The Broken Gift

Inspired Studies #2

by Daniel Friedmann

Was Adam the first man? Was man created by divine act in less than one day almost 6,000 years ago, as the Bible suggests?

Or did man appear 200,000 years ago as the culmination of numerous human-like species that existed during a span of millions of years, as the scientific record shows?

Both cannot be right. Or can they?

Imagine there exist manuscripts, written centuries ago, that could help us objectively decipher Genesis and thereby extract the timeline and key events recounting the appearance and early history of our species, Homo sapiens, precisely as identified by the latest scientific evidence derived from the fossil record and genetic studies.

The Broken Gift carefully examines the relationship between scientific theory and Biblical teachings. The book approaches the human origins debate from a fresh perspective informed by both scientific and scriptural research. The author demonstrates alignment between key events and their dates relating to the appearance and early history of our species as described in Genesis chapters 1 through 11 (Adam, Adam’s descendants, the Flood, and the fall of Babel) with those derived from scientific observation.

Could both be true? You’ll have to be the judge. Read The Broken Gift and join the conversation.

Genres: Nonfiction

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Aishwariya Jayakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW FOR “THE BROKEN GIFT” BY DANIEL FRIEDMANN
Appreciating the book depends on whether one is willing to enlarge the view to expand the knowledge about the reconciliation with the respect to the appearance and early history of human life on planet earth. Author’s fascination for scientific education and exploring the mystical component of religion is to find deeper analysis and meaning for the questions concerning human origins. Elucidating the incompatible facts about human existence with the biblical story, which is thousand years old and the scientific story, which is new will serve to comprehend the subject with rational view.
Mystical aspects of the scriptural interpretation including material on the nature of God, the origin and structure of the Universe, the nature of souls, and human psychology is discussed profoundly. A faith based perspective is well established by key Torah sources, which comprises of the written law and the oral law together and is considered as blueprint of the Universe and human kind’s existence.
Human evolution in science has been synthesized by the observable traits and records of humans through morphology, development of biochemical or physiological properties, behavior in order to define the theory is worth pursuing for non-fiction lovers. Summarizing the scientific methods and processes that are applied to collect the factual information and to establish new or revised knowledge for inquiring the evidence to present the timeline for appearance of the Homo sapiens, to identity our relation to other species and to produce an accurate idea of our early history for unbiased view. The Fossils record, Genetics and other scientific fields of study relating to the theory of human evolution (Homo sapiens) is well documented with peer reviewed scientific sources.
Reconciling the time discrepancy with the process and timings, author compares the events and thus illuminate similarities and contradictions. Conversions of timelines are analyzed to understand Creation time, Divine time and Human time for comparing creation of human life with scientific theories and observations. Captivating the attention the book keeps debating the scientific findings for humanity, the Genesis flood and its influence, and the spread of human language with biblical (Babel impact) and scientific latest studies derived through archeology and genetics.
Different viewpoints established by many philosophers, great thinkers and religious minds for their vision of the Universe in different era from the beginning of time to the current era is the main focus of the book to shape its main purpose to shed light on the individuals with deep understanding and examine further.
However, whatever background we belong from or whatever belief systems we hold on, one should eliminate all the differences by initiating learning and acclimatizing to topic while advancing such theories for better understanding. Resolving the differences and exchanging views pointing the early history and latest scientific findings to enlightening our vision for concept with certain level of theology and logic is necessary as essence of humanity.

Aishwariya Jayakumar

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just wasn’t in the mode!

[Daniel Friedmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOKPLEASURES Review by David W. Menefee, June 2013

The polarized conflict between scientific theories of evolution and the Bible and Torah accounts of creation reach a boiling point in The Broken Gift. Hold onto your hats for a roller coaster ride through thousands of years of detailed evidence that attempts to resolve some of life's oldest mysteries. The journey will leave you breathless if not inspired.

