Judaism

Shiva

S1 E4 Wendy Doniger on Hinduism

October 25, 2018 Dale atheism, God, Hinduism, Judaism, pantheism Comments Off on S1 E4 Wendy Doniger on Hinduism

On Hinduism by Wendy DonigerDr. Wendy Doniger’s On Hinduism is a sort of captstone on an epic career exploring Hindu literature, religion, and history.

In this conversation we discuss a number of themes from the book, including her own religious background, common misconceptions about Hinduism, the caste system, orientalism, the so-called “Hindu Trinity,” Hindu nationalism, a controversy in India over the charge that she committed blasphemy, goddess worship and its relationship to the status of women, non-violence, how Western cultures have influenced recent Hindu thought, and reincarnation.


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The Hindus - An Alternative History - Wendy Doniger

Maurycy Gottlieb - Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur - detail

S1 E3 Amy-Jill Levine on The Jewish Annotated New Testament

October 20, 2018 Dale Christian Bible, Christianity, Jewish Bible, Judaism Comments Off on S1 E3 Amy-Jill Levine on The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd Ed.Typically religious scholars will comment on the scriptures of their own religion. But sometimes, bold scholars will go where others fear to tread, commenting the scriptures of another religion. The situation is all the more sensitive when historically, one religion branched off of the other.

 

This episode of Thinking About Religion is a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, co-editor of The Jewish Annotated New Testament, a “study Bible” edition of the New Testament featuring lengthy commentary and essays by (non-Christian) Jewish scholars.

 

Among other things we discuss faith, clashing interpretations of scripture, misconceptions about Judaism, conversion, humor in the Bible, and the theological significance of local thunder during the interview.

 

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S1 E5 – Andrei Buckareff on Alternative Concepts of God

August 28, 2018 Dale atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, God, Hinduism, Judaism, naturalism, panentheism, pantheism, philosophy Comments Off on S1 E5 – Andrei Buckareff on Alternative Concepts of God

Dr. Andrei Buckareff and some of his co-authors are convinced that in recent times philosophers of religion have been too traditional, focusing too much of their attention on an understanding of God as a perfect creator of the cosmos who is distinct from that cosmos, someone who created it out of nothing.

To remedy this many of them propose that God just is the cosmos (pantheism) or that God is like a soul and the cosmos is God’s body (panentheism).

As it’s philosophy, though, intellectual diversity is on display; other authors criticize such views, or explore alternatives within or outside of traditional theistic theologies.

In this wide-ranging interview, we hear about this ongoing research project, some of these alternative concepts of God (i.e. the unique, ultimate reality), and what motivates such explorations.