It's noteworthy that the Rambam says that he would be willing to relegate the creation account to allegory if the eternity of the universe were proved. The eternity of the universe has not been proven and we do not abandon the literal understanding of Biblical verses in order to accommodate a theory.
However, there is a major difference between the two cases: the incorporeality of God has been proven, necessitating the interpretation of verses to the contrary as metaphors. Similarly, if the eternity of the universe were proven, we could easily write off the creation account by considering it a metaphor. We have no problem saying that terms like "hand of God," "throne of God," etc. Yes, the Rambam says, the Torah describes the creation of the universe, but it contains far more descriptions of God as a corporeal Being. Surprisingly, the reason we reject the idea that the universe always existed is not because of the Torah's creation account. Yeshaya encouraged the people to learn about God by saying, "Lift up your eyes and behold Who has created these things" (Isaiah 40:26). Yirmiyahu called Him "the Maker of the Heavens" (presumably a reference to Jeremiah 33:2). Moshe referred to God as metaphorically "riding on the Heavens" (Deuteronomy 33:26). Avraham reflected on the stars (the Rambam says that this is well-known, probably a reference to the Midrash in which Avraham inferred the existence of God through the process of elimination) he also referred to God as "God of the Heavens" (Genesis 24:7). He demonstrates that the prophets, when wanting to prove the existence of a Creator, always pointed to the stars and other celestial objects. The best proof for intelligent design, the Rambam tells us, is the motion of the heavenly bodies - their orbits, their speeds, their distances. For the Rambam, the emphasis was on "design," i.e., that the universe was created at all (as opposed to always existing). Nowadays, when we speak of intelligent design, our focus tends to be on the "intelligent" part, i.e., that it was God Who created the universe. Numbers in brackets represent the volume and chapter of Moreh Nevuchim where these ideas are discussed.
Torah reading sound reference series#
The articles in this series are based upon ideas expressed in the Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim (The Guide for the Perplexed).
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