Faith in Our Generation

In recent generations, through the development of the natural sciences, the humanities, the social sciences and culture, human consciousness has developed and expanded greatly.

Many natural phenomena that people did not understand have been studied and have become understood and explained. In the process, some of the explanations regarding faith that were accepted in earlier generations lost their value. In the past, when the heavens were shut and no rain fell, the wheat did not grow and the water reservoirs emptied, and people died of hunger and thirst. When a plague spread, many people fell dead, with almost no way of protecting themselves from the death that lay in wait for them. Even in the ordinary course of life, man was exposed to grave dangers, such as snakebite and the development of infectious diseases. Out of his distress, man turned to God in prayer to help him, and religious figures encouraged people to pray and to observe mitzvot so that God would save them.

In recent generations, by contrast, methods have been developed for storing water and transporting it through pipes, so that even in a severe drought people do not die of hunger and thirst. Thanks to scientific research, vaccines and medicines have been found for diseases that were once incurable, and dangerous epidemics hardly break out. As a result, life expectancy has risen greatly. With the help of the social sciences, efficient methods have been developed for organizing society and the economy, and methods have been developed for treating mental illness. With the help of technological development, the production of food, furniture, clothing and houses has improved greatly, to the point that today the average person can live longer, and in more comfortable conditions, than the great kings of the past. In such a situation, many people who had grown accustomed to praying and observing mitzvot in order to be saved from famine and plague, from poverty and servitude, felt less need to pray and observe mitzvot. Their feeling was that science would continue to develop until it solved all of man’s troubles, and no place would be left for religion in the world. Against this, men of spirit and religion argued, rightly, that science cannot possibly solve all of man’s troubles, since man aspires to a life full of limitless moral and spiritual meaning, whereas science can provide only comfortable conditions of existence and nothing more. Therefore, this pretension would lead to bitter disappointment and severe crises.

However, no less than criticizing the exaggerated pretension, it would have been proper to rejoice in the development of science and to bless God and thank Him for it, for it is God who created man in the image of God and graced him with the intellect by means of which he can advance in understanding his world and improving his life. Indeed, the Sages instituted a berakha upon seeing one of the sages of the nations of the world: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given of His wisdom to flesh and blood” (Peninei Halakha: Berakhot 15:18).

Yet many religious figures continued to base their arguments on belittling man, warning that it is the evil inclination that entices man to become arrogant and think that by his own strength and the might of his hand he can understand nature and improve the conditions of his life. Thus, instead of appreciating the fruits of science and blessing God for them, they held that one should keep one’s distance from science and cast doubt on its reliability. At the same time, many people who valued science felt that religion was of no benefit to their lives or to the world.