Year: 1969
Type: article
Abstract: The Hebrew attitude toward the apparent existence of evil in the world has generally been to adopt the principle that the individual ought not to deny his own experience.Such a prin ciple leads to the acceptance of evil as a fact of human existence.Consequently, the further problem is to understand human exist ence, informed by this recognition, in its relationship to God.Abraham bar Hiyya expresses the classic orthodox view when he asserts that God is the author of both good (tov) and evil (rah).In fact the idea of God as creator is expressed for man through the notion of separation {havdalah).That there is a distinction between things and a separation of parts in the natural world, preparing the world for its inhabitation by man, lays the ground work for the recognition of a separation made in the Law {丁or ah) between the holy and the profane, between good and evil.Further, as the heavens and earth are separated in the act of cre ation from primal chaos (tohu va'bohu) so it is suggested that good and evil are separated with each having real existence.Indeed, there is direct scriptural evidence for bar Hiyya5 s assertion: e.g., ." Do not out of the most high come both good and evil?'，(Lamen tations 3: 38.)
Author: Martin A Bertman
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2405458875