Browse Lecture Series (35 total)

In the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman explores the woven-together tapestry of freedom, death, grace, and more. The sermon series paints a picture of human beings as both free and fallible. However, even in our imperfection and failure, we are not without the mysterious support of God, who judges us beyond our account of wins and losses. Thurman ultimately suggests that freedom, and the suffering that comes with it, brings texture and adventure to our lives, and is the way by which we…

In this sermon series, Thurman covers the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and the particular religious insight that they bring to the tradition. Thurman exchanges with the prophets on the topic of responsibility, the inclusiveness of our faith, the sovereignty of God who acts in and above history, and more. Thurman gives voice to each of the individual prophets whilst still extracting the unifying messages and challenges from their writings.

In this series delivered at Fellowship Church from May 6 to June 10, 1951, Thurman discusses the meaning of loyalty in our private and public lives. For Thurman, loyalty is a steadfast dedication to a cause. This commitment summons all the power within the personality and dedicates it to the goal. To the extent that we experience loyalty, we feel involved with life, giving our lives a sense of meaning and significance. For Thurman, loyalty is the measure of our self-conscious commitments, in…

In this series, Thurman explores the dynamics of the Inner Life. For Thurman, the Inner Life is the ultimate resource for our outer living. To navigate the inner world is to commune with God in the way that only we can. Through the God of our inner life, we find the supreme source of renewal, approval, and our infinite worth as children of God.

This collections includes three lectures from the series delivered at the Friends Five-Year Meeting in 1969 at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Three more lectures from the series are not present in this collection.

This collection includes an audio recording of part one of Howard Thurman's 1969 interview with Roberta Byrd Barr, originally aired in three parts with the title "A Creative Encounter" on Seattle-based KING-TV. All three parts of the interview are available on the Virtual Listening Room site by Boston University.

In this series, Howard Thurman discusses the Declaration of Independence along four key ideas: Created Equal, Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness. Each of the four sermons explores one of these ideas. These sermons are also available at Expanding Common Ground, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University

This collection contains a two-part interview between Miriam Rogers and Sue Bailey Thurman. In this interview, Thurman explores the lives of Phyllis Wheatley and Amos Fortune, two black people brought to Boston on slave ships, presenting their lives of thought and action as exemplary of democracy and freedom in America. Thurman also talks briefly about the life of Harriet Tubman, and other current events, including: the growing influence of Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, and readings from…

KNBC was the call sign for NBC's radio broadcast station in San Franscisco from 1947 to 1962."Dr. Thurman, the pastor of San Francisco's intercultural and interracial Fellowship Church, recently inaugurated a weekly program of spiritual "Meditations" on KNBC (Sundays, 10:00 -10:15 a.m., PST)"[Description from NBC Chimes (January 1953) archived in American Radio History]

We Believe was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on…