The Genesis One Code: Harmonizing the biblical Genesis creation account with scientific theory and observation showing convergence between modern science and religion. (Inspired Studies)

I have had a long-time interest in the Creation Narrative -- how God proceeded in the project of creation: first the universe, then elements, and on to life, animals and the crowning glory, the creation of humans in his image. Daniel Friedmann read some of my work on the web, liked what he saw (I presume), and introduced me to his book, The Genesis One Code.Thank you, Daniel. I was amazed and pleased with what I found. To start, it is very well written, the clearest exposition of the Genesis Creation account that I have seen coming from his school of Kabbalist thought (a point of view that I previously had brushed up against -- but not seriously studied -- in Gerald Schroeder's books  God According to God: A Scientist Discovers We've Been Wrong About God All Along , and  The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth ).Perhaps the first thing that attracted me to this book is that he shares with me a belief in the authority and divine inspiration of the Biblical text. In my own analysis of the Genesis text I come at it from an entirely different point of view. My own view (published in some lectures on the Creation Narrative, posted on the web) is much closer to Church interpretation, genetically related to St. Augustine of Hippo's 4th Century work,  41. St. Augustine, Vol. 1: The Literal Meaning of Genesis (Ancient Christian Writers) . Daniel's approach derives from the 11th Century Jewish Scholar Rashi and 12th Century Scholar Ramban (also known as Nahmanides), who exegete oral and written Jewish traditions that go back thousands of years.I am always interested in clear expositions of alternative viewpoints, particularly when combined with a high view of Scripture.The book, Genesis One Code shares another thing with my own studies of the Creation Narrative: a high respect and acceptance of modern science. An amazing thing has happened only within the past hundred years: Cosmology has moved from a religious, mystical, and -- forgive me for saying it -- superstitious concern, to a precise scientific discipline. The burning questions of the ages -- Where did our world come from?, What is the origin of matter?, What are the stars, and how do they burn?, What is life, how does life sustain itself and pass its blueprint on to succeeding generations? -- have all found answers within science just within the last, say, 60 years. I don't say science has come up with the final answers, there is much more to do, but who would have thought that the superstitious and largely unrespected world of cosmology could have metamorphosed into a modern scientific discipline?The book deals with the timeline of the universe, and relates it to the six days of creation in Genesis One. He does this according to Kabbalist tradition, which lays out a 13.74 billion year timeline (!) that he asserts exactly matches the timeline of science (13.75± 0.13 billion years, from NASA's WMAP satellite) as revealed by modern astrophysics and the geological record. I leave it to you to see how he does this. Hint: "For the LORD a thousand years is as ... a watch in the night." (Psalm 90:4, cf. 2 Peter 3:8 " One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day").Just to mention one specific thing. Both St. Augustine's (and my own) analysis conclude that the word "water" is used in two different meanings in the Genesis account. The change comes between Day Two and Day Three. According to Mr. Friedmann's analysis, the same change in meaning occurs in Kabbalistic teaching. Isn't that enough to pique your interest?I could say much more -- Mr. Friedmann and I are in communication about a number of the fine points in his interpretation -- but I'll rest it at this. Whether or not you subscribe to Kabbalistic interpretation, this book is well worth your attention. Perhaps when all of my picayune comments are dealt with I might up my assessment to 5 stars.

I was very excited to read a book in which both science and God (His Word) are considered and juxtaposed side by side. This book did just that.I’ve been simultaneously reading Dr. Gerald Schroeder’s book, God According to God. Both books have been such a blessing. Very glad to see God’s word and Science both given their just due.While it was not this book’s intention to disprove evolution on a macro-biological level, the point was sufficiently made, and for me, I have no doubt the evolution model that many teach and want you to believe in is pure hogwash. (I.e., That man evolved from ape, who evolved from lizard, who evolved from some Protozoa, and who came out of some primordial soup.)But, I will go along with the scientific observations and conclusions in seeing our Earth to be an old Earth, like the 4.5 Billion years or thereabouts as shown through the Big Bang hypothesis. Of course, I’m 100% convinced it was God who caused and started the creation of the universe, not some randomness, and that He started it through a Big Bang or through whatever means He saw fit. So, nothing in either book I mentioned caught me off guard or made me wince in disappointment regarding this topic.I was somewhat confused about Friedman’s 6th day musings, especially in regard to when the creation of humankind took place. He seemed to be saying different things; thus my confusion. On one page he said “Adam lived for an equivalent Human Time of hundreds of millions of years.” And another he said, “The fossil record has shown that the genus Homo appeared on Earth more than 2 million years ago.” And another, “Modern humans first appear in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago.” I will reread this book and maybe the second time around it will make more sense. Maybe I am getting Human Time and Divine Time confused.In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this book, a lot. It both gave me new things to consider and affirmed some of my previous thinking in regards to these matters...Big Bang, evolution, Genesis account. I don’t necessarily need to agree with an author 100% of the time....what I want is to be challenged to go deeper and find things out myself. Mr. Friedmann did just that for me. Thank you, Sir. I hope this review helps someone reading it. I apologize for being a bit verbose...I’m Italian, so it’s in my genes. (Paul Curcione)

It was interesting for me to see how the author forcefully attempts to bridge the gap between science and religion by using the biblical narrative to explain scientific theories. Friedmann's main argument is that there is a natural harmony between the Genesis creation story and the scientific theories it describes.It’s obvious to me his argument suffers from several logical fallacies. One of the most prominent is classical self-authentication, which is when a person uses his own beliefs or theories to confirm his point. This is evident in Friedmann's argument because he relies on the Genesis narrative as a source of scientific truth, rather than basing his argument in empirical evidence. Additionally, Friedmann relies heavily on anecdotal and subjective evidence to support his argument, rather than more reliable forms of evidence. Furthermore, he fails to consider any counterarguments or alternative scientific theories, thus creating a misguided and one-dimensional argument.Ultimately, Friedmann's argument is unconvincing due to the lack of reliable empirical evidence and the presence of several logical fallacies. His attempt to bridge the gap between science and religion is misguided and fails to consider the complexities of both fields.

Excellent book, very enlightening.