The Bible and Western Culture - Part 1 - Isaiah: Turning Swords into Plowshares

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Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

[@cinnamon4605]

It's unbelievable to witness man like Prof Michael Sugrue.

[@CorePathway]

There is brilliant, then there is this guy.

[@ericchristian6710]

I'm smarter

[@Goodalia619]

​@@ericchristian6710 10 comments, all to people who typed almost half a decade ago. Just be quiet and watch the video, the MEN are talking now, little one. 😂

[@ericchristian6710]

@Youcantrespond uh huh

[@joshuamallory8107]

@@ericchristian6710 LOL

[@marcmoretti2502]

I love that Prof Sugrue is able to make extremely complex and challenging writings more understandable and digestible even for a fool like me. This is the sign of a very good teacher and someone that fully understands the material they are speaking on. It also makes re-reading the books on which he speaks more enjoyable than the first mystifying go round.

[@dhilipraja]

After finishing Dr.Robert Sapolsky's lectures, next is Michael Sugrue's. Watching all these videos makes me realize and comprehend the timeline of human decision-making. so Vast.

[@BalvinderSingh-uh3my]

That's how I got here.

[@BigDaddyDru]

@@BalvinderSingh-uh3my I didn’t know that was how I got here until I read these comments…

[@th3giv3r]

Yeah right, you forgot all the info once you were done watching

[@BalvinderSingh-uh3my]

@@BigDaddyDru :-)

[@BalvinderSingh-uh3my]

@@th3giv3r :-)

[@robertopompa_]

This a fountain of knowledge waiting for someone to come by with an empty cup. thank you!

[@wamemomoh3639]

V

[@CorePathway]

My cup was full. Then i heard this guy so I dumped it out and listened.

[@Brainteaser5639]

​@CorePathway 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. You just made me laugh so hard with that full cup being discarded. It must have slatered hopelessly due to shock. Imagine "The Lord God Yahweh is a jealous god, and he declared that he was not happy to share whatever gods harvest at the end of their labour with the others like him. Eventually the others are no more and the few left we people fight each other like hell as if we know the beginning or the end of this weary journey life.

[@bosshog5335]

The best speaker I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.

[@reconnaisance]

Sugrue's breadth of knowledge is impressive. Not only is he well versed with Philosophy, he also has a good grasp of biblical history.

[@jeanratiste]

¡Gracias!

[@ijontichy994]

In addition to all praises so justified in a case of dr. Sugrue I want to add the rare ability to summarize and end his lectures just so beautifully!

[@Hishammahadi1]

You are a gift to humanity.. Thank you Michael Sugrue

[@jileelmcdaniels5549]

One of the best lectures of the decade. History makes a lot more sense in this framework, including the fall of the Romans.

[@thattimestampguy]

0:28 🏈 1:08 Caught between Empires, “Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place.” 2:30 Freedom From Pharoah 4:34 Give Us A King Northern Judah - Taken over by Assyrians Southern Israel 🇮🇱 Divided Kingdoms 7:00 Assyrians: War’s Power 8:49 Prophets 9:19 Chosen People’s Chosen Man, calling for Repentance 10:20 No Shortage of Sin 11:17 They Emerge All The Time 11:45 Palestine is a “Playground for Invading Armies.” 12:39 Dislocated People 13:47 Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah

[@1995yuda]

Thank you, and blessings from Jerusalem ;)

[@lorenzotomescu5123]

Extremely captivating lectures!

[@username1235400]

Cannot thank you enough, professor Sugrue.

[@temitope6830]

Greetings from west africa

[@mechailreydon3784]

Greetings from Southern Africa

[@juglanscinerea]

Greetings from Rhodesia

[@1995yuda]

Greetings from Jerusalem

[@jonbaker2102]

just an amazing man-what a treasure trove of enlightened thought

[@EliteBuildingCompany]

Excellent lecture sir, thanks.

[@mpcc2022]

Nietzsche was accurate in his prognostication of the morality of Judaism as well as an appropriate amount of respect for the cultural success of Jewish people.

[@GayTier1Operator]

i was thinking of him too, especially about the part where israel is small between two mighty powers but creates a moral system in which they’re relevant. classic slave morality

[@olivetalk235]

Thank you Dr.

