Back to Question of the Week Back to Archives Q:Where does the big bang and evolution fit in [with your understanding of the Biblical creation story?] - Marc
		A: You know, certain people out there have a very narrow definition of truth. Something is either true, as in literally, historically, or scientifically provable, or it's false, which would be everything not provable in historical or scientific frameworks. For these people, who can be either devoutly secular or devoutly religious, the Bible is no different than anything else: either it's true in the plainest meaning of the words, or it's false, and therefore nothing more than ancient folktales at best. Well, at Kolel, as with many rabbis across the denominational spectrum, we maintain a somewhat more nuanced view of the definition of truth, which encompasses seeking truth in various kinds of texts and traditions that are not amenable to strictly scientific analysis. Actually, almost everybody agrees that certain kinds of unprovable statements can contain truth: I defy anyone to prove to me that "love is like a red red rose," yet most people will accept that this poetic image communicates something real about the human experience. I approach many Biblical texts with a similar sensibility: I try to understand the truth they they may contain even when the plain meaning of the words is at complete variance with my understanding of the laws of nature or human history. For example, I have great difficulty accepting as historical truth the story of Noah's Ark, which involves not only all kinds of physical improbabilities but also would lead me to believe that God would be willing to inflict horrible suffering to prove a moral point. So I don't accept that story as a historical reality, but I do see in it a dire warning to humanity that we possess the power of life and death for this planet and all it contains, a power that carries with it great responsibility. The moral or spiritual truth of the Noah's Ark story is unchanged by whether or not something like it actually happened, and in fact I am greatly unimpressed with those who go to great lengths to speculate on how it might have happened- I think that's missing the point, which is to get us to think about our responsibility to all living beings who share our world. The Creation narrative also points me toward truths which are expressed most fully in the language of sacred story. For example, the Bible speaks of the cosmos being created in stages, from the simplicity of water to the complexity of humankind. Perhaps we are to regard the complexity and richness of our world as something with great religious significance, a fact that should evoke in us awe, wonder, and humility. The contemporary Jewish mystic and theologian R. Arthur Green writes movingly about his understanding of the Creation narrative: We have no essential argument with an evolutionary approach to the tale of life's origins. But we see evolution itself as the greatest of all religious dramas. The history of our universe is the ongoing account of how Y-H-W-H, source of life, reached forth into the world of form, became manifest in the infinite variety of species, and finally became articulate in the consciousness and language of humanity. No blind process is this, but rather the great striving of the One to be manifest in the garb of the many. (Arthur Green, Seek My Face, Speak My Name: A Contemporary Jewish Theology, p. 54) Green sees an essential truth in the Creation narrative: that all things share One source, which is manifest in all living beings. This understanding of the story doesn't conflict with a scientific account at all; the "big bang" theory may describe the mechanics of cosmic evolution, but the Bible, and other religious teachings, can point us to its meaning. To put it another way, religious texts can be read for the values they contain, which may be as valid in one age as the next, as opposed to scientific knowledge, which presumably grows more sophisticated over time. (Though it's also true that religious values sometimes change over time as well.) Reading texts in this way requires careful reading and an open mind, but it helps us avoid the dead-end of having to choose between giving up our intellectual honesty and finding meaning in the sacred texts of our tradition. NJL
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