Loving God Through the Study of Science and Humanities: Examining 3 Pillars of Truth through Intellect

Read Time: 14 minutes

The first and greatest commandment, recited daily around the world as part of the Shema, states:

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Likewise, Yeshua reaffirmed the utmost importance of this command when questioned:

“Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ This is the greatest and most important mitzvah..””

‭‭Mattityahu (Mat)‬ ‭22‬:‭33‬-‭40‬ ‭CJB‬‬

In both of these we see the phrase “all of your strength” used at the end. The Hebrew word translated as strength here is ‘modekha’ (מְאֹדֶֽךָ). The literal translation of modekha is “your very”. But it can also be translated as “your vehemence.” I also had to look up vehemence, which is effectively “passion, might or forceful energy.” The closest common English term we have is one’s “life force” or as some translations appropriately jump to: “strength” or “resources.”

Note: One’s “Passion” is typically a word used for our life purpose or career (when we actually like what we do).

Moreover, as this term of “very” seems like an all-encompassing term of one’s complete existence (externally and internally), why is the soul differentiated from life force? And is our life force exclusively internal to our mind, neurobiology, and physiology? Or does it extend into the physical world and revolve around our financial and worldly resources? Yes, is the answer to both of these questions of course. 🙂

But on a serious note, these are some of the most fundamental questions sages and also secular neuroscientists have struggled with over the ages. At what point does our consciousness end and our soul begin, or are they one and the same?

Before we go off the proverbial diving board into these deep waters, suffice it to say that somewhere within the categories of our soul and ‘our very,’ lies our mind and intellect.

And then something hit me this morning as I was writing and struggling with this translation and understanding… Perhaps a whisper from God but the key word I heard was “struggle.” We are told in the New Testament that we are to “work out” our salvation through fear and trembling (Philippians 12:2). If this does not strike a chord of one’s struggle I don’t know what does.

And what does it take to battle through the struggle…strength! This can be in terms of mental or physical strength in my humble opinion.

This world and this life is not meant to be easy. That is for the world to come. And growth as we have discussed comes from discomfort. It is like a workout in a gym. If you are not struggling with the weight or struggling to run on the treadmill, you are wasting your time frankly. The muscular growth and improvements in vitality come from discomfort. Scientific studies even teach us that micro tears occur in the muscle during workouts and then our body rebuilds them stronger. How cool is that!

This fits with the concept of Tikkun Olam or rebuilding / repairing this world. Sometimes even Yeshua gave the disciples difficult concepts to grapple with, having the difficult but necessary conversations which drive true change.

That is why, it does not make sense here simply to chalk moedekha up to “one’s mind.” This is Greek thinking, focused on critical reasoning, that which we will discuss later. We are obsessed with the mind in the Western world, but God cares about the heart.

Your strength, passion or life force is about your whole being. Of which falls the discipline of studying difficult topics or people, and then utilizing your increase of knowledge and understanding for the glory of God. Knowledge or intellect in and of itself does nothing. For application you need wisdom. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10).

God also gives us wisdom and strength to fight through difficult struggles. Whether those be of the heart or the mind.

Scientist Angela Duckworth has studied the topic of grit and “stickwithitness” for awhile, and passion is indeed one of the ways we breakthrough barriers of knowledge and understanding! So built some grit!

A timely quote I read by Philosopher Matshona Dhilwayo states:

“One who looks around him is intelligent; one who looks within him is wise.”

This begins to draw a distinction between intellect and wisdom, two ways to use our strength. But the point is that we are to love God with both! This post will focus more on the former – namely the pillars of intellect – and loving God through building knowledge and understanding of His creations. But we need to understand these distinctions and the interplay with our inner being and the external world. That we will cover in the third and final pillar.

The Torah does not waste a word according to the sages. And if not one word is wasted, then each word is intentional and good for teaching. We should derive some profound wisdom from the Word of God. But for that, we need to take the time to understand each component. We need to struggle.

Intellect helps us to make sense of the world around us. Interaction with this world is critical, otherwise we would not have been put into this world by God. We are all here for a reason, and that critical reason is where the philosophical rubber of Greek thinking will meets the physical road of Hebrew thinking.

I hope and pray that the three pillars of intellect dissected below form a unified model for you to love God with our whole intellectual strength or life force:

• Science → Awe of His Natural Wonders (Creation – Part 1)
• Humanities → Compassion for Humanity, created in His Image (Creation – Part 2)
• Wisdom → Integration and Transformation (Synthesizing Creation)

Each of these represents a part of a part (namely the last part) of walking out the Shema. Join me in this journey of love as we ponder and postulate on the potential power here of our passionate strength! You know how much I love some alliteration. 🙂

Contemplation of Creation (Scientific Wonder & Discovery)

Getting back to the garden, as we covered in the earlier post entitled Drawing a Map to God’s Heart, encompasses knowledge and understanding of the garden state. Well to understand that state, it probably makes sense that we seek to study the garden.

