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Judaism: Religious Experience

The cosmological argument and Judaism

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Saadia Gaon and Maimonides' Prime Mover, Psalm 33:6–9 and Isaiah 45:7–18 on God as cause of all things, differing views of the argument's importance, the question of what caused God, and the Big Bang.

What you need to know

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Evaluation

How does the cosmological argument reason to the Almighty?

Evaluation

How did Saadia Gaon use the cosmological argument?

Key term

How did Maimonides argue for a Prime Mover?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How does the cosmological argument reason to the Almighty?

    Model answer

    The cosmological argument says everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist, so it must have a first cause, which Jews identify as God.

  2. 2

    How did Saadia Gaon use the cosmological argument?

    Model answer

    Saadia Gaon, a 10th-century rabbi, argued that the universe had a beginning in time. A world with a beginning needs a Creator who brought it into being.

  3. 3

    How did Maimonides argue for a Prime Mover?

    Model answer

    Maimonides argued that motion in the world must trace back to a first mover that is not itself moved. Maimonides identified this unmoved first mover with God.

  4. 4

    What do verses 6 and 9 of Psalm 33 teach about creation?

    Model answer

    Psalm 33:6 says the heavens were made by the word of the Lord. God spoke and it came to be, commanded and it stood firm.

  5. 5

    How might a Jew use Psalm 33 to support the cosmological argument?

    Model answer

    Psalm 33 presents God as the cause of everything, creating by his word alone. The universe depends on God for its existence.

  6. 6

    What does Isaiah 45:7 say about God as the cause of all things?

    Model answer

    Isaiah 45:7 says God forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates calamity, sometimes translated evil. God is the one source of everything that exists.

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AOmnipotent means all-powerful.
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