This week a bout with illness, in addition to a hectic schedule, left me with little time to engage in blogging. Nevertheless, the comment threads have been centers of lively discussion that I look forward to diving into as of Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, one of the issues raised in the ongoing exchange has been my approach to resolving conflicts between historical and scientific knowledge on one hand and the Torah and Rabbinical tradition on the other.
I would like to offer a selection of links to previous posts, each of which touches upon this topic to some extent:
Spinoza and Maimonides on Interpretation II
Literal and Conceptual Truth in Torah
What Message Did Yosef Send His Father?
And, as cited by the blogger Spinoza in the comment thread:
Ten Generations and the Problem of Chronology
Printed out 2, looking forward to reading them during shabbos.
Shabbat Shalom.
RJM,
Really enjoyed your articles this past shabbos, particularly “Literal and Conceptual Truth in Torah”. However a guest at my house asked: “The arguement of metaphor (Mashal) works for Genesis, but not for Leviticus.”
Were not the laws and rituals meant to be taken seriously and not metaphorically?
Also, this comment from that post:
How do you explain all the detailed genealogical tabs in the Torah?
went unanswered.
feel better!