Dogma & Theology - Life of Brian | Renegade Cut

[@teodora9280]

My humanities / philosophy teacher in high school often used Monty Python as a tool for demonstrating concepts. The one that stuck most in my memory is the scene from Holy Grail where they decide whether the woman is a witch, which served as an example of logical fallacies. And I still remember the time when we watched Life of Brian in a dark classroom with the summer sunshine peeking through the blinds. We did a lot of school plays too using Monty Python's sketches. I just think it has a timeless place in education, there's never too much sceptical humor in a young person's life.

[@Majorwindy]

Same happened here. Exactly that scene too

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

[@furryash8388]

Beat me to it.

[@tipsyviewer1495]

This is one of my favorite movies, mainly because it‘s satirizing the ones who take religion way to seriously and can’t think for themselves unless it has to do with defending their religion. Not religion as a whole, and I’m an atheist. Also you’re one of best film critics I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. You’re really showing off that literature teacher experience in these videos.

[@MST3Kfan1]

Hands down, the best summation of religion: “Now, F**k off!!” “How shall we f**k off, oh Lord?” Sheer brilliance.

[@danmenard6917]

Heh, we performed a stage version of Life of Brian when I was in elementary school. Catholic elementary school. Ironic.

[@lucamcardle729]

There are no Catholics in the movie

[@Pretermit_Sound]

@@lucamcardle729 he didn’t say there were. WTF 😳

[@curiousworld7912]

I enjoy all of your discussions - whether they're about religion, or not. And as a person of faith, I find your assessments on the nature and practice of belief to be both thoughtful and provocative - in the best way. In 'Life of Brian', Monty Python makes wonderful points on the dangers and, well, laziness of adhering to dogma without question and they do it with great humor. Again, I think many people confuse belief and certainty - if you're 'certain', then questioning becomes heresy. But, I think one should constantly be questioning and reassessing what it is they profess to believe - isn't that how we (hopefully) arrive at maturity?

[@minski76]

Blessed are the cheese makers!

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

He's not a Philosopher, he's a very naughty boy!

[@wildhias6195]

I agree with your view of the overlapping of theology and philosophy, theology (apart from so called natural theology) is reason based and systematic thinking on the basis of dogmatic fundamentals (=claimed revelation). philosophy does not have fixed dogmas like the existence of an all powerful entity, but still every single philosopher and every philosophizing culture needs presuppositions and axioms without which no philosophy is possible - so in my opinion philosophy can't start from total skepticism - so the difference is one of degree

[@TheNotoriousBTG]

I was not allowed to watch "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" growing up because according to my mom "They show Jesus naked in it!" I've tried for years to tell her that she's thinking if "Life of Brian," but to no avail. Also, obviously it's not Jesus, but Brian.

[@Pretermit_Sound]

That’s the perfect example of what dogmatic thinking can do to a person. The possibility of being wrong about something, becomes an impossible thing to even consider. It’s a mental slavery of sorts 😞

[@ShirDeutch]

This is an analysis worthy of Jehova!

[@bladfadsfblaadsfsadf900]

Look! Look! He said it again! You're only making it worse for yourself!

[@CassandraPantaristi]

@@bladfadsfblaadsfsadf900 Jehovah Jehovah Jehovah! *dances around*

[@melissamarsh2219]

Who threw that?

[@bratpeki]

@@melissamarsh2219 HER! HER! HER-Mmmmm... Him! Him! Him!

[@renegadecut9875]

"Why are so many episodes about God?" Fair question. Answer: Because so many movies are. Blame the western canon. :) I work by commission. If you want to watch an episode that has nothing to do with God, buy a request, and make sure that movie is wholly secular. Nearly all episodes are paid requests. That is how Renegade Cut works and stays afloat. This is primarily a philosophy show. If the movie is about God, I'm not going to avoid talking about God. There have been seventeen episodes this year so far. Only five have broached that subject, and I believe all have tackled different topics related to the main subject: premillennial dispensationalism, the problem of evil, atheism, omnitemporalism and dogma. All separate and distinct topics even if they are all in some way related to God. Engage chill. Thank you.

[@justinapetrus]

engage chill :) stealing that

[@danielallen3454]

Leon and the Pythons. This is going to be good!

[@DFloyd84]

Sounds like a jazz band.

[@JasonBeam7]

Another excellent analysis, Leon. And the fact you're doing my favorite comedy makes it better.

