God & the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality

In the past, the conversation between religion and science often turned bitter and acrimonious because neither camp was willing to listen to the other's ideas.In recent years, however, as both scientists and religious thinkers have demonstrated, the congruence between the two worldviews runs far deeper than either is sometimes willing to admit. In this marvelous new book, Matt, a professor of Jewish spirituality, explores the connections between Jewish mysticism and the cosmological theory of the Big Bang. Several questions motivate Matt's study: How does the Big Bang theory challenge the Jewish concept of God? How may a study of the dimensions of this theory help us discover new insights into spiritual dimensions of human life? In his answers to these and other questions, Matt draws a relationship between the kabbalastic teachings that describe the ""breaking of the vessels"" that sever an individual's oneness with God and the physical theory of ""broken symmetry,"" which articulates a sense of lost unity in the universe. Both kabbalists and physicists, he says, dream of finding unity, and this dream is expressed in their writings. Playful, imaginative and thoughtful, Matt's book carries the dialogue between religion and science to new levels. (Aug.)