I happened across a wonderful audio link at OC.net. It's from the Minnesota Public Radio website "Speaking of Faith." The audio is of an interview Jaroslav Pelikan gave to MPR on the creeds. In the interview Pelikan does touch briefly (if vaguely) on his conversion at the end of the interview, and how Tradition and creeds related to that conversion. His summation of his conversion: "I sort of discovered that I'd been speaking 'Orthodox' all my life. And so I didn't convert. To convert is to change. And I didn't change. I simply discovered the continuity that had been there all along." All in all, he gives the most wonderful defense of the creeds.
The 53-minute audio link is here. (Requires free RealPlayer, which can be downloaded here.)
I love the Pelikan quip: "The only alternative to Tradition is bad tradition." (!!!)
And this one: "I'm aware of it [the modern discomfort with creeds]. I don't share it."
And this one, too: "The interesting thing though is the world is much more pluralistic than it is relativistic. And those are often equated in the secular west."
Oh, and this one: "If we're going to have wait for one billion Muslims to become relativistic, if that's the way we're going to get religious understanding, we're going to have to fasten our safety belts."
Wait a minute, there's this one: "It is not enough to Christianize Africa, we have to Africanize Christianity."
And how could I not love this one: "There was a Norwegian who loved his wife so much he almost told her."
Really, you've got to check this out. You'll love the Massai Creed.
Posted by Clifton at December 9, 2003 05:00 AM | TrackBack