1:30 Athens and Jerusalem 1:49 Mythos 3:27 Monotheism 5:39 The Trinity The Father, The Moral Order, The Commander, The LawGiver 7:43 Jesus, The Suffering, The Humane, The Sympathetic, Human Divine 9:47 Rationality 10:41 “What comes around goes around.” 11:44 Crucifixion, The Perfect Human Virtue Sacrifice 13:26 All Injustice Ultimately Means Something 14:03 The Holy Spirit, The Logos, The Holy Ghost 16:35 Literature Still Exists Today, extends discourse 17:41 The Highest Poetry *The Athenian Tradition* 18:37 Greek Rational Argument, Discourse, 19:52 The 1st Secular Knowledge 22:18 Socrates et al 23:08 Nomos: Political Order • Individual Power 24:43 Power Politic 26:43 Socrates, The Will To Rational Knowledge, He Helps He Does Not Harm, The Gadfly *Persistent Unreconcilable Tension* 30:10 30:52 Conceptions of Platonism and Christianity Plato: Wise Courageous Moderate Just Christianity: Faith Hope Charity There are things to Hope For 32:13 Pandora and Her Box 33:36 Coercion 34:31 Decisions Must Be Made 35:09 The Human Psyche Rational Emotion Reason-Emotion dialectic 36:06 37:12 40:36 The Enlightenment 41:47 Age of Science, Epoch of World War 42:11 Age of Irrationality, Great Emotions 42:27 A Question of Degree 43:14 Both are Part of Any Living Vital Intellectual Tradition 43:29 A Conflict Between Realists and Idealists Skeptical and Dogmatics _Don Quixote_ 45:13 "Everyone Laughs at His Adventures, No One Laughs At His Intentions." 44:16_ Sancho Panza_
Isn't it fascinating that a guy like me, living who knows where can access to top of the shelf education from the comfort of my toilet God bless Mr. Sugrue's soul
One of the things that makes Dr Sugrue's lectures so captivating, so fascinating, so real, is that as I watch him pace and pull all the phenomenal knowledge from his mind, it's as if he is oblivious to the audience. He seems to be in another sphere, almost like he's talking to himself and a greater, higher Power.
I'm very grateful to this professor for sharing his teachings with we the people. I've been desiring to become educated in classical philosophy, and I learn so much easier listening than through reading. Your comprehensive erudition is so appreciated by this listener. Thank-you!!!
Dr Sugrue. You have such a beautiful way to say things that are so complex. You are a true scholar and a generous man to share with us your knowledge. Thank you
@@keeplearning3505 Not going to lie..had to Google him but according to Wikipedia "He is regarded as one of the best batsmen of his generation." ....so he's in ! 😄
This is an impressive tying-it-all-together review. I had previously thought of Hebrew tradition as being in direct opposition to the Greek tradition. However after Dr. Segrue's review I can see there is a necessary tension between the two traditions. There is a back and forth, a conversation of sorts in which each informs the other. It's also like the left and the right hemispheres of the brain which is roughly analogous to the consciousness and the subconscious mind.
5:40 couldn’t help but notice the 3 shadows of the good Dr when talking about the trinity 😆 Thanks for all the enlightening lectures, I plan to force my kids to watch these when they’re older! Philosophy and it’s history should be compulsory learning for all!
Perfect, I will listen to this several times. I “hear” much in these words. Michael Sugrue is great at presenting the subject. I admire this man. May his health stay strong.l.
I had plans for today, but a Michael Sugrue lecture just got uploaded! So those plans will have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you for the upload! This is a wonderful channel. May God bless you for so generously sharing your wealth of knowledge. With tremendous gratitude, Joshua
The honorable mention of Santayana at the end is greatly appreciated. May the day arrive when he is widely read by students of philosophy and literature.
The little smile @ 29.50min when he says its good for your soul you know he means it. Thank you so much for doing this . You’ve made my Friday night a cracker 😆
Since I was a literature student a decade ago, I have mostly watched yr literature lectures but for ten consecutive years I have had my headphones attached to my ears and listening to your Great Authors series...in nature, travelling, en route to class and in bed
What a privilege it is to have video lectures of this quality free online. As bad as the internet can be, it certainly has its benefits. Dr Sugrue, a lot of what you said went over my head, but thank you!
