The purpose of the volume, according Harold Attridge, is to explore «the ongoing controversy in the United States about the relationship between science and religion, particularly evolutionary biology and traditional readings of the biblical creation story.» (firstthings.com)
In Levenson's reading, creation ex nihilo, in the sense of an instantaneous change from nothing to something, fails to capture the theological implication of the biblical creation story: (firstthings.com)
God's creation metaphorically banished the monsters from the world in the biblical creation story. (firstthings.com)