[@adamcylee]

Greetings from Singapore!

[@jacodelangevandyk]

Thank you

[@MegaFount]

Brilliant lecture. I learned so much. Inspiring and beautifully composed erudition. I sent to friends and family.

[@1995yuda]

Watching from Jerusalem ;)

[@seanhazen7110]

this is such a treat!

[@ryans3001]

Thank you!

[@jacquelinewolf-xw8cs]

What an intellect!

[@mmmar7317]

Fantastic content

[@blairhakamies4132]

So nice. 🌹

[@preciousamaechi5887]

To be honest, this is beautiful

[@thegeneral1583]

fantastic lecture

[@TheModernHermeticist]

RIP Doc

[@TheVigilantEye77]

Our existence is mind blowing

[@gmckart]

Having attended religious schooling, this should be required listening

[@nedalfred6132]

Correction-Judah is the southern kingdom and Israel is the northern kingdom

[@sonofsoweto]

U is so smart, go do the lecture.

[@JH-ji6cj]

@@sonofsoweto please go back to your tik-tok videos. Corrections of (especially) authority figures is extremely important. You probably think everything on Wikipedia is absolute truth as well eh?

[@realeparadiso]

he got it right a few minutes later.

[@alexispa41]

You're literally doing the same thing ​@@JH-ji6cj

[@JH-ji6cj]

@@alexispa41 wrong

[@roundninja]

Fun fact: the political system of rule by judges is known as "kritarchy" or "kritocracy"

[@markvandyke2106]

I love these lectures, but around the 5:00 mark Dr. Sugrue says Judah is the northern kingdom with 10 tribes and Israel is the southern kingdom with 2 tribes. It's the other way around. Judah is the southern kingdom, which (importantly!) contained Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

[@DFwanz]

When he commented on the state of the Hebrews during the weakness of Egypt he really should've capitalized on the pun by saying that they were between "Iraq" and a hard place 6:10

[@TheTheshreyasraj]

😂😂😂

[@livingtoaster1358]

It's the opposite the northern is Israel and Southern is Judah, it's actually important biblically, the view on prophets is very simplistic, if you read the book of Jeremiah, that whole book was written before the events happen and at the end of the book you realize the events that were depicted haven't happened yet, and they're starting to happen and Jeremiah is to bring the book to Babylon to give him the warnings

[@augustinedennis4865]

Well said.

[@WeanedByNineteen]

I was looking to see if anyone noticed he flipped the names.

[@rostikaviel1256]

The land also wasn't called Palestine at the time.

[@mercster]

@@rostikaviel1256 Palestine is indeed the traditional name of the place, it is not referring to the modern "state"... it is cognate with Philistine. No need to get your panties in a bunch.

[@mercster]

Yes, I found it disconcerting he kept saying Judah and Jerusalem were in the north... 😂

[@poptart007-b2r]

the best america has to offer

[@davidfost5777]

I'm always looking for new interesting lectures on Psychology/Philosophy, please let me know if you guys have any recommendations, would be highly appreciated

[@rogerhuynh7782]

The philosophize this podcast is pretty good

[@mordierenokse]

Check out the interviews of Jason Reza Jorjani on New Thinking Allowed. All of them are knowledge fountains unto themselves.

[@cheri238]

"The Redbook," Libra Novus edited and with an Introduction by Sonu Shamdasani

[@patrickkilroy6512]

I'm trying to be sparing in which one of these videos I add to my Favourites playlist, but I can't help adding them all

[@Ionic457]

epic.

[@StephenDix]

This would make great content for an aspiring animator. Or an AI in 2024.

[@preciousamaechi5887]

Not this AI madness again

[@nhatnamphan9694]

1. Prophet is basic culture of monotheism, Yahweh 2. Imanual mean God related 3. Rebuiding Jerusalem is project of western religion Grateful ❤

[@mpcc2022]

Morality was the weapon of the ancient Jew against the military might of the ancient world, 2021 Judea won. Nietzsche really understood history and human psychology.

