Jewish philosophy -- Early works to 1800; Judaism -- Works to 1900; Philosophy, Medieval -- Early works to 1800
If God were corporeal, His true essence would necessarily either exist
entirely in every part of the body, that is to say, in each of its
atoms, or would be confined to one of the atoms. In the latter
alternative the other atoms would be superfluous, and the existence of
the corporeal being [with the exception of the one atom] would be of no
purpose. If, on the other hand, each atom fully represented the Divine
Being, the whole body would not be one deity, but a complex of deities,
and this would be contrary to the doctrine adopted by the Kalām that
God is one. An examination of this argument shows that it is based on
the first and fifth propositions. But there is room for the following
objection: “God does not consist of atoms, that is to say, He is not,
as you assert, composed of a number of elements created by Himself, but
is one continuous body, and indivisible except in man’s imagination,
which affords no test; for in man’s imagination the substance of the
heavens may be torn or rent asunder. The philosopher holds that such a
possibility results from assuming a similarity and an analogy between
the visible, i.e., the bodies which exist among us, and the invisible.”
Second Argument.
This argument, they believe, is of great importance. Its main support
is the impossibility of comparison, i.e., the belief that God cannot be
compared to any of His creatures; and that He would be comparable to
other corporeal objects if He were corporeal. They put great stress on
this argument, and say as follows: “If it were asserted that God is
corporeal, but that His substance is not like that of other corporeal
beings, it would be self-contradictory; for all bodies are alike as
regards their substance, and are distinguished from each other by other
things, viz., the accidents.” They also argue that if God were
corporeal it would follow that He has created another being like
Himself. This argument is refuted in two ways. First, the objector does
not admit the impossibility of comparison; he asks how it could be
proved that God cannot be compared to any of His creatures. No doubt
that, in support of their view, that a comparison between the Almighty
and any other being is inadmissible, they would have to cite the words
of the Prophets, and thus accept this doctrine by the authority of
tradition, not by the authority of reason. The argument that God, if
comparable to any of His creatures, would be found to have created
beings like Himself, is refuted by the objector in the following way:
“The created things are not like Him in every respect; for I do not
deny that God has many properties and peculiarities.” For he who admits
the corporeality of God does not deny the existence of properties in
the divine Being. Another and more forcible argument is this: All who
have studied philosophy, and have made themselves thoroughly acquainted
with philosophical theories, assume as demonstrated facts, first that
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