Part 9 (1/2)
8. The Bible in the Song of Moses compares divine Providence to the eagle spreading her protecting wings over her young and bearing them aloft, or urging them to soar along.(516) The rabbis elaborate this by referring to the twofold care which the eagle thus bestows, as she watches over those who are still tender and helpless, s.h.i.+elding them from the arrows below by bearing them on her wings, but inspiring the maturer and stronger ones to fly by her side.(517) In the same way Providence trains both individuals and generations for their allotted task. A little child requires incessant care on the part of its mother, until it has learned how to eat, walk, speak, and to decide for itself, but the wise parent gradually withdraws his guiding hand so that the growing child may learn self-reliance and self-respect. The divine Father trains man thus through the childhood of humanity. But no sooner does the divine spirit in man awaken to self-consciousness than he is thrown on his own resources to become the master of his own destiny. The divine power which, in the earlier stages, had worked _for_ man, now works _with_ him and _within_ him. In the rabbinic phrase, he is now ready to be a ”co-worker with G.o.d in the work of creation.”(518) Only at those grave moments when his own powers fail him, he still feels in the humility of faith that his ancient G.o.d is still near, ”a very present help in trouble,” and that ”the Guardian of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth.”(519)
Philosophy cannot tolerate the removal of the dividing line between the transcendent G.o.d and finite man. Hence the relation of man's free will and divine foresight cannot be solved by any process of reasoning. But when religion proclaims a moral government of the world, then man, with his moral and spiritual aims, attains a place in Creation akin to the Creator.
Of course, so long as he is mentally a child and has no clear purpose, Providence acts for him as it does for the animal with its marvelous instinct. Through His chosen messengers G.o.d gives the people bread and water, freedom and victory, instruction and law. The wondrous tales describing the divine protection of Israel in its early life may strike us as out of harmony with the laws of nature, but they are true portrayals of the experience of the people. Whatever happened for their good in those days had to be the work of G.o.d; they had not yet wakened to the power hidden in their own soul. Their heroes felt themselves to be divine instruments, roused by His spirit to perform mighty deeds or to behold prophetic visions. It is G.o.d who battles through them. It is G.o.d who speaks through them. Both their moral and spiritual guidance works from without and above. At this stage of life autonomy is neither felt nor desired. When man awakens to moral self-consciousness and maturity, this inner change impresses him as an outer one; the change in him is interpreted as a change in G.o.d. He feels that G.o.d has withdrawn behind His eternal laws of nature and morality which work without direct interference, and in his new sense of independence he thinks that he can dispense with the divine protection and forethought. As if mortal man can ever dispense with that Power which has endowed him with his capacity for worthy accomplishment! Thus in times of danger and distress man turns to G.o.d for help; thus at every great turning point in the life of an individual or nation the idea of an all-wise Providence imbues him with new hope and new security. And in all these cases the great lesson of providential direction is typified in the history of Israel as related in the Bible.
10. The idea of Providence, indeed, belongs also to certain pagan philosophers, who observed the great purposes of nature which the single creature and the species are both to serve. The Stoics in particular made a study of teleology, the system of purposive ends in nature. Philo adopted much from them in his treatise on Providence. Later the popular philosophic group among the Mohammedans, the so-called ”Brothers of Purity,” based their doctrines of G.o.d and His relation to the world on a teleological view of nature. In fact, the Jewish philosopher and moralist Bahya ben Pakudah has embodied many of their ideas in his ”Duties of the Heart.”(520)
Jewish folklore-preserved in rabbinic literature-has also attempted a popular explanation of the obscure ways of Providence, in strange events of nature as well as the great enigmas of human destiny. Thus the flight of David from Saul affords the lesson of the good purpose which may be served by so insignificant a thing as a spider, or by so dreadful a state as insanity.(521) Vast numbers of the Jewish legends and fables deal with adversities which are turned into ultimate good by the working of an all-wise Providence.(522)
Chapter XXIX. G.o.d and the Existence of Evil
1. A leading objection to the belief in divine Providence is the existence in this world of physical and moral evil. All living creatures are exposed to the influence of evil, according to their physical or moral const.i.tutions and the peculiar conditions of their existence. Heathenism accounts for the powers of darkness, pain and death by a.s.suming the existence of forces hostile to the heavenly powers of light and life, or of a primitive principle of evil, the counterpart of the divine beings.
