Judaism and the Doctrine of Creation

The topic of this book is creation. It breaks down into discussions of two distinct, but interrelated, questions: what does the universe look like, and what is its origin? The opinions about creation considered by Norbert Samuelson come from the Hebrew scriptures, Greek philosophy, Jewish philosophy and contemporary physics. His perspective is Jewish, liberal and philosophical. It is ‘Jewish’ because the foundation of the discussion is biblical texts interpreted in the light of traditional rabbinic texts. It is ‘philosophical’ because the subject matter is important in both past and present philosophical texts, and to Jewish philosophy in particular. Finally, it is ‘liberal’ because the authorities consulted include heterodox as well as orthodox Jewish sources. The ensuing discussion leads to original conclusions about a diversity of topics, including the limits of human reason and religious faith, and the relevance of scientific models to religious doctrine.

• A clearly written introduction to the whole scope of Jewish thought • Author is a major and established scholar of Jewish religious thought • The topic of creation and creationism is of great interest

Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Modern Dogma of Creation: 1. Creation in Franz Rosenzweig’s Star of Redemption; 2. A critique of Rosenzweig’s doctrine: is it Jewish and is it believable?; Part II. A Jewish View of Creation: 3. Classical Jewish philosophy; 4. Classical rabbinic commentaries; Part III. The Foundations for the Jewish View of Creation: 5. The account of creation in Genesis; 6. The account of the origin in Plato’s Timaeus; Part IV. A Believable View of Creation: 7. Creation from the perspective of contemporary physics; 8. Creation from the perspective of contemporary philosophy; Notes; Select bibliography; Indices.