"The Way of G-d"

Part 1: "The Fundamental Principles of Reality"

Ch. 1: "The Creator"

Paragraphs 3 and 4

We've combined a couple of paragraphs this time, which we hadn't done so far, because they're short and related to each other.

Paragraph 3 speaks of G-d's existence being "imperative", and paragraph 4 speaks of His existence as being "independent" and not just imperative, but "*intrinsically* imperative".

We'd first need to explain terms, then try our hardest to understand what this all means.

By definition, an imperative is either a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required". Emotionally, though, it implies something else. We'll touch on both.

When I think of a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required" I'm immediately brought back to school. There were always prerequisite classes or courses you *had* to take before you could either go further on, or graduate.

With that in mind we'll take the expression that G-d's existence is imperative to mean that He simply *has* to exist if anything else is to follow. In other words, nothing but nothing could ever exist without Him, period.

As Ramchal puts it at the end of this paragraph, "G-d simply couldn't *not* exist" because if He didn't exist, then nothing else could.

We said there's an emotional sense of the term "imperative", too. When I have an "imperative need" for something, I have an acute, aching, burning need for it. I'm in pain without it. So in that sense of the word, I and everything else experiences a deep-below-the-surface "imperative need" for G-d all the time. We simply couldn't exist, couldn't "go on" without Him.

As such, G-d's existence is *imperative*, He couldn't possibly *not* exist both in fact, and as far as we’re concerned.

Again, as paragraph 4 puts it, G-d's existence is "independent", and not just imperative (as we said before), but "*intrinsically* imperative".

G-d's existence is said to be "independent" simply because He depends on nothing or no one else. After all, *by definition* an all-mighty God would simply have to be independent, sovereign, and self-sufficient. Otherwise he wouldn't be all-mighty. And G-d Almighty certainly meets those criteria.

That's simple enough. The next one, though, is a little more turgid.

By saying that G-d is *intrinsically* imperative Ramchal is stating that G-d's imperativeness (i.e., the fact that His existence is absolutely required) isn't a "rule" that He has to follow.

His point is that G-d "wrote the rule" of imperativeness just as He wrote all other rules. And He could wipe it out if He wants to or not. After all, as we said, He's *independent* and above all rules.

That's to say that G-d's existence is imperative *only because He wants it to be*. He Himself "decided" He'd work that way.

The ancient Greeks believed their gods (and there's simply no comparison) were beholden to something greater than they-- the so-called "Fates". If something was fated to happen, there was nothing a Greek god could do to prevent it. G-d Almighty is beholden to nothing. His existence is *intrinsically* imperative, i.e., it's only imperative *because He wanted it to be*.

The following idea isn't mentioned here, but we'll end with it. Many people mistakenly believe that G-d is beholden to logic. As if logic were more powerful than He, just as the "Fates" were more powerful than the ancient Greek gods. But that's simply not true.

G-d is no more beholden to logic than He is to, say, gravity. So all attempts to "force" Him into a logical corner fail in the end. And all questions of whether He could create a force greater than Himself or not and the like are simply irrelevant to His utmost, absolute sovereignty.

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