For millennium, we have seen through a glass darkly, as murky images of a big bang igniting the universe, stories of Adam and Eve, and hypotheses of apes evolving into humans cascade over our consciousness in a confusing cataract. We sometimes wish the arguments could be finally reconciled.

Enter Daniel Friedmann, the CEO of a large aerospace corporation. In The Broken Gift, he wades more deeply into the discussion about evolution vs. creation than ever before. Ancient questions that have baffled humanity stew into an intriguingly fragrant broth in his new book. Not to be content with his investigations into these matters in his groundbreaking The Genesis One Code or his published peer-reviewed scientific papers on space industry topics and cosmology, the author attempts to reconcile the Bible and Torah account of creation with scientific observation—a task that may be unparalleled —and he succeeds on a new level that will startle readers who terminate their understanding with the facts of scientific data and amaze those who believe that God designed the cosmos according to His perfect master plan.

The author explains this separation of concepts: “The division is partly underscored by an inability to reconcile the stories on a common timeline; the scientific account via the fossil record as opposed to the Genesis account. The most controversial element pertains to the nature of humans; special creations versus smart animals. Many have abandoned the early six-epoch view of Genesis (now known as old earth creationism) and moved toward an interpretation of a literal six days (now known as young earth creationism), with humans as very recent divine creations. Scientists, on the other hand, maintain a strict view of evolution as having occurred during the course of billions of years, in particular with humans evolving over millions of years, with no room for God.”

Both cannot be right. Or can they? Will future events prove that this division was completely unnecessary?

One day, Daniel Friedmann may be renowned as the history detective that succeeded in pulling together centuries of polarity into a unified understanding. His obvious passion for this subject manifests in the details of every page of his 242-page book. The Broken Gift merges information gleaned from manuscripts as old as 800 years and cutting edge scientific data to demonstrate an alignment between the dates of key events pertaining to the development of the universe and the appearance of humans on Earth.

So, how did we get here?

The author unravels this primordial puzzle in twelve chapters that explore with equal fairness the scientific rationalization and the scriptural explanations. Then, he performs a most intriguing clarification: according to his detailed calculations, the two accounts can be fused. He reveals that their differences may have been mirrors of each other all along.

Readers will be delighted with other aspects of this book in addition to the above mentioned topics. Have you ever wondered just exactly where we are in the Age of Man? Are we near the so-called End Times? Was Eden a myth, another dimension somewhere between corruptibility and incorruptibility, or a real place on the map? Did sin cause mankind’s downfall? Can we comprehend God’s creative process?

The Broken Gift should win awards for excellence. Readers will discover an absorbing attempt to brush away the sands of time and reveal a new view of eternal truths, such as the need for humanity, facts and fiction surrounding The Flood, Babel, Wave-Partical Duality, and Time. Readers will fairly float through the book with ease, for despite the lofty subject matter, he writes engagingly with excellent grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling and composes his book in an easy-to-read format that can be absorbed by anyone. Best of all, readers need never wonder how he arrived at any idea. Footnotes abound that document every resource the author used to springboard to his inspirations. Three Annexes, a Glossary, and an Index make return reading a snap, and readers will want to return because the book will be widely discussed.

[Barbara Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought provoking

Enjoyed the deep dive into the Biblical account, the Jewish literature showing how the Bible and science are not that far apart

[Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stepping back and forth across the `line' drawn between science and the Bible

Having read THE GENESIS ONE CODE this reader felt it was helpful to review the credential of author Daniel Friedmann, and that bears repeating: `Daniel Friedmann is a student of the origin of the universe and life on earth both from the scientific and biblical perspectives. As author of The Genesis One Code, he demonstrates an alignment between the times of key events described in the creation narrative in the book of Genesis with those derived from scientific theory and observation. He is currently writing a second book entitled Adam and the Homo sapiens which will demonstrate an alignment between the key events and timeline recounting the appearance of humans in the book of Genesis with those derived from the fossil record and genetic studies. Born in Chile and raised in Canada, he is currently CEO of Canada's leading aerospace company that built the Canadarms, and is involved in space exploration and the Hubble telescope. He is a professional engineer and holds a master's degree in engineering physics. He has 30 years' experience in the space industry, having worked on projects in fifteen countries while throughout the decades conducting extensive scientific research. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers on space industry topics and cosmology. He is also a longtime student of religion and for the past 14 years has attended the Vancouver Kollel center for learning. His work on reconciling the biblical account with scientific observation utilizing his biblical clock formula has been reported in various newspapers, magazines and radio talk shows. He is passionate about helping young adults put science and the Bible in correct context.'

