Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel

[@johbitterman]

Thank you so much for featuring my favorite contemporary author. She is so loving, humble and sane, and also--as you point out--keenly attuned to the beauty all around us that so often passes unnoticed. Reading Robinson, I often remember C.S. Lewis writing in "Mere Christianity": "The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature." In Robinson's case, Lewis might have said, "GREAT literature." If one is looking for a theme of redemption couched in magnificent prose, one need look no further than to the works of Marilyn Robinson.

[@Zan1T2]

at mark 10:30 "You will have to live with your mind everyday of your life so make sure you have a mind that you want to live with".... ...."Find things that are beautiful. Expose yourself to them at length. Give them preferential attention"....."This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it"

[@Edo9River]

I greatly appreciate following Ezra from week to week. We are companions on the road toegeeher. We can disagree or not, but the importance is to think and be real

[@Unmoved12345]

Klein says at around 48:30 that he struggles to think of Israel as a Jewish state, that he’s always identified with diasporic Judaism, exilic Judaism, the Judaism of the wander / stranger, and he wonders what having a state does to people. Unfortunately for him, much of the Hebrew bible is focused precisely on the idea of creating a people in its own state. So if he wants to give a pass to that, it’s probably best to stay away from the bible.

[@susann7305]

Excellent

[@stephenbonaduce7852]

An awful lot of anthropomorphizing an entity here, which, if it even exists, is unlikely to have any characteristics recognizable to humans--including human gender. Also ignoring logical implications of various statements in support of the desired narrative, which is typical of religious belief structures.

[@xtrapnel68]

God is not A being, but the ground of all being, which can encompass a humanish identity if necessary, I assume.

[@stephenbonaduce7852]

@@xtrapnel68, interesting response. And I don't mean my question back to you to sound impertinent; in other words, I'm asking honestly: how do you know what the nature of God is? I'll grant you that I used the word "entity" with no real assurance it applies; can't the same be said for your idea? Like you, I would assume that God can do anything "he" wants. And normally, I would start asking WHY he is doing something--but that get us into the whole problem that I saw throughout the interview: this author seems to know an awful lot about God's intentions and motivations--which probably line up coincidentally well with her own values--and I just find that to be standard religious malarkey.

[@stephenbonaduce7852]

@@4greendeep6, what you're saying is that your God is literally anything and everything--essentially, the entire universe and everything in it. Which is fine if that's what floats your boat, since nothing can be proven about a purported God. But that doesn't imply any kind of consciousness or connection. From what I can see, the universe operates by random chance and doesn't care if humanity--or any other species--lives or dies, much less how individuals have sex or what we choose for dinner.

[@donnagjoka2587]

Beauty it's a prototype.. everyone have some.. everywhere we can see .. or read. Just my eyes and my mind it's completely different than others.. I am not religious but I think we don't do good to connect what happened in life for good or bad with God*.. humans have a power to makes Extra ordinary good thing and bad sides of darkness destroyed.. it's human nature... Thx

[@berniemadoff9688]

Bronze Medal Comment 🥉

[@hadiza1]

💜

[@seanvalentine4198]

Um did Ezra say he thinks one person wrote the Torah?

[@m.a.b.4104]

Pretty sure no, thought he said many hands while being a bit vague as to not say too directly that it isn't a direct work of God (as to not offend some people's religious beliefs). I think Ezra most likely believes and may have said previously that the Torah and the old and new testaments were all written over multiple lifetimes. This is also what I believe.

[@gracerodgers8952]

Nun-sense 😂❤

[@yoelmarson4049]

Ezra it’s a shame that you use every opportunity to differentiate yourself from Israel, to emphasise how terrible Israel is in an otherwise perfect world and in this one even to question the continuity of the Bible to Israel. Hope this wins you friends and more privilege. Shame

[@m.a.b.4104]

"to emphasise how terrible Israel is in an otherwise perfect world"? Completely false. To take that from Ezra's work is either delusional or deceitful. In the theme of this episode, I see plenty of beauty has come out of modern Israel, alongside everything else. But without humility, self criticism and necessary change, the future will get exceedingly dark. I was horrified by the October 7th massacre and wish with all my heart that anything remotely similar never happens to the people of Israel ever again (and any people for that matter). But the course the Israeli government has taken will only lead to more tragedy, not less. I want to see the state of Israel continue to bring beauty into the world and healthy criticism is vital for this.

[@yoelmarson4049]

@@m.a.b.4104 thanks for your reply. I pray and hope for the same change

[@yoelmarson4049]

@@m.a.b.4104 thanks. Would be nice to hear alternatives to the actions Israel has taken too

[@monazaneefer]

"Israel" cannot continue to establish itself on the bones and blood of Palestinians.