[@renegadecut9875]

Thank you.

[@TheBeird]

This and The Long Good Friday with Bob Hoskins are Easter traditions for me. Never understood why this flick became so controversial, other than a lack of communication. Which ironically, is one of the film's themes

[@jimmyl324]

Love life of Brian !

[@paulmitchum8658]

There's a great video you can find on KZbin where the Palin and Cleese dismantle some church leaders on a BBC TV morning chat show over this film.

[@davidbrizuela1042]

Life of Brian and the Holy Grail are both masterpieces

[@SpoopySquid]

He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy!

[@justinandalama2883]

How about metaphysics and witchcraft??

[@leandrocesar5207]

Tfw Leon talks about your third favorite movie

[@yuzzem64]

What a crazy coincidence I just watched this movie for the first time last week!

[@couch_potato1914]

one of the best movies i’ve ever watched, a true masterclass in satire 🤣🤣🤣

[@allanolley4874]

Aquinas's position is further complicated since he took premises like the existence of God (a first cause, organizing principle of reality and so on) as a preamble to faith that was subject to proof (hence his five proofs of God's existence summaed in the Summa Theologica). Certainty is not necessarily antithetical to all philosophy, many philosopher I think would admit a certainty and indefeasibility to theorems proven in logic and mathematics, but one can still philosophize about such things despite the room for doubt being narrow (you could always wonder if you miscalculated or if some other proof would reveal an inconsistency but this is thin gruel compared to the sort of open skepticism where you begin with an open moral or naturlistic question like what is virtue? or what is matter? etc. Philosophy around theorems is more about things like what they mean and how we know them, not doubting their basis. I am reminded that Epictetus the stoic in his handbook identified the practice of philosophy into three parts, acting on the propositions (it is wrong to hold to falsehoods), explicating propositions (what one does in not holding to falsehoods) and proving propositions (prove that it is wrong to hold to falsehoods) and that the most important was to act, then to explicate and then to prove, but that most people did it backwards and were so obsessed with proving or disproving propositions that they never explicate them much less act on them (so the spend all their time arguing about whether or not lying is wrong, with no chance they will ever avoid lying etc.). While an extreme take there is a worry that people who study ethics are no more ethical than anyone else for example, but surely your theoretical ethics should somehow inform your actual personal ethical conduct. I''m sure that is a theme that has come up in more than a few movies (I sort of think there is already a Renegade cut on it). Anyway, Francis Bacon suggests "if a man will begin in certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but if he be content to begin with doubts, and have patience a while, he shall end in certainties." Not sure if that is true but your suggestion of the contrast between doubt and certainty as a distinct feature between philosophy and theology reminded me of it (or at least a fragment of it, Google did the rest).

[@BethDiane]

Do you know the song "Individuals" from Not the Messiah? There's a version of it where Eric Idle does an amazing rip-off of Bob Dylan.

[@punXnap]

Does anyone in this comment section feel like a little giggle, when I mention my friend... biggus... dickus

[@BipolarBowler]

2:08 Phil Collins Jesus

[@TheBestCommenterEVER]

greatest comedy of all time. by far.

[@strawberryfields9762]

Yasss I’m so ready😂

[@cameronmclennan942]

I could not focus at all on the commentary while watching the clips - giggling way too much 😂

[@nerdommeetsboy]

Misread this as Dogme & Theology

[@reeeeeee3966]

Am I the only one who was absolutely confused on what was going on? Like the alien scene?

[@shamtactics4712]

“The Biblical Accession” and or other UFO religions that arrived at that time. Ancient people believed strange things.

[@tommythomas5970]

Gourdists and Shoeists.... Hilarious.

[@Inspiration_Date]

But what about the aliens?

[@WikiSorcerer]

Theology try to justify God's Almightiness. Philosophy puts God's Almightiness under scrutiny. (I mean, there is more to it then that, but it sounds good on a t-shirt.)

[@bilgriffin]

Romanes eunt domus!

[@TheArkman360]

Romani ite domum

[@jule8280]

The movie makes fun of Jesus indirectly.

[@supermegadrive64]

I always thought this movie was a satire of leftist movements, which is why I never liked it

[@jeanmichel5723]

It kinda is

[@anon9753]

It also satirises the Right- the whole “you lucky bastard” sequence mocks the attitudes of dogmatic conservatives. A good satirist should be nobody’s friend; this is one of the reasons that the film is a masterpiece.