The Aggadah of Spiritual Integrity
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Can religious faith survive when confronted with empirical evidence that challenges traditional biblical narratives? The "two-truth theory" that dominated Conservative Jewish theological education in the 1970s attempted to resolve this tension by separating scientific truth from spiritual truth - a framework that Cohen argues enabled a dangerous form of intellectual dishonesty. Through personal reflection and theological analysis, Cohen demonstrates how this dualistic approach undermines religious authenticity by creating artificial sanctuaries from scholarly reality rather than meaningfully engaging with it. He proposes an alternative "aggadah of spiritual integrity" founded on the premise that truth is inherently unified, calling for unwavering intellectual honesty in religious practice. This framework requires religious leaders and practitioners to embrace rather than dismiss scholarly challenges, build faith on historically and empirically sound foundations, and demand genuine intellectual integrity from spiritual authorities. Combining autobiographical reflection with theological argumentation and culminating in an original allegorical tale, Cohen illustrates how authentic spiritual relationship can coexist with candid acknowledgment of uncertainty. His analysis reveals that sustainable religious faith must ultimately be grounded in intellectual honesty rather than wishful thinking or deliberate self-deception.

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Published 2006
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Martin Cohen