Professor Surgure has a great grasp of philosophy, the best I’ve seen on the internet. This lecture gives you a clear view of his personal preferences.
"I appreciate that you've borne through this 55 odd hours of lecturing its a testimony to your philosophical capacities" made me smile. I wish I could tell him that it might have been solely due to the fact that he happens to be the most engaging and the most inspiring educator there is and ever could be. He played the messenger's part for all that and all whom he discussed, and might I highlight that he has done it most impeccably and beyond. Rest in peace, beloved professor.
Love Philosophy and History! Especially these lectures taught by Professor Michael Sugrue! The Courage to question your convictions! Hope virtue or vice? Reason, Logic and Evidence versus Emotions!
I care much more about the Greek side of things than the Biblical stuff but this guy does a good job of explaining how they relate and differ. Very thankful that some people are good teachers.
I took a fancy to Mike the moment I saw his youthful face. He is more than lovely both in presenting and parenting. I watched and transcribed all these lectures donkey's years ago ..thanks Mike Mike .come to the Teaching Company. What mesmerized me is your mastering of the Stage...no notes, no stress, just put the camera in infronna you and watch the magic happen
Schopenhauer was right when he said that the monotheism of the Bible is not the important part, but the suffering of Jesus at the hands of dogma and empire
As many have said i would like to reiterate, when professor Sugrue shows up on the youtube feed, you cancel other plans. Also, I bet quite a few of his students had a massive crush on the professor!
0:01 light/right 6:00 The inconsolable distance of the father 8:00 universalization JC human condition 9:40 rationality is not everything, nor is god 10:30 JC human, depravity, suffering 14:00 son/love 15:00 Geist/spirit/ghost/ancestral love 16:35 Myth making and psychological mimesis 17:50 mime and silence as peace/triumph/hallelujah 20:30 science, -(knowledge independent of myth) 22:20 sophism, (pre socratic - nature
we should all be Don Quixote in outlook though like Sancho Panza in the execution of all our plans! Thank you Prof Sugrue! I was actually wondering what's the point of Don Quixote in all your discourse in philosophy!
Prop’s to Michael. He is the height of his powers 16:16. No Notes. 43:43 Brilliant synopsis of Don Quixote. What’s the last thing out of Pandora’s Box? It ain’t BHO. 🤣
8:25 when he says that Jesus was made as a figure to make god relatable to the human experience blew my mind I didn’t even think about that maybe that’s the appeal of their belief 😮
11:00 it is for sure undeserved. "But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not"
Really interesting. More could have been made about the relationship God has with man, which is central to the Judeo-Christian tradition. It's not essentially about Law but about grace and that's what is mediated by God's Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Morality is a product of grace rather than the other way around.
Hello professor, how are you doing? Somewhere in here, you state that a fundamental difference between Athens and Jerusalem is their standing on "hope". How, particularly, Christians see hope as a virtue, yet the Greeks saw it as a last semi-vice to escape Pandora's box. With that said, why did Marcus Aurelius remind himself in his Meditations Book I "to be hopeful". A small detail but important, in my opinion. Is this a foreshadowing of Christianity seeping through, or hope actually being a virtue even for the rationalist, or what's your take?
Question for everyone who watched this: at 14:09 he mentioned God the Holy Spirit as the God the Logos. I though Jesus was God the Logos, why is he referring to the Holy Spirt as God the Logos. Is he incorrect?
As Kant is to Hume, as right brain is to left, as rationalism is to empiricism, as Plato is to Aristotle, as curveball pitcher is to fastball pitcher, as art is to science, as metaphor is to literal speech, as connotation is to denotation, as wanting to believe every truth is to wanting to avoid believing any falsity, as Apple is to Microsoft, as the spirit is to the letter, as hope is to experience, as ying is to yang; as dualism is to monism, as brother is to brother. Iron sharpens Iron and Dr. Staloff is a magnificent thinker, a judicious and fair minded conceptual whetstone; a serious intellectual friend.
