A Saturday Quote
"It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined, not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevent, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past, when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion -- its message becomes meaningless."
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man, 1955.
Learn more about Rabbi Heschel's work and life at: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/heschel
"It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined, not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevent, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past, when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion -- its message becomes meaningless."
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man, 1955.
Learn more about Rabbi Heschel's work and life at: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/heschel
posted by FrGaryB | 8:36 AM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the link to a great resource
I am going to have to read "God search for man." I read a book not to long ago called "Conscience: The duty to obey and the duty to disobey, by Rabbi Schulweis." It made me reflect on reasons why I wanted to question doctrine when I was younger. I guess what I needed was a voice of compassion and not of Authority. I have often wondered at what point in history did "anti-religious" begin.
Rabbi Heschel's one of my favorite theologians, Gary. I think "Man Is Not Alone" is arguably his best.
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