As it turns out his second book is not called `Adam and the Homo sapiens' but instead the title be chose is THE BROKEN GIFT, and from the PR information comes the following statement: 'The Broken Gift carefully examines the relationship between scientific theory and Biblical teachings. The book approaches the human origins debate from a fresh perspective informed by both scientific and scriptural research. The author demonstrates alignment between key events and their dates relating to the appearance and early history of our species as described in Genesis chapters 1 through 11 (Adam, Adam's descendants, the Flood, and the fall of Babel) with those derived from scientific observation. Could both be true?' And that is a very and astute summary of the contents of this immensely readable book.

Friedmann wisely and slowly explains the differences between the views of the various groups of thought about the Origins Debate: the Scientific Inquiry (beginnings, the age of the Earth, evolution, genetics, and human evolution) and Creation (Scientific Creationism, Theistic Evolution, Intelligent Design). He then discusses the various discrepancies found in fossil dating, the various approaches to the meaning of `time' (whether the world was created in the Genesis story of six consecutive days or whether the passage of history has suggested different meanings for the term `time'). He likewise explores the development of language (referencing the Tower of Babel), the migration of homo sapiens from Africa to the rest of the world, the scientific evidence of such Genesis stories as the Flood, Adam and the concept of Original Sin, and then explores some scientific theories such as Wave-Particle Duality. At book's end he adds generous appendices - and for this reader this is the most interesting, fascinating portion of the book to read.

Perhaps every reader will judge the contents of this book based on personal history and beliefs and that seems to be all that Friedmann is asking of us - to stop the battle between those who say the Bible is completely factual and true and must be taken on faith without engaging reason and those who debunk anything Biblical as fairytales for the weak of mind as contradictory to new found and daily investigated scientific facts about `How we began'. Friedmann marries the two concepts in an admirably thoughtful way and for all his research and his personal commitment to bring some mutual agreement to both sides of this debate he deserves at the very least a reading of his books. AND there is something for everyone, no matter the side of belief, to learn from reading this book.

Grady Harp

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may seem impossible to reconcile the scientific and religious conceptions of Man's creation. Did Man, in his present form, come into existence as part of a week-long process several thousand years ago? On the other hand, did it happen as part of a much longer process over hundreds of millions of years?

It starts with the definition of the word "day." On the planet Venus, a day equals 243 Earth days, whereas, on the International Space Station, a day lasts for about 90 minutes. There are three different measurements of time to consider. God communicates with us using Creation Time, The universe operates on Divine Time. Human time is what we measure with our Earthly clocks.

The author goes into a lot of detail in the book, but one Creation Day equals 7,000 Divine Years. According to psalms as interpreted in the Talmud, one Divine Day equals 1,000 Human Years. Therefore, one Divine Year equals 365,000 Human Years. To turn one Creation Day into Human Years, multiply 7,000 times 1,000 times 365.25 (the number of days in one Human year), and you get 2.56 billion years. Multiply that by the six "days" of Creation in Genesis, and you get approximately 15 billion years.

Where was the Garden of Eden? According to ancient Jewish commentaries called the Midrashim, clues place it in Ethiopia, the Arabian Peninsula, India and/or Egypt. How is that possible? The land masses are constantly moving via plate tectonics. Several hundred million years ago, the continents were much closer together, so it is very possible for the Garden of Eden to be in, seemingly, four different places.