Nice to hear poetry has some importance, quick question because Jesus was God or is I guess? Is it a possibility humans can have the same virtue that Jesus had. Is rationality, wisdom and love is the basic principles for our own “crucifixion”
No. Socrates is the avatar of reason, Jesus the avatar of love. Jesus' point is that you are supposed to help the Good Samaritan even if it makes no sense. Or to get Kierkegaardian, because it makes no sense. I think Jesus is right. Much as I love Socrates' reason, I think the love of Jesus is more valuable still. Some years ago I had a fine correspondence with an elderly professor of Islamic studies who lived in Riyadh and helped direct the annual hajj. He wrote me about a lecture I videotaped on the Bible that mentioned the Good Samaritan. My friend, the Islamic studies professor, knew the Koran very thoroughly but had only known the New Testament through references by Christians to things like the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Muslims hold the belief that Allah would never have allowed one of His prophets to be so abused. But he had never heard of the Good Samaritan and he was curious, so he looked it up. He read it a number of times, and he reported to me that he was confident that this was not a mistake or a lie but this passage was undeniably the Word of Allah. He had heard about the Bible but never read it and he thanked me for helping him to understand why the Holy Koran says that Christians and Jews and their scriptures are to be given a special honored status among the world's nonmuslims because they have a portion of divine revelation. He had no problem rejecting the things in the Bible that struck him as false, but he was certain that the Good Samaritan was halal and intended to teach as much. He also had a powerful political animosity towards Christians and Jews, especially Israelis and Americans, and he was not reluctant to condemn them in the strongest terms and he taught that too. Each year at the Hajj as is proper he prayed for himself, for Mohammad, for his family and the entire Muslim ummah (with the exception of the Shia who he regarded as heretical). The rest of the world, including the Shia and the people of the Book, did not deserve divine favor until they submitted to Allah, so he left them to their evil fates and had no prayers for such reprobates. However, he was adamant that Allah would not condemn a Christian who taught what Allah himself had declared good, and he would brook no contradiction from his students who were studying to become imams or even from fellow faculty who were given no choice but to respect the long gray beard he had earned pursuing his studies. He informed me that now I was the only kaffir that he included in his prayers, because the meaning of the Holy Koran about Christians and their scriptures had been made clear to him by a Christian of all people. It did not hurt that I told him that I had read the Koran and admired it, which is true. I also told him that there were many Christians that were godly people but did not hold political office, to which he expressed skepticism, but allowed that if there were any such, they might enter Paradise too. I pointed out that there were Jews and Christians and many others who were better men than I, which he flatly denied on the basis of human nature and human conduct without divine illumination. I told him that he was already in my prayers and that I prayed for the professors who disagreed with him and for the entire ummah (including the Shia) and everyone else in the world. He told me if I ever journeyed to Saudi Arabia, he would be honored to have me as his guest, so that my religious education could proceed in earnest. We parted as friends that had never met, I assume he died at some point, but I still pray for him.
@@dr.michaelsugrue I inspire to be better a man than both of you and maybe Big J just by being myself and understanding the teachings of good people but implementing it into who I want to be. Thank you for sharing this story, I consider myself a secular Muslim, and might be the top 5 worst contradictions, but in philosophy contradictions, irony, and maybe even anomalies have some sort of greatness to them, I guess that's why irony is so funny even in the worst moments of life. In the end, I want to experience a utopia in my lifetime, I have to do everything perfectly, and I have to want my community to be perfect no matter where I live. Unlike your pal, I believe everything created should be prayed for, not prayed to, I believe in the soul...the soul must have a creator...I seek that through the truth. Unfortunately, metaphysical stuff doesn't care about the economy, love rectangles, or politics. So swimming through a sea of distractions to see some truth every now and then...is still worth it. What makes a painter paint even if what they are painting makes no sense?
Your optimism is naive. Expect more from yourself. Look up Maximillian Kolbe. If the day ever comes that "just by being your [wonderful] self", you can display character at his level, if that day ever comes you can count yourself a man and not a minute before. It is hard enough to be a stand up guy, much less a singular man with a spine of steel and cojones the size of church bells like the saint of Auschwitz much less vying with Jesus which is merely silly.
Don't be shy with sharing these gems with us! 💎
1:30 Athens and Jerusalem
1:49 Mythos
3:27 Monotheism
5:39 The Trinity
The Father, The Moral Order, The Commander, The LawGiver
7:43 Jesus, The Suffering, The Humane, The Sympathetic, Human Divine
9:47 Rationality
10:41 “What comes around goes around.”
