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"How can there be a God?

 

In the realm of theology, the philosopher and the be­liever ask basically the same question, but from two very different angles, which are like a circle and its center.

The philosopher says, “The world exists, so how can there be a God?”

He is trying to find a way from the circumference to the center.

The believer, on the other hand, says, “God exists; how, then, can there be a world?”

He tries to find a path connecting the center to the circumference.

Some­times, both the philosopher and the believer are success­ful; they find good answers, and they meet.

When they fail, however, each of them is left with the question.

If one could choose, I think that rather than being left with the question “I am in the world; how can God exist?” it is far better to be left with “I am with God, I just do not under­stand how this world can exist.”

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From Simple Words by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz