Huston Smith on Judaism and Christianity
Huston Smith on Christianity and Judaism
Huston Smith is known for his research and interest in the religions of the world. He published a book, Religion’s of Man in 1958, which was later revised and renamed World’s Greatest Religions. This book was a summary of the adventures Huston Smith went on in his life as he traveled the world searching for new knowledge and understanding of the religions of the world. Huston Smith also made a collection of videos about various religions across the world, known as his “Wisdom of Faith” video series. I recently watched the Christianity and Judaism video from this collection and discovered many of Smith’s views on those religions.
The video opened with Bill Moyers summarizing various beliefs Huston Smith had about religion. In this he stated that Huston Smith felt that all religions, and their “golden rules”, differ in ways that cannot be compared. Bill Moyers claimed that Huston Smith thrived to understand the claims of truth that other religions believed in, but at the same time he wanted to understand the truth claims of his religion and still believe in that to the fullest. Huston Smith wanted to achieve this level of understanding and at the same time never lose sight of his own religion, which was Christian-Methodist.
Huston Smith claimed that life is all about learning how to pray and that the most important guideline of life is to pray with your heart because it is the most honest. Huston Smith explained that there are various types of prayer that can be used in many different situations, ranging from financial problems to life or death situations. He defined the Petitionary Prayer as a prayer said in a time of need, or during hard times. I related this as an example of the Prayer for Help that he mentioned later in his interview, that people made when they were in need of help from God. The next type of prayer he explained was Prayer of Praise, which was closely related to the Prayer of Dying. Huston Smith explained
Huston Smith is known for his research and interest in the religions of the world. He published a book, Religion’s of Man in 1958, which was later revised and renamed World’s Greatest Religions. This book was a summary of the adventures Huston Smith went on in his life as he traveled the world searching for new knowledge and understanding of the religions of the world. Huston Smith also made a collection of videos about various religions across the world, known as his “Wisdom of Faith” video series. I recently watched the Christianity and Judaism video from this collection and discovered many of Smith’s views on those religions.
The video opened with Bill Moyers summarizing various beliefs Huston Smith had about religion. In this he stated that Huston Smith felt that all religions, and their “golden rules”, differ in ways that cannot be compared. Bill Moyers claimed that Huston Smith thrived to understand the claims of truth that other religions believed in, but at the same time he wanted to understand the truth claims of his religion and still believe in that to the fullest. Huston Smith wanted to achieve this level of understanding and at the same time never lose sight of his own religion, which was Christian-Methodist.
Huston Smith claimed that life is all about learning how to pray and that the most important guideline of life is to pray with your heart because it is the most honest. Huston Smith explained that there are various types of prayer that can be used in many different situations, ranging from financial problems to life or death situations. He defined the Petitionary Prayer as a prayer said in a time of need, or during hard times. I related this as an example of the Prayer for Help that he mentioned later in his interview, that people made when they were in need of help from God. The next type of prayer he explained was Prayer of Praise, which was closely related to the Prayer of Dying. Huston Smith explained
Cited: Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions. New York: McGraw, 2008. Ultrathin Classic ed. The Holman Christian Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Tennessee: Holman Bible publishers, 2004. Smith, Huston. The Wisdom of Faith: Judaism and Christianity