Maxwell Institute Podcast #162: Do We Believe to Explore or to Exploit? Featuring Ryan Davis

Maxwell Institute Podcast

Religion & Spirituality, Education, Christianity

4.8 • 789 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today on the podcast I talk with Ryan Davis, associate professor of political science at BYU. Dr. Davis is a philosopher, a quick and humorous conversationalist, and a great storyteller. He suggested that there might be a better way to approach belief. What if we get curious not only about the content of the specific beliefs that we hold, but also about how we hold them? What if we attend to our ways of believing as much as to our articles of belief? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said “The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.” Christ commanded us to “be not afraid; only believe.” Could it be that believing, when undertaken with integrity and courage, is important in itself? Ryan and I swapped stories, bonded over our love of ice cream, and even shared a few riddles. I hope you enjoy listening in as much as I enjoyed the conversation.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Maxwell Institute podcast, where we seek out faith illuminating scholarship.
0:17.0	I'm Rosalind Welch, Associate Director at the Institute.
0:24.6	This season, we're exploring the questions we should be asking.
0:26.6	Thanks for joining us.
0:32.8	My mother tells a story about me standing at the pulpit of our chapel when I was two or three years old and reciting the articles of faith and testimony meeting.
0:36.2	Even a toddler can learn to say,
0:38.3	we believe in God, fewer manage the word herodicycle. One of the things that binds us
0:43.6	together as Latter-day Saints is our shared beliefs. But sometimes those beliefs can divide us, too.
0:50.5	Today on the podcast, I talk with Ryan Davis, Associate Professor of Political Science at
0:56.4	BYU.
0:57.5	Dr. Davis is a philosopher, a quick and humorous conversationalist, and a great storyteller.
1:03.9	He suggested that there might be another way to approach belief.
1:07.7	What if we get curious, not only about the content of the specific beliefs that
1:13.4	we hold, but also about how we hold them? What if we attend to our ways of believing as much as to
1:22.0	our articles of belief? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, the size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue.
1:30.6	It is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.
1:36.7	Christ commanded us to be not afraid, only believe.
1:41.3	Can believing, when undertaken with integrity and and courage be a kind of exploration?
1:48.3	Ryan and I swapped stories, bonded over our love of ice cream, and even shared a few riddles.
1:54.8	I had a lot of fun interviewing Ryan, and I hope you enjoy listening in. Hi, Ryan Davis. Welcome to the Maxwell Institute podcast.
2:03.5	Today, you and I are going to be talking about belief, about the ways that our beliefs
2:08.9	and our habits of believing influence our imagination, how they affect our ability
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Maxwell Institute Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Maxwell Institute Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.