Category Archives: Judaism

Myth and Its Meanings

Posted on January 23, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: Biblical creationists get a bad rap. People think they’re completely wrong. But they’re not. Oh, sure, they’re wrong about the science. The world wasn’t created in 4,004 BCE on October 23, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Asimov, Atrahasis, Biblical Flood, Creationism, D. Jason Slone, Flood Epic, Flood legends, Gary Rendsburg, Genesis, Genesis Flood, Gilgamesh, John Gardner, Myth, Nahum Sarna, Noah, Theological Incorrectness | 1 Comment

Creation But Not Ex Nihilo

Posted on January 16, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: How did the world get here? That question didn’t start with the ancient Israelites and it probably won’t end with us. Our scientific attempts to explain the origin of the universe are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Bereshit, Bible, Cosmology, Creation ex nihilo, creation myth, Enuma Elish, Genesis, In the beginning, Jewish Study Bible, Marduk, Robert Alter, Saadia Gaon, Tanakh, Tiamat | 4 Comments

How Theism Has Meaning

Posted on January 11, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog for The Jerusalem Post: In ancient times, Jewish faith and practice were different from what they are today. Most people know that. However, they usually don’t know the details and don’t think about the implications. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Anthropomorphic, Brettler, James Kugel, Jewish Study Bible, Meaning of religious beliefs, Philosophy of Religion, The Personhood of God, Theism, Theological Incorrectness, Yochanan Muffs | 1 Comment

Belief, Backward and Forward

Posted on January 2, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: Judah Halevi was a poet. Saadia Gaon and Moses Maimonides were philosophers. On the surface, their approaches to religious belief seem almost completely different. But at a high level, they agreed almost completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Ethics of Belief, Halevi, Kuzari, Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, Saadia | 2 Comments

Ending the Violence, Part 2

Posted on December 27, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: As I discussed in last week’s blog post, human violence has some specific biological causes: kin selection, territoriality, and lack of empathy. We are created in God’s image spiritually, but our bodies … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Aggression, Evolutionary Psychology, Intifada, Kin Selection, Peace, Public Choice, Talmud, Territoriality, Terrorism, Violence | Leave a comment

Ending the Violence, Part 1

Posted on December 19, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: “The road to disaster is paved with pleasant illusions, and the way to deal with evil is not to ignore it,”1 advised Abraham Joshua Heschel. The English philosopher Francis Bacon wasn’t Jewish, … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Aggression, Empathy, Evil, Evolutionary Psychology, Francis Bacon, Hatred, Heschel, Kin Selection, Racism, Sociobiology, Territoriality, Terrorism, Violence, War | Leave a comment

Moral Patterns and Moral Decisions

Posted on December 10, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: Some things in life are simple. Some aren’t. In fact, a lot of them aren’t. That’s a problem, because we always want things to be simple. And if they aren’t, then we still … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Binding of Isaac, Deontology, Gestalt Psychology, Ideal Observer, Kant, Moral decision, Moral reasoning, Utilitarianism | 2 Comments

For Hanukkah, Free Yourself

Posted on December 6, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: What’s the most important freedom? During Hanukkah, we celebrate religious freedom. That kind of freedom is vital. But it’s not the only kind, or even the most important. When modern people talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Blanshard, Buddhism, Freedom, Hanukkah, Heschel, Moral Law, Virtue | Leave a comment

Law, Tradition, and “Stare Decisis”

Posted on November 30, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: Should Orthodox Judaism ordain women as rabbis? The Rabbinical Council of America recently said no, but not based on Jewish law. Instead, it was in deference to tradition: “Due to our aforesaid commitment … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Edmund Burke, Jewish Law, Orthodox Judaism, Philosophy of Law, Rabbinical Council of America, Robert Nisbet, Stare Decisis, The Unfolding Tradition, Tradition, Zacharias Frankel | 2 Comments

Orthodoxy, Truth, and Half-Belief

Posted on November 26, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: People who have a secular worldview often wonder how Orthodox Jews can believe what they do: for example, that the Torah is literally true, that God commanded all the mitzvot, or that the … Continue reading →