Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Introductory Post – What This Blog Is All About

I am thrilled to announce that a good friend of mine who has attended Harvard Divinity School has agreed to lead an online course on the Philosophy Of Religion.

This course will work as follows. We will target the magnum opus of great religious thinkers. We will have one week to read the assigned pages. Usually it will be one chapter, depending on it’s depth, complexity and length.

Then we will write an essay describing his or her main points and whether or not, and why, we agree or disagree.

Then you will post your essay on this website for our “Professor” to grade as well as for commentators and fellow enthusiasts to share their thoughts on your insights.

Think of this as somewhere between a Doctorate college course in Philosophy Of Religion and a warm and friendly book club. After the completion of each book I will be throwing a party and the pizza and beer is on me! (Not literally, please! This is after all a genteel philosophy course not a wild pizza and beer fight! Well, the more I think about it the more that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea after all our intense thinking. ;-)

Everyone is welcome to join. Please send me an email so I can send you an invite.

We will be starting with:

God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism - Abraham Joshua Heschel

In no particular order, here are some of the other great works that we would like to cover. If you have suggestions for a book please add it to the list.

Horeb – By Samson Raphael Hirsch
A philosophy of Jewish laws and observances. Translated by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld

The Lonely Man Of Faith - Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

Halachic Man - Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World's Oldest Religion - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them - by Ammiel Hirsch (Author), Yaakov Yosef Reinman (Author)

No comments: