God is the greatest threat to religion. This paradoxical idea is central to The Guide for the Perplexed.
The absolute perfection of God voids religion of meaning, in the sense that the greatness of God renders absurd the thought that God needs our worship. Many eighteenth-century European philosophers were deists, and deism—the belief in God without religion—pervades much of the Western world today. Surveys show more than 60 percent of secular Israelis believe in God.1 They are not atheists; they believe in God, but not in religion. Their preference not to commit to a religion isn’t despite belief in God; rather it is because of belief in God.
Rejection of religion is not necessarily rejection of God. Sometimes it is a deeper expression of belief in God. The Guide seeks to grapple with this profound theological problem.