[@christinemartin63]

Suspenseful, mysterious, horrific, cautionary--just like a really good thriller. Truth? Nah. Just a good sci-fi story. (Nevertheless, a beautifully presented lecture--bravo for that, Professor!)

[@stephenfegely]

Amen

[@jacquiecotillard9699]

Does anyone know what Lectures 2-3 are? There’s Gilgamesh, 2, 3, Job, and Isaiah

[@davidconroy8554]

I live in a hostel and it is a microcosm of the Universe. So was Rome, a macrocosm, even more so. What is the binary you use, Jerusalem or Athens? I think it helps with understanding if we interpret the opposites. Like for example it's not hard to know whose Jurisdiction Africa and in particular Egypt falls under.

[@davidconroy8554]

But the polarity is interchangeable, for example Hagia Sofia and Constantinople/Istanbul . It sits on a big energy line.

[@mpcc2022]

Jordan Peterson definitely borrowed from Michael Sugrue's work.

[@realeparadiso]

Jordan Peterson borrowed everything he's ever said, but badly and wrongly. Listen to actual educated intellectuals like Dr.Sugrue, not social media pretenders.

[@VinnieSajan]

Phew...this is complex...or rather it's quite a lot to take in. Will have re-listen to it later.

[@arashraassi]

🙏🏻💎✨️

[@JimmyFatz]

Hmmm there is a little overdub there, I think... right? 5:40

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

As far as I know there are no overdubs in any lecture.

[@JimmyFatz]

@@dr.michaelsugrue Huh. I picked up on a shift in the tone of voice as I listened and went back to take a look. I thought I picked up on another at around 7:07 an overdubbing of 'Isreal' while it looks like you say 'Jewish' and then a video cut. Something's up with those Assyrians overrunning/dominating the Jewish people. Anyway, doesn't matter. Don't want to go around starting conspiracy theories, lol. Much love and respect.

[@mercster]

Thanks very much... concerned however that you kept saying Judah/Jerusalem was in the north? Israel was the 10 northern tribes, Judah was southern...

[@mercster]

Man... too much gbook learnin', studying what men have said about the Bible, and not enough familiarity with the actual Bible. You can always tell when someone doesn't really grasp the Bible... they consider the Old Testament some inscrutable mess. Christians who understand the old testament chapter by chapter and verse by verse, in conjunction with the new, are rare... but they're out there. And they aren't teaching in some uniiversity's history dept. Ahh well, ya can't win 'em all.

[@matthewdennis9044]

I really enjoy your lectures Sir. However you made a mistake. Israel was the north, and Judah was the south. Still love the lecture and all the other ones I’ve seen on your channel 🫡

[@terencem723]

He passed away in January 2024. May he RIP. Incredible and brilliant man. An intellectual giant.

[@cheri238]

January 16, 2024 🙏❤️

[@kristinades9215]

For instance the prophet Jonah “called for repentance”, while wishing that repentance would never happen to Nineveh.

[@reginaldokeke8354]

I've been watching a lot of Dr Sugrue's lectures and I can't help but wonder what he calls himself, like what sort philosophical, religious or intellectual labels he claims; is he a Christian, a Marxist, an Nihilist, a Kantian or something else? Please honour me with a response.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I am a Christian and Platonist

[@reginaldokeke8354]

@@dr.michaelsugrue thank you.

[@realeparadiso]

@@dr.michaelsugrue A Christian as in Jesus is literally the son of god and saviour of souls?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

A Christian as in I learned from Jesus and I hear the message and I believe. What I believe is so heterodox that my Christian friends often regard me as more Socratic than Christian.

[@DefyingFate77]

34:30 michael heiser Deuteronomy 32 world view and psalm 82.

[@zbyszeks3657]

Level of inadequacy is astonishing. It's the northern kingdom which was Israel and southern kingdom was created later and called eventually Judea where Jerusalem lies. The Israel was defeated first. Then Babilonians defeated and deported people of Judea.

[@JustinLivingstondesign]

Are all lectures titled Part 1? I don't see other parts...

[@ReflectiveJourney]

Now...