But to those who believe in an almighty and all-benign Creator and Ruler of the universe, the question remains: Why do life and the love of life encounter so many hindrances? Why does G.o.d's world contain so much pain and bitterness, so much pa.s.sion and sin? Should not Providence have averted such things? The answer of Judaism has already been stated here, but we need further elaboration of the theme that there is no evil before G.o.d, since a good purpose is served even by that which appears bad. In the life of the human body pleasure and pain, the impetus to life and its restraint and inhibition form a necessary contrast, making for health; so, in the moral order of the universe, each being who battles with evil receives new strength for the unfolding of the good. The principle of holiness, which culminates in Israel's holy G.o.d, transforms and enn.o.bles every evil. As the Midrash explains, referring to Deut. XI, 26: ”If thou but seest that both good and evil are placed in thy hand, no evil will come to thee from above, since thou knowest how to turn it into good.”(523)
2. The conception of evil pa.s.sed through a development parallel with that of the related conceptions which we have just reviewed. At first every misfortune was considered to be inflicted by divine wrath as a punishment for human misdeeds. Nations and individuals were thought to suffer for some special moral cause; through suffering they were punished for past wrong, warned against its repet.i.tion in the future, and urged to repentance and improvement of their conduct. Even death, the fate of all living creatures, was regarded as a punishment which the first pair of human beings brought upon all their descendants through their transgression of the divine command. The Talmudic sages clung to the view of the Paradise legend in the Bible, when they held that every death is due to some sin committed by the individual.(524)
This view, which was shared by paganism, was accompanied by a higher conception, gradually growing in the thinking mind. As a father does not punish his child in anger, but in order to improve his conduct, so G.o.d chastens man in order to purify his moral nature. Good fortune tends to harden the heart; adversity often softens and sweetens it. In the crucible of suffering the gold of the human soul is purified from the dross. The evil strokes of destiny come upon the righteous, not because he deserves them, but because his divine Friend is raising him to still higher tests of virtue. This standpoint, never reached even by the pious sufferer Job, is attained by rabbinic Judaism when it calls the visitations of the righteous ”trials of the divine love.”(525) Thus evil, both physical and spiritual, receives its true valuation in the divine economy. Evil exists only to be overcome by the good. In His paternal goodness G.o.d uses it to educate His children for a place in His kingdom.
3. According to the direct words of Scripture good and evil, light and darkness, emanate alike from the Creator. This is accentuated by the great seer of the Exile,(526) who protests against the Persian belief in a creative principle of good and a destructive principle of evil. The rabbis, however, ascribe the origin of evil to man; they take as a negation rather than a question the verse in Lam. III, 38: ”Do not evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?” Thus they refer this to the words of Deuteronomy, ”Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil; choose thou life!”(527)
Such medieval thinkers as Abraham Ibn Daud and Maimonides did not ascribe to evil any reality at all.(528) Evil to them is the negation of good, just as darkness is the negation of light, or poverty of riches. As evil exists only for man, man can overcome it by himself. Before G.o.d it has no essential existence. Unfortunately, such metaphysics does not equip man with strength and courage to cope with either pain or sin. The same lack is evident in that modern form of pseudo-science which poses as a religion, Christian Science, which has made propaganda so widely among both Jews and non-Jews. Christian Science declares pain, sickness, and all evil to be merely the ”error of mortal mind,” which can all be dispelled by faith; such a view neither strengthens the soul for its real struggles nor convinces the mind by an appeal to facts.(529)
4. Frail mortals as we are, we need the help of the living G.o.d. Thus only can we overcome physical evil, knowing that He bears with us, feels with us, and transforms it finally into good. We need it also to overcome moral evil, in the consciousness that He has compa.s.sion upon the repentant sinner and gives him courage to follow the right path. The modern philosophers of pessimism had the correct feeling in adopting the Hindu conception, and emphasizing the pain and misery of existence, repeating Job's ancient plaint over the hard destiny of mankind. The shallow optimism of the age would rather conceal the dark side of life and indulge in outbursts of self-sufficiency. Yet if we measure it only by a physical yardstick, life cannot be called a boon. Against shallow optimism we have the testimony of every thorn and sting, every poisonous breath and every destructive element in nature's household, as well as all vice and evil in the world of man. The world does not appear good, unless we measure it by the ideal of divine holiness. If G.o.d is the Father watching over the welfare of every mortal, all things are good, because all serve a good purpose in His eternal plan. Every hindrance or pressure engenders new power; every sting acts as a spur to higher things. Short-sighted and short-lived as is man, he forgets too easily that in the sight of G.o.d ”a thousand years are as a single day,” world-epochs like ”watches in the night,” and that the mills of divine justice grind on, ”slowly but exceeding small.” But one belief illumines the darkness of destiny, and that is that G.o.d stands ever at the helm, steering through every storm and tempest toward His sublime goal. In the moral striving of man we can but realize that our every victory contributes toward the majestic work of G.o.d.(530)
Chapter x.x.x. G.o.d and the Angels
1. Judaism insists with unrelenting severity on the absolute unity and incomparability of G.o.d, so that no other being can be placed beside Him.
