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

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"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.

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.

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.

The Challenge of Creation by Rabbi Natan Slifkin is the revision of a book entitled Science and Torah [that I did not read]. The author basically states that he desires to limit the readership to Jews who are science-aware. The author states that scientific inquiry into both cosmogony and biologic-evolution are robust and fruitful enough to require non-literal approachs to non-halachic parts of Tanach. He brings quotes from the rishonim as well as acharonim supporting or allowing such approaches. He also neutralizes what he has found to be frequently used quotes by the same-level authorities using the method of placing the quotes into their original context. This, in many cases, shows that the quoted rishonim & acharonim either did not categorically condemn a non-literal approach to Tanach and, except for particular concerns that the author himself echoes, may have even thought it a good idea for certain people.

Of course, the author mentions that much of Tanach is not taken literally anyways. See an ArtScroll translation of the Song of Songs for an extreme example of allegorical translation http://www.amazon.com/Rabbinical-Council-America-Artscroll-Siddur/dp/0899066623/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/002-0433805-1138468?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190578816&sr=1-3]. It should be noted by the reader of this review that the "plain meaning" of Tanach does not mean "literal translation" according to ANY Jewish approach. The question is about authoritative sourcing of interpretations using those authoritative sources.

The author points out reasons, as well as the compelling traditional sources, for the need to reinterpret Tanach in light of widely held scientific knowledge. He points out how this has already happened [for example with heliocentricity].

The author then presents many, many traditionally supported but modern approaches to cosmogony & evolution.

This is really a top notch book for a fellow of such a young age. But I believe the author shows a lack of confidence by asking that his readership be limited. He appears to be kowtowing to an unknown force with the implication that the wrong person who reads his persuasive essays would start to act like a fool.

The excellent explanations and underpinning provided by Rabbi Slifkin in this book beg for the legitimacy of science-savvy, observant Jews as full participants in Torah learning and interpretation.

This work by Rabbi Slifkin, though perhaps not intending to be, is not only about religious theory but also stands alone as a book of Political Theory. If taken as seriously as it deserves to be taken, R. Slifkin's approach will help peacefully realign Judaism by inviting millions of science-educated Jewish people to the set table of observance.

I would think that a non-Jewish person would have no particular interest in this book. It doesn't address itself to anything but the relationship within Judaism's vibrant [but hidden to the outside world] culture of traditional learning.

I highly recommend this book to any kiruv worker. It will be a breath of very fresh air to any science-educated Jew interested in investing him/her self into Torah learning. Unlike the author, I DO recommend this book to non-science oriented Jews for the reason that they should understand the struggles of their brethren. Matters of faith that are no-brainers to non-science oriented Jews are areas requiring much elucidation amongst the science-oriented. I think this particular path to Torah understanding may not be of interest to everyone but seeing another facet of elucidation that leads to the same place will probably be a matter of high interest to other observant Jews.

Rav Slifkin has proven himself a very courageous fighter for the truth and this book is the latest in a series he has written in order to bring light to those who are troubled by the supposed differences between "religion" and science. He says clearly at the beginning of the book that those who don't have any problem in this area would probably be better off not reading it, but in today's world, where new ideas are constantly challenging accepted beliefs, I can't believe there really are many people who are not at least aware of the controversies involved.
Unlike what some people think, traditional Jews have been forced repeatedly throughout history to confront ideas that challenge what is believed to be "authentic" Judaism and great scholars like Saadya Gaon, RAMBAM and others have risen to this challenge. This is because Judaism, which teaches its followers to use their brains, makes it inevitable that many observant Jews will begin to ask questions, and not limit their intellectual inquiry to the traditional Jewish sources.
Although my educational background is in Geophysics and not in the realm of biology and the animal kingdom, the book made the subject Judaism's attitude towards biological evolution understandable. R. Slifkin points out that many religious Jews, particuarly those with scientific educations, attempt to reconcile problems like the age of the universe with Jewish tradition by saying that the world was created 5768 years ago LOOKING like it was billions of years old. I find this difficult to swallow. One need not look at the biological or paleontological record to see this, even an untrained observer can look at the surface of the Moon and see a very clear evolutionary pattern of development with alternating periods of cratering and large-scale lava flows being prominent. Why should such long-time-scale evolution appear to take place if it really didn't? Our reason tells us that this evolutionary development took place. This can not be simply be a trick being played on the observer.
R. Slifkin points out that prior to Darwin's theory of evolution coming out, there was a similar crisis in the "Torah and Science" realm when Copernicus' theory placing the Sun at the center of the Solar System became well-known. Most traditionalist Jewish thinkers rejected it at the time, however, it eventually became accepted. Slifkin asks why traditionalists were able to eventually accomodate themselves to this theory, but biological evolution seems to be a much harder idea to swallow. It seems that having Man supposedly evolve out of some "lower species" is somehow more abhorrent than having him created spontanously out of a lump of minerals, although I don't see why this should be.

Regarding the controversy over "Intelligent Design" which Slifkin rejects, I must say I don't have a good enough grounding in the subject to really take a position, however, I instinctively believe Slifkin is right in saying that if you limit G-d's "intervention" in the world to the places where there are currently gaps in our knowledge, we may find that he will be progressively "squeezed out" as science progresses. I am aware that many people say "today's popular scientific theory will be thrown in the junk-heap tomorrow", but it is ridiculous to say that science doesn't advance. We know more today than we did hundreds or thousands of years ago. We can fly in the air and even reach the Moon and planets. Advances have been made in medicine and technology. This is a fact.
Rav Slifkin is to be commended on writing a clear book elucidating these difficult points and for his courage in standing up to personal attacks on himself.