[@nightoftheworld]

22:43 Well, what do you make of Zizek’s reading of the lesson of Job here? He claims that the way the book tends to be interpreted is that God puts him in his place by underscoring Job’s cosmic insignificance: _’who are you to question me who created everything?’_ Rather, Zizek reads God’s reaction here as a revelation of lack: _”The key to Christ is provided by the figure of Job, whose suffering prefigures that of Christ. The almost unbearable impact of the ‘Book of Job’ resides not so much in its narrative frame (the Devil appears in it as a conversational partner of God, and the two engage in a rather cruel experiment in order to test Job's faith), but in its final outcome. Far from providing some kind of satisfactory account of Job's undeserved suffering, God's appearance at the end ultimately amounts to pure boasting, a horror show with elements of farcical spectacle-a pure argument of authority grounded in breathtaking display of power: ‘You see all what I can do? Can you do this? Who are you then to complain?’ So what we get is neither the good God letting Job know that his suffering is just an ordeal destined to test his faith, nor a dark God beyond Law, the God of pure caprice, but rather a God who acts as someone caught in the moment of impotence, weakness at least, and tries to escape his predicament by empty boasting. What we get at the end is a kind of cheap Hollywood horror show with lots of special effects [...] As such, the Book of Job provides what is perhaps the first exemplary case of the critique of ideology in the human history, laying bare the basic discursive strategies of legitimizing suffering: Job's properly ethical dignity resides in the way he persistently detects the notion that his suffering can have any meaning, either punishment for his past sins or the trial of his faith, against the three theologians who bombard him with possible meanings-and, surprisingly, God takes his side at the end, claiming that every word that Job spoke was true, while every word of the three theologians was false.”_ - *The Act and its Vicissitudes,* Lacan Online

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I read this to my Dad. He laughed and said "Job learned his lesson and put his hand over his mouth and YHWH approved, because learning to shut up is the beginning of wisdom. Reducing the OT to Job and projecting his own chatty self onto Jesus is not interesting and I am a busy man."

[@nightoftheworld]

Michael Sugrue Yes obviously Job submits to God’s authoritative outburst but I don’t see the ultimate lesson here as _learning to shut up.._ I see Zizek’s deeper point being that the explosion of a father at their child is indicative of “being caught in a moment of one’s weakness” and trying to cover over it. Job insists on meaninglessness and to his horror discovers that he’s right-that it falls upon him ultimately to accept and move himself beyond misfortunes in life. The lesson being one of ultimate (albeit unsettling) freedom. Perhaps his “restoration” at the end of the story is symbolic of his acceptance/peace with this revelation of deep responsibility/freedom.

[@michaelprenez-isbell8672]

@@dr.michaelsugrue is your dad a professor or theologian?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

@@michaelprenez-isbell8672 Dad laughed when I read him this. He has a PhD in American history, but he taught history, philosophy, literature, religion, politics at the university level. He said that this question is a harsh indictment. He said Melville was right, we know of God as much as oysters know of the sun and that our species is as suited to theology as mollusks are to astrophysics. He added that he thinks apart from the STEM subjects, most professors are worse than useless and the proof is that they unable to educate themselves, much less anybody else. Resentment combined with entitlement yields cultural vandalism.

[@michaelprenez-isbell8672]

@@dr.michaelsugrue thank you, Michael. I’ve been taking your courses since 1992. You come from an amazing family.

[@wayneosaur]

God did initialy not want them to have kings -- he glossed this point. Southern tribes / Jerusalem is Judah, Northern tribes are Israel (Ephraim) -- he got this backwards.

[@StephenDix]

6:23 with Mesopotamia on one side and Egypt on the other, Palestine is between Iraq and a hard place. 😂

[@Contra7311]

wow. as long as you follow God's law you are in Jerusalem

[@mega4171]

The fact that there’s a separation of a god covenant and a human covenant implies that humans have some sort of power of will independent of gods power/knowing. Seems contradictory to the idea of omnipotence and omniscience lol. Guess this is why they say don’t question god and that logic/ hubris is the product of Satan. Riddled with contradictions which takes away much if not all of the gravitas that was intended for these stories. In my opinion.

[@kevinburke3478]

Unbelievably he reverses the two kingdoms. Israel is northern kingdom, Judah the south.

