INFINITE: OUTSIDE OF SPACE
In the horror movie "The Blob", a jelly-like monster falls from outer space and swallows things whole, taking on the size of whatever it devours.
Imagine the blob stretching out and swallowing all of New York. It gets bigger and bigger, stretching out towards the Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East. The entire planet is swallowed up and the blob continues to stretch outwards forever, chomping on the universe.
Is the blob infinite or finite?
Is this blob infinite or finite?
It's finite, of course. Even though it's getting bigger and bigger, it has a circumference, a border. Its size can be measured; it's physical.
Infinite does not mean super-large. It means without limit and containment. Anything that exists within space is by definition finite, no matter how big it gets.
GOD IS BEYOND SPACE
Try to picture God before there was a universe.
Where is God?
Most people imagine God being everywhere, expanding and filling up everything. But to be everywhere, you need a space. And space hasn't been created yet! Infinite means beyond space. Boundless. Incorporeal. No boundaries, no mass, no place.
Infinite means beyond space. No boundaries, no mass, no place.
If it feels like your mind just hit a wall, relax. It means you're getting a sense of the infinite dimension. There is a built-in difficulty in trying to grasp "beyond space" because we're stuck in a finite world. Everything we perceive is filtered through our finite minds with finite vocabulary. Even though we seem to define the quality of being beyond space, we can't fully grasp what our definition really means. [next article will explore this inherent difficulty]
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Besides infinity in space, there is also infinity in time.
In the movie "Back to the Future", Marty McFly travels back and forth from the past to the future with his time machine. Does this make Marty infinite in regards to being outside of time?
Of course not. Even though he can move wherever he wants in time, he constantly remains within the framework of time.
Now we understand why in the movie, the Professor places limitations on Marty's travels, telling him that:
1) He can't change history.
2) He can't meet himself in another time coordinate. The Professor tells him that if the present 20-year-old Marty McFly were to meet the future 40-year-old Marty McFly, a time-warp would be created causing time to unravel, destroying the entire universe. (Hey - it's only a movie.)
This second limitation is a result of the finite aspect of time travel. How can one person be at two places at two times all at the same time?!
Impossible -- unless you are infinite, completely unencumbered and above time. Being outside of the timeline means being at all places at all times -- all at the same time.
ABRAHAM DISCOVERS THE FIRST CAUSE
Our forefather Abraham began his search for the infinite dimension when he was three years old with a very simple, yet piercing question -- the kind of question most three year olds ask when they see something for the first time.
"Whose is it?"
One day little Abraham sees the moon and asks his father, "Dad, who owns the moon?"His father answers in the way of any self-respecting idol worshipper: "It belongs to the moon god, son," as he pulls the moon god off the shelf to show him.
Abraham's next question is, "Well who owns the moon god?"
With this simple question, Abraham is on the cusp of discovering the source of creation. He realizes that finite gods have a beginning, something that existed prior that created them. So Abraham keeps going backwards through the process, searching for the beginning of it all, disregarding the finite gods that exist in time and space. Eventually he reaches God with a capital G, the Being that existed before there ever was time, and asks, "Well, who created God? Where did He come from?"
A being that exists beyond time doesn't come from anywhere.
A being that exists beyond time doesn't come from anywhere. He has always existed. If something created God, God would have a beginning and He'd be finite, not infinite. Beyond time means having no beginning and no end. Eternal. It means there is nothing that exists before God. 'Before' is a time-bound quality that applies only to finite entities. Therefore God is called "the First Cause" -- the Prime Mover -- the dimension that has no other dimension preceding it.
Abraham discovers the infinite source of existence, an Eternal Being, unhindered by time and space.
Every Jew must believe and know that there exists a First Being, without beginning or end, who brought all things into existence and continues to sustain them. This Being is God."[Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, in his 18th century work, The Way of God]
(10) Anonymous, November 10, 2016 2:50 PM
Important
(9) Habba, June 28, 2015 1:59 AM
It's important to ask someone.