Study of the garden is synonymous with the study of nature, and paralleled with the study of our world.

Why did God create all of the flora and fauna? It was not to serve as companions for us. For that He had to create Woman (and thank God for that!).

It is all part of a complex ecosystem and equilibrium which serves a purpose. Studying this complex system and its individual parts and processes is what we call science. Even the human body is a microcosm of the world. It involves its own complex system of interdependent processes.

When we study these things, we start to understand the heart of our God, the one and only Creator of the universe. Just as we study businesses and their culture or processes which inform us about their founders and leaders.

Likewise, everything is interconnected and all things were made for God’s purpose. So why wouldn’t we have a desire to study and understand. In fact, I’m convinced it is ingrained into our very DNA which influences our neuroprogramming and the biochemical reactions that occur within our brain. Perhaps even in the same way that we crave food or the pleasure chemical dopamine.

Our innate curiosity can work for the glory of God, or against it like we saw in the initial fall of man in the story of Adam and Eve.

We have to struggle daily against our evil desires and inclination and fill our thoughts and minds with positive energy and interests which serve God. Scientific study can serve the dual purpose of doing exactly that while advancing our knowledge and understanding of His creation!

There are many levels to this, along with many avenues of studies. Indeed the roads are endless. But to take the road takes action and execution. And to stay the road takes strength.

Let us propel ourselves to focus on studies which serve to glorify God. Then use that knowledge and understanding in the application of serving humanity (and therein God).

The more we learn and struggle with difficult concepts, the more awe we obtain for our awesome Creator God, and the ingenuity behind His creations. The world is an endless masterpiece if we look close enough. And our Creator is the ultimate Master.

“Whoever contemplates the works of creation perceives the wisdom of the Holy One.” — Rambam, Yesodei HaTorah 2:2.

Thinking of ‘The Other’ (Interpretation of Humanity)

Rabbi Sacks describes and summarizes a key distinction of the Judaism-rooted religions from all other religions and cultures – one that is focused on “the Other.”

From Greek philosophies to Capitalism, Globalism and other religions, the focus is on “universalism” or finding truth and prosperity by standardizing, converting, and ‘streamlining’ or ‘mainstreaming’ wisdom. It is engaged in the constant energy of individual prosperity and collective productivity or progress. It is an outward-inward view which emphasizes logic, critical reasoning and finding purpose by means of deduction or production.

From a Hebrew perspective, our truth is already known and our knowledge is concretely given by God in his Word. Sure we can study His word and His creations, as we discussed above. But it is an inward-outward directional energy through which we need to serve as lights to the world. We are to be a blessing unto the nations. Not the other way around.

“Concerning love for the brothers we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; and you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do it even more.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians (1 Th)‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭CJB‬‬

Of course, we are to spread the gospel, but the gospel is a story of love and redemption. Not a conversion to a religion.

Yeshua asked us to follow him (the living, breathing Word of God). Yeshua followed the Torah and Tanakh perfectly.

And this is an important distinction before we proceed. Because we must proceed into the world with these truths and not try to derive our truths from the world.

Circling back to the concept of ‘the Other.’ Not only are we to love others as we love ourself – the Golden rule. But we are also to love God, as discussed above. Both of these commandments are inherently about the other. They are not messages of individualism or finding oneself, or finding truth. The truth is a given.

“But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.”

‭‭2 Timothy (2 Ti)‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭CJB‬‬

So if the truth is a given, what is the point in studying the humanities? Well the humanities are all about the other. We do not derive truth from these studies, but we derive knowledge and understanding. And it is not knowledge and understanding purely for the sake of an end career goal or building on that truth, but it is the knowledge and understanding of the application of love. For when we attain knowledge about the other, or increase our understanding of how the other works, we find ourselves better positioned to love and spread our fundamental truth.

““Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me. Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

‭‭Yochanan (Jhn)‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬, ‭6‬ ‭CJB‬‬

“The main thing about your word is that it’s true; and all your just rulings last forever.”

‭‭Tehillim (Psa)‬ ‭119‬:‭160‬ ‭CJB‬‬

Assuming I have not lost you, join me in an exercise. Think of any particular subject of humanities, perhaps pick your favorite – literature, sociology, economics, etc. Once you have it, think of one aspect about it. Now think about what that teaches you about the other.

