Thoughts on "This I Believe"
The popular NPR segment on personal values
Tonight I listened to the history of This I Believe on KUOW (one of Seattle's two NPR stations). This I Believe is a series of essays about personal beliefs and values, written by ordinary Americans and read out over the radio. It is part of the legacy of Edward R. Murrow, who created and ran the series in the early 1950's. Famous Americans such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Hellen Keller, Harry Truman and Abert Einstein wrote essays for the program. Fifty years later, in 2001, the program was revived by Jay Allison. Once again it was intended as a public exercise in personal introspection, but this time it was open from the beginning to all Americans, famous and nonfamous. Over 30,000 essays have been submitted thus far. This I Believe is often heard during NPR's Morning Edition or during All Things Considered.
The title of the show is obviously inspired by the first words of the great Christian Creeds (Apostles', and Nicene) which begin with pisteuo (in greek), credo (in latin), or the words "I believe" in English. These creeds set forth a summary of the historic faith of the Church based upon the contents of Holy Scripture. The Nicene Creed orginally began, "We [the bishops] believe..." It was a message to the World from the bishops of the Church, assembled in council. However, it has long been used as the basis of pre-baptismal instruction for converts to the Christian Faith, and when it becomes the creed of each individual believer it begins, "I believe".
There is a big difference between the NPR show This I Believe, and the "I believe" of the Church. NPR's This I Believe is a quasi-philosophical exercise in personal introspection. Contributors to the show are expected to journey inward and then to let us know what keeps them going or what makes them successful in this world. From within their own feelings and subjectivity they bring forth and air their opinions to the NPR audience. Often the essays take the form of platitudes ("I believe in the power of love"); they are often intriguing and humorous ("I believe in the freedom offered by semi-permanent hair dye"), but rarely are they very profound, in fact, many times they sound rather vain and pompous.
The point of this public dialogue about personal values is for everyone to keep listening to other personal points of view - sometimes to feel affirmed by them and other times to feel outraged - but never to stop the listening, and [presumably] never to reach a conclusion. It is described as a "public dialogue", but as a Christian listener I find myself wondering whether or not it is actually a monologue, the parameters of which have been clearly predetermined by agnostic/atheistical radio producers. Edward R. Murrow was determined, for example, that no religious dogma should ever enter the sphere of this dialogue, (as though religious dogma could never be a legitimate part of a person's values).
Now for the "I believe" of each baptized person of Christendom. This is the expression of a living faith that comes from outside of us. It is not based upon our subjectivity or personal opinions, but transcends both our feelings and our times. It is based upon Holy Scripture, which is a record of God's dealings with mankind, a record which has been tested and found to be authoritative and reliable by God's People throughout history. The "I believe" of Christendom brings each of us into fellowship with something beyond ourselves; in accepting the creeds of the Church, we are invited to journey outward to contemplate God and to find ourselves united in Spirit with Christians of every time, every generation, every race and every land.
The Creed's of the Church will likely never be heard on the NPR show This I believe. Thanks to the Internet, however, I can set forth the following, the most basic creed of Christendom, called "The Apostles' Creed". Engage with it and be changed by it: he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen.
The popular NPR segment on personal values
Tonight I listened to the history of This I Believe on KUOW (one of Seattle's two NPR stations). This I Believe is a series of essays about personal beliefs and values, written by ordinary Americans and read out over the radio. It is part of the legacy of Edward R. Murrow, who created and ran the series in the early 1950's. Famous Americans such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Hellen Keller, Harry Truman and Abert Einstein wrote essays for the program. Fifty years later, in 2001, the program was revived by Jay Allison. Once again it was intended as a public exercise in personal introspection, but this time it was open from the beginning to all Americans, famous and nonfamous. Over 30,000 essays have been submitted thus far. This I Believe is often heard during NPR's Morning Edition or during All Things Considered.
The title of the show is obviously inspired by the first words of the great Christian Creeds (Apostles', and Nicene) which begin with pisteuo (in greek), credo (in latin), or the words "I believe" in English. These creeds set forth a summary of the historic faith of the Church based upon the contents of Holy Scripture. The Nicene Creed orginally began, "We [the bishops] believe..." It was a message to the World from the bishops of the Church, assembled in council. However, it has long been used as the basis of pre-baptismal instruction for converts to the Christian Faith, and when it becomes the creed of each individual believer it begins, "I believe".
There is a big difference between the NPR show This I Believe, and the "I believe" of the Church. NPR's This I Believe is a quasi-philosophical exercise in personal introspection. Contributors to the show are expected to journey inward and then to let us know what keeps them going or what makes them successful in this world. From within their own feelings and subjectivity they bring forth and air their opinions to the NPR audience. Often the essays take the form of platitudes ("I believe in the power of love"); they are often intriguing and humorous ("I believe in the freedom offered by semi-permanent hair dye"), but rarely are they very profound, in fact, many times they sound rather vain and pompous.
The point of this public dialogue about personal values is for everyone to keep listening to other personal points of view - sometimes to feel affirmed by them and other times to feel outraged - but never to stop the listening, and [presumably] never to reach a conclusion. It is described as a "public dialogue", but as a Christian listener I find myself wondering whether or not it is actually a monologue, the parameters of which have been clearly predetermined by agnostic/atheistical radio producers. Edward R. Murrow was determined, for example, that no religious dogma should ever enter the sphere of this dialogue, (as though religious dogma could never be a legitimate part of a person's values).
Now for the "I believe" of each baptized person of Christendom. This is the expression of a living faith that comes from outside of us. It is not based upon our subjectivity or personal opinions, but transcends both our feelings and our times. It is based upon Holy Scripture, which is a record of God's dealings with mankind, a record which has been tested and found to be authoritative and reliable by God's People throughout history. The "I believe" of Christendom brings each of us into fellowship with something beyond ourselves; in accepting the creeds of the Church, we are invited to journey outward to contemplate God and to find ourselves united in Spirit with Christians of every time, every generation, every race and every land.
The Creed's of the Church will likely never be heard on the NPR show This I believe. Thanks to the Internet, however, I can set forth the following, the most basic creed of Christendom, called "The Apostles' Creed". Engage with it and be changed by it: he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen.
posted by Anglicans Aweigh at 9:34 PM
2 Comments:
Nice observations, Father. Those NPR segments always put me a little on edge too. It's interesting to see, however, the way people put together belief systems and attempt to give meaning to their lives... the artifical ones can be striking, and I think that's why NPR does it.
John, thanks! Yes it is interesting to hear what people are thinking, especially the stereo-typical NPR listener who probably has at least one college degree and thus regards himself as 'well-educated'. Yet, I must say, that if I was charged with the task of creating meaning for my life apart from Reality, I would view that as a depressing and futile expercise. Notice that the 'credo' of the Church is not about the fleeting existence known as 'I' but it is about the Eternal Reality known as God. 'I believe in God'. Even though I happen to know that you have 3 college degrees, including a PhD, and that you tune in to NPR on occasion, I also know that you find your soul's eternal meaning in relation to God. As St. Augustine wrote, "God is the only reality, and we are only real in so far as we are in His order, and He in us."
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