Consequently, every mention of divine beings (_Elohim_ or _B'ne Elohim_) in either the Bible or post-Biblical literature refers to subordinate beings only. These spirits const.i.tute the celestial court for the King of the World.(531) All the forces of the universe are His servants, fulfilling His commands. Hence both the Hebrew and Greek terms for angel, _Malak_ and _angelos_, mean ”messenger.” These beings derive their existence from G.o.d; some of them are merely temporary, so that without Him they dissolve into nothing. Although Scripture uses the terms, ”G.o.d of G.o.ds” and ”King of kings,” still we cannot attribute any independent existence to subordinate divine beings. In fact, Maimonides in his sixth article of faith holds that wors.h.i.+p of such beings is prohibited as idolatry by the second commandment.(532) Thus the unity of G.o.d lifts Him above comparison with any other divine being. This is most emphatically expressed in Deuteronomy: ”Know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the Lord He is G.o.d in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is none else,”(533) and ”See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no G.o.d with Me; I kill and make alive; I have wounded and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.”(534) The same att.i.tude is found in Isaiah: ”I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretched forth the heavens alone, that spread abroad the earth by Myself” ”I am the Lord and there is none else; beside Me there is no G.o.d.”(535) Such conceptions allow no place for angels or spirits.
2. It was certainly not easy for prophet, lawgiver, or sage to dispel the popular belief in divine beings or powers, which primitive Judaism shared with other ancient faiths. No sharp line was drawn at first between G.o.d and His accompanying angels, as we may infer from the story of the angels who appeared to Abraham, and the similar incidents of Hagar and Jacob.(536) The varying application of the term _Elohim_ to G.o.d and to the angels or G.o.ds is proof enough of the priority of polytheism, even in Judaism. The trees or springs, formerly seats of the ancient deities, spirits, or demons, were now the places for the appearance of angels, shorn of their independence, looking like fiery or s.h.i.+ning human beings.
Popular belief, however, perpetuated mythological elements, ascribing to the angels higher wisdom and sometimes sensuality as well. Such a case is the fragment preserved in Genesis telling of the union of sons of G.o.d to the daughters of men, causing the generation of giants.(537) Obviously the old Babylonian ”mountain of the G.o.ds,” with its food for the G.o.ds, became in the Paradise legend the garden of Eden, the seat of G.o.d;(538) and the Psalmist still speaks of the ”angels' food,” which appeared as manna in the wilderness.(539) On the whole, the sacred writers were most eager to allot to the angels a very subordinate position in the divine household.
They figure usually as hosts of beings, numbered by myriads, wrapped in light or in fleeting clouds. They surround the throne or chariot of G.o.d; they comprise His heavenly court or council; they sing His praise and obey His call.
