Includes indexes.

Genesis. Creation and creationism : there are things we cannot know from Scripture ; Chaos and order, nature and history ; Nature obeys, humanity rebels ; "Let us make man" ; "And behold, it was very good" ; "Then the Lord God formed man" ; "She shall be called woman" ; "Where are you?" ; "God was sorry--but Noah found grace" ; "Abram believed the Lord" -- Leviticus. God loves the humble : Israel's great leaders are humble ; Who is the true prophet? ; How God shows love ; God loves the poor ; The soul bears responsibility for sin ; The human soul is like God's soul ; God punishes for just cause ; Prayer requires care ; The righteous person must bear witness ; Israel's faith and Israel's fate -- Numbers. The power of sin ; The power of reason ; God rewards righteousness ; When verses conflict ; Remembering God through carrying out religious duties.

Jacob Neusner, scholar and author on Jewish literature, history, and religion, believes that Jews and Christians do well to seek in their encounter with the teachings of the living God the wisdom, imagination, and insight of the ages. "In this book," he writes in the preface, "I want to contribute some modest measure of my own faith, Judaism, as that faith may add to the faith of our Christian neighbors, for all of us now dwell together in the new catacomb, the darkness of disdain for our common faith in one God, creator of heaven and earth, judge of all humankind. This is a book of religous faith."--Publisher's description.