Browse Lecture Series (35 total)
The following lecture series are available in full or part. Additional series will be made available as recordings are processed. Please note that many recordings are not part of series. To browse all recordings, click here.
Dilemmas of the Religious Professional, Hester Lecture Series (1971, Golden Gate Seminary, Strawberry, CA)
“Dilemmas of the Religious Professional” is a four-part lecture series by Howard Thurman focused on the religious professional who is distinguished by a sense of divine calling and unique challenges. The lectures address the uniqueness, duties, prayers, and words of persons elected into religious professions.
Contributors: Descriptions by Dr. Tim Rainey
Man and Social Change Series (1969, California State College, Long Beach, CA)
In the three lectures comprising this series, Thurman discusses the effects of personal experience on social change. He illuminates points regarding individual freedom, the expression of togetherness in community, and nonviolence as the individual’s attempt to broaden one’s circle of concern.
Contributors: Descriptions by Dr. Tim Rainey
Quests of the Human Spirit (1962, Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston, MA)
”Quests for the Human Spirit” is an eleven-part lecture series focused on the creative process of self-actualization. Thurman shows how this process centers and affirms a person’s purpose in life. Discussing pursuits like freedom, stability, values, identity, and integrity, he illuminates the importance of questing in identity formation.
Contributors: Descriptions by Dr. Tim Rainey
The Temptations of Jesus (1962, United Church of Canada, London, ON, Canada)
Howard Thurman’s “The Temptations of Jesus” is a five-part sermon series concerned with how the spiritual attitude orients human encounters with dilemmas. In these presentations, Thurman reflects upon the biblical record of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness – bread, tempting God, and power – his decision to travel to Jerusalem, and his contemplation of death in the Garden of Gethsemane. This series shows that choosing divine purpose over egotism requires aligning with the will of God by…
Contributors: Descriptions by ShaCarolyn Halyard
Featured Thurman Recordings
This collection highlights individual lectures, sermons, interviews, prayers, and meditations given by Howard Thurman throughout his professional career.
Moment of Truth (1958, Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston, MA)
In this series, Thurman discusses the solitary nature of the moment of truth. These moments that illuminate our lives and change the course of our realities are moments that must be experienced in solitude through our own eyes. Experiencing firsthand the light that shines into our darkness has the power to do what external pressure and punishment cannot. Ever-present in our moments of truth is revelation, conviction, and decision that guides our responses.
He also discusses the moment of…
Contributors: Descriptions by ShaCarolyn Halyard
Moment of Crisis (1958, Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston, MA)
In this series, Thurman uses the lives of the Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ, and Abraham Lincoln as examples of moments of crisis. He concludes the series with a message on the response of religious communities to the marginalized in society.
[Note: Part 1 of the series is not available]
Contributors: Descriptions by ShaCarolyn Halyard and Rodell Jefferson III
Men Who've Walked with God (1953)
In this series, Thurman explores the dynamics of mysticism through the lives of notable figures throughout history. The mystic's insight is that God is the creator of all of life, and indeed dwells in the human spirit as the deepest thing within a human being, which is always reaching out to touch the deepest in others. Throughout this sermon series, Thurman illustrates the ethical implications of this insight, as well as the discipline necessary to live out mystical religion. Ultimately, "Men…
Contributors: Descriptions by Rodell Jefferson III.
A Faith to Live By (1952, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)
For Howard Thurman, faith is more than a set of assumptions or affirmations about life. Faith, instead, is a literal fact to be acknowledged and drawn upon in everyday living. In this sermon series Thurman explores faith as a centering force in human life that orients us to the infinite worth of ourselves and others. It is this faith alone that can steer humankind to their ultimate destiny, for it is the expansive power of faith that sustains our cultures, our civilizations, our institutions.
Contributors: Descriptions by ShaCarolyn Halyard & Rodell Jefferson III.
Deep Calls Unto Deep (1980, San Mateo, CA)
In this series, Thurman discusses three primary topics: the meaning of religious experience, the idea of total surrender to God, and the intimacy of a deeper relationship with God through religious experience.
Contributors: Descriptions by ShaCarolyn Halyard