Rating: 
Summary: A cold theology bordering on pantheism.
Review: Daniel Matt has written a book attempting to integrate modern physics and ancient theology. For his effort he comes up with a 20th century quantum version of deism -- the view that God started the universe and then walked away, leaving the clock (or the waves and particles) to fend for themselves. The trouble is that such a universe and such a God have nothing to say about ethics and even less to say about the practices we should engage in to enoble and sanctify our lives. What we are left with is a cold theology which sees God in energy and in matter, but not in the soul. Such a God is literally "no-thing." For a better attempt at a similar synthesis I would refer readers to Lawrence Kushner's "The River of Light."
Rating:
Summary: A cold theology bordering on pantheism.
Review: Daniel Matt has written a book attempting to integrate modern physics and ancient theology. For his effort he comes up with a 20th century quantum version of deism -- the view that God started the universe and then walked away, leaving the clock (or the waves and particles) to fend for themselves. The trouble is that such a universe and such a God have nothing to say about ethics and even less to say about the practices we should engage in to enoble and sanctify our lives. What we are left with is a cold theology which sees God in energy and in matter, but not in the soul. Such a God is literally "no-thing." For a better attempt at a similar synthesis I would refer readers to Lawrence Kushner's "The River of Light."
Rating: 
Summary: Bridges the gap between faith and science.
Review: God & the Big Bang is a well written and very interestingsynthesis of concepts from Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) andscience (physics/cosmology). Matt describes the Big Bang in layman's terms from both the scientific and the Kabbalistic perspectives. There is a passage Matt quotes from Kabbalah that sounds exactly like a poetic description of the Big Bang. Kabbalah describes creation as involving "the shattering of glass vessels" which is a poetic way of describing the broken symmetry theory of physics. An important contribution of the book is that it ties Torah, the source of Jewish law (and underpinning for Christian and Moslem law), into his perspective of God. Kabbalah purports to answer one question currently plaguing scientists: Kabbalah seems to favor a closed universe.
Rating:
Summary: Bridges the gap between faith and science.
Review: God & the Big Bang is a well written and very interesting
synthesis of concepts from Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and
science (physics/cosmology). Matt describes the Big Bang
in layman's terms from both the scientific and the Kabbalistic
perspectives. There is a passage Matt quotes from Kabbalah
that sounds exactly like a poetic description of the Big Bang.
Kabbalah describes creation as involving "the shattering of
glass vessels" which is a poetic way of describing the broken symmetry theory of physics. An important contribution
of the book is that it ties Torah, the source of Jewish law
(and underpinning for Christian and Moslem law), into his perspective of God. Kabbalah purports to answer one question
currently plaguing scientists: Kabbalah seems to favor a closed universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Pantheism Peeping 'Round the Corner
Review: I intended to buy this book from the Jewish perspective, so I wasn't dissapointed. As a naturalistic Pantheist, a progressive Jew and an avid fan of Carl Sagan, this book is a pretty great mix. It is humanely written, describing the natural beauty surrounding us and using mundane analogies that 'click' with all of us. The only problem with this book is a theological one: the author tries to reconcile a scientific pantheistic outlook (Spinoza's 'God' as another reviewer noted correctly) based on empiricism, with a (panen)theistic outlook of Kabbalah and the traditional theistic outlook of Torah. This is hard to swallow for those not interested in Jewish tradition, but can be considered a noble - albeit not perfect attempt - for those Jews (like me) who seek to reconcile a rational worldview with a spiritual approach.Getting down the the Nitty Gritty of Pantheism and the history thereof, I recommend Paul Harrison's 'Elements of Pantheism'. Start there and if you're into Judaism, this book makes a good sequel.
Rating:
Summary: A misleading title, not much science.
Review: I must say upfront that this book has very little if anything to do with science besides some obscure inferrences drawn between creation and religion. Considering the title I was certainly disappointed. However, trying to move past the title and the contents one finds a belief that man is essentially evolving past the need for an omnipotent God much less a personal one. To make matters worse, his attempts at Christianity and attempts at reducing Jesus to man with a vision come right out of the late 19th century with more recent vocabulary. This book lands squarely in the Ba'hai faith without much imagination. Drawing some teachings out of Kabbalism, I strongly believe that this book would disappoint even most Kabbalists.
Rating:
Summary: A misleading title, not much science.
Review: I must say upfront that this book has very little if anything to do with science besides some obscure inferrences drawn between creation and religion. Considering the title I was certainly disappointed. However, trying to move past the title and the contents one finds a belief that man is essentially evolving past the need for an omnipotent God much less a personal one. To make matters worse, his attempts at Christianity and attempts at reducing Jesus to man with a vision come right out of the late 19th century with more recent vocabulary. This book lands squarely in the Ba'hai faith without much imagination. Drawing some teachings out of Kabbalism, I strongly believe that this book would disappoint even most Kabbalists.
Rating:
Summary: Smart mix
Review: I took Danny Matt's class in "God and the Big Bang" in Berkeley. Matt in person is witty, intelligent and educated. In print, he is even more so. His science is strong, his kabbalah is flawless. There are parallels between this book and Capra's Buddist/science books, but where Capra is trying to prove something, Matt is just pointing out interesting facts. Anyone interested in science or theology would enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Smart mix
Review: I took Danny Matt's class in "God and the Big Bang" in Berkeley. Matt in person is witty, intelligent and educated. In print, he is even more so. His science is strong, his kabbalah is flawless. There are parallels between this book and Capra's Buddist/science books, but where Capra is trying to prove something, Matt is just pointing out interesting facts. Anyone interested in science or theology would enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: !An apassionate book!
Review: In our times, it's important to enjoy ourselves, and feel that we are in a beautiful and neverending world. You can feel it, when you raise the point between science and God, and you can see that, day by day, we are integrate our technology and our souls in one, and now we can realize this, seeing that with science, we can find our mind, body and universe toghether. With this book, you will feel more unit with the Divine and with the whole universe. !Don't miss it!
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