ARA Review by davidfiensy5 of The Biblical Clock

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davidfiensy5
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ARA Review by davidfiensy5 of The Biblical Clock

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[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Biblical Clock.]
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Biblical Clock is Daniel Friedman’s attempt to 1) harmonize a literal reading of Genesis 1-2 with modern science and 2) predict the end of history. Unlike many who take Genesis 1-2 literally, he accepts that the universe is over13 billion years old and that the Big Bang is a fact. He believes that he can find the 13 billion-year timeline in the Bible if he reads it correctly.

Friedman bases his chronological calculations on the reference in Psalm 90:4 (“a day with the Lord is a thousand years”) and on several rabbinic sources (especially the Zohar) that interpret both Genesis and the Psalm.

He concludes that each “day” of Genesis 1 equaled 2.5 billion years in our current “human time.” To arrive at his calculations for creation, he comes to “the intuitive conclusion” that each creation day of Genesis 1 was actually seven thousand years. And since a day with God equals a thousand years, this makes each day of Genesis 1 equal 2.5 billion human years.

Friedman then finds a pattern of history encoded in the Genesis seven days of creation. The pattern begins with the life of Adam and ends with the World to Come (the seventh day of history). To teach his calculations more clearly, the author includes a chapter he calls “fiction” which presents a story describing the end of time like the fictional creations of Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series. He believes that in the year 2060 there will be great calamities, in 2110, two Messiahs will arise, and in 2130 there will be the war of God and Magog. I’ll let the reader find out when Friedman predicts the end of the world will be.

For one who has made a career of studying the bible in its historical background, this book is a challenge to embrace. No one who has immersed him/herself in the Ancient Near Eastern literature and archaeology will take the approach this author has taken to understand the book of Genesis. His acceptance of the rabbinic texts (Talmud, Midrashim, Rashi, Rambam, and the Zohar), ranging from the fourth century CE to the sixteenth, as factual evidence on the origin of the universe will appeal only to a few readers. His references to “scripture” which seem to include the aforesaid rabbinic texts will not be acceptable to many.

At times, his mathematical calculations seem arbitrary and contrived. I can see his point that “a day with the Lord is a thousand years.” Therefore, a day in Genesis, if we want to be literal, could have been a thousand years. Thus, creation itself took six thousand years plus the thousand years of rest. But why do we have to conclude that each day of those thousand (thus 365,000 years) must be multiplied by seven thousand? It is interesting that his figures approximate the age of the universe now proposed by astronomers but is that only coincidence?

Yet, one must appreciate the author’s intentions. His message for orthodox Jews, like himself, as well for evangelical Christians who feel they must read Genesis 1-2 literally will resonate with the scientific minded of those groups. He has attempted to make it possible to take Genesis seriously and literally without a cavalier denial of geology and astronomy. In doing so, Friedman has given university students a way to hold to their view of Genesis and still engage in the scientific research that he, himself, seems to enjoy so much. For this achievement, I congratulate him.

I give the book 4 stars out of 5 because it is an interesting read, well-written, and attempts a useful contribution to significant religious groups. I do not award it a 5, however, for the weaknesses I noted above.

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