Keeping Faith & Breaking Ground

Homer’s Iliad Part 1

Reflections on Homer's Iliad - The heroic dilemma - James Joyce called the whole structure of heroism a damned lie. Mr. Bailie in this series of presentations from 1988 explores the archetypal aspects of Homer's heroes  and begins to assess the implications of René Girard's mimetic hypothesis of culture founding violence.

Sophocles’ Antigone Part 3

Reflections on Sophocles' Antigone, a three part series recorded in the late 1980's. In this first part of the series Gil Bailie shows how Sophocles expands the horizon of the play from what appears to be a conflict between duty to the state and duty to god to include the vast scope of human endeavor whose only limit is our mortality. Sophocles is asking his 5th century BCE audience what it means to be human.

Sophocles’ Antigone Part 2

Reflections on Sophocles' Antigone, a three part series recorded in the late 1980's. In this first part of the series Gil Bailie shows how Sophocles expands the horizon of the play from what appears to be a conflict between duty to the state and duty to god to include the vast scope of human endeavor whose only limit is our mortality. Sophocles is asking his 5th century BCE audience what it means to be human.

Sophocles’ Antigone Part 1

Reflections on Sophocles' Antigone, a three part series recorded in the late 1980's. In this first part of the series Gil Bailie shows how Sophocles expands the horizon of the play from what appears to be a conflict between duty to the state and duty to god to include the vast scope of human endeavor whose only limit is our mortality. Sophocles is asking his 5th century BCE audience what it means to be human.
 

Auden’s Early Poetry Part 2

In the 1930’s W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood visited China under the auspices of their British publishers to report on the Sino-Japanese war. Auden returned with writings called the ‘War Sonnets’ or ‘Sonnets from China’. Gil Bailie explores some of these as well as other poems from Auden’s wide repertoire.

Auden’s Early Poetry Part 1

In the 1930’s W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood visited China under the auspices of their British publishers to report on the Sino-Japanese war. Auden returned with writings called the ‘War Sonnets’ or ‘Sonnets from China’. Gil Bailie explores some of these as well as other poems from Auden’s wide repertoire.

Hebrew Prophets Part 3

"In the last resort a prophet who is not a poet must keep silent, and the prophet who is a poet cannot be understood. This after all was the perennial dilemma of the Hebrew prophets. There is perhaps only one way of resolving this particular dilemma: Let the prophet but die in Jerusalem, and he will not have lived in vain."   - Gabriel Marcel
This three part series provides an introduction to the Hebrew prophets and a closer look at three prophets in particular, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

Hebrew Prophets Part 2

Hebrew Prophets Part 1

"In the last resort a prophet who is not a poet must keep silent, and the prophet who is a poet cannot be understood. This after all was the perennial dilemma of the Hebrew prophets. There is perhaps only one way of resolving this particular dilemma: Let the prophet but die in Jerusalem, and he will not have lived in vain."   - Gabriel Marcel
This three part series provides an introduction to the Hebrew prophets and a closer look at three prophets in particular, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

From Slavery to Freedom Part 4

Reading the Bible is like looking out of a window and seeing a crowd out in the street shading their eyes and gazing with intense interest at something that we can't see because of the roof of the building from which we're peering out.  They gesture and they point and they speak in a language we can't decipher.  They are very excited about something.  Something is happening or is about to happen, but what is it?    - Karl Barth
This four part series takes the listener through an often imaginative overview of some of the most significant biblical stories. Using aspects of René Girard's mimetic theory as an interpretive lens through which to see the dynamics of the stories in both anthropological and theological perspectives.