The ?

PBS had a worthwhile program last night called “The Question of God.” TiVo allowed me to watch it late last night. (We’ve had TiVo for over a year now, having succumb to my two brothers’ insistence that it is so much better than a VCR—I agree. And what the Warden did not think we needed she uses more than me. Thank heaven honey.) But back to the show.

The program is based on a course taught by Armand Nicholi, a psychiatry professor at Harvard University. He has his students examine the lives and writings of two individuals with opposite conclusions about the ultimate questions of life, namely Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. The program featured actual photos of the two at different stages of their lives. And it used some believable actors who recited some of their more noteworthy quotes.

In between the short segments which explained these two’s divergent views a panel of thoughtful folk from varying perspectives offered their commentary on the topic at hand. It was fair-handed and balanced. Everyone seemed to get an equal say, and no one shouted over anyone else. (Where is Chris Matthews when you need him? Just kidding. It was fun to see some civility this time of year.) Instead of getting on soapboxes, the panel members were actually trying to directly answer questions raised by the other members of the panel.

I think part of the reason the format of this show worked so well is that the two individuals whose ideas were discussed set such a high standard in the clarity of their own thoughts. They had both been well versed in the positions which they ultimately rejected. They knew well their “enemy.” And thus, they weren’t ones to give simplistic answers to their philosophical foes.

The worldviews at which these two men finally arrived cannot be more different. Complete rationalism (or materialism or scientism) as advocated by Freud and an historic Christianity open to supernatural intervention posited by Lewis. The distinctions were quite clear.

The theory that the host proposes though is that all of us as individuals waver to some degree between these two poles. Because of this, he was continually prying into the lives of those on the panel, encouraging them to tell their own stories. He continued to ask about their histories and the development of their worldviews. We never get Nicoli’s position on things though. He plays the neutral moderator well.

It was hard to fall asleep last night after viewing the show even thought it neared midnight. It was an engaging first half of a program that I look forward to seeing next Wednesday. Part two airs on PBS on the 22nd, 9 p.m. Central.