11:44 Crucifixion, The Perfect Human Virtue Sacrifice
13:26 All Injustice Ultimately Means Something
14:03 The Holy Spirit, The Logos, The Holy Ghost
16:35 Literature Still Exists Today, extends discourse
17:41 The Highest Poetry
*The Athenian Tradition*
18:37 Greek Rational Argument, Discourse,
19:52 The 1st Secular Knowledge
22:18 Socrates et al
23:08 Nomos: Political Order
• Individual Power
24:43 Power Politic
26:43 Socrates, The Will To Rational Knowledge, He Helps He Does Not Harm, The Gadfly
*Persistent Unreconcilable Tension*
30:10
30:52 Conceptions of Platonism and Christianity
Plato: Wise Courageous Moderate Just
Christianity: Faith Hope Charity
There are things to Hope For
32:13 Pandora and Her Box
33:36 Coercion
34:31 Decisions Must Be Made
35:09 The Human Psyche
Rational
Emotion
Reason-Emotion dialectic
36:06
37:12
40:36 The Enlightenment
41:47 Age of Science, Epoch of World War
42:11 Age of Irrationality, Great Emotions
42:27 A Question of Degree 43:14 Both are Part of Any Living Vital Intellectual Tradition
43:29 A Conflict Between
Realists and Idealists
Skeptical and Dogmatics
_Don Quixote_ 45:13 "Everyone Laughs at His Adventures, No One Laughs At His Intentions."
44:16_ Sancho Panza_
Gracias, Time Stamp Guy
Thank you!!
"Not all of what is worth knowing is contained within logic and reason"
Pascal-- "The human heart has reasons that reason knows not!"
Good job quoting the last sentence of the video.
@@weiyuan5007 idk if this is sarcastic, but thx
@@weiyuan5007 let the man have his windmill. Maybe have one yourself.
I wish that the modern people could understand this. Science and reason≠end all be all.
Always glad to see more Sugrue show up in my feed.
Isn't it fascinating that a guy like me, living who knows where can access to top of the shelf education from the comfort of my toilet
God bless Mr. Sugrue's soul
One of the things that makes Dr Sugrue's lectures so captivating, so fascinating, so real, is that as I watch him pace and pull all the phenomenal knowledge from his mind, it's as if he is oblivious to the audience. He seems to be in another sphere, almost like he's talking to himself and a greater, higher Power.
Thank you for uploading these lectures Dr. Sugrue
these lectures really have been a blessing to my life, thank you very much for uploading these
I'm very grateful to this professor for sharing his teachings with we the people. I've been desiring to become educated in classical philosophy, and I learn so much easier listening than through reading. Your comprehensive erudition is so appreciated by this listener. Thank-you!!!
THIS UA-cam PAGE IS A CORE MEMORY
"Not all that is worth knowing is contained within logic and reason." Fantastic way to sum up the lecture in a phrase!
Dr Sugrue. You have such a beautiful way to say things that are so complex. You are a true scholar and a generous man to share with us your knowledge.
Thank you
Michael Jordan, Jackson, Tyson, Sugrue. In the pantheon of the greatest to ever do it in their field. Thank you, Dr. Sugrue.
Micheal Clarke.
@@keeplearning3505 Not going to lie..had to Google him but according to Wikipedia "He is regarded as one of the best batsmen of his generation." ....so he's in ! 😄
Forgot Michael Phelps
@@Genesh 💯
@@Genesh Micheal Schumacher
This is an impressive tying-it-all-together review. I had previously thought of Hebrew tradition as being in direct opposition to the Greek tradition. However after Dr. Segrue's review I can see there is a necessary tension between the two traditions. There is a back and forth, a conversation of sorts in which each informs the other. It's also like the left and the right hemispheres of the brain which is roughly analogous to the consciousness and the subconscious mind.
Wow, one of my favourites. Will probably listen to this another tens times in the months ahead like all the others. Thank you.
5:40 couldn’t help but notice the 3 shadows of the good Dr when talking about the trinity 😆
Thanks for all the enlightening lectures, I plan to force my kids to watch these when they’re older!
Philosophy and it’s history should be compulsory learning for all!