Scripture is quite silent about the creation of these angelic beings, as on most purely speculative questions. At the very beginning of the world G.o.d consults them when He is to create man after the image of the celestial beings. For this is the original meaning of _Elohim_ in Gen. I, 26 and 27 and V, 1: ”Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”; ”And G.o.d created man in his own image, in the image of G.o.dly beings He created him.” This view is echoed in Psalm VIII, verse 6: ”Thou hast made him a little lower than G.o.dly beings.” In Job x.x.xVIII, 7, both the morning stars and the sons of G.o.d, or angels, ”shout together in joy” when the Lord laid the foundations of the earth.(540)
3. In Biblical times-which does not include the book of Daniel, a work of the Maccabean time-the angels and demons were not invested with proper names or special functions. The Biblical system does not even distinguish clearly between good and evil spirits. The goat-like demons of the field popularly wors.h.i.+ped were merely survivals of pagan superst.i.tions.(541)
In general the angels carry out good or evil designs according to their commands from the Lord of Hosts. They are sent forth to destroy Sodom, to save Lot, and to bring Abraham the good tidings of the birth of a son.(542) On one occasion the host of spirits protect the people of G.o.d; on another they annihilate hostile powers by pestilence and plagues.(543) At one time a mult.i.tude appear, led by a celestial chieftain; at another a single angel performs the miracle. In any case the destroying angel is not a demon, but a messenger of the divine will. Originally some of these primitive forces were dreaded or wors.h.i.+ped by the people, but all have been transformed into members of the celestial court and called to bear witness to the dominion of the Omnipotent.
4. The belief in angels served two functions in the development of monotheism. On the one hand, it was a stage in the concentration of the divine forces, beginning with polytheism, continuing through belief in angels, and culminating in the one and only G.o.d of heaven and earth. On the other hand, certain sensuous elements in the vision of G.o.d by the seers had to be removed in the spiritualization of G.o.d, and it was found easiest to transform these into separate beings, related to Deity himself.
Thus the fiery appearance of G.o.d to the eye or the voice which was manifested to the ear were often personified as angels of G.o.d. This very process made possible the purification of the G.o.d idea, as the sublime essence of the Deity was divested of physical and temporal elements, and G.o.d was conceived more and more as a moral and spiritual personality.
Hence in Biblical pa.s.sages the names of G.o.d and of the angel frequently alternate.(544) The latter is only a representative of the divine personality-in Scriptural terms, the presence or ”face” of G.o.d. Therefore the voice of the angel is to be obeyed as that of G.o.d himself, because His name is present in His representative. A similar meaning became attached later on to the term _Shekinah_, the ”majesty” of G.o.d as beheld in the cloud of fire. This was spoken of in place of G.o.d that He might not be lowered into the earthly sphere. For further discussion of this subject, see chapter x.x.xII, ”G.o.d and Intermediary Powers.” In fact, we note that the post-exilic prophets all received their revelations, not from G.o.d, but through a special angel.(545) They no longer believed that G.o.d might be seen or heard by human powers, and therefore their visions had to be translated into rational thoughts by a mediating angel.
5. Persian influence gave Jewish angelology and demonology a different character. The two realms of the Persian system included vast hosts of beneficent spirits under Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) and of demons under the dominion of Angro-mainyus (Ahriman). So in Judaism also different orders of angels arose, headed by archangels who bore special names. The number seven was adopted from the Persians, while both names and order were often changed. All of them, however, were allotted special functions in the divine household. The pagan deities and primitive spirits which still persisted in popular superst.i.tion were given a new lease of life. Each force of nature was given a guardian spirit, just as in nature-wors.h.i.+p; angels were appointed over fire, water, each herb, each fountain, and every separate function of life. A patron angel was a.s.signed to each of the seventy nations of the world mentioned in the genealogy of Noah.(546)
Thus the celestial court grew in number and in splendor. A beginning was made with the heavenly chariot-throne of Ezekiel, borne aloft by the four holy living creatures (the _hayoth_), surrounded by the fiery _Cherubim_, the winged _Seraphim_, and the many-eyed _Ofanim_ (wheels).(547) This was elaborated by the addition of rows of surrounding angels, called ”angels of service,” headed by the seven archangels. Of these the chief was Michael, the patron-saint of Israel, and the next Gabriel, who is sometimes even placed first. Raphael and Uriel are regularly mentioned, the other three rarely, and not always by the same names. The _Irin_ of Daniel-known as ”the Watchers,” but more precisely ”the ever-watchful Ones”-are another of the ten cla.s.ses of angels included. Below these are myriads of inferior angels who serve them. Their cla.s.sification by rank was a favorite theme of the secret lore of the Essenes, partly preserved for us in the apocalyptic literature and the liturgy. The Essenic saints endeavored to acquire miraculous powers through using the names of certain angels, and thus exorcising the evil spirits.