“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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Harvard’s New Head Chaplin is an Atheist
See “Harvard’s new chaplain is an atheist. Is that a contradiction?”:
The motto of Harvard University, which might as well be tattooed on aspirants to the American upper class, is “veritas.” For those who never learned the Latin that was once part of the standard curriculum, that means “truth.” It seems like an obvious fit for the nation’s most prominent institution of higher learning. Isn’t pursuing truth what a university is all about?
But the motto’s history isn’t so simple. Although it appeared in several versions following Harvard’s establishment in 1643, most stressed the theological character of the truth to which the college was devoted. “Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae” — truth for Christ and Church — read one version. “In Christam Gloriam” — to the glory of Christ — went another. The one word version was adopted in the late 19th century, partly at the urging of poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
A surprising announcement on Thursday revived tensions between Harvard’s original mission and its more recent secular orientation. The association of more than 30 Harvard chaplains representing a wide range of religious communities elected Greg Epstein as their new leader. The surprise isn’t that Epstein is not a Christian, an element of Harvard’s heritage that the university hasn’t stressed for decades. It’s that he doesn’t believe in God at all.
An atheist chaplain seems like a contradiction in terms. Epstein’s life work is to convince people that it’s not. An ordained “humanist rabbi,” Epstein doesn’t oppose religious texts, ideas, or practices. But he argues that people who doubt the existence of supernatural forces need their own ways of inculcating virtues, exploring the meaning of life, and sustaining communities that can extend through generations.
Wow!
The folks at Harvard think they have come a long way. They think they are really smart, certainly smarter than ordinary folks.
That’s one perspective. This is another one: The folks at Harvard have lost their bearings, if not their minds.
As Forrest Gump said, “That’s all I have to say about that.”
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