5.40 😂 spookily true.
Perfect, I will listen to this several times. I “hear” much in these words. Michael Sugrue is great at presenting the subject. I admire this man. May his health stay strong.l.
This seems like just about as perfect and well-rounded of a philosophy video that one can be.
Dr. Sugrue just doesnt miss.
Very grateful to find these lectures online. Thank you
I just can't get enough of the way he says "..Now...".
I had plans for today, but a Michael Sugrue lecture just got uploaded! So those plans will have to wait until tomorrow.
Thank you for the upload! This is a wonderful channel. May God bless you for so generously sharing your wealth of knowledge.
With tremendous gratitude,
Joshua
The OG is back. So glad to watch a new video from Mr. Sugrue!
The honorable mention of Santayana at the end is greatly appreciated. May the day arrive when he is widely read by students of philosophy and literature.
The little smile @ 29.50min when he says its good for your soul you know he means it. Thank you so much for doing this . You’ve made my Friday night a cracker 😆
Since I was a literature student a decade ago, I have mostly watched yr literature lectures but for ten consecutive years I have had my headphones attached to my ears and listening to your Great Authors series...in nature, travelling, en route to class and in bed
What a privilege it is to have video lectures of this quality free online. As bad as the internet can be, it certainly has its benefits. Dr Sugrue, a lot of what you said went over my head, but thank you!
Thank you for blessing us with another wonderful lecture. Best wishes from us at the Royal Northern College of Music
Professor Surgure has a great grasp of philosophy, the best I’ve seen on the internet. This lecture gives you a clear view of his personal preferences.
"I appreciate that you've borne through this 55 odd hours of lecturing its a testimony to your philosophical capacities" made me smile. I wish I could tell him that it might have been solely due to the fact that he happens to be the most engaging and the most inspiring educator there is and ever could be. He played the messenger's part for all that and all whom he discussed, and might I highlight that he has done it most impeccably and beyond. Rest in peace, beloved professor.
Tell it! One of his last lessons was that we must never stop telling the parable of the good Samaritan. It's our only hope.
Thank you Dr. Sugrue.
Love Philosophy and History! Especially these lectures taught by Professor Michael Sugrue!
The Courage to question your convictions!
Hope virtue or vice?
Reason, Logic and Evidence versus Emotions!
I really enjoy the fine gentleman’s lecture on Marcus Aurelius. Powerful
Thank you, Sir. Your work is a boon to humanity.
always happy to learn something new
I care much more about the Greek side of things than the Biblical stuff but this guy does a good job of explaining how they relate and differ. Very thankful that some people are good teachers.
Dr. Sugrue is a gift to humanity.
New Sugrue! Always excited to see...
Thank you professor, this should sound common to you, but the lectures you give have tremendous effect on my life. Thank you again.
This man is a treasure
Never saw this one! Love it! Thank you, Doctor!
You sir are a genius. We are not worthy.
I took a fancy to Mike the moment I saw his youthful face. He is more than lovely both in presenting and parenting. I watched and transcribed all these lectures donkey's years ago ..thanks Mike Mike .come to the Teaching Company. What mesmerized me is your mastering of the Stage...no notes, no stress, just put the camera in infronna you and watch the magic happen
This is a Gem . Thanks
Thank you so much for these
These were good times back then. Who lectures like this anymore?
Wes Cecil
@@matthewcasey4795 I second this. I've also found Vervaeke very good.
Thank You.
Sugrue forever!
Would love to see a discussion between this guy and Jordan Peterson
Thanks you for sharing!
i really enjoyed that q and a the other day
THANK YOU
The good professor is right: question everything, investigate, weigh the pro's and con's, think critically, etc. Accept NOTHING at face value.
Thank you!!
Thank you
You can now add weight loss as an additional benefit to your fantastic lectures. Nothing has motivated me more to stay on the treadmill. ;)
Schopenhauer was right when he said that the monotheism of the Bible is not the important part, but the suffering of Jesus at the hands of dogma and empire
This man is a god on earth!
No. I cannot answer my own prayers, much less other peoples'.
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
1. God like father figure
2. Jesu god make suffering bearable
3. Socrate is hero of knowlege
Grateful ❤
10:10 Dostoyevsky said that suffering is the origin of all Consciousness.
