God and the Big Bang (1st Edition): Discovering Harmony Between Science & Spirituality

by Daniel C. Matt

Book Overview

God is not somewhere else, hidden from us; God is right here, hidden from us."We are part of something greater: a vast web of existence constantly expanding and evolving. When we gaze at the nighttime... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1879045893
• ISBN13: 9781879045897
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Pantheism Peeping 'Round the Corner

I intended to buy this book from the Jewish perspective, so I wasn't dissapointed. As a naturalistic Pantheist, a progressive Jew and an avid fan of Carl Sagan, this book is a pretty great mix. It is humanely written, describing the natural beauty surrounding us and using mundane analogies that 'click' with all of us. The only problem with this book is a theological one: the author tries to reconcile a scientific pantheistic outlook (Spinoza's 'God' as another reviewer noted correctly) based on empiricism, with a (panen)theistic outlook of Kabbalah and the traditional theistic outlook of Torah. This is hard to swallow for those not interested in Jewish tradition, but can be considered a noble - albeit not perfect attempt - for those Jews (like me) who seek to reconcile a rational worldview with a spiritual approach.Getting down the the Nitty Gritty of Pantheism and the history thereof, I recommend Paul Harrison's 'Elements of Pantheism'. Start there and if you're into Judaism, this book makes a good sequel.

Mind Blowing!!!

This book is for anyone who wants to know how it could have all started. The war between science and religion is over. Daniel Matt shows how both exist as part of the whole scheme. You can have your religion, and your science too!

!An apassionate book!

In our times, it's important to enjoy ourselves, and feel that we are in a beautiful and neverending world. You can feel it, when you raise the point between science and God, and you can see that, day by day, we are integrate our technology and our souls in one, and now we can realize this, seeing that with science, we can find our mind, body and universe toghether. With this book, you will feel more unit with the Divine and with the whole universe. !Don't miss it!

Smart mix

I took Danny Matt's class in "God and the Big Bang" in Berkeley. Matt in person is witty, intelligent and educated. In print, he is even more so. His science is strong, his kabbalah is flawless. There are parallels between this book and Capra's Buddist/science books, but where Capra is trying to prove something, Matt is just pointing out interesting facts. Anyone interested in science or theology would enjoy this book.

Bridges the gap between faith and science.

God & the Big Bang is a well written and very interesting synthesis of concepts from Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and science (physics/cosmology). Matt describes the Big Bang in layman's terms from both the scientific and the Kabbalistic perspectives. There is a passage Matt quotes from Kabbalah that sounds exactly like a poetic description of the Big Bang. Kabbalah describes creation as involving "the shattering of glass vessels" which is a poetic way of describing the broken symmetry theory of physics. An important contribution of the book is that it ties Torah, the source of Jewish law (and underpinning for Christian and Moslem law), into his perspective of God. Kabbalah purports to answer one question currently plaguing scientists: Kabbalah seems to favor a closed universe.