tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26622588.post6168450997171161330..comments2023-05-27T04:26:16.242-07:00Comments on Dreaming Without Memory in Strangled Sleep: Throwing God OverboardMonicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02924031206519469554noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26622588.post-36309734685361844872008-02-12T18:48:00.000-08:002008-02-12T18:48:00.000-08:00Myshkin2--Yes, you are right about it being virtua...Myshkin2--<BR/><BR/>Yes, you are right about it being virtually impossible to pin down some kind of cause/effect relationship between humans' behavior and divine retribution. But then there are those instances (like what is written on the parchment inside tefillin) that seem to contradict that. It does seem, though, that regardless what is in the Hebrew bible, people cannot help but want to thinkMonicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02924031206519469554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26622588.post-12758498796534388082008-02-11T12:21:00.000-08:002008-02-11T12:21:00.000-08:00My question is, isn't part of belief free choice? ...My question is, isn't part of belief free choice? And what free choice is it if G-d is all sunshine and flowers...any moron would believe in G-d if it were that easy. The true test of real faith is precisely when things are at their bleakest...when Rabbi Akiva was having his flesh flayed by the Romans and was still able to say "Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad." Thank G-d, our Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26622588.post-65150809325539654332008-02-11T09:03:00.000-08:002008-02-11T09:03:00.000-08:00I'm certainly way out of my league here, but it's ...I'm certainly way out of my league here, but it's my understanding of the Hebrew Bible that it ultimately ends up with a sort of skewed view of divine reward and punishment--and that the Deuteronomistic (?) view, related to the importance of Kingship (human not divine), is that divine response doesn't come immediately, so that it's almost impossible to establish some sort of cause and effect--in myshkin2https://www.blogger.com/profile/16761111724832118246noreply@blogger.com