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Professor Konvitz explains the connection of ILR 308 to the present semester’s study. In 308, he explored the evolution of those American ideals inherent in the…
American Ideals 01. Course introduction
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Human dignity, justice, equality, love, and the rule of law are not alluded to specifically in the documents upon which our nation was founded, but they are implied, Dr.…
American Ideals 02. The Hebrew Bible, Part 1
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Professor Konvitz distinguishes between Homeric and Hebrew literary styles. In the Illiad and Odyssey, everything that Homer wants to say is put in the foreground and…
American Ideals 03. The Hebrew Bible, Part 2
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Our relation to God and God’s judgment is, for the man of faith, the realm of truth. Mere appearance is the realm of ignorance and falsehood. The Greek…
American Ideals 04. The Nature of reality
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The biblical root of the concept of human dignity is explained. The Bible presumes a moral order in the universe and moral judgment. If, the Bible suggests, we obey…
American Ideals 05. Dignity and Job
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The power of evil in the world is evident from the very beginning of the Bible, Professor Konvitz acknowledges. Biblical man responds to evil with the hope that it will…
American Ideals 06. Good and evil, Part 1
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Responding to a student question, Professor Konvitz explains the complexity of biblical analysis. The biblical presumption of human free will and its implications is…
American Ideals 07. Good and evil, Part 2
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The concepts of biblical time and history were unique in the ancient world and were adopted by western civilization. In the Hebrew Bible, there is a straight line of…
American Ideals 08. Viewing time, Part 1
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The Christian acceptance of linear time and history was challenged by contemporary Greek philosophers who held to the cyclical view. The problem that this view of…
American Ideals 09. Viewing time, Part 2
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The evolution of the concepts of resurrection and immortality in Judaic-Christian thought are explored by Dr. Konvitz. There are hints in the Book of Daniel of these…
American Ideals 10. Immortality
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The concepts of resurrection and immortality intensified the belief in the uniqueness of the individual and their responsibility for themselves. This belief in…
American Ideals 11. Responsibility
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Professor Konvitz responds to student questions about the apparent contradiction between the omnipotence of God and the concept of human freedom. Man is free but always…
American Ideals 12. Freedom
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The Judaic-Christian concepts of human responsibility to self and especially to society and their biblical roots are discussed at length. Professor Konvitz elucidates…
American Ideals 13. Man in society
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Professor Konvitz quotes the Hebrew and Christian Bibles as well as modern authorities to expound the concept that the self can only be fully developed in context of the…
American Ideals 14. Love thy neighbor
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God’s love is demonstrated in commandments such as the keeping of the Sabbath and the concepts of charity elucidated in the Bible. Such commandments, Professor…
American Ideals 15. Human rights
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Socrates, building on earlier Greek philosophic insights, made the analysis of concept of the soul central to his teaching. For Socrates, the immortal soul was the moral…
American Ideals 16. Socrates, Part 1
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