Follow-up Notes from Torah Class
I questioned again whether—assuming the Bible’s story about Avraham and Sarah is true—the higher power (G-d and the angels mentioned) could intervene in non-human intelligence. If we are to believe that Elohim/Adonai is all-powerful, we can look at the verse in Genesis 14:19, where Melchizedek blesses Abram with these words: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.” (Hebrew: qoneh shamayim va’aretz). Melchizedek was the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High. According to Jewish tradition, he was Shem, the son of Noah, who was still alive in Avraham’s time. “And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.” (Genesis 14:18) What we do know about Melchizedek is that he was not Jewish. Archaeologists associate the region with ancient Near Eastern civilizations, including the Sumerians and Canaanites. Jewish texts identify him with Shem. Side note: If Melchizedek was a Sumerian (or pre-Israelite) religious figure, this would suggest there is not only one path or religion that leads to G-d. It would raise a series of questions: What was their faith, and how did they practice it, did they have a holy text like the bible? Here is another thought: Assuming these events actually happened, I am not sure this type of intelligence perceives itself as “alive” in the sense that we do. Nonetheless, it clearly has influence and can alter the biological and physical world we experience. So I would argue it is very much “alive”—perhaps just in a form we are only beginning to understand. It exists. It has the ability to influence and change the physical, material world. This, in theory, could be done through humans. It could also be done through machines. So it is a reasonable question to ask: What if the same entity that appears in the Torah, that enters and controls Avraham and Sarah’s thoughts and physical actions, could also control or influence machines? Today.
POSTED BY JON KALEV