sed be He," "the Merciful One," "the
Omnipotence" (_ha Geburah_),(149) "King of the kings of kings" (under
Persian influence--as the Persian ruler called himself the King of
Kings);(150) and in Hasidean circles it became customary to invoke God as
"our Father" and "our Father in heaven."(151) The rather strange
appellations for God, "Heaven"(152) and (dwelling) "Place" (_ha Makom_)
seem to originate in certain formulas of the oath. In the latter name the
rabbis even found hints of God's omnipresence: "As
space--_Makom_--encompasses all things, so does God encompass the world
instead of being encompassed by it."(153)

10. The rabbis early read a theological meaning into the two names JHVH
and _Elohim_, taking the former as the divine attribute of _mercy_ and the
latter as that of _justice_.(154) In general, however, the former name was
explained etymologically as signifying eternity, "He who is, who was, and
who shall be." Philo shows familiarity with the two attributes of justice
and mercy, but he and other Alexandrian writers explained JHVH and _Ehyeh_
metaphysically, and accordingly called God, "the One who is," that is, the
Source of all existence. Both conceptions still influence Jewish exegesis
and account for the term "the Eternal" sometimes used for "the Lord."

Chapter XI. The Existence of God

1. For the religious consciousness, God is not to be demonstrated by
argument, but is a fact of inner and outer experience. Whatever the origin
and nature of the cosmos may be according to natural science, the soul of
man follows its natural bent, as in the days of Abraham, to look through
nature to the Maker, Ordainer, and Ruler of all things, who uses the
manifold world of nature only as His workshop, and who rules it in freedom
as its sovereign Master. The entire cosmic life points to a Supreme Being
from whom all existence must have arisen, and without whom life and
process would be impossible. Still even this mode of thought is influenced
and determined by the prevalent monotheistic conceptions.

Far more original and potent in man is the feeling of limitation and
dependency. This brings him to bow down before a higher Power, at first in
fear and trembling, but later in holy awe and reverence. As soon as man
attains self-consciousness and his will acquires purpose, he encounters a
will stronger than his own, with which he often comes into conflict, and
before which he must frequently yield. Thus he becomes co