Spoiler Warning: Brothers Karamazov!!

There is no way I’m going to finish Part IV of the Brothers Karamazov in time to post anything about it today. I just finished reading Ivan’s encounter with the devil which was highly entertaining. I had stumbled upon this YouTube video at the beginning of the book and was unable to appreciate it. But after having read the passage, I have a much better appreciation for it. It’s from a Russian film directed by Ivan Pryrev (who died during the filming) and was directed by Kirill Lavrov who also played both Ivan and Ivan’s devil. Very interesting clip even if you don’t understand Russian but have read the passage in the book.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKZB2Zn5O8&hl=en&fs=1]

Huston Smith wrote The Soul of Christianity in response to having read Marcus Borg’s The Heart of Christianity. I don’t know exactly what Smith’s issues with Borg’s book was, but this video on FORA.tv is supposed to be a discussion about the differences in their points of view. Seems to me they were singing each other’s praises much more than they were debating. But it’s still an interesting discussion. It’s about an hour long but you can shave off 10 minutes if you skip the intros.

I have been on a Huston Smith kick of late. I’m getting my dates messed up lately - my husband and I attended one of his lectures either last year or the year before. (We went to a Richard Rohr lecture the same year - that was a great year for me - whichever one it was!!) Huston Smith is frail and elderly these days (he’s 88). But his mind is as sharp as ever. And he’s just one of those people who genuinely seems very centered with a smile on his face and twinkle in his eye. He’s never defensive - just straight forward. And what an interesting guy. He was part of the whole Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Alan Ginsberg clan and ended up a professor of religion at MIT.

Could you imagine teaching religion at MIT? Especially since he firmly believes that there are limitations to science that scientists are unwilling to recognize. It’s not a matter of facts to Smith, it’s a matter of world views and science claims to be the only worthy world view, leaving no room for anything but itself. He also has a problem with modern theologians because he says many have acquiesced to scientism. I think this is part of his problem with Marcus Borg although I watched a film that was supposed to be a debate between them and they were primarily singing each others praises. Supposedly, Smith wrote the Soul of Christianity to counter Borg’s Heart of Christianity so I’m sure I’ll be reading those sometime soon.

I bought the Bill Moyer’s Emmy award winning PBS series - Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith. There are 5 episodes and I had to pay over $100 to get it!! It had been on my “want” list for years. So I’m making my way through that. And I am almost finished with Why Religion Matters and am somewhat wowed by it!! Something I found interesting and somewhat surprising is that Smith endorses Ken Wilber’s work while claiming to have issues with the ideas espoused by The Jesus Seminar which was started by John Dominic Crossan and Robert Funk and includes Marcus Borg (although he claimed to appreciate The Last Week which was written by Crossan and Borg).

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so excited about a scholar (although he claims he isn’t a scholar but rather a communicator of religion) so I’m sure I’ll be posting more after I finish the book and as I make my way through the series.

Also, if you are interested, here is the link for the “debate” between Borg and Smith which really wasn’t much of a debate. (It’s over an hour long.)

I read The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan during Easter. I had bought it at the Mysticism, Empowerment and Resistance conference in Austin last year. I found a film of a Borg lecture where he concisely summarizes much of The Last Week and then moves on to the ideas of mysticism, empowerment, resistance and advocacy later. His hope is to get people to realize how political Jesus’ message was and how different these politics are than the politics of most American Christians. Lots of good content if you are interested in getting a feel for Borg’s theology/philosophy.

This film is about 45 minutes and you can shave off 10 minutes by skipping the intros. (go straight to chapter 3).

Marcus Borg on fora.tv