Economics is my favorite. This teaches us about human behavior when it comes to markets and choices around resources. We can use principles learned here to reduce poverty. See where I am going with this…

But if I come into economics from a place of universalism, I will accept the economic principles as universal truths. Which they are not. They are man made. Only God’s truth is universal. So when start with the concrete concepts of the Word, then build upon them with knowledge and understanding of economics, we are quickly able to expand our applications of the Word and serve the Other. In this light, our pursuit becomes a service to others for the Glory of God. We can quickly see how capitalism can even become a tool for good versus an incentive for greed as well!

It allows us to interpret our studies of the humanities using the light and lens of God, seeing the big picture, rather than through the microscope of man. And sometimes, we need to learn the language of the other as well, to translate the language of God into something the understanding.

According to the sages, Joseph was a linguist, in that he knew many languages. This not only helped him to survive in Egypt, but he thrived in service of the nation.

Let us hold our truth as particular, and use our light as a beacon to the world. And when we venture out into the world, we seek to understand the other so that we may show them the way to the truth, in a way that they may comprehend.

““Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭13‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Fear as a Fuel for Furthering Wisdom (The Pursuit of More)

The last pillar is actually the “glue” and the middle pillar that helps to hold the next layer up between the other pillars. It is the synthesis of the two creation types – Man (or the Other) and the World. It tells us how to apply our knowledge and understanding of both other pillars. It helps to illuminate how we can integrate our love for His dual realms of creation into our inner being. BUT, it is critical that we understand that God asked us to love Him with ALL of our heart, ALL of our soul, and ALL of our modekha! If we were not to draw distinctions, then God would have just stated we should love Him in every way possible and with everything.

Every word of the Torah is part of the bigger picture. Just as many parts of the body make up the whole system, we must understand the components and first principles of intellect and the wisdom connecting them.

The fact is that we are always grasping for more. Whether that be the next car, house, boat, or simply meal or new shirt. As human beings we need growth for happiness. Growth may be different from each individual, but some sort of progress is crucial towards our ultimate purpose in life.

What if that craving comes from somewhere deeper?

And if we crave it so much, why do we fear change? Change is required for progress. It seems to be a dichotomy that is difficult to break. If only we had a solution…cue the music. 🙂

It really comes down to fear. Fear to change, but deeper than that, the fear to act. Fear of failure and fear of the consequences. Well we need to shift that fear. We need to shift it from fear of the mundane to fear of God. And I’m not referring to normal, run of mill fear; I’m referring to the fear that sparks reverence and drives us to act.

We need to use this fear as fuel to ignite the divine spark in each of us. After we ignite that spark, we must drive until we find the wisdom necessary to determine which knowledge and understanding is necessary to achieve our purpose. Then and only then can we seek to study and learn the proper knowledge and understanding to ultimate apply it for the glory of God.

“The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of holy ones is understanding.”

‭‭Mishlei (Pro)‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬ ‭CJB‬‬

If you have made it this far with me, congratulations. This was a difficult piece. I hope that you struggled through it (as I certainly did), and perhaps gleaned something inspirational to fuel your action in pursuit of wisdom to propel your purpose. If not, don’t worry. Set it aside. Come back to it later. Leave a message on the comment board. Let others help you in your journey. Perhaps it is part of their purpose!

“Who is the person who fears Adonai? He will teach him the way to choose. He will remain prosperous, and his descendants will inherit the land. Adonai relates intimately with those who fear him; he makes them know his covenant. My eyes are always directed toward Adonai, for he will free my feet from the net.”

‭‭Tehillim (Psa)‬ ‭25‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭CJB‬‬

Takeaways to make a way…

1. There is only one truth, one way.
2. We must derive the truth from God not from the world.
3. The struggle is real…important.
4. Our focus should be on the other – that is God and our fellow man.
5. By studying God’s creations we can give him glory.
6. Fear of God must replace all our other fears.
7. Passion and strength are God-given to propel us towards our purpose.

Further Study with your Buddy…

For further reading on Obedience and the godly cycle of love, read LOL (Love -> Obedience -> Love

Go back to the beginning and read: Love, a Millennial Manifesto

For a deeper dive on on Love & the meaning of life, go back and read: Two Most Important Commandments: Love & Love

Questions for Reflection…

1. How are you struggling right now?
2. How have you grown from past struggles?
3. Where do you see the biggest differences between Greek (Western) and Hebrew thinking?
4. What is your purpose? And how can godly fear ignite it!
5. How do you define truth?
6. And what do you hold most true? Is it Gods truth?
7. What godly applications can you find in your recent studies?