Whoa
Comment for the algorithm
Comment for the algorithm
@@delayedpilot Righteous and pure, but such a statement makes me lol
Ok
@@delayedpilot I'm a torso!
Algo-rhythm
Yous are the bestest
As many have said i would like to reiterate, when professor Sugrue shows up on the youtube feed, you cancel other plans. Also, I bet quite a few of his students had a massive crush on the professor!
Yes!
this makes me wish he talked about carl jung even more
0:01 light/right
6:00 The inconsolable distance of the father
8:00 universalization JC human condition
9:40 rationality is not everything, nor is god
10:30 JC human, depravity, suffering
14:00 son/love
15:00 Geist/spirit/ghost/ancestral love
16:35 Myth making and psychological mimesis
17:50 mime and silence as peace/triumph/hallelujah
20:30 science, -(knowledge independent of myth)
22:20 sophism, (pre socratic - nature
Interesting
we should all be Don Quixote in outlook though like Sancho Panza in the execution of all our plans! Thank you Prof Sugrue! I was actually wondering what's the point of Don Quixote in all your discourse in philosophy!
G.O.A.T.
Prop’s to Michael. He is the height of his powers 16:16. No Notes.
43:43 Brilliant synopsis of Don Quixote.
What’s the last thing out of Pandora’s Box? It ain’t BHO. 🤣
Thank you filosofia eshte drit ne erresire
8:25 when he says that Jesus was made as a figure to make god relatable to the human experience blew my mind I didn’t even think about that maybe that’s the appeal of their belief 😮
Good shit
And ever!
11:00 it is for sure undeserved.
"But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not"
Well done. Now what about the “East”?
This cat is the Babe Ruth of Thought 🤔!
These lectures are the Dead Sea Scrolls of our time.
Really interesting. More could have been made about the relationship God has with man, which is central to the Judeo-Christian tradition. It's not essentially about Law but about grace and that's what is mediated by God's Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Morality is a product of grace rather than the other way around.
How do you view the book of mormon in regard to western tradition?
17:00 Nice :)
Hello professor, how are you doing?
Somewhere in here, you state that a fundamental difference between Athens and Jerusalem is their standing on "hope". How, particularly, Christians see hope as a virtue, yet the Greeks saw it as a last semi-vice to escape Pandora's box. With that said, why did Marcus Aurelius remind himself in his Meditations Book I "to be hopeful". A small detail but important, in my opinion. Is this a foreshadowing of Christianity seeping through, or hope actually being a virtue even for the rationalist, or what's your take?
I love you
The father, the son, & the holy spirit
From the sun there is light, and there is warmth. 3 seperate entities that are all the same thing
19:24 That's in Proverbs but an understandable mistake.
Does anyone have any idea how old these recordings are??
1992
☺👏
Question for everyone who watched this: at 14:09 he mentioned God the Holy Spirit as the God the Logos. I though Jesus was God the Logos, why is he referring to the Holy Spirt as God the Logos. Is he incorrect?
Why having class inside the cave of Plato in the modern time of electricity?
Please clean up the audio before posting these gems.
So only half of these videos have been posted so far? Are the rest around?
Only a few old lectures are not yet posted, but this concluding lecture is one of two, which form one big lecture.
Why pace back & fourth?
Energy overflow, like a pacing lion.
You need to speak about not sacrificing babies
Formerly sacrifice was engaged in for a narrow interest. In the case of Christ it is a sacrifice for the interest of all.
43:35
Jerusalem is to Athens as Sugrue is to Staloff
As Kant is to Hume, as right brain is to left, as rationalism is to empiricism, as Plato is to Aristotle, as curveball pitcher is to fastball pitcher, as art is to science, as metaphor is to literal speech, as connotation is to denotation, as wanting to believe every truth is to wanting to avoid believing any falsity, as Apple is to Microsoft, as the spirit is to the letter, as hope is to experience, as ying is to yang; as dualism is to monism, as brother is to brother.
Iron sharpens Iron and Dr. Staloff is a magnificent thinker, a judicious and fair minded conceptual whetstone; a serious intellectual friend.
@@dr.michaelsugrue Has or will Dr. Stalloff be guesting on the podcast? It would be amazing to hear you two jamming.
