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SCIENCE: Do scientific explanations of phenomena remove the need for a Designer?

COSMOLOGY: How can the scientific account of the development of the universe be reconciled with Genesis?

EVOLUTION: Can Judaism accept the idea that animals and man evolved from lower forms of life via natural selection?

The Challenge of Creation is a completely revised and vastly expanded edition of The Science Of Torah. That work was widely hailed as the best book of its kind for its honesty and thoroughness of approach. The Challenge of Creation builds upon its approach, covering more issues and in greater depth. Carefully, methodically, and eschewing sensationalistic or dogmatic claims in favor of reasoned analysis, it shows how some of the greatest Jewish thinkers explained Judaism and Genesis in a way that complements modern science rather than conflicts with it. The Challenge of Creation is an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with conflicts between science and religion. It is a profound work that is sure to become a classic.

 

The Challenge of Creation (US)

SKU: B0003-US
₪110.00Price
  • Full title: The Challenge of Creation: Judaism’s Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and EvolutionHardcover / 360 pp.

    The book contains a foreword by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president, The Orthodox Union (download foreword here).

     

    Part One: Science

    Chapter One: The Theological Foundations of Science
    Chapter Two: The New Teleology
    Chapter Three: Miracles and Nature
    Chapter Four: The Particulars of Providence
    Chapter Five: The Importance of Natural Law
    Chapter Six: Approaching Conflicts
    Chapter Seven: Departing from Literalism
    Chapter Eight: Conflict and Reinterpretation

    Part Two: Cosmology

    Chapter Nine: Evidence for an Ancient Universe
    Chapter Ten: The Chaotic Approach
    Chapter Eleven: The Prochronic Approach
    Chapter Twelve: The Prior-Worlds Approach
    Chapter Thirteen: The Day-Age Approach (view as a PDF)
    Chapter Fourteen: Departing from Concordism
    Chapter Fifteen: Genesis as a Theological Text
    Chapter Sixteen: The Content and Sequence of Genesis
    Chapter Seventeen: Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters

    Part Three: Evolution

    Chapter Eighteen: Untangling Evolution
    Chapter Nineteen: The Origin of Life
    Chapter Twenty: Common Ancestry
    Chapter Twenty-One: Evolutionary Mechanisms and Intelligent Design
    Chapter Twenty-Two: Darwinian Evolution and God’s Attributes
    Chapter Twenty-Three: The Ascent of Man
    Chapter Twenty-Four: In Conclusion

    Bibliography

    NOTE: This book was written for those who are committed to the tenets of Judaism, but also respect the scientific enterprise and possess an advanced education in the natural sciences, and who are therefore disturbed by the challenges that are raised for their understanding of Torah. It addresses these challenges by following the approach of Rambam (Maimonides) and similar Torah scholars towards these issues, which, while firmly within the framework of authentic Orthodox Judaism, is not the method of choice in many segments of the ultra-Orthodox community. But many have found that no other approach works as well in solving these difficulties.

    Other people may not possess as extensive a background in the sciences or may dispute the validity of the modern scientific enterprise. They may therefore simply not be bothered by the questions discussed in this book, or they may have different ways of dealing with such conflicts. Such people are not the intended audience of this book and they are advised not to read it.

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