Hebrew thought

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Hebrew Thought.

Where it comes from

This type of thinking comes from a religious tradition centered on the Hebrew Tanakh, or Old Testament, hence its name. Despite its name, "Hebrew" is not a linguistic designation in that Biblical Hebrew language shapes the way people think, rather it is a historical recognition that the oldest literature in Western tradition using this means of thinking was written in Hebrew. Today it is used by a small number of Christians whose theology is consistent with that of the Protestant Reformation. One does not need to be a Christian to utilize Hebrew Thought, as it is the thought pattern used by Archimedes and much of modern science.

Most philosophers use what is called Greek Thought, so named because it was used by the ancient Greek philosophers. Like "Hebrew" in "Hebrew thought" above, "Greek" in "Greek thought" is a historical, not linguistic, reference. It is also the thought pattern used by most world religions.

Very few modern philosophers even understand Hebrew Thought. Many think it is a simple method used by a relatively primitive people who had little concept of abstract concepts. However, it uses the same mathematical logic used also by Greek Thought, and, like Greek thought, is a mentel and philosophic tool used to study both concrete and abstract concepts.

Action, the defining factor of Hebrew thought

Whereas Greek thought has its roots in form as the defining factor, what can be known about a person or thing in Hebrew thought is defined by how it acts. In this, Hebrew thought functions as a methodology to categorize knowledge, people and objects. In this it has the same function as mathematics to numerical data and logic to human reasoning.

We need to be careful that we don?t confuse the methodology with the results that some have come to using the methodology. Secondly, just as most people sometimes think logically, sometimes react emotionally, and there are very few who are consistantly logical in their thoughts and actions, so many, if not most, people sometimes use Greek thought, sometimes Hebrew thought, in their daily lives. It is within formulated belief systems that one finds the most consistent use of one or the other thought methodology.

(Many of the following examples are from the Bible, as this is the historical earliest examples and still some of the best illustrating Hebrew thought.)

For example, first one from the Bible, the nature of God is shown by his actions into the space-time continuum, starting with his creation of the space-time continuum. Which brings up history:

Action in the past defines present reality

Hebrew thought has the recognition that actions have a beginning, duration and ending. The beginning of an action often predetermines the end result. In human societies, how people think of their origins often gives ideas as to their own self worth, how they fit into society and how they should act. Furthermore, how others view an individual's ancestry can enhance or limit his opportunities in society. Therefore, in Hebrew thought, history is important.

To sum up, what has (or is thought to have) happened in the past, influences present reality.

To give a long example over the next six paragraphs: the Biblical central historical event is the creation of the universe in six days. This historical event defines the attributes of God, his creativity, wisdom and power vis-à-vis the space-time continuum. Yet, because he created the space-time continuum, that means that he exists outside of it, making human investigative methods, such as the scientific method which is limited to the investigation of phenomena within space and time, inappropriate when investigating the nature and existence of God. However, the nature of the created universe implies that the God who created it has immense creativity, logical thought, attention to detail yet vast power.

That God has created the space-time continuum in the first place, means that he is able to act into it in ways that are considered miraculous or supernatural. Because these events are not normal, being defined as actions without physical cause hence they were called "signs" and "omens" in the original languages, investigation of these historical events are best carried out using the tools of historical analysis, not science.

The creation of mankind within the space-time continuum and his subsequent history defines many of mankind's attributes. The first mention of mankind indicates that he was created in the "shadow" of God, giving him a capability of creativity and logic that are but a shadow of those attributes that God himself possesses. Mankind was created as a physical being within the space-time continuum, making him designed to interact with the rest of the physical universe, thus defining epistemology as being able to trust our senses (apart from pathology) and to learn from others. The relative value of mankind compared to the rest of the universe is also defined by this historical reference.

The problem of evil, sickness and death are also covered as caused by actions subsequent to the creation itself. Those actions have a ripple effect that define nature and mankind to this day.

The New Testament takes all the above as assumed, adding the events surrounding Jesus. An example is 1 Corinthians 15: Paul sums up the whole reason for his teaching is the historical events of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, with the majority of the chapter, from verse 12 to the end, emphasizing that Jesus' physical resurrection from the dead, a historical event within space and time, defines the hope of eternal life.