Nice to hear poetry has some importance, quick question because Jesus was God or is I guess? Is it a possibility humans can have the same virtue that Jesus had. Is rationality, wisdom and love is the basic principles for our own “crucifixion”
No. Socrates is the avatar of reason, Jesus the avatar of love. Jesus' point is that you are supposed to help the Good Samaritan even if it makes no sense. Or to get Kierkegaardian, because it makes no sense. I think Jesus is right. Much as I love Socrates' reason, I think the love of Jesus is more valuable still.
Some years ago I had a fine correspondence with an elderly professor of Islamic studies who lived in Riyadh and helped direct the annual hajj. He wrote me about a lecture I videotaped on the Bible that mentioned the Good Samaritan. My friend, the Islamic studies professor, knew the Koran very thoroughly but had only known the New Testament through references by Christians to things like the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Muslims hold the belief that Allah would never have allowed one of His prophets to be so abused. But he had never heard of the Good Samaritan and he was curious, so he looked it up. He read it a number of times, and he reported to me that he was confident that this was not a mistake or a lie but this passage was undeniably the Word of Allah. He had heard about the Bible but never read it and he thanked me for helping him to understand why the Holy Koran says that Christians and Jews and their scriptures are to be given a special honored status among the world's nonmuslims because they have a portion of divine revelation. He had no problem rejecting the things in the Bible that struck him as false, but he was certain that the Good Samaritan was halal and intended to teach as much. He also had a powerful political animosity towards Christians and Jews, especially Israelis and Americans, and he was not reluctant to condemn them in the strongest terms and he taught that too.
Each year at the Hajj as is proper he prayed for himself, for Mohammad, for his family and the entire Muslim ummah (with the exception of the Shia who he regarded as heretical). The rest of the world, including the Shia and the people of the Book, did not deserve divine favor until they submitted to Allah, so he left them to their evil fates and had no prayers for such reprobates. However, he was adamant that Allah would not condemn a Christian who taught what Allah himself had declared good, and he would brook no contradiction from his students who were studying to become imams or even from fellow faculty who were given no choice but to respect the long gray beard he had earned pursuing his studies.
He informed me that now I was the only kaffir that he included in his prayers, because the meaning of the Holy Koran about Christians and their scriptures had been made clear to him by a Christian of all people. It did not hurt that I told him that I had read the Koran and admired it, which is true. I also told him that there were many Christians that were godly people but did not hold political office, to which he expressed skepticism, but allowed that if there were any such, they might enter Paradise too. I pointed out that there were Jews and Christians and many others who were better men than I, which he flatly denied on the basis of human nature and human conduct without divine illumination. I told him that he was already in my prayers and that I prayed for the professors who disagreed with him and for the entire ummah (including the Shia) and everyone else in the world.
He told me if I ever journeyed to Saudi Arabia, he would be honored to have me as his guest, so that my religious education could proceed in earnest. We parted as friends that had never met, I assume he died at some point, but I still pray for him.
@@dr.michaelsugrue I inspire to be better a man than both of you and maybe Big J just by being myself and understanding the teachings of good people but implementing it into who I want to be. Thank you for sharing this story, I consider myself a secular Muslim, and might be the top 5 worst contradictions, but in philosophy contradictions, irony, and maybe even anomalies have some sort of greatness to them, I guess that's why irony is so funny even in the worst moments of life. In the end, I want to experience a utopia in my lifetime, I have to do everything perfectly, and I have to want my community to be perfect no matter where I live. Unlike your pal, I believe everything created should be prayed for, not prayed to, I believe in the soul...the soul must have a creator...I seek that through the truth. Unfortunately, metaphysical stuff doesn't care about the economy, love rectangles, or politics. So swimming through a sea of distractions to see some truth every now and then...is still worth it.
What makes a painter paint even if what they are painting makes no sense?
Your optimism is naive. Expect more from yourself.
Look up Maximillian Kolbe. If the day ever comes that "just by being your [wonderful] self", you can display character at his level, if that day ever comes you can count yourself a man and not a minute before. It is hard enough to be a stand up guy, much less a singular man with a spine of steel and cojones the size of church bells like the saint of Auschwitz much less vying with Jesus which is merely silly.
the OG JBP