Tag Archives: Bible

Healthy Societies Are Efficient

Posted on September 28, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Efficiency isn’t everything, but healthy societies and people need it. If you want the deep explanation of why that’s true, read about Charles Darwin’s observations of birds (finches) on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. Each island … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Bible, China, Communication, Evolution, Group solidarity, In-Group, Poetry, Political Science, Shared culture, Social cohesion, Solidarity | Leave a comment

Is the Bible Worth Reading?

Posted on November 12, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

Is the Bible worth reading? I think it is, but you can find intelligent, moral people on both sides of that question. American novelist Mark Twain, best known for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, had a low opinion of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism | Tagged Bible, Biblical literacy, Binding of Isaac, Cultural literacy, Genesis 22, Mark Twain, Moral dilemma, Moral reasoning | 2 Comments

You Can’t Prove God — and It Doesn’t Matter

Posted on August 1, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“You can’t prove God’s existence. And it doesn’t matter.” Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy | Tagged Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Judaism, Logic, Philosophy, Proof, Religion, Theism | 2 Comments

Translating the Bible for Our Era

Posted on May 30, 2017 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: What difference does a translation make? If we take the Torah seriously, a lot. Whether we believe it was given by God to Moses, or only that it’s the foundational text of our identity … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Aaron Koller, Andrea Weiss, Barry Schwartz, Ben Sommer, Bible, Creighton University, Daniel Septimus, Gary Rendsburg, Jewish Publication Society, JPS, Judaism, Leonard Greenspoon, Marc Brettler, Septuagint, Tamar Kamionkowski, Tanakh, Targums, Torah, Translation | 2 Comments

Who Counts? We all do.

Posted on May 26, 2017 by N.S. Palmer

I normally don’t review children’s books, but this one’s a keeper. Who Counts? combines simple, direct storytelling with superb artwork and morally uplifting themes. Its authors, a rabbi and a professor of Jewish Studies, retell three of Jesus’ parables from … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Amy-Jill Levine, Bible, Children's Books, Lost Sheep, Margaux Meganck, Parables, Prodigal Son, Sandy Sasso, Who Counts? | Leave a comment

God’s Silent Speech — and Ours

Posted on February 22, 2017 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: What exactly is “the word of God?” And can it teach us about happiness and tolerance? Jewish Studies scholar Shaul Magid doesn’t address the second question in “The Word of God is … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Attitude, Bible, Coffee, Creation, Genesis, God speaks, Ontology, Positive attitude, Psychology, The Next Voice You Hear | 1 Comment

Chaos and Creation, from Genesis to Today

Posted on December 6, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jewish Journal: You might not expect it, but the very first words of the Torah explain how social change works. The most familiar English rendering is “In the beginning, God created the heavens and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Bible, Chaos, Civil Rights Movement, Creation, Creative destruction, Democracy, Donald Trump, Genesis, Order, Rashi, Rosa Parks, Social Change, Social order, Targum Yerushalmi, Torah, Zev Farber | 1 Comment

Prophetic Brains in a Vat

Posted on April 7, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: “Brains in a vat”? It sounds like the plot of a bad science fiction movie. But it might hold a key to understanding prophetic insight. The basic idea was around even before … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Allegory of the Cave, Bible, Brain in a vat, Cosmic Microwave Background, Epistemology, Hilary Putnam, Jewish Philosophy, Maimonides, Plato, Saadia Gaon, The Republic | Leave a 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

What Do You See?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

Look at the ink blot. What do you see? The ink blot is used in what’s called a “Rorschach test.” The picture is supposed to be neutral, and not to look like anything in particular. What you see in it … Continue reading →