This book is written for a fairly limited audience, and for a fairly limited purpose: it seeks to persuade Orthodox Jews that traditional Judaism and evolutionary biology that the two are compatible. I do not have enough expertise in either to fully evaluate Rabbi Slifkin's arguments; nevertheless, this book did seem to me to be interesting and at least somewhat plausible.

Throughout this book, Slifkin repeats his core argument: that whatever science proves, it does not disprove Divine creation, but merely creates another question: "Where did the scientific laws come from?"

He then goes on to focus on the creation story of Genesis. He begins with the easy part- citing numerous eminent rabbis (such as Samson Raphael Hirsch) who were not enthuasiastic about young-earth creationism. But after rebutting numerous counterarguments, Slifkin goes on to address more difficult issues.

One such issue, for example, is the order of creation in Genesis. While modern scientific doctrine suggests that inanimate objects such as the sun and moon preceded plants and animals, a literal interpretation of Genesis might suggest that plants preceded the sun. Slifkin points out, however, that traditional Jewish interpreters have written that the Torah does not always address events in chronological order.

But why would this be so in Genesis 1-2? Slifkin suggests (based on statements by Gersonides and other classical authorities) that because sun worship was so common in the pagan world, the Torah seeks to downplay the importance of the sun. Slifkin then goes into more detail, suggesting that the Torah begins with a complicated conceptual sequence. To simplify his argument a bit, he writes that the Torah starts with immobile objects (light, then sea and sky, then vegetation), then goes to a higher level of complexity by discussing more mobile objects ranging from the most restricted (such as the moon) to the least restricted (mammals and man).

He ends by defending evolution, based on the broad Jewish principle that God normally operates through natural law. For example, astronomy operates through laws of science that mankind understands, and yet Jews praise God for the sun. Why should biology be different?

Going a little further, Slifkin criticizes the "intelligent design" (ID) movement from a religious point of view. ID (as Slifkin understands it) focuses on biological evidence that species were intelligently designed. Slifkin worries that this theory may have the unintended consequence of implying that God is irrelevant where such evidence is lacking.

On the other hand, Slifkin also criticizes atheistic evolutionists who argue that the cruelty and apparent pointlessness of natural selection argues against an intelligent God, raising a wide variety of explanations for this reality.

Rabbi Slifkin gives a clear arguement to support current scientific evidence as to the creation of the universe and evolution of the species. This arguement is to counter that proposed by some elements of the jewish community who take a literal point of view to Torah. To support his arguements he cites several sources, principally Rambam's "Guide for the Perplexed" but also many other respected jewish sources as well as a few non-jewish sources.

This book is very readable for both the layman and the more scholarly individual of jewish thinking. The one thing one must have is some understanding of the scientific proofs of the age of the universe and the theories of evolution but any basic book will fill in this gap.

What I like about "The Challenge" is that Rabbi Slifkin confronts the seemingly tough Jewish theological questions like evolution, age of the universe, and primitive man head-on. What I LOVE about the book is that he gives alot of different answers to these issues, some old and some new, but rejects all of them until formulating his own unique response. Too often rabbinic responses to such issues tend to either hide from the issue or embrace any possible explanation. Rabbi Slifkin here does neither. He presents and then rejects a whole litany of reconcilations, then presents his own, one which is based on the general thoughts of classical rabbinic giants like Maimonides.

If you want a comprehensive, intellectually honest (and stimulating) Jewish understanding of why evolution and the big bang are Kosher, read this book! You wont regret it!!!

I had been extremely frustrated with the fundamentalist Rabbi leading our daily Talmud lesson. Because he knows I have a doctorate he seems to pick arguments. I get to flustered to answer properly. With this book I can give learned answers with source citations.

Rabbi Slifkin makes an effort and yet ends up failing his audience by carrying water for the failed ideology of Darwinian evolution and natural selection.

Slifkin sets up many points about the Jewish position on science pretty nicely. So far so good. However, he relies heavily on only the Rambam and Rav Kook for many of his points and this tends to defeat the trust he sets up in the beginning with his suggestion that he is not speaking for himself--only the traditional Jewish position. I find Rabbi Slifkin, in his analysis, a perfectly well-meaning guy and I also surely would defend him against some of the criticism he has received from a handful of poorly informed Jews on the fringe.

My complaint with Rabbi Slifkin is on the scientific side. He dismisses Intelligent Design out of hand with no discussion and says that it can hold no commonality with Judaism (IMO it certainly can)--indicating that ID is only something which suggests a God in the gaps position. This is a complete misunderstanding of ID. He takes a whack at Gerald Schroeder which is needless.

Despite the fact that natural selection is real and can happen, there is no scientific evidence that natural selection and random mutations drive the evolution of life. Rav Kook bought into Darwinism since it fed his notion of the perfection of the world but this does not mean that Rav Kook believed that Darwin's followers--complete materialists--are to be followed to their conclusions. I have no doubt if he were alive today, Rav Kook would not be joining Richard Dawkins.

For all his efforts to separate issues, there simply cannot be a happy blending of Judaism, science, philosophy, atheism, deism, materialism, etc. Slifkin's own blend is only one possible suggestion. This is the case since life's mysteries are so poorly understood and Rabbi Slifkin's speciality is the animal kingdom and not biology, DNA and the origin of life or cosmology.

I fear that Rabbi Slifkin's own writing is the very nightmare he decries regarding ID--he does not do either Judaism or science justice with this book.