This Was from God

“This Was from God deftly combines intellectual honesty, philosophical rigor, and piety—a piety that is, in the deepest and most admirable sense of the term, a simple one. Gellman’s bold proposals regarding the true nature of the information scripture provides will, paradoxically, strike some liberal theologians as rather too liberal and some traditionalists as too traditional. Thus Gellman challenges many readers in ways that they are not expecting to be challenged. Many of us will find that both our faith and our critical outlook grow deeper as a result of this book. The breadth of material Gellman synthesizes is remarkable: western philosophy, biblical scholarship, rabbinic texts, kabbalah, and medieval and modern Jewish philosophy. And yet Gellman wears this learning lightly in a book that is surprisingly well written and accessible.” -- Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, Jewish Theological Seminary
“There are many Jews who are committed to full Jewish observance but deeply troubled by the sorts of questions Professor Gellman sets out in so compelling a fashion in his first chapter. This book will help many overcome the split personality which characterizes so many Jews (and, I might add, Christians and Muslims) who seek to live simultaneously in the world of tradition and in the contemporary world around us. This Was from God is both a work of constructive theology (all too rare in the world of Orthodox Judaism) and a work of careful scholarship. Even those who will not be able to accept the theological position set forth here, will appreciate the fairness, sensitivity, and sophistication with which the arguments are presented.” -- Menachem Kellner, Shalem College, Jerusalem; University of Haifa (Emeritus), author of Science in the Bet Midrash: Studies in Maimonides and Torah in the Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs