Let's Talk Religion

The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) is one of the most mythologized institutions in history, but what do the actual medieval sources say? In this video, we separate legend from evidence, tracing what the House of Wisdom really was in Abbasid Baghdad & what role it played in the translation movement.

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Sources/Recommended Reading:

Dodge, Bayard (translated by) (1970). "The Fihrist of al-Nadim: A Tenth Century Survey of Muslim Culture". Columbia University Press.

El-Hibri, Tayeb (2021). "The Abbasid Caliphate". Cambridge University Press.

Gutas, Dimitri (1998). "Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early 'Abbasaid Society (2nd-4th/5th-10th c.)". Routledge.

Kennedy, Hugh (2006). "When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty". Da Capo Press.

The Encyclopedia of Islam. Brill.
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The great Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi was taught by a woman. In Part 2 of our series on Sufi women in history, we explore the female saints, teachers, and muses who shaped the thought of Islam's greatest mystical philosopher.

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Sources/Recommended Reading:

Addas, Claude (1993). "Quest for the Red Sulphur". The Islamic Texts Society.

Austin, R.W.J. (translated by) (1988). "The Sufis of Andalusia: The Ruh Al-Quds' and 'Al-Durrat al-Fakhirah'". Beshara Publications.

Chittick, William (1989). "The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn 'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination".

Chodkiewicz, Michel (1993). "Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and sainthood in the doctrine of Ibn 'Arabi". Translated by Liadain Sherrard. The Islamic Texts Society.

Caner Dagli (translated by) (2004). Ibn 'Arabi - "The Ringstones of Wisdom (Fusus al-Hikam)". Great Books of the Islamic World. Kazi Pubns Inc.

Shaikh, Sa'diyya (2012). "Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn Arabi, Gender & Sexuality". The University of North Carolina Press.

Ibn 'Arabi - "The Openings Revealed in Makkah: al-futuhat al-makkiyya". Translated by Eric Winkel. Volumes 1-7. Pir Press.

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John Scotus Eriugena was one of the most radical thinkers of the early Middle Ages — a philosopher who fused eastern and western Christian theology with Neoplatonism to create a vision of God, nature, and creation centuries that is breathtaking and unique. In this episode, we explore his masterwork Periphyseon (On the Division of Nature), his controversial ideas on negative theology, and why the Church eventually condemned his work as heretical.

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Sources/Recommended Reading:

Carabine, Deirdre (2000). "John Scottus Eriugena". Oxford University Press USA.

Laird, Martin (2004). "Gregory of Nyssa and the grasp of faith: union, knowledge and divine presence". Oxford University Press.

Luibheid, Colm (Translated by) (1987). "Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works". Classics of Western Spirituality. Paulist Press International.

McGinn, Bernard. "The Presence of God" Series, in several volumes. Perhaps the best and most comprehensive introduction to Christian mysticism. Published by Crossroad Publishing Co.

Sheldon-Williams, I.P. & John J. O'Meara (translated and edited by) (2025). "Periphyseon: The Division of Nature". Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection. (This is the translation used for the Periphyseon except when noted).
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In this episode, Zevi and I explore what the Talmud is, what it is not, and the role it plays in the Jewish religion.

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In this episode we explore one of the most fascinating texts in the history of Western esotericism: Porphyry's Commentary on the Cave of the Nymphs. Written in the 3rd century, this short but remarkable work interprets a mysterious passage from Homer's Odyssey as a profound allegory for the soul's descent into matter and its eventual return to the divine. We explore how Porphyry reads the cave, its nymphs, its looms and its two gates as a complete symbolic map of the cosmos, drawing on Platonic metaphysics, ancient astrology, and even the Cult of Mithras.

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Translations of the commentary:

Lamberton, Robert (translated by) (1983). "Porphyry: On the Cave of the Nymphs". Station Hill Press.

Thomas Taylor's translation (from the 1800's) is a classic. It is available through Lamp of Trismegistus.

John M. Duffy, Philip F. Sheridan, Leendert G. Westerink, and Jeffrey A. White (ed.) (1969). "Porphyry: The Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey". State University of New York.

Secondary sources:

Akçay, Nilüfer (2019). "Porphyrys On the Cave of the Nymphs in its Intellectual Context". Brill.

Beck, Roger (2006). "The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun". OUP Oxford.

Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997). "Plato: Complete Works". Hackett Publishing Company.

Dillon, John (1996). "The Middle Platonists". Bristol Classical Press.

Gerson, Loyd P. (ed.) (2019). "Plotinus: The Enneads". Cambridge University Press. (This is the translation of the Enneads I have been using in this episode).

Gerson, Loyd P (2008). "Cambridge Companion to Plotinus". Cambridge University Press.

Gregory, John (ed.) (1998). "The Neoplatonists: a reader". Routledge.

Iamblichus "On the Mysteries". Tranlsated by Emma C. Clarke, John M. Dillon & Jackson P. Hershell. Writings from the Graeco-Roman World. Society of Biblical Literature.

Proclus "The Elements of Theology: A Revised Text with Translation, Introduction, and Commentary". Translated by E.R. Dodds. Second Edition. Oxford University Press.

O'Meara, Dominic J. (1999). "Plotinus: An Introduction to the Enneads". Oxford University Press.

Shaw, Gregory (2014). "Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus". Angelico Press/Sophia Perennis.

Wallis, R.T. (1998). "Neoplatonism". Second Edition. Bristol Classical Paperbacks. Hackett Publishing Company.
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