When asked what advice he would give to incoming college students, the always thoughtful David Berlinski said this without hesitation:
‘Read the Old Testament. It is the greatest repository of human knowledge and wisdom in the history of civilization, any culture, any time, any place.’
Love it. Because it is true.
The Lions Den 
Great post, Great Lion!
I must confess I find the Old Testament difficult. Humanity always disappoints and God laments in colorful language. The good part of the Bible is the New Testament where Jesus saves the day and transforms us to be like him… if we choose.
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Indeed, this coming from a man who has a brilliant mind, when i heard him say it, it reminds me of the zillions of books and source material. If one is utterly honest the same conclusion must be reached. The bare bones, the raw truth, man’s failures and God’s promises, architecture, law, justice, war, poetry, wisdom, grace as you say, the history of a covenant people, care for the earth, it has it all.
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Berlinski is a proponent of ID ( sic.) And a mouth piece for the Discovery Institute.
‘Nuff said .
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So what ark. I don’t care if he was French or Indian either. His quote is accurate and can never be challenged by any body in their right mind.
Simply put, he easily slays all the Goliath’s of small minds.
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Slays?
Hilarious.
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Also ark, seems you are missing the greater point. To COLLEGE soon to be’s, he draws the comparison with learning that is not agenda driven- to carefully weigh history with modern interpretation- to be wary of men/women who pretend to know more than they presume- to be suspicious of academia. Period.
So what is the agenda of a reading of the Old Testament? There is none. It stands alone as the monarch of books, presenting the good, bad, and ugly. All others are imposters, and Berlinski is spot on.
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What college?
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Point being ark, there is no HIGHER Learning than that which equips the arts and sciences, ie, the human brain, which is NOT founded in the universities. A termite dare not lecture a bee on how to make honey.
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Again, WHICH college?
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To ANY college, university, or any place of instruction. I’m sure the point is obvious. Btw, Berlinski is not christian, but nevertheless knows full well his material.
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As a proponent of the pseudo science of ID and his rejection of evolution the chances of him directing this drivel at students about to enter a university such as Oxford, Cambridge ,Yale or Harvard are as likely as Noah’s ark and the bible flood turning out to be historical fact.
I’d be interested to read the rest of this talk, interview, if you have a link?
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The quote is in this talk. To be fair, You will have to listen to it entirely for context. Enjoy. Tkx.
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I thought his reasoning pithy and without any evidential basis.
In case this was a ‘once off performance’
I watched him a debate about atheism.
Same story.
If this is how he behaves in front of a class of students I’d be surprised if many remained awake throughout an entire lecture.
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Ark, You always demand evidence but never provide any to support your own squalid opinions. That makes any comment you make worthless and at total waste of time.
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Eviddence for what exactly, SOM?
Berlinski is a proponent of ID and rejects evolution.
He has credibility.
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Of course he has credibility……. lol
Love that slip-
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Freudian,no doubt!
However, in truth I found listening to him quite the grind.
He was not engaging at all and his views were simply unsupported. It became irritating the fact the interviewer kept reaching for his book and showing it to the camera.It was more like a book plug rather than a serious interview.
In the debate I watched he was worse.
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I actually agree about the annoying book plug. His connecting the dots of history was rather good I thought. As said earlier, the OT presents the good bad and ugly.
Noting, that God does not initiate ugly. Remember? His creation was not only good, but pronounced ‘very good.’
Hmm, things went south after a while. No different than today to be sure.
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So you don’t like his approach or style. But you failed to address the main point he made which I alluded to.
Regarding the SUBSTANCE and wealth of the Old Testament in relation to civilization, which even today proves true. No equal. Ever.
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The OT is little more than myth and barbarism .
What could one possibly glean except disgust and horror after reading the acts of genocide, incest, rape, murder etc
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No credibility
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