There is no evidence for a worldwide Flood. The geological evidence does not support it. There is not enough water on Earth and in the atmosphere to cover all the land. Perhaps it was a local Flood, affecting only the Biblical area.

This is certainly an eye-opener of a book. For anyone who might be concerned, how can attempting to answer some of the major questions of the Bible be considered anti-Christian? This will give the reader quite a mental workout, and it is very much recommended.

[Tannia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Broken Gift, by Daniel Friedmann, is a thought-provoking book in which the author skillfully reconciles the scientific and religious accounts about the origin of humans. The reader who begins the journey with Friedmann will need an open mind and must be willing to walk with the author through the entire process of creation, evolution, discovery, and understanding.

The book, which is divided in 12 well-developed and interesting chapters, starts with an introduction to the topic, concludes with a summary of the collected data and its interpretation, and leaves the reader wondering: “Where to from here?” The basis for Friedmann's arguments comes from the holy Bible, the Torah, including its books of interpretation, and scientific data from such disciplines as anthropology, sociology, geology, and history. I must admit that the quotes from the Jewish mystics created an immense curiosity within me, as they explain in more depth the book of Genesis.

When I was asked to review this work, my first thought was, “Is this just another one of those books?” However, as I read more about Mr. Friedmann's theory and analyzed his “time conversion formula,” my view changed from skeptical to one of admiration.

Although some readers might think of this book as a work of fiction and enormous creativity, Mr. Friedmann’s arguments provide food for thought; the reader should examine them closely without personal bias before deciding to accept or reject his theory.

Do humans and monkeys have a common ancestor? What makes humans unique in comparison with other mammals and primates? The answers to these controversial questions and other interesting discoveries can be found, if you dare, by reading The Broken Gift.

[Anthony Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have started to follow Daniel Friedmann’s book tour. All humanity is left to determine whether we all were created by a higher power, or did we evolve with time. Auther Daniel Friedmann uses facts, references and his intelligent insight to help us determine the solution. The Broken Gift is Friedmann’s second book in his series titled Inspired Series. I particulary enjoyed his first book, The Genesis One Code. In this first book the author gives his theory on the alignment of scientific and scriptural timelines to support the events given in the first two chapters of Genesis that involve the development of the universe and life on earth. This second book describes more about The Genesis One Code to include the earliest history of human life. His knowledge is evident as he uses insight from years of study leading up to the remarkable theories. All these factores makes this book a must-read for all those interested in the appearance of human life on earth. Also, this book is exactly for readers that have a keen sense for determing the origins of our existence. Daniel Friedmann's book uses a based simple approach to joining two distinct views on the origins of human creation.
Friedmann discusses the various scientific and scriptural theories of the appearance of humans on earth. He uses visual graphs and tables to help readers envision all aspects.

[Mika Buell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The controversy is as old as the written word (and probably before) who is right/wrong in the battle of Creationism vs. Evolution. As a well studied open-minded individual who was raised in a strict Christian Minister’s household I have found myself in the middle of the debate several times. I read “The Broken Gift” by Daniel Friedmann in one sitting – that is how gripping the book is. The author has an uncanny ability to argue both sides of the issue with the same amount of knowledge/research. He does this with a sense of delicacy for Christians and Scientists alike, perhaps both are right. Naturally he leaves the decision up to the reader (as it should be) only supplying facts/resources for his conclusions. I have been following Mr. Friedmann's virtual book tour for some time and his fact-based findings are refreshing to say the least.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind – of course I will not suggest it to my Father lest we have another argumentative Holiday season! Even if you have not read Daniel Friedmann’s first book “The Genesis One Code” you will have only a vast amount of knowledge to gain by reading “The Broken Gift”.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read book. Brings hours of conversation among family members.

[Gay Braun]

He was born March 16, 1937 to John and Zelma (McComb) Hefner in Lima, Ohio. They are deceased. He married Twyla M Fishbaugh on August 23, 1958 and she preceded him in death on March 11, 2012.