Shmu's Views On This and That
Q: Does G-d exist?
A: Probably.
Q: Can G-d’s existence be proven beyond reasonable doubt?
A: No. Not rationally, logically or with human reasoning. Using the scientific method the existence of G-d cannot be proven. G-d can be experienced by the individual or a group, but can never be proven. Any god whose existence can be proven using human logic and science will not be G-d. Why? Because G-d's thoughts are not our thoughts and G-d's ways are not our ways. It would be like an ant trying to prove or explain to his fellow ants what a human being is. An ant cannot prove our existence any more than we can prove G-d's. An ant can experience us but never fully understand, explain or know us. We live on two different planes of existence (different frequencies or vibrations) even though we may appear to be sharing the same space.
Q: Which is the true religion?
A: There is no such thing as a “true religion.” All religions are a product of human reasoning, reflection, meditation and contemplation. Religion is humankind’s attempt at explaining the Unexplainable, seeing the Unseeable and knowing the Unknowable.
Q: What are the remaining oldest religions still being practiced in the 21st Century CE?
A: From oldest to newest —
Magic - Hinduism - Judaism - Zoroastrianism -Confucianism - Buddhism - Christianity - Islam- Mormonism - Satanism - Scientology
All of these human-made religions have various branches, denominations, affiliations and offshoots. While these are the main remaining practiced religions in our day, there have been literally thousands of religions that have come and gone over the last 200,000 years of homosapien existence.
Q: Since this site deals mainly with Judaism when did it begin?
A: The answer to that depends on who you read, talk to, or learn from. According to Judaism itself, it had its roots beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs of Jewish thought and genesis. However, Judaism became a formal organized religion with rules, regulations, laws, commandments and statues to follow along with a regimented form of worship around 3,300 years ago and was introduced by a man named Moses. The Judaism we know today, called Rabbinic Judaism, had its foreshadowing with Ezra the Scribe soon after the return of Jews to Israel from Babylonian exile around 350 BCE and grew extensively throughout the Second Temple period. It took full root once the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed by Rome in 70 CE and became the only acceptable Judaism by 135 CE after Rome put down the final revolt of the Jews during the defeat of the Bar Kochba rebellion, circa 132 to 136 CE.
Since that time Rabbinic Judaism has evolved, changed and adjusted to changes in mores, culture and times of great persecution by non-Jews. This adherence to Rabbinic Judaism has been the salvation of Jews down through the centuries and continues to this day to be the foundation of Jewish survival.
Q: If G-d’s existence cannot be proven with human reason and scientific logic how is it that so many millions over the centuries believe in G-d’s existence. Where does that faith come from?
A: Proof and faith are two different animals. For example: I see a bridge I have to drive my car across. I have never seen the engineer or architect of that bridge. But, I have seen cars go across it many times without collapse. I can see how well it is made and know by scientific reason that it will sustain my weight when I cross therefore I have faith in the engineer who built it, having never met him/her; have not spoken to that person face to face or even heard what they sound like, but I cross that bridge by faith (belief) that I will survive the crossing.
Like all examples this one is flawed because a human designed and built the bridge and is capable of fallibility but I ASSUME that G-d must be infallible and incapable of making a mistake. Is that assumption a wrong one? Possibly….or not.
Q: Was the Torah written by Moses?
A: According to Rabbinic Judaism it was. But, if we are going to be absolutely honest with ourselves — it was not — at least not all of it.
Most of the first five books of the Jewish Bible were oral stories pieced together over a period of several centuries. These stories were compiled and collated beginning with and during the Babylonian Exile in the 6th Century BCE with most gathered together into a full canonized text beginning in the Hasmonean period circa 200 BCE with the canonized three sections of the entire Jewish Bible (Tanakh — Torah-Prophets-Writings) finally fixed by what was left of the Rabbinic Sanhedrin sometime in the late Second Century CE.
Q: Did Moses really exist?
A: Nobody knows for sure, but, since the Levitical-Kohen line of Moses and Aaron can be genetically linked to many Jews living today, the existence of at least Aaron can be scientifically proven and since they were supposedly brothers then it is quite likely Moses lived as well as a real historical figure.
Q: How many types of Judaism have there been from its birth til now?
A:
Tribal Judaism - 4000 BCE to 3300 BC
Torah Mishkan (Tabernacle) Judaism - 3300 BCE to 10th Century BCE
National Secular Judaism - 11th Century BCE to 10th Century BCE and 1948 CE to Today (21st Century CE)
Torah First Temple Judaism - 10th Century BCE to 6th Century BCE
Torah Second Temple Judaism - 6th Century BCE to 70 CE
Torah/Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism - 100 BCE to Today (21st Century CE)
Judaism has never been a whole cloth religion but has always been a patchwork of concepts, ideas, traditions, ideologies, and while grounded in Torah and Talmud it has changed over the course of time. In the 21st Century CE there are at least three main branches of Judaism and a fourth smaller but influential “denomination.” These are Orthodox (with its various sects), Conservative and Reform, with the Reconstructionist movement being the smallest.
If you have any questions or comments for Shmu please comment below or you can reach him via email Shmu@startmail.com. He can also be reached at his Shmu’s Views Locals Community by visiting https://shmusviews.locals.com/
Until next time — Shalom!