The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution [Hardcover]

Natan Slifkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2006

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.

With a foreword by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president, The Orthodox Union.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Clear, cogent, and philosophically convincing, Rabbi Slifkin's The Challenge of Creation is an intellectual kiddush Hashem. -- Professor Yehuda Gellman, Department of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Rabbi Slifkin shows us that modern science is in the end a wonderful hymn to what God has wrought. -- Professor Michael Ruse, Department of Philosophy, Florida State University

Seekers will find in this work a model of honest confrontation with serious challenges. --Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Foreword to The Challenge of Creation

About the Author

Rabbi Natan Slifkin is widely renowned for his pioneering work in researching, teaching and writing about the relationship between Judaism and the natural world. A native of England, Rabbi Slifkin now lives in Israel and is a popular lecturer worldwide.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Yashar Books (July 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933143150
• ISBN-13: 978-1933143156
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, August 16, 2006

By 

David Sidney - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution (Hardcover)

"The Challenge of Creation" is a lucid, scholarly and painstakingly judicious examination of the conflicts - or lack thereof - between orthodox Judaism and modern science, focusing on the age of the universe and the origins of life, species and mankind. I found satisfying, and refreshing, Rabbi Slifkin's combination of a valid, authentic Torah outlook with solid secular research, undogmatic honesty and unswerving commitment to locating the real truth, wherever and whatever it may be. The book is also a thoroughly enjoyable read; nicely written and really quite fascinating. I should probably give it 5 stars, but I'm too much of a perfectionist.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Courage to Consider Both Religion and Science, August 31, 2006

By 

Paul S. Appelbaum (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution (Hardcover)

Rabbi Natan Slifkin has written a remarkable series of books, using modern science to iluminate Jewish tradition. This volume, a much revised and expanded version of his earlier The Science of Torah, continues in that line. Rabbi Slifkin asks the hard questions that many believers prefer to ignore: Can the accounts of a 6-day creation in Genesis be reconciled with modern cosmogeny, which portrays a universe formed incrementally over many billions of years? And how should the Bible's two versions of divine creation of all living things be viewed in light of the incontrovertible evidence of evolution on earth? Drawing on classical Jewish sources (including Maimonides, Malbim, and others), Rabbi Slifkin demonstrates that these questions are neither new nor obstacles to belief in a divine Creator. And he does it by giving appropriate weight to both science and tradition. As the introduction notes, this book is aimed at those people who have been troubled by the apparent conflict between science and belief, not those whose faith leads them to dismiss out of hand the challenges of science. It is erudite (as are all his works), judicious, and ultimately extremely satisfying. And a good read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science and Torah, August 28, 2006

By 

Jonah M. Halper "JMH" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution (Hardcover)

Slifkin's meticulous writing and well researched facts builds to a comprehensive and powerful message that presents a crystal clear picture of science complementing and showcasing the age-old philosophical convictions of a single God who is continuously involved in our lives and nature.

If your search for divine providence leads you only to fluffy, non-factual answers, leaving you less than satisfied, then I suggest this book when it comes to belief in God and his role in the world.

This is not a light read. Be prepared to read it from cover to cover...slowly. I find it refreshing to say that this book, which is so grounded in science, is ultimately inspirational for my Jewish thought and practice.