The Historian and the Believer in the Religious Philosophy of Yehuda Gellman

In his seminal work, “This Was From God” Yehuda Gellman addresses the challenge modern biblical scholarship poses to Orthodox Jewish belief. Drawing on the theological concepts of divine providence and divine accommodation, Gellman constructs a theological framework in which the Torah can be seen as both divine and fully open to historical study. In this paper, I will explore whether Gellman’s framework is indeed compatible with the fundamental commitments of historical inquiry as well as with what this inquiry has revealed about Jewish history and the history and interpretation of the Torah.