Can God Incarnate?

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

Q. Do you agree that God can incarnate? This idea was introduced by the followers of Jesus during the time of the Second Temple, but this belief also existed among the Jews before Christianity.

A. Thanks for your question. Before I answer, I want to discuss the nature of what God "can" and "cannot" do.

People ask, "Can God make a rock so heavy He can't lift it?" They figure it's a paradox: no matter what you answer, it suggests a shortcoming on the part of God. In truth, it's a nonsensical question. God doesn't lift things and there's no concept of something being "too heavy" for Him. He "can't" do it because the parameters of the question are invalid.

Similarly, asking "Can God make a four-sided triangle?" is a nonsensical question. A triangle by definition has three sides. If it has four sides, it's not a triangle. The flaw is not in God, God forbid, but in the question.

Now to your question: no, God "cannot" incarnate. This is not because of an inability on God's part (again, God forbid), but because the concept defies the very essence of God. By definition, God cannot be constrained or subdivided in any way. God's failure to do so is not because of any weakness on His part. The expectation that He do so is because people don't understand this aspect of God.

You can read more about this concept in the following articles:

The Second Foundation: God is One - The 13 Foundations - OU Torah

3. Does God Have Attributes? - The God Papers - OU Torah

2.1. God - The God Papers - OU Torah

You claim that "this belief also existed among the Jews before Christianity." If you've seen such a thing, I suspect you may have been reading Christian interpretations of Tanach (the Jewish Bible; what Christians call the "Old Testament"). Feel free to forward any such sources and I will gladly share their traditional Jewish explanations.

[Note: This exchange took place several weeks ago. To date, the reader has not responded with any such sources.]



Rabbi Jack's book Ask Rabbi Jack is available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.