Saturday, 5 July 2014

A Karaite Theodicy - at least a theoretical one

In Philosophy and Theology, the Theodicy problem arises, i.e. why the good suffer and the bad have good lives. Various attempts at answering this are made, but not very convincingly. In Orthodox Judaism, we see various attempts to brush this world aside and claim that it is all compensated for in the next world. The argument gets worse when moral terrorists of Orthodoxy make claims like this one http://tanakhemet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aryeh-kaplan-blasphemer.html .
Some try to use the argument of reincarnation, that suffering here is in a reincarnation of a previous life. This is also quite ridiculous.

I am unable to explain the Holocaust, or why children are murdered even today. However, as far as the Torah goes, there is no nonsensical statements of a world to come as compensation, or reincarnation etc. Quite the contrary. The proof of God brought by Moses is the precise punishment of bad and reward of good, in this world. Whether or not the world of the Torah exists today or in reality, is a question that the skeptic can justifiably ask. However, for a rabbi to to make comments like Kaplan, and many others do, is itself denial of the Torah of Moses.

Thus, we see in Deuteronomy Chapter 4 , that Moses says:

3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did in Baal-peor; for all the men that followed the Baal of Peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee.

4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

The Torah is very clear about reward and punishment here and now. Whether this was only in Biblical or Prophetic times is an important issue, but we are forced to see this as the authentic Torah view, whether we like it or not.





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