The Purpose of Creation - Introduction
The italicised passage below is what I refer to as the Exegetical Key to Exodus 3:14. It is a summary statement of what I understand to be the meaning of the name in Exodus 3:14, and of the implications of its meaning. It is located in the main paper immediately prior to the Conclusion and reads as follows:
I AM is the knowledge that God has of His Personal existence, distinct from all other which is the creation that came forth from Himself, by His will, in all power, and under the perfect imperative of His soul, and which is infused with His essence through His spirit and given form by His word, and which is sustained by the power that is from the uncreated life of God. The beginning of His creating was under the imperative of His will (Gen 1:1). In the beginning Creation was in the condition of perfect potential - formless, void, dark, and infused with His active spirit (Gen 1:2) - anticipating the formative imprint of His word (Gen 1:3). God is perfect, and so too must be His creation for the purpose that He has ordained for it (Gen 1:31). All Power is His, and so His purpose shall be brought to pass.
In this passage I have twice referred to God's purpose for Creation, but have not yet suggested what that purpose might be. Maimonides described the question of God's purpose for Creation as "absurd" and declared that there is no single and ultimate purpose for creation. Hasdai Crescas, by contrast, believed that God's purpose for Creation is that man shall be together with God in a relationship of perfect and eternal love. I feel sure that Moses would have agreed with Hasdai Crescas, in general if not in specifics, and will explain why in the following pages.
However, when considering the purpose of creation it is important to keep in mind one very important distinction, one that tends to get lost in the terminology employed when discussing this subject. That distinction is between Gods purpose for Creation on the one hand and man's purpose within His creation on the other hand, the latter of which is frequently and ambiguously referred to as 'the meaning of life'. Needless to say the two purposes are linked but they are not identical, and it is important to identify both if we are to be able to confidently answer all questions pertaining to this most important subject. In what follows I will therefore seek answers to two questions: What is God's purpose for Creation as a whole, including God's purpose in creating man, and specifically what is man's purpose in Creation?
In the following explanation, parts 1 and 2 are identical to parts 1 and 2 of the Explanation of the Meaning of the Name. The reason for this is that both explanations derive from the same fundamental premises, which are that God is One in His Person and perfect in unity in the condition of His essence, and because the first eight passages are equally a part of both explanations.
The format is identical to that in the Explanation of the Meaning of the Name.
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