This long example shows how the one event, the creation, because of the importance placed on it by the use of Hebrew thought, spills over into later events and continues to influence modern events. It is the beginning of action.

A second example using a different view of history, that of evolution, gives a completely different view of mankind, his value vis-à-vis the rest of physical reality, the nature of the universe, the problem of evil and the other questions covered in this section. Like the Biblical view of history above, so this view influences the way people react in interpersonal relationships and in their stewardship of the rest of nature. This is no less a complete view of mankind and the cosmos than the Biblical one above. Like the Biblical view above, this view of the past, this "creation belief", has been used as justification for beliefs and actions far beyond just the belief itself.

Present actions define present reality

Just as actions in the past have their continuing effects on the present, so present actions are used to interpret and classify present reality. These actions can either be direct, caused by the object under study, or indirect as a reaction to the object.

Using Biblical examples concerning people, Proverbs 20:11 "A young man is recognized by his repeated actions" and the attributes for the woman of valor are summed up in Proverbs 31:31"what she does boasts about her". Notice, the emphasis is not on physical form or beauty, but "pretty is as pretty does" as in the old English proverb.

Or an example from nature, even inanimate objects are defined by their actions, or function. In chemistry, each element acts differently from all other elements. Even though individual atoms are far too small to be seen except with the most specialized equipment, and that only in the last 30 years, chemists were able to recognize the whole periodic table by how the elements act, how they react with other elements, their proportions and solutions.

Another example, this time of inanimate objects: a door can take many shapes, from a flap of cloth in a tent to the heavy, watertight doors in submarines, yet they all fulfill the same function, that of being a movable partition between two spaces, to be moved aside to allow the movement of people, animals or objects. It is their function that define them as doors.

Likewise with other inanimate objects: if one can define its function, one has defined the object.

Where form is a major componant of the object, such as a mountain, the form is mainly important in how it affects action, either directly by the object or in how other objects react to its presence, though many people merely look at the form without considering action.

Comparison with Greek Thought

Possibly the best way to illustrate this type of thinking is to contrast it with Greek Thought, the other major thought method:

Function vs. Form

This is probably the easiest to recognize portion of the contrast. The ancient Greek philosophers considered the form of an argument. Often a well reasoned argument was preferable to one less logical even though based on observation. When dealing with objects, the objects are defined first by their form.

Hebrew Thought, on the other hand, looks at how functional an argument is to see its value. Furthermore, it is the function that defines an object, where form follows function.

Active vs. Static

Along with form, Greek Thought looks at a static universe. The statement by one philosopher that one could not step in the same river twice was a recognition that the river changed its form, therefore it was no longer the same river.

Hebrew Thought, on the other hand, considered all of nature to be in action, therefore one could step in the same river twice, just a river that is dynamic.

Often in the Hebrew Bible, an object is pictured. But the picture is intended to illustrate an action. For example, anthropomorphisms of God such as saying that he led Israel out of Egypt ?with an outstretched hand? referred to the action of being at war against the Egyptians.

We also see the difference in high art: most art made by those influenced by Greek Thought is static, at rest. Art from the Dutch Masters, for example, influenced by the Reformation, is noted for its dynamism. Even the "quiet" pictures usually look as if the artist caught a pause between activities.

Historic vs. Ahistoric

Most ancient and even modern religions have stories that are from some unspecified period in the past. In fact, the historical accuracy of these stories is often not important. What is important is that a story makes logical sense or a philosophical or moral point.

Hebrew Thought says that history is important, so important that specific dates are recorded. For example, in 1 Kings 6 we are told that Solomon started building his temple 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt under Moses, which would put the Exodus at about 1450 BC. The reason history is important for those who follow Hebrew religion is that it records God?s actions into history and his communications with his creation?us.

Patterns vs. Holistic or Individualistic

Greek Thought, with its emphasis on form, found itself asking which form is the defining form for objects, and beliefs. The universals became a abstract form for which there is no specific example on earth. What we experience is that objects often come is a variety of forms, and between the abstract, universal form and the multiplicity of individual forms that we experience is an unbridgeable gap that has been called ?the line of despair?.