I just realized I almost the same question with Abraham when I was in HS, only that it was asked in a different way: "If the Almighty is our father, then who the Almighty's father? Does He also have parents?". And it was only an internal question, I never really asked anyone, I had it only inside my head. Thus, I didn't get any answers.
(8) Rita, June 2, 2012 12:45 AM
What I don't get:
I don't get how some people are just not drawn to God. How they can doubt His presence in our world and can not see how things happen are from Him. It's like there is a total disconnect between them and that part of all of us that God makes that causes us to be drawn to Him.
(7) Frederick Haworth, April 5, 2012 1:06 AM
What Judaism does to inform me about G-d.
God loves you. You love God. Therefore, God loves everyone. Judaism gives me the freedom to explore this understanding and allows me to realize I am not alone. Sharing this understanding with others of the Jewish faith allows me to better understand others and accept life as a process for all of us to become better human beings. It is by reading the Torah and observing those tradidtions that make up days on the calendar important for us to celebrate this gift shared by Abraham. It gives one the ability to be a better person and contribute for the betterment of society of all without expecting the reward but G-d's love which I believe is everyone to enjoy. Lo Hiem!.
(6) Frederick Haworth, March 25, 2012 3:10 AM
I always believed this to be true.
I realize now I went through the same experience as Abraham did, when he was asking questions regarding "human consciousness" and "is there a cause for our beings." When I was 13 years old I walked away from the Catholic faith, as I felt their beliefs violated my heart, and when I walked away, I felt totally alone. I was fortunate to have Jewish friends who accepted me when I was going through this crisis of my ability to understand why I see G-d the same way I felt. Thank you.
(5) Anonymous, December 7, 2011 8:34 AM
thank you
i have read many times. and every time i read i get clearer idea of Hashem. Great article!
(4) Debra Lewis, October 18, 2010 5:11 PM
I knew nothing of Judaism. I love what I've read, It is so much the way I perceive God. Thank you.
I truly feel I should commit myself to learn as much as I can about Judaism, and someday convert.
dave, June 26, 2011 2:16 AM
same with me. however, there are many things I still don't get.
(3) Joe Crismali, September 28, 2010 7:42 PM
The infinite nature of G-d put me to think. Are angels immortal? If they are, are they eternal meaning do they live forever? . But even if you could consider them eternal they cannot be considered infinite. Angels have a beginning which means they cannot be infinite. But are they immortal? Do they have an end? I wonder!
Anonymous, November 10, 2016 3:03 PM
Yes, there is a good distinction made by Aquino Thomas.
They are potentially infinite which as you said means, they are created to last, some would say the same is with human souls. But only God is the actual infinite, necessary, beginningless, endless.
(2) b'nei Y'isroel, August 19, 2003 12:00 AM
Maybe, God needs us in order to reason.
For us, God IS reason. For God, we (humans/life) are the creative outputs. It is a symbiotic relationship in which both sides seek to connect. We, through prayer,ritual, mitzvot; the Universe through inspiration. Through this, feeding each other enrgy, we connect continually just outside of time and space.
As we are images of God, one could deduce that God is a master artist.God may be "nothing" and "everything". But living organisms are the manifestation of this non-place, all the "time", energetic exchange. Which is why we all reason. We attempt to mimic in our finite way, this outer world around which we can never fully wrap our brains. The Universe, Hashem, enjoys us just as much as we need it.
(1) jim price, February 17, 2002 12:00 AM
God doesn't reason or does He?
It seems counterintuitive that a supreme mind wouldn't reason but, since God is omnicient, he doesn't reason. To reason is to discover new truths by thinking but, since God knows all and has always known all, there are no new truths for God to discover. However, could truths that God already knows be simply mulled over by God and that be reasoning? Take a theorem, God has always known every demonstration of this theorem, it and each of its parts is always in his comprehension, so God doesn't partially forget and reason through anew as humans tend to. So God doesn't muddle through old truths. Maybe God is eternally reasoning in the sense of demonstating to himself all truths all the time in no time? It would take God a time period approaching zero to reason through a problem and, in fact, all problems. So God, being above time, would have that point in time with him always. So in this sense, God is never without knowledge, yet always reasons. This latter approach seems the best solution to the paradox.