[@paigerasmussen5212]

Imagine making a mistake

[@jt2465]

Was there an Israel back back then??

[@paigerasmussen5212]

@@jt2465 the Kingdom of, yes

[@jt2465]

@@paigerasmussen5212 enlighten me...thought it wasn't call Israel until 1948. Was it called Israel? Back back then?

[@paigerasmussen5212]

@@jt2465 You're thinking of the nation-state

[@e7m10]

6:20 “Between Iraq and a hard place.” I see what you did there Mr. Sugrue. Well played. 😉👉

[@deponensvogel7261]

I don't know if you're joking at this point, but a rock ain't Iraq.

[@BodyEchoProductions]

I thought this would be more of a critical analysis as opposed to simple telling of the all too familiar story

[@kristinades9215]

I believe a prophet is more acutely described as someone who was believed to “hear” God. It is noteworthy that good and bad prophets are described in the Old Testament.

[@drbonesshow1]

Isaiah Thomas was the 1st Isaiah of Basketball.

[@orions221]

If church was like this with actual historical and contextual explanations of the stories, I would go every Sunday. Instead it’s just dogmatic bullshit that tells people to stop thinking for themselves

[@dr.laurawil402]

Exactly. He should have been a humanistic televangelist.

[@davidconroy8554]

Cats and dogs, sheep and goats.......but if Reason can be used to get the orchestra of the mind to play in harmony at an individual level, the same applies for the collective. Reason and an organising idea. All agree on a common goal and let all our actions be directed towards that. Of course that's a bit off, because even though the orchestra plays in harmony we still have to be subject to temptation, otherwise there is no free will. What did Hume say? There is no freedom of choice if there is no freedom to refuse. That sounds a little democratic and how can we really have a democracy when people are motivated by their desires and aversions. But we can have ideological segregation , basically a goat herd as opposed to a Shepard and lead by example. No force or coercion, a Republic across borders in which people can be a part of their own volition. But obviously no sheep. Only those that exist as things in themselves.

[@zacharycat603]

I like all of his lectures, but I should mention that few (if any) archaeologists now believe that the Hebrews were ever enslaved in Egypt. “Scholars have known these things for a long time, but we’ve broken the news very gently,” said William Dever, a professor of Near Eastern archeology and anthropology at the University of Arizona. Dever, a former Protestant minister who converted to Judaism 12 years ago, says he still gets “hissed and booed” when he speaks about the lack of evidence for the Exodus, and regularly receives letters and calls offering prayers or telling him he’s headed for hell.

[@frmm123]

The map always shows Judah in the south, but great lecture nonetheless.

[@jameshunt6414]

Aincent Israel was between Iraq and a hard place.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

Puns are the lowest form of humor other than American political leadership.

[@jameshunt6414]

@@dr.michaelsugrue I'm afraid I'm British and bad puns are rather a sport here. I do apologise.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I must apologize to you for the dire humor of American politics. I have announced that I am running for president on the surrealist party ticket. My campaign slogan will be "No worse than the rest"

[@jameshunt6414]

@dr.michaelsugrue I hope it goes well. My general impression is that it's a thankless job with a lot of constraints that make it hard to make positive change, yet simultaneously a strain on whoever has the position. My first thought is of genuine concern for your health, but as I say I hope it goes well and that you are able to have some positive effect either just by running, or in the event that you win. I don't fancy your chances though, you seem relatively sane and normal, it doesn't seem to be the sort of thing the public goes for.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

Dr. Staloff will be my VP running mate. His campaign slogan is catchy: "WTF Did You Expect? Biden/Trump 2024: Better Than We Deserve"

[@user-vg5db4pv6t]

At 5 minutes. I thought the northern group of tribes are Israel and Southern Judah. Someone explain?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

You're right I lost the wrong tribes

[@spectrumto8521]

@@dr.michaelsugrue micheal

[@freudianslip2534]

This is lecture 5 of part 1

[@Charmagh110]

24:13

[@DJKinney]

Between "Iraq" and a hard place! Nice.