Hebrew Thought with its emphasis on function recognizes that whatever form fulfills the intended function is thereby a representative of the universal. It is the function that defines both the universal and the individual, so there is no difference between the two.

Democracy vs. Dictatorship or Chaos

Greek thought with its emphasis on form tends to recognize each form as being distinct, in its own catagory. This tends to isolate catagories with no reference to a whole. Where there is a holistic unity, it is either by defining one form as primary and all the other catagories as subservient to the one, or the holism is defined from the immaterial universal principles, the other side of the "line of dispair".

Hebrew thought based on function, while allowing that separate catagories can be recognized and studied in isolation, yet recognizes that each individual catagory functions in relationship with other catagories. As a result, Hebrew thought is often called holistic, but this is a different holism than found in Greek thought, a holism based on function where the individual does not lose its identity while functioning as part of the whole.

An example is the consideration of human logic and emotion. In Greek thought the two are viewed as separate and a person is ruled by one or the other, or inconsistant because he is ruled by both. The ancient Stoics, for example, tried to live their lives by logic only, thus achieving holism under logic. In Hebrew thought logic and emotions work together, each influencing the other. For example, a person can logically recognize justice, then become angry when he sees injustice. Or he can have an emotional experience then use logic to justify his emotion.

Another example that illustrates this difference is to listen to the music of Vivaldi and Bach. They were contemporaries, but wrote recognizably different music. Vivaldi followed the Greek Thought tradition, and his music is typified by one instrument or group of instruments having the melody line and all the others merely accompaniment. Not so with Bach. Bach was from the orthodox Lutheran tradition that was very much influenced by Hebrew Thought. In his music usually each voice is a melodic voice yet they work together to make a harmonious whole greater than the individual parts.

Music from a Greek though tradition has either the one voice autocratically leading and all other voices subservient, or where each voice is autonomous as in Bach, they tend not to work together to make pleasant harmony.

A final example is that in societies with religions strongly influenced by Greek Thought, they tend toward dictatorship where an elite has absolute power, above the law. But under the influence of the Protestant Reformation, even where royalty continued, all people are considered to be equally under the law and the power of government is limited and shared with the people usually in the form of a parliament.

Observation vs. Plausibility

In Greek Thought, a plausible argument that fits within a logical and conceptual whole is often more valued than one based on observation but is not understood. Thus we find observations are sometimes devalued, such as when Darwin did not take the studies of Mendel seriously (Mendel sent him a copy of his paper), when they don?t fit the whole of the belief system. (Modern evolutionists have made a synthesis of both Darwin?s and Mendel?s works.)

In Hebrew Thought, observation takes precedence over plausibility, even when it is not understood.

Substance vs. Appearance

In Hebrew Thought, whether something has the substance to fulfill its function is more important than if it looks good. For example, a hidden door that fulfills its function as a door is counted as a door, while a decoration that appears like a door is not. Another way to show this is that Greek thought looks at the appearances, or in philosophy at the terms used in the discussion, while Hebrew thought looks beneath the appearances to see what it is made of, or in discussions, the meanings of statements rather than the terminology as important.

Who uses Hebrew Thought today?

It is no question that those Christians who most closely follow the same theology as taught by the Protestant Reformation, in particular those of Luther do use Hebrew Thought.

One fallout of the Protestant Reformation was the development of modern science and the mathematics to support it. For example, while the ancient Greeks and Egyptians developed algebra and geometry to a high art, it was Newton and others influenced by the Reformation, even though they themselves may have not been Christians (e.g. Leibnitz) who developed calculus designed to describe action by a mathematical formula. Today the modern scientists who most consistently follow Hebrew Thought in their studies are in the hard sciences such as chemistry and physics, while nonempirical studies such as historical cosmology are wedded to Greek Thought and others are in between.

Other links

Greek thought

Protestant Reformation

Further reading

Boman, Thorleif, Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek Norton & Company, 1970 ISBN: 0393005348