Description
Book SynopsisThis book is dedicated to an analysis of the writings of modern religious Jewish thinkers who adopted a neo-fundamentalist, illusionary, apologetic approach, opposing the notion that there may sometimes be a contradiction between reason and revelation. The book deals with the thought of Eliezer Goldman, Norman Lamm, David Hartman, Aharon Lichtenstein, Jonathan Sacks, and Michael Abraham. According to these thinkers, it is possible to resolve all of the difficulties that arise from the encounter between religion and science, between reason and revelation, between the morality of halakhah and Western morality, between academic scholarship and tradition, and between scientific discoveries and statements found in the Torah. This position runs counter to the stance of other Jewish thinkers who espouse a different, more daring approach. According to the latter view, irresolvable contradictions between reason and faith sometimes face the modern Jewish believer, who must reconcile himself to these two conflicting truths and learn to live with them. This dialectic position was discussed in
Between Religion and Reason, Part I (Academic Studies Press, 2020). The present volume, Part II, completes the discussion of this topic. This book concludes a trilogy of works by the author dealing with modern Jewish thought that attempts to integrate tradition and modernity. The first in the series was
The Middle Way (Academic Studies Press, 2014), followed by
The Dual Truth (Academic Studies Press, 2018).
Trade Review“Chamiel’s offers in-depth, often opinionated comparative analysis.”
— Zev Garber, Reading Religion
“In his fascinating two-part series Between Religion and Reason, Dr. Ephraim Chamiel has written a mesmerizing work that details the never-ending tension between science and reason on one side and revelation and religion on the other. (...) Chamiel should be commended for putting this extraordinary work together. This is a brilliant survey of some of the brightest philosophical minds of the last 100 years. While this is an extremely challenging and profound book, it is also quite intellectually rewarding.”
— Ben Rothke, The Jewish Link
Table of Contents
- Translator's Note
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Eliezer Goldman
- 3. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm
- 4. Rabbi Prof. David Hartman
- 5. Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein
- 6. Rabbi Prof. Lord Jonathan Sacks
- 7. Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham
- 8. Summary and Conclusions
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index of Subjects
- Index of Names
