On Andrew Sullivan’s substack, he has a nice interview with Francis Collins about trying to square faith with a belief in science and our species’ hideous history. Collins notes that “there is evidence, but not proof” in a Great Deity, which may be the best framing we can get. All around me are miracles - the music of Coltrane and Clapton, the science that is saving my wife’s life, the crazy and non-sensical, yet thriving, City of New York. Those who decide they have all the answers seem doomed to commit untold acts of evil and appear doomed to a life of disappointment.
As for the Roman Emperor of our own time, does not the Mad King remind you more than anyone else (ironically given his fixations) of Commodus? If he is killed in the bathtub by his Praetorian guard, that will indeed be proof of God’s existence. And, yes, then as now, we could use a Senate that finds its voice and dignity.
Thank you for this erudite history of Judaism and Christianity. I appreciate your recognition of the aesthetic of the Catholic mass in both the Roman and, more so, the Eastern Orthodox church. Frankly, it is what kept me from leaving the Church because of the evil of sexual abuse. The Church needs drastic reform. Women should be priests, and priests should be able to marry. That's how it was at the dawn of Christianity. The misogynistic departure from those historic norms is traditional, not doctrinal, and therefore is subject to change.
This is the Joe Klein that I have long followed and admired. No puerile name-calling; no emotional ranting; no soporific disquisitions on the too-far left.
Rather: provocative, thoughtful, even erudite, musings about your—and our—life and faith.
Then you do bring it home to today with a dagger.
And your faith is apparent, Joe, despite your protestations. Belief without challenge or doubt or wonder is cheap and easy. Faith despite all evidence and logic to the contrary is awesome. You are as pragmatic and rational as they come. Yet “there are things just beyond our fingertips, things we do not know.”
I love that.
This posting might be less appealing to my adrenaline and bias. But it’s good for my brain. And my soul.
On the road to Damascus Paul/Saul was struck. Struck by what? He was struck with the overwhelming thought that he could make a lot of money from this new idea that Jesus had promoted. James the brother of Jesus was furious. So Paul decided to do it himself. Hence when people ask how did Christianity become a world religion? it was the day Saul/Paul realized what a terrific moneymaking scheme he had uncovered. To hide this moment the Church fathers began the myth of the Road to Damascus experience. Nobody could admit that the Church was built on the Rock of Greed. That my friends was the Road to Damascus revelation in a nut shell.
Tariffs anybody? Another Road to Damascus revelation. He's a devil that Donald Saul/Paul Trump
That piece read like a d'var Torah: erudite, enlightening, and compassionate. Yes, a d'var Torah covering Christian learning as much as Jewish. Yasher koach.
On Andrew Sullivan’s substack, he has a nice interview with Francis Collins about trying to square faith with a belief in science and our species’ hideous history. Collins notes that “there is evidence, but not proof” in a Great Deity, which may be the best framing we can get. All around me are miracles - the music of Coltrane and Clapton, the science that is saving my wife’s life, the crazy and non-sensical, yet thriving, City of New York. Those who decide they have all the answers seem doomed to commit untold acts of evil and appear doomed to a life of disappointment.
As for the Roman Emperor of our own time, does not the Mad King remind you more than anyone else (ironically given his fixations) of Commodus? If he is killed in the bathtub by his Praetorian guard, that will indeed be proof of God’s existence. And, yes, then as now, we could use a Senate that finds its voice and dignity.
Thank you for this erudite history of Judaism and Christianity. I appreciate your recognition of the aesthetic of the Catholic mass in both the Roman and, more so, the Eastern Orthodox church. Frankly, it is what kept me from leaving the Church because of the evil of sexual abuse. The Church needs drastic reform. Women should be priests, and priests should be able to marry. That's how it was at the dawn of Christianity. The misogynistic departure from those historic norms is traditional, not doctrinal, and therefore is subject to change.
Agreed, although "subject to change" sadly requires those who subjugate to change.
A marvelous encounter with a thoughtful individual whose curiosity still abounds...
Thanks, Joe
This is the Joe Klein that I have long followed and admired. No puerile name-calling; no emotional ranting; no soporific disquisitions on the too-far left.
Rather: provocative, thoughtful, even erudite, musings about your—and our—life and faith.
Then you do bring it home to today with a dagger.
And your faith is apparent, Joe, despite your protestations. Belief without challenge or doubt or wonder is cheap and easy. Faith despite all evidence and logic to the contrary is awesome. You are as pragmatic and rational as they come. Yet “there are things just beyond our fingertips, things we do not know.”
I love that.
This posting might be less appealing to my adrenaline and bias. But it’s good for my brain. And my soul.
This was quite wonderful, Joe. Stick with it.
Steve Crosby
The openings of the mind to more is dependent on the mind being open to more to begin with.
On the road to Damascus Paul/Saul was struck. Struck by what? He was struck with the overwhelming thought that he could make a lot of money from this new idea that Jesus had promoted. James the brother of Jesus was furious. So Paul decided to do it himself. Hence when people ask how did Christianity become a world religion? it was the day Saul/Paul realized what a terrific moneymaking scheme he had uncovered. To hide this moment the Church fathers began the myth of the Road to Damascus experience. Nobody could admit that the Church was built on the Rock of Greed. That my friends was the Road to Damascus revelation in a nut shell.
Tariffs anybody? Another Road to Damascus revelation. He's a devil that Donald Saul/Paul Trump
That piece read like a d'var Torah: erudite, enlightening, and compassionate. Yes, a d'var Torah covering Christian learning as much as Jewish. Yasher koach.