The Howard Thurman Podcast

In the third sermon on the prophets, Thurman explores the visions of Isaiah. Thurman describes Isaiah's first vision as encompassing "the total meaning of human existence." It is an experience of both illumination and vocation. The vision says something about the world and what he must do in it. The second vision is a utopian vision, seeing into a time when the world will be whole. Thurman describes this as a time without fear. In our current world, human creativity is the source of our fear. But in Isaiah's vision, humans no longer study war and instead use their creativity for nourishing life. Do we believe that a time like this will come? And if so, how do we live into it today?

Part of the Collection, Religion of the Prophets (1952, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Religion of the Prophets: The Message of Isaiah, Part 1, 1952 June 15,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/908.

Thurman begins with Amos in this sermon series on the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The theme of responsibility rings throughout this sermon. Through Amos, Thurman suggests that if all nations are under the judgment of God, then Israel is uniquely under the judgment of God, simply because they have been made aware of God. Knowledge and opportunity is equated to responsibility. In the light of such knowledge, we should not think of ourselves as favored and thus better, but rather we should take up our responsibility before God. Thurman says that heavier judgment will come to those who seem to be favored because they cannot claim ignorance or lack of opportunity.

Part of the Collection, Religion of the Prophets (1952, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Religion of the Prophets: The Message of Amos, 1952 May 25,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/907.

In this fourth lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman explores the relationship between the inner and outer life. Though our culture tends to draw a sharp distinction between the two sides of life, Thurman says that there is an integrated flowing between them. There is no either/or choice between inner and outer, rather the inner life is where our outer life is restored. Furthermore, centering in our spirits allows us to make genuine contact with others. Seeking harmony between inner and outer helps us to recognize the meaning and dignity of our lives and others.

Part of the Collection, Inner Life (1951-52, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Inner Life, Part 4, 1952 February 8,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/903.

In this excerpt from the third lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman says that it is rational and necessary to have a goal in life. To be without a goal is to undermine the self-respect of one's own being. Life is dynamic and responds to our commitment. When we hold a goal or purpose at our center, life energy rallies to support our efforts. This goal need not be extravagant, but can be as simple as making something beautiful from our lives. With a goal in our hearts, we are linked with God as a source of wholeness and renewal.

Part of the Collection, Inner Life (1951-52, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Inner Life, Part 3, 1952 February 1,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/902.

In this second lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman says that one must keep a dream in their heart, for dreams are nourishment for the human spirit. The dream is our inward consent to life and what we hope to do with it. We must ask ourselves what we are after, and what we are for. That which our inner authority says yes to becomes our link with the Eternal, and feeds our lives with significance. It becomes, as Thurman says, the "the will of the only God you can worship."

Part of the Collection, Inner Life (1951-52, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III,

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Inner Life, Part 2, 1951 January 25,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/901.

In the third installment of Deep Calls Unto Deep Thurman speaks to the intimacy of deeper relationship with God as it relates to a religious experience. As we come to our self in God, God comes to himself in us. Thurman also speaks to the system of ethics and morality that has been created out of the religious experience which begs the question whether it is our relationship with the Lord or our religious experience that we expect to carry us and bring about transformation in the world. Can our sectarian religious experience at work in the church of the 1980s truly provide the depth needed to support and sustain the demands of universal morality?

Part of the Collection, Deep Calls Unto Deep (1980, San Mateo, CA)

Tags: ethics, morality, religious experience

Description by ShaCarolyn Halyard

Recorded in San Mateo, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Deep Calls Unto Deep, Part 3: Fruits of the Religious Experience, 1980 February 6,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/877.

In the second installment of Deep Calls Unto Deep, Howard Thurman speaks to the idea of total surrender to God. This includes the need to surrender our private burdens and concerns as well as our spiritual being. The process of surrender is continuous as there will always be opportunities to discover areas that are not yet surrendered. Yet, it is not perfection that the Master requires, only that we work at it. We must continue to surrender in or out of season for we are never alone and with God, nothing will be withheld from us.

Part of the Collection, Deep Calls Unto Deep (1980, San Mateo, CA)

Tags: religious experience, Surrender

Description by ShaCarolyn Halyard

Recorded in San Mateo, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Deep Calls Unto Deep, Part 2: The Demands of Religious Experience, 1980 January 30,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/876.

In this first lecture of the Deep Calls Unto Deep series, Howard Thurman is lecturing on the meaning of the religious experience. The greatest possible experience that can be had is an encounter with the living God as man-made ideologies and will eventually pass away. However, it is through God the creator that all particular expressions of life arise. Therefore, the meaning of the religious experience is an expression, a manifestation, of the givenness of God in His creation. Thurman goes on to talk about the fluidity of religious experience and its inability to be controlled by doctrine or dogma for the religious experience at its core is the awareness of the givenness of God in us and His creation.

Part of the Collection, Deep Calls Unto Deep (1980, San Mateo, CA)

Tags: religious experience

Description by ShaCarolyn Halyard

Recorded in San Mateo, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Deep Calls Unto Deep, Part 1: The Meaning of Religious Experience, 1980 January 23,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/875.

Thurman delves into the profound understanding of the human soul’s intrinsic value. Drawing on biblical passages, Thurman emphasizes the omnipresence of God and the importance of recognizing the "sound of the genuine" within oneself. He recounts the story of a man possessed by demons, highlighting the man's inability to identify his true self. Thurman urges us to find our unique identity and the genuine sound within, warning that without this self-awareness, one may live life as if controlled by external forces. This internal discovery, he asserts, is vital for personal fulfillment and authentic living.

Part of the Collection, Featured Thurman Recordings

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Description by Duncan Hamra

Recorded in Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Sound of the Genuine (Baccalaureate ceremony) (Spelman College), 1980 May 4,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/838.

In the 11th sermon from the series "The Men Who've Walked With God," Thurman explains the complex theology of Meister Eckhart. Eckhart believes that there is the Godhead, the ground of all things. This Godhead element is a part of a person's soul, and is always yearning to spill over. For Thurman, spiritual discipline is about giving more of one's life to this core. With Eckhart's Godhead insight, we can no longer deny the infinite worth of any human being; furthermore, our responsibility is to honor the Godhead in others above all else so that we may connect with one another core to core. Thurman says that when this takes place, the kingdom of God is manifested.

Part of the Collection, Men Who've Walked with God (1953)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Fellowship Church, San Francisco, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Men Who've Walked With God: Meister Eckhart, 1953 July 5,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/603.