Description
Authority is more than a final limit. It also the persisting substance of limitations that remain with us after withdrawing from the presence of power. For Thurman, this sense of abiding authority is summed up in the biblical words “thus says the Lord.” We are “naked without authority,” he argues. There must be authority wherein one can lay oneself bare and yet not feel violated. Thurman believes religion accomplishes this. In the act of submitting to a higher reference point, human beings are rescued from the emptiness of absolute autonomy and achieve a sense of participating in a collective destiny.
Creator
Thurman, Howard
Date
1962-03-18
Contributor
Description by Dr. Tim Rainey
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 2019.
Original Title
Quests of the Human Spirit (VI): The Quest for Authority, 1962 Mar 18
Audio with Transcription
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