“In order to teach a course in the history of Western religious thought, I had to do a great deal of research in the writings within the Judaic and Christian traditions and I was astonished to find in those writings philosophical thought of great power and sophistication. These writings completely blew away all my opinions about what I had taken to be the irrationality or immaturity of religious ideas, opinions which were and still are fashionable in many intellectual and literary circles today.” WritingTodayChristianReligiousOpinionTeachTakenIntellectualTraditionPhilosophicalWesternFashionableGreat PowerSophisticationImmaturityIrrationality Author:Jacob Needleman
“As my personal explorations continued, I experienced this quality of inner reality more and more and could no longer doubt that the meaning of God lay in this direction. At the same time, these undeniable experiences lit up and were in turn illuminated by all the philosophical and historical knowledge I had by then amassed and I began to understand in an entirely new way the teachings of both Judaism and Christianity as well as the teachings of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.” RealityQualityChristianityDoubtTeachingBuddhismPhilosophicalHistoricalIslamExplorationHinduismJudaismLit Author:Jacob Needleman
“As to how I would guide someone who is confused about the idea of God, I would suggest that he or she begins identifying what one might called "philosophical friends," - people with whom one could seriously examine our thought about God through listening to each other, reading important and useful books together and trying to think for oneself while familiarizing oneself with the ideas of some of the world's great thinkers. Cultivate openness without gullibility and skepticism without cynicism.” PeopleThinkingTryingImportantBookTogetherReadingListeningPhilosophicalOneselfConfusedOpennessThinkerCynicismSkepticismGullibilityGreat Thinkers Author:Jacob Needleman
