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Literal Creation


Question:

Are the first six days of creation meant to be taken as literal (basic 24 hrs) or as 1onger length of days? It seems to me the only reason to not take it literally is so that science can fit in.



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

It is certainly possible to believe in a literal 6 day creation and many, many Jewish scholars have and do interpret the Creation narrative as literal. God has "no problem" in creating the world just by His spoken word, as you said. However, we should not dismiss the findings of modern science and many great Jewish philosophers, primarily Maimonides, maintain that if one can explain a verse or part of the Torah so that there is no conflict between it and science then one should do so. The reason for this approach is that clearly God wants to investigate the world, use our senses and our minds, and to come to conclusions based on that investigation. The more we see of the natural world, the more we perceive God's wisdom in Creation. Something that is a true inference or deduction from the world of nature, should therefore not contradict something from God's spiritual creation, the Torah. I suggest a book called, Thinking About Creation by A. Goldfinger, and Fossils and Faith by Natan Aviezer


 
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