The Torah and Creation

One reason Creationist despise evolution deals with time.  Evolution requires a very old universe and old Earth.  Modern science agrees that the universe is roughly 13.7 billion years old and the Earth (and our solar system) formed about 4.6 billion years ago.  These estimates were determined through several lines of evidence and produced repeatable results.  Creationism relies on a literal interpretation of six days for creation only 6,000 years ago only derived from the Bible.  Clearly, a huge difference separates these two options.  How can a religious person accept science or a scientific mind find faith in a Bible that says something different from the evidence?  We must find some way to incorporate both the science and the Bible into our understanding of the universe.  In a commentary for the Huffington Post, Rabbi Adam Jacobs describes the Jewish approach to understanding the act of creation.   As Lewis Black would say, it's their book anyway.

Rabbi Jacobs describes several Rabbis and scientists who have combined the basics of modern science and an understanding of the Torah.  For example, about 800 years ago Rabbi Isaac of Akko focused on the problem of a 6-day creation.  He said that we should not consider one day to be 24-hours, but much, much longer as Psalm 90 says "1000 years in your eye is like a day gone by."  Based on this, he calculated the universe to be 15.3 billion years old within the margins of modern scientific calculations.  Remember, that was 800 years ago- before Newton, before Einstein, before Darwin, before plate tectonic, and before heliocentrism.  Truly incredible.

Jacobs continues his study with a look at relativity.  Dr. Gerald Shroeder studies how gravity affects time.  On a much larger planet (with more gravity) time would slow down.  So much so, that 3 minutes on that planet would last 2 years here on Earth.  We on Earth would perceive the other planet as moving very slowly.  Remember, time is relative.

Jewish scholars even anticipates the Big Bang Theory.  In the 13th century, Nachmanides suggested that the entire universe once fit inside of a mustard seed and has expanded outward ever since.  Using that, every time the universe doubled in size, time would move at half speed and 13 billion years passes in what would seem like 6 days.

These ideas fit neatly into both boxes allowing science and religion to live comfortably together.  Unfortunately, many people are heavily invested in the fight instead of searching for true understanding. Instead, religious moderates should understand modern science and apply that knowledge to their faith.

I will finish with a quote from Rabbi Jacobs which could serve as a slogan for this site:

Science and religion have different functions in our lives, but they are not necessarily and always in opposition.