There is a book Genesis and the Big Bang which did a nice job of showing how Genesis and the Big Bang do not contradict. However I generally think of Genesis more in terms of how Rav Isaac Luria looked at it in which case it is not meant כפשוטו in the literal sense at all. [Most people think Genesis is meant literally but certainly not the Ari nor the Rambam. The Rambam said the whole thing is an allegory.And he used that specific word. It is not just not literal but also it is like Aesops stories. They do not refer to the things in the story at all. [No lion or a fox or a horse, nor even the tortoise can talk — but through them children may learn the business of life.]
There is on one hand certain difficulties with Genesis and the Big Bang, so I tend to think that the approach of the Ari makes more sense. [If you are well versed in Torah, the book looks great in physics but weak in Torah. If you are a physicist, the book looks great in Torah and weak in Physics. Still it has done a tremendous service in the task of reconciling Torah with Reason.]
Obviously the Ari [Rav Isaac Luria] is not saying the same thing as the Rambam, but in any case he understands the entire Torah in a mystical fashion. That mystical way of understanding the Torah is the Ari's פשוט פשט (simple and literal understanding of the text.)
In his view the literal sense refers to the sepherot of Creation, but I can imagine that there is a sense of the verses that applies in each of worlds of Emanation, Creation, Formation, and the Physical universe. In fact , come to think of it, would it not be simpler to say the very first verses of genesis refer to the Condensation צמצום and then to God's saying "Let there be light", referring to the קו וחוט דאור אין סוף?
There is on one hand certain difficulties with Genesis and the Big Bang, so I tend to think that the approach of the Ari makes more sense. [If you are well versed in Torah, the book looks great in physics but weak in Torah. If you are a physicist, the book looks great in Torah and weak in Physics. Still it has done a tremendous service in the task of reconciling Torah with Reason.]
Obviously the Ari [Rav Isaac Luria] is not saying the same thing as the Rambam, but in any case he understands the entire Torah in a mystical fashion. That mystical way of understanding the Torah is the Ari's פשוט פשט (simple and literal understanding of the text.)
In his view the literal sense refers to the sepherot of Creation, but I can imagine that there is a sense of the verses that applies in each of worlds of Emanation, Creation, Formation, and the Physical universe. In fact , come to think of it, would it not be simpler to say the very first verses of genesis refer to the Condensation צמצום and then to God's saying "Let there be light", referring to the קו וחוט דאור אין סוף?
