant teacher, Rabbi Benjamin Blech has written a great article on Victor Hugo’s examination of the challenge of justice and mercy in his play.

I heartily recommend a read of his article ‘Les Miserables and the Bible’ – see

http://www.aish.com/ci/a/Les-Miserables-and-the-Bible.html

Clearly, if we desire to gain the full mercy of our Father we need to learn to repent[2]. I also recommend this article that I have quoted a little from:

“On Rosh Hashana (Yom Teruah), which is a day of judgment mitigated by mercy, a person must establish his right to be present in the next world by answering the objections of the prosecution. One must pass through the dark corridors of justice before he can bask in the sunshine of mercy. On Yom Kippur one is armed with the benefit of the decisions of mercy before he is subjected to the harsh scrutiny of justice.” – from http://www.aish.com/h/hh/yom-kippur/theme/48955531.html

I also love these words from a brother on Facebook recently:

“Repentance is the key, a return to God and His Torah (instructions) through Yeshua the Messiah. Repentance is not just a mantra, is not empty words recited by a preacher and repeated by the penitent. Repentance is not just a passive emotion and a resolve to do better. It is not a new year resolution. Repentance is an attitude change, a change of perspective and direction, an active work, a setting right of wrongs done to God and our fellow man, a hunger for justice to be done, a choice to live in obedience to Torah(instructions) given to us by God. Repentance bears fruit, works and deeds of kindness, it produces a gentleness and a zeal for God, a separated life. Repentance changes one personally and can change a society corporately. A person or people bearing the fruits of repentance will enjoy the blessings and protection of our heavenly Father.” – Leon Hargreaves (FB Post – 26/12/2012)

Shalom, Paul

[1] “The aim of Hebrew religion was Da’ath Elohim (the Knowledge of God); the aim of Greek thought was Gnothi seauton (Know thyself).  Between these two there is a great gulf fixed.  We do not see that either admits of any compromise.  They are fundamentally different in a priori assumption, in method of approach, and in final conclusion…
The Hebrew system starts with God.  The only true wisdom is Knowledge of God.  ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.’  The corollary is that man can never know himself, what he is and what is his relation the world, unless first he learn of God and be submissive to God’s sovereign will.  
The Greek system, on the contrary, starts from the knowledge of man, and seeks to rise to an understanding of the ways and Nature of God through the knowledge of what is called ‘man’s higher nature’.  According to the Bible, man had no higher nature except he be born of the Spirit.
We find this approach of the Greeks no where in the Bible. The whole Bible, the New Testament as well as the Old Testament, is based on the Hebrew attitude and approach… “  
- Prof. Norman H. Snaith  “Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament”

[2] “The ability to recognize our sin, to take responsibility for it and to repent is at the core of what is meant by the idea of a Messiah.… the courage to admit guilt, to take responsibility, to change. This is the lesson that the Messiah will one day teach the world. Man controls his destiny. No matter what mistakes he has made, man can fix them.” –  Rabbi Ari Kahn – http://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48914512.html

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The Rarity of Repentance

One of the rarest of people are those who learn to fully and totally repent, especially where this has involved a reversal of character.

If you are a strong, independent and very capable individual it is perhaps even harder to recognize your error, to recognize when you have wronged someone (and hence, in a sense, the Almighty, because all are made in His image). Sometimes we even need some serious help – see for example the story of King David in 2 Samuel 12.

If we love God, we are to love our neighbour (see Leb 19:18 and Gal 5:14). In fact the 10 Commandments, the 10 Words, sum this up – the first 5 declare what we should do if we love God and the second 5 the very basics of how we should act if we love our neighbour. (See ‘Living the Way: The Path of the Circumcised Heart’ and ‘Siblings of the King: Living in the Will of the Father’ for more on this – both at http://www.circumcisedheart.info)

Implicit in the whole Bible is the idea that one man’s sin however small, affects the entire word, however imperceptibly.

On the bigger scale we have the famous Jewish saying, based on the story of Cain and Abel and the ‘blood’ being plural in Hebrew (‘the bloods of your brother cry out from the ground’), that states that:

“Save a man; save a world. Destroy a man; destroy a world”

This also lead to the Jewish appreciation that a wise man must give his wisdom to the community in the same way a man blessed with wealth/riches should also do so. Put simply, it is a sin not to serve – all have talents; all are called to use those talents to help repair or better the world (Tikkun HaOlam).

Thus, the community also must take responsibility to address wrong and protest against evil. However, if one is mistaken and protests unjustly and publicly against someone, then this is seen as the use of the ‘evil language’ (Lashon HaRa), and is a serious mistake. To destroy anyones reputation wilfully and unjustly is a great sin.

Thus we can see some tension here. The challenge of speaking out against wrong, yet doing so with great care, especially where it is possible we might be mistaken in our understanding.

This leads us to this weeks Torah Portion and to the amazing way in which Tamar was able to address Judah’s sin in a manner that did not wilfully and unjustly harm his reputation, but rather lead him to great repentance and even it appears, to change his very character in some way.

Rabbi Sacks addresses this brilliantly – I have posted his whole article below along with the link to it at aish.com.

Vayigash(Genesis 44:18-47:27) – Choice and Change – by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

The sequence from Bereishit 37 to 50 is the longest unbroken narrative in the Torah, and there can be no doubt who its hero is: Joseph. The story begins and ends with him. We see him as a child, beloved – even spoiled – by his father; as an adolescent dreamer, resented by his brothers; as a slave, then a prisoner, in Egypt; then as the second most powerful figure in the greatest empire of the ancient world. At every stage, the narrative revolves around him and his impact on others. He dominates the last third of Bereishit, casting his shadow on everything else. From almost the beginning, he seems destined for greatness.