[@deponensvogel7261]

It saddens me to say this, but Sugrue displays an enormous ignorance on Isreali (if you will) history here. That he doesn't know which of the two, in fact, historical kingdoms of Israel and Judah is North and which is South unfortunately appears not as a misspeak but an instance of, again, ignorance. Additionally, it is quite strange how much of the purported Jewish history codified in the Bible is taken at face value (from the Exodus to judges and the unified kingdom and so on), although I don't know how much of today's research on the matter was available when these lectures were recorded.

[@drbonesshow1]

The funeral director of philosophy.

[@davidconroy8554]

The unexamined life is not worth living.

[@jakespatz4474]

Sugrue’s philosophy lectures are pretty solid, but this one has a lot of mistakes.

[@pinklemon-m5v]

Thanks for letting us know.

[@user-ce2le8ml9y]

The Assyrians were noble

[@jenna2431]

The whole "Chosen People" referent is off-putting when you're telling this as an actual record of history, rather than a collection of literature.

[@1995yuda]

History, not literature.

[@drbonesshow1]

What about the Abalonians? They enjoyed abalone.

[@TomerBenDavid]

נייס!

[@fixthisdog]

Between iraq and a hard place

[@erickbodett7693]

Woah woah woah!! YHWH DEFINITELY has an issue with moving getting judges to kings. He is NOT ok with it. But he allows it. He warned the people of the consequences of such a shortsighted move but the people chose it anyway

[@TheOneUpright]

The name Palestine first appeared in ancient Greek literature in the 5th century BCE. The name has long been associated with anti-Semitism since the ancient Philistines were conquered and forced into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The name was established by Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD as a punitive measure following the Bar Kokhba revolt. It's worth noting that no nation or state called Palestine ever existed, and the modern-day Arabs have no connection to the ancient Philistines. Referring to the pre-5th century BCE land of Israel as Palestine is not only historically inaccurate but also carries a political bias.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I'll trade you an imaginary ancient history for a real modern one. I said a bad word thirty years ago, because in 1993 people were unaware that the culture would implode and be replaced by a cybernetic Red Guard. In this case, the bad word was "Palestine", which you claim has been "associated with anti-Semitism" for 2800 years since the Assyrians conquered the Philistines (along with ten of the twelve tribes of Israel). Alas, the Assyrians conquered dozens of peoples and there is zero evidence that they had any particular animus towards Jews and Philistines greater than they had towards, say, Egyptians and Persians. "Assyrian anti Semitism" is ahistorical make believe. The fact that you believe antisemitism to be "associated" with the 700BC Assyrian war machine is not a reference to historical reality but to the current Kabuki theatre which has supplanted serious political thinking. You may have a group of people like you who believe in this "association" with anti-semitism, but this has no influence on historical reality and no matter how many people may believe that the Assyrians were "associated" with ice cream, Donald Trump or electric cars, it is a lie. For real conflict with real antisemites, scroll down the comments in my Frankfurt School lecture. Let me help clarify your hypocrisy. Referring to the pre-5th century "BCE" rather than the "BC" (which was current when the lecture was cut) is not only historically inaccurate but also carries an anti Christian political bias. There is nothing "common" about the "common era" the Chinese, the Aztecs, the Arabs among others had vastly different calendars and ideas about marking time. "BCE" is not common it is provincial. It is ad hoc Newspeak, recently created to obscure the Christian origins of our Western calendar and reckoning of time. I won't use it. Physician, heal thyself.

[@donaldmusabelliu2267]

​@@dr.michaelsugruegod how much I love your brain

[@hemdanissan9289]

​@@dr.michaelsugrue There is no counry named Palestine in the Hebrew Bible. None whatsoever. There is Canaan, there is the land of Israel. No Palestine is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. That's a fact.

[@paulsolon6229]

The chosen people The promised land Ugh

[@1995yuda]

Sorry your feelings were hurt, snowflake.

[@davidfost5777]

I'm always looking for new interesting lectures on Psychology/Philosophy, please let me know if you guys have any recommendations, would be highly appreciated

[@jimcook1747]

Godsplaining, Pints with Aquinas, and Reason and Theology are good.

[@nanashi7779]

@@jimcook1747 A catholic huh?

[@jimcook1747]

@@nanashi7779 Huh?