Until very recently the above would have been widely accepted as well within the framework of a Torah hashkafa. And while it now seems to have been deemed kefira by some rabbinic figures, I believe otherwise – and I know there are many others who are yereim u’shleimim and who think along these lines, though some may feel pressured to keep their views to themselves.
I wonder how many frum Jews who were brought up to rely on gedolim to define Judaism for them have become skeptics or worse after encountering evidence of an old universe or evolution. Can one imagine a more senseless falling away of Jews from Torah Judaism? Especially because it needn’t have been the case. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan did not become a heretic after encountering such things and incorporating them into a Torah worldview. It is his example we should follow.