Yet history did not turn out that way. To the contrary, it is another brother who, in the fullness of time, leaves his mark on the Jewish people. Indeed, we bear his name. The covenantal family has been known by several names. One isIvri, “Hebrew” (possibly related to the ancient apiru), meaning “outsider, stranger, nomad, one who wanders from place to place.” That is how Abraham and his children were known to others. The second is Yisrael, derived from Jacob’s new name after he “wrestled with G-d and with man and prevailed.” After the division of the kingdom and the conquest of the North by the Assyrians, however, they became known as Yehudim or Jews, for it was the tribe of Judah who dominated the kingdom of the South, and they who survived the Babylonian exile. So it was not Joseph but Judah who conferred his identity on the people, Judah who became the ancestor of Israel’s greatest king, David, Judah from whom the messiah will be born. Why Judah, not Joseph? The answer undoubtedly lies in the beginning of Vayigash, as the two brothers confront one another, and Judah pleads for Benjamin’s release.

The clue lies many chapters back, at the beginning of the Joseph story. It is there we find that it was Judah who proposed selling Joseph into slavery:

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover his blood? Let’s sell him to the Arabs and not harm him with our own hands. After all – he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. (37:26-27)

This is a speech of monstrous callousness. There is no word about the evil of murder, merely pragmatic calculation (“What will we gain”). At the very moment he calls Joseph “our own flesh and blood” he is proposing selling him as a slave. Judah has none of the tragic nobility of Reuben who, alone of the brothers, sees that what they are doing is wrong, and makes an attempt to save him (it fails). At this point, Judah is the last person from whom we expect great things.

However, Judah – more than anyone else in the Torah – changes. The man we see all these years later it not what he was then. Then he was prepared to see his brother sold into slavery. Now he is prepared to suffer that fate himself rather than see Benjamin held as a slave. As he says to Joseph:

“Now, my lord, let me remain in place of the boy as your lordship’s slave, and let him go with his brothers. How can I return to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery which my father would suffer.” (44:33-34)

It is a precise reversal of character. Callousness has been replaced with concern. Indifference to his brother’s fate has been transformed into courage on his behalf. He is willing to suffer what he once inflicted on Joseph so that the same fate should not befall Benjamin. At this point Joseph reveals his identity. We know why. Judah has passed the test that Joseph has carefully constructed for him. Joseph wants to know if Judah has changed. He has.

This is a highly significant moment in the history of the human spirit. Judah is the first penitent – the first baal teshuvah – in the Torah. Where did it come from, this change in his character? For that, we have to backtrack to chapter 38 – the story of Tamar. Tamar, we recall, had married Judah’s two elder sons, both of whom had died, leaving her a childless widow. Judah, fearing that his third son would share their fate, withheld him from her – thus leaving her unable to remarry and have children. Once she understands her situation, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute. Judah sleeps with her. She becomes pregnant. Judah, unaware of the disguise, concludes that she must have had a forbidden relationship and orders her to be put to death. At this point, Tamar – who, while disguised, had taken Judah’s seal, cord and staff as a pledge – send them to Judah with a message: “The father of my child is the man to whom these belong.”

Judah now understands the whole story. Not only has he placed Tamar in an impossible situation of living widowhood, and not only is he the father of her child, but he also realises that she has behaved with extraordinary discretion in revealing the truth without shaming him (it is from this act of Tamar’s that we derive the rule that “one should rather throw oneself into a fiery furnace than shame someone else in public”). Tamar is the heroine of the story, but it has one significant consequence. Judah admits he was wrong. “She was more righteous than I,” he says. This is the first time in the Torah someone acknowledges their own guilt. It is also the turning point in Judah’s life. Here is born that ability to recognise one’s own wrongdoing, to feel remorse, and to change – the complex phenomenon known as teshuvah – that later leads to the great scene in Vayigash, where Judah is capable of turning his earlier behaviour on its head and doing the opposite of what he had once done before. Judah is ish teshuvah, penitential man.

We now understand the significance of his name. The verb lehodot means two things. It means “to thank,” which is what Leah has in mind when she gives Judah, her fourth son, his name: “this time I will thank the Lord.” However, it also means, “to admit, acknowledge.” The biblical term vidui, “confession,” – then and now part of the process of teshuvah, and according to Maimonides its key element – comes from the same root. Judah means “he who acknowledged his sin.”

We now also understand one of the fundamental axioms of teshuvah: “Rabbi Abbahu said: In the place where penitents stand, even the perfectly righteous cannot stand” (Berachot 34b). His prooftext is the verse from Isaiah (57: 19), “Peace, peace to him that was far and to him that is near.” The verse puts one who “was far” ahead of one who “is near.” As the Talmud makes clear, however, Rabbi Abbahu’s reading is by no means uncontroversial. Rabbi Jochanan interprets “far” as “far from sin” rather than “far from G-d.” The real proof is Judah. Judah is a penitent, the first in the Torah. Joseph is consistently known to tradition as ha-tzaddik, “the righteous.” Joseph became mishneh le-melekh, “second to the king.” Judah, however, became the father of Israel’s kings. Where the penitent Judah stands, even the perfectly righteous Joseph cannot stand. However great an individual may be in virtue of his or her natural character, greater still is one who is capable of growth and change. That is the power of penitence, and it began with Judah.

– from http://www.aish.com/tp/i/sacks/183700211.html