The Four Levels of Belief in God

The Four Levels of Belief in God's Oneness

One of the earliest books on Jewish thought is Chovos ha'Levavos (Duties of the Heart), by Rabbeinu Bachya ben Paquda. The first of the ten sections (or "gates") of the book is entitled Shaar ha'Yichud (The Gate of Oneness). In this section the author delves into Judaism's unique concept of monotheism and offers detailed proofs from Scripture and logic to support each of his points.

Towards the beginning of this section (chapter 2) Rabbeinu Bachya presents his categorization of the four levels of belief in God's Oneness. For the sake of easy reference, I will assign titles to each level. These titles are my own, but the rest of the text is a translation of the author's words (or, more accurately, my translation based on several Hebrew translations of the author's original Arabic).

The first level represents the absolute minimum:

Level #1: Speech: The first [level of acknowledging God’s Oneness] is the declaration of God’s Oneness in speech alone. This level is attained by the child or the simple person who has no understanding of the [true] meaning of emunah, nor is its truth established in his mind. 

This barely even qualifies as "belief." The person on this level might use the term "Hashem" and say the Shema, but hasn't given any real thought to the meaning of the words he is saying. Rabbeinu Bachya doesn't even bother to explain why this is the lowest level, or what the problems with are; they are too obvious to be mentioned.

I don't know how many Jews are on this level. I would like to think that the number is small, but I'm afraid it's much larger. And if we expand our count to include all of the non-Jews who profess a belief in God, then the number skyrockets into the billions, since this is the extent of most people's belief. 

The next group definitely represents the majority of Orthodox Jews I have encountered:

Level #2: Tradition: The second level is the acknowledgment of God’s Oneness with the mind and in speech based on what one has received from tradition, because he believes the person from whom he has received it. [However,] one does not grasp [at this level] the true meaning of the subject on the strength of one’s own intellect and understanding. 

Some might view reliance on the Mesorah (authoritative tradition) as the highest level of belief. Rabbeinu Bachya begs to differ. Not only does he view it as a relatively low level, but he also maintains that there is an inherent risk in relying on tradition alone, as he goes on to explain:

He is like a blind man who is led by one who can see. It may happen that one receives [the tradition] from someone who, likewise, knows it only from tradition. That would resemble a string of blind men, each of whom has his hand on the shoulder of the one in front of him, until the file reaches a person endowed with sight, who is at their head and guides them. Should this guide of theirs fail them and neglect to watch over them carefully, or if one of them should stumble or suffer an accident, then all of them would be affected: they would all stray from the path and either fall into a pit or a ditch, or blunder into an obstacle that would prevent them from continuing. 

The same is true of one who acknowledges God’s Oneness by relying on tradition. One cannot be sure that he will not embrace shituf (i.e. belief in a god who is not truly One, but who partakes of multiplicity), for when he hears the statements and arguments of the dualists, his views might change and he might fall into error without his being aware of it. For this reason our masters have stated: “Be diligent in the study of Torah, and know what answer to give a heretic” (Avos 2:14). 

This brings us to the third level:

Level #3: Proof: The third level is the acknowledgment of God’s Oneness with the mind and in speech after one is able to support it [the doctrine] with arguments for the truth of His existence, by way of reasoned analysis. [However,] one does not have knowledge of the meaning of “the absolute One” and “the relative one.” 

This level is very subtle and falls within a precise range. It describes someone who has arrived, through rational investigation and analysis, at a conviction that God exists, but hasn't reached a correct understanding of Who God is. For example, Albert Einstein became convinced of God's Existence through his study of the universe:

Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, a spirit vastly superior to that of man and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble ... this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment.

Isaac Newton likewise said:

This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.

But although both men arrived at their belief in God through rational inquiry, they did not follow through with their investigation to the point where they grasped the fundamental truth of Yichud Hashem (God's Oneness) or its associated truths (i.e. God's non-physicality, His Eternality, that He is a Necessary Existence, etc.).

Rabbeinu Bachya provides an analogy to describe the limitations of this level:

A person [at this level] resembles a man, endowed with sight, who, on a journey to a distant land, reaches a point in the road where it branches off into many different directions. Although he knows the general direction and location of his city of destination, he does not know which road will take him there; despite great effort on his part, he fails to reach his destination, for he does not know the way. This is like what Scripture says: “A fool wearies himself with his efforts, for he does not know how to get to the city” (Koheles 10:15). 

Level #3 isn't unique to people like Einstein and Newton. I have seen a number of Jewish educators successfully demonstrate that Hashem exists, then stop short of explaining what we mean by "Hashem." Of course, this can definitely be the developmentally appropriate place to stop in a lesson. But one must recognize that this level of belief is incomplete. 

This brings us to the ultimate level:

Level #4: True Conviction: The fourth level is the acknowledgment of God’s Oneness with the mind and in speech after one knows how to support [the doctrine] with arguments and arrive at knowledge of His true Oneness by way of rational analysis and correct, intelligent arguments. This is the highest and most accomplished level of them all, and it is this high station which the prophet urged us to attain when he said: “Understand it today and reflect on it in your mind: Hashem is the God in the heavens above and on the earth below, there is no other” (Devarim 4:39). 

This is the level of true emunah, which is the highest level of knowledge and belief we can attain. By devoting ourselves to the study of the yesodei ha'Torah from Rabbeinu Bachya, the Rambam, the Rashba, and the other masters of the Mesorah, then